Carolyn is back
by Carolyn and Riwa
Carolyn looked around her apartment. In one corner there was a stack of cardboard boxes, each folded neatly and stacked in a pile.
“Finally, it’s unpacked” she murmured to herself.
Carolyn looked around her apartment. It looked very nice, by far superior to the dump she had been living in when she first met Richard almost 4 years ago, three apartments in all that time, lots of moving and unpacking. Still, the business that she had entered into with him made it necessary to move around as much as she had.
Still, she thought, each apartment had been nicer than the last. As her earnings grew, so did her income and savings.
Sweaty, she ran her fingers through her hair and looked around. Everything was in place but she felt the need to shower up. She went through the spacious apartment and into the bathroom, but then she changed her mind. Stripping out of her clothes she went into her new closet and picked out of her one-piece swimsuits. Dressing, she grabbed a towel and went down to the upscale condos swimming pool. She was alone as most of the other residents were at work and she preferred it that way.
Tossing her towel on a chair she walked to the deep end of the pool and climbed up the three foot diving board. At a glance, nobody would have recognized her if they were from her past. For one thing, she had cut her black hair short. Long hair, even when it was pinned up, was just too much trouble when she was working. Also, it was no secret that she had grown strong and her body was very muscular.
Diving into the deep end she went forward on the surface, pulling hard with each stroke. She had also become an excellent swimmer in that time and each of her stokes were powerful ones that betrayed her strength. It had been a skill that she had spent a lot of time in the gym and the pool working very hard on.
Back and forth she swam, doing her usual 25 laps before finishing. Then she went back to her condo on the top floor, still unnoticed, and stripped quickly, letting the warm water caress over her.
Some things had changed in that time, some things had not. Her money and her address (and its quality) were the obvious ones. Old friends like Jennifer were long gone and removed from her life. She still worked with her boss, Richard, and the people that he found. Her original partner, Eva, was long out of the picture. She had never liked or trusted that bitch and would have liked it if she had added to her demise, but she hadn’t. Eva was killed in a car accident, T-boned by some old bag who couldn’t even see over the steering wheel.
She had tried to work with two other girls over the years but each had ended in disaster. One girl just bailed and the other had turned out to be so bad at the job that their “guest” had almost drowned the newbie in the process. She had been working alone for some time now even though she had been bugging Richard for some time to get her some help. She could handle things herself, but it was easier with help.
Clean, and with the chlorine out of her hair, she dried herself off and brushed her hair. Rather than get dressed, she went to the bedroom and lied down, stretching in all directions on her new bed in her new, huge, condo.
As she lay there on her bed she allowed her mind to wander. She considered where she was and how she’d gotten there. The ironic thing was that it had all started because she’d gotten dumped… and then fell off a boat into the water.
Now she had money, more money than she ever thought she would have at this point in her life. She also had a lot of dead bodies in her wake. How had she gotten here?
Was this in her personality the whole time, just waiting for the right catalyst to emerge? Was this what she’d been born for? It made her wonder.
She liked being in charge of her own destiny. And this situation clearly gave her more power over her life than working some nine to five job hoping not to be downsized or replaced by some bitch the boss thought had better legs and breasts than she had. And it seemed there was an endless supply of victims to choose from.
Perhaps it was best not to think about it. She had a job to do and she had to be focused on it. Afterwards she could come back here and enjoy her new lifestyle… that is until she had to move again.
That was another annoying little side effect of the type of work she was engaged in: having to move so frequently. Naturally it was not wise staying in any one area for too long. She couldn’t risk putting down roots, not with the type of work she engaged in. So she had to be prepared to pack up and move again.
Another issue she had was being at Richard’s beck and call. When he needed her it was usually because his most recent conquest was ready to be “dealt with”. That meant he sometimes called her at an inconvenient time. But it was a small price to pay, all things considered.
Right now she was starting to get a little bored… and more than a little eager to ply her craft again. She had to admit to a certain thrill taking a life below the water. The way the victim spasmed and those erotic drowning bubbles never ceased to give her a thrill.
So when was he going to call again? Who would he have for her to take care of? And what about getting her another helper? Having two in the water taking care of one of his ladies was far preferable to a one-on-one encounter. Sure she had confidence in her abilities. But you never knew when someone was going to catch you by surprise.
There was one other problem with the life she had chosen (or had it been chosen for her, she wondered). Since she couldn’t put down roots, that also meant that she couldn’t start anything with the opposite sex. Carolyn was in her 20’s, attractive, with a knockout body, but still hadn’t had a real relationship with a man in years. She missed that…missed it a lot. Still, as she lay naked on the bed, she realized that the situation wasn’t going to get any better in the next half hour so she put her right hand under her head, closed her eyes, and put her left hand between her legs to deal with some urges that needed to be satisfied.
—
While Carolyn was taking care of her business, Richard was on his new boat at the marina ten miles away from her deluxe condo. While both he and Carolyn had to keep changing address, he also had the extra task of changing boats. He’d sell the old one for cash, and buy a new one-also for cash. He sat in his chair below decks, sipping on a scotch, and watching the closing stock prices stream by on CNBC with the sound muted.
He was thinking about Carolyn, and how things had also been going over the last several years. Experience had told him that his assistants didn’t last long, or didn’t have what it took. Once she was working alone with Eva, he had planned to make Carolyn into Eva’s protégé. That arrangement hadn’t lasted long. Although, as he reflected, she hadn’t been able to look at her first opponent, it didn’t take long for Carolyn to adapt and soon the student had surpassed her master.
Although Carolyn didn’t know it, Eva had gone to him numerous times to complain about her – mostly out of jealousy – and he had never liked the way the two of them interacted. They were able to work professionally, but it was obvious that a friendship was never going to develop. As Carolyn got better and better he had debated, mostly when he had to listen to Eva complain, about getting rid of the original teacher. Luckily, the Eva situation solved itself without his having to do anything.
As for getting rid of Carolyn, he’d have to be out of his mind to do that.
Although nobody knew it, one of Richard’s favorite shows was Animal Planet. He had one taped that he saved and liked to watch when nobody was around. It was about the snakes of India and Asia, specifically the Anaconda. That’s what he thought of when he looked at Carolyn. Most snakes, almost 90%, die within the first few months of their lives. They’re too weak and inexperienced to survive but the ones that do are animals that you don’t want to screw around with for any reason.
That was what Carolyn was to him, his full grown Anaconda. She had adapted well to her environment, making herself stronger and getting more experienced with each episode. She also had a natural instinct for the work. Once a real Anaconda got itself wrapped around its prey it was pretty much over and that was the way Carolyn was. She had changed over time, her breasts getting smaller as she became more muscular and honed her natural instinct. Once she had a hold on someone it was all but finished.
And she was smart. Smart enough to change her hair and eliminate a point of weakness, and smart enough to stay within the confines of her job in the operation. Richard had a whole network in place that Carolyn didn’t know about. It was how he found his targets. She knew he had something in place, of course; she wasn’t stupid, but had the good sense not to interfere.
She was also smart enough to ask for a larger and larger share each time, especially when Richard didn’t get her any new help. This was, in part, a business decision. He didn’t want to lose her-she was too good and too hard to replace. Also, giving her a helper that she didn’t need would only cost them more and widen the circle of people who knew about them and increase the odds of getting caught. Looking back, she had also been smart enough to stake out his operation when she was new and keep herself out of harm’s way.
It was important to keep her happy and maybe it was time to get her someone to train. As good as she was, there could also be a random accident waiting for her just like there had been one for Sonya. He’d start working on getting her some help after their next job, the first in their new home, was done.
The phone rang and brought him out of his thoughts. One of the girls that he’d been approaching, one of many that he dated and wooed with his money, had checked out. Richard gave the girl a call. Although she had money to make the job worthwhile, she was very unattractive and easily reeled in. They arranged to meet on his boat tomorrow. Then he called Carolyn, one burner phone to another, and told her all the details that she needed to know; when to arrive and everything that he had on Jennifer, his girlfriend de jour.
—
Back at the condo, Carolyn listened to everything Richard said and prepared for tomorrow in her mind. In the real world she dressed for the day, had lunch, and then checked her off-shore bank account. As usual, half of her fee was already wired in. The other half would come after the job was done.
As she spent the rest of the day with what had become the mundane matter of daily life, Carolyn found herself thinking about the new assignment. This was their first in their new location. She was actually looking forward to it.
Richard had given her the usual skimpy details. Sometimes she wanted to know more. But he never told her more than what seemed to be necessary.
She supposed it was a necessary precaution. But sometimes it irked her not to be trusted with more information. After all, hadn’t she proved herself? Still, she supposed she couldn’t blame him.
That evening she spent some time at a local bar. She wasn’t really cruising; she just wanted to go out for a drink and check out the type of males who accumulated there. She got a couple of looks from a couple of guys. But inwardly she found herself comparing them to the amount of power Richard wielded and ended up dismissing them out of hand.
As she sat there nursing her drink she contemplated the job waiting for her the next morning. How good would this girl be in the water? Would she be any kind of challenge? Despite the risks Carolyn sometimes wanted more of an effort from the girls she drowned.
She remembered one assignment where the woman had panicked right away and had started swallowing water in a matter of seconds. It had been over before it had barely begun. She supposed she should be grateful for those. But sometimes it seemed these girls were just too easy to drown.
The bartender came up to her, telling her some guy had bought her a drink. She looked in the direction he was pointing and saw an attractive man smiling at her. But her first thought was avoiding entanglements and she politely declined. The gentleman seemed crestfallen.
Carolyn went back to her drink. Damn, it could get lonely sometimes. But each time a man showed the least little interest in her she’d been forced to give him the brush-off. She simply couldn’t risk any unnecessary entanglements. Sometimes it made her resentful. But mostly it meant she had to deal with her sexual needs by herself.
She finished her drink and paid the check. Then she walked out, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the man who’d offered her the drink. Yeah, he was cute. Damn, it would have been nice to have a fuck-buddy for the evening. But she had a job to do in the morning and she couldn’t allow herself to get distracted.
Carolyn arrived home but didn’t feel tired. Still, she made a point of being fresh and ready on the day before a job. She did her things in the bathroom then stripped down and crawled between the sheets. Sleep didn’t come easily though and an hour later she was still wide awake. Carolyn exhaled deeply and got out of bed and went to the computer in her condo’s living room.
Powering it on, she logged onto her two bank accounts. The first showed what she should have to anyone who might want to look. It was just a small balance that she made as a clerk at a dummy company that Richard had set up. Logging out, she logged back in but this time she did it into her special account. Not even Richard could find it. The balance there was very large, much larger than any amount of money that she thought that she’d have several years ago. She sat back in her chair and thought about her work. People in the army take care of things like this, she rationalized, and got paid a hell of a lot for it.
Turning the machine off, she went back to the bed and somehow sleep came easily. As soon as she knew it there was light coming through the blinds. Showering and dressing, she slung her pocketbook over her shoulder and headed to the boat. Going early like this was just procedure. Only Richard would be there….no targets were ever handled during the light of day.
—
On the boat, Richard waited for Carolyn to arrive. She was always punctual and, as he waited, he looked over the paperwork again. His new target was a nice trust fund baby and getting money from her account without her knowing had been easy enough.
Jennifer had enjoyed his attention and after a few drinks, drugged of course, she had been woozy enough to give him what he wanted. He took a lot of her money, but not all of it. A trust fund girl like herself usually wasn’t expected to be careful with how she spent her money but if it was all gone things would look too suspicious. Then he’d wired Carolyn the first half of her share and taken a much larger chunk out for himself. He was tempted to take a lot more from Jennifer but resisted the urge.
As usual, his girl awoke the next morning, rumpled but totally dressed. Richard just told her that she’d passed out after drinking too much and that he’d made her spend the night rather than risk driving. Jennifer, like all the others, seemed satisfied once they realized that nothing had been done to her and then she left. She was none the wiser and looked forward to meeting him again tonight, vowing to stay sober.
From the corner of his eye Richard saw a BMW pull up and then Carolyn exited it and walked over. “You’re looking good, as always.” Richard said with a smile.
“As are you.”
Richard led her below deck and closed the door. He opened a small folder and pushed it over to Carolyn as they both sat down at a table. “Meet my new friend, Jennifer.”
Carolyn looked at the glossy photos. There were several, each taken from a different angle. Jennifer had dark black hair, the same color as her own. She was also about 3 inches taller than herself but heavyset and overweight, not muscular at all.
“This shouldn’t be that hard. Any clue on how she is in the water?”
Richard shook his head. “I wasn’t able to get that from her. She’s reluctant to talk about physical activities which tells me that she doesn’t really do any. As you can see exercise isn’t her thing.”
“When should I be here?” Carolyn asked. She was already picturing how to handle this evening’s job.
“She’ll be here at 8, just after dusk.”
—
Carolyn drove home, feeling somewhat disappointed. Another girl to drown who didn’t appear like she would be much of a challenge. She supposed that was probably a good thing. But sometimes she wished he would come up with a bit more of a challenge.
As she drove the streets she thought of what would be necessary to drown this woman. It probably wouldn’t take much. At least she would get to watch her convulsions and see those drowning bubbles. That, at least, was something.
She happened to drive past the bar on her way home. It made her think of that guy inside who’d tried to buy her a drink. That’s when she thought about him in her condo.
How good would he be in bed? Would it be worth it to go check the bar out after drowning the bitch? She would be flush from her kill, heady with sexual arousal. A good fuck would certainly feel good and would top off the night’s excitement.
She considered the matter and then thought it might be best to drop the whole thing. That was all she needed: some fuck-buddy finding out about their operation and threatening to expose them all. That was one complication in her life she didn’t need right now.
Richard hadn’t mentioned anything about hiring an additional girl to help out. Did he expect her to be able to handle it all? After all, she used the scuba gear so often it was easy pulling them down and then hanging on to their ankles until the breath exploded out of their lungs. It wasn’t all that complicated. Still, having another girl to assist them might not be a bad idea.
She got home and checked her messages. Richard hadn’t sent her any last minute instructions. There was nothing else to do now but wait and kill time until it was time to head out to the boat to send another poor girl to the bottom while they got rich off her assets.
Carolyn watched a repeat of the Big Bang Theory and had a light dinner with it. She always liked to have a little something to eat before it was time to go to work, but only a little bit. The last thing she needed was to feel gorged on food. Then, when the time seemed right, she hopped back into her BMW and drove out to the marina. She didn’t park anywhere near it though. For one thing she didn’t like to take the chance of some stray camera from Big Brother catching her license plate. Just as important to her was using the walk to loosen up her muscles a bit.
Carolyn made it in plenty of time and hopped onto the boat. Richard was waiting, nicely dressed as always. If you’re going to lure a girl onto your boat and impress them then it was best to look the part. Carolyn nodded and then, in silence, left him alone and went below decks. Once down there she changed out of her street clothes and put on the same outfit that she’d used every time before…the black one piece. The single suit made it hard for her victim to rip anything off and cause a distraction. Black, of course, made her more difficult to spot.
She heard something and felt the boat sway as Jennifer came on board. There were two cameras on board and hooked into different monitors in that room. One was an underwater camera and, though on, didn’t show anything. The other was a small nanny-cam that was mounted just above the doorway.
Carolyn looked at Jennifer in the flesh for the first time. She was big all right, taller but not strong at all. The extra weight hung down off of her arms and Carolyn noticed cankles on her ankles. Oh well, she thought. She’d dealt with girls who were in much better shape than this poor girl. Despite her being well dressed in expensive clothes, she wasn’t much to look at.
Dressed for work, Carolyn went to the monitors and watched. There was no sound but he could hear the muffled words through the door and she knew that he was leading her through the usual chit-chat while he prepared to get the boat going. It powered up and, as they moved far away from shore, Carolyn squatted and stretched, getting ready. After about fifteen minutes the engine died and then she could hear their conversation again.
Carolyn started for the scuba gear but then changed her mind. It might, considering how big this girl was, cause a problem. Carolyn didn’t know about the Jennifer’s abilities, but it surely wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle.
She kept her ear to the door and felt the boat tip as both of them went to the bow and looked back at the horizon. On cue, Carolyn slipped out of the cabin and looked around cautiously. Seeing that they were both looking away she went to the stern and silently lowered herself into the water. Keeping her head above and taking deep, but quiet, breathes she kept out of sight and waited.
She waited patiently, listening for her cue. She heard them talking up near the bow, discussing the evening and their time together and how romantic it all was. It sounded like he was laying it on pretty thick and she rolled her eyes.
She heard them discussing their future together and how much they supposedly enjoyed each other’s company. Was this girl dense or did she really believe all that claptrap? She was impressed with the way Richard could lay down the charm with these gullible bitches. But she was starting to get impatient as the water was a little cool.
The voices drew closer as she heard footsteps up on deck. They were coming toward the stern, just as she’d anticipated. Richard always worked them back this way before it was time for him to introduce them to his lethal mermaid in the water.
The footsteps stopped; they must have paused. There were more romantic words. It reminded her of all the things she was missing with a full-time boyfriend. But there was nothing she could do about that, not with the current life she was living.
The voices sounded louder, they were near the stern of the craft. Carolyn inhaled quietly and prepared herself. She was already calculating the best way to drown this girl. She had no idea of her abilities, but she suspected it should not be all that difficult.
She heard them pause again, causing her to try to peak up. They were there at the stern looking out over the water. Then she heard a startled cry followed by a splash exceedingly close to her. He’d shoved her overboard into the drink and now it was show-time.
Carolyn paused and watched the water for a moment. Normally she attacked right away but usually Richard had done his scouting and was able to give her some information. Since Jennifer had not been forthcoming about her swimming ability she held off for a moment.
She watched the surface and saw bubbles coming up and heard a cry from under the water and then she saw Jennifer rise up to the surface. Her short black hair was plastered to her forehead and she was able to keep her head above water. But it was obvious to Carolyn that it was taking a great deal of effort on her part.
Richard watched from the deck and waited for Carolyn to strike. Usually his Anaconda struck immediately but this time she didn’t. She kept one hand against the hull, sizing Jennifer up.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jennifer called from the water. Her head went under for a moment but she was able to resurface quickly. He had hoped that Jennifer would have been wearing something heavy like jeans and sneakers, but she hadn’t. She was in a light dress and expensive shoes that had no doubt already been kicked off and were falling down to the bottom of the lake.
“Help me, Richard…please!” He just stood there, watching. Jennifer could obviously tread water well enough to keep her head above water although he had no doubt that, left to her own devices, she’d tire eventually. But who knew if someone would come by in the interim.
Richard kept his eyes on Jennifer, who was still struggling, when from behind an arm broke the surface. It quickly wrapped itself around Jennifer’s neck and her head disappeared under the water’s surface.
Under the water, Carolyn eased up on Jennifer’s neck and brought her hands up under her arms, trying to lock her fingers together behind Jennifer’s neck, and immobilize her arms, but she wasn’t able to. There was just too much space to cover and her arms weren’t long enough. Easing up a bit, she tried to wrap her legs around the woman’s middle but again, there was too much space to cover. She paused for a moment, recalculating, although her instincts were kicking in.
Jennifer’s instincts were kicking in too, her ones for survival. Someone had come from behind and taken her by surprise and she realized that she had been set up by this man and his accomplice. Whoever was behind her kept trying to wrap her up but couldn’t do it.
Richard was surprised. He saw the bubbles come up and the water sloshing around and wondered why Carolyn was taking so long.
Under the surface, with only an instant of thought, Carolyn recalculated and let Jennifer go. She watched her fight her way hard, going up the few feet that was between her and the air.
Richard watched in total surprise as Jennifer broke the surface alone. He wondered where Carolyn was but she was there, behind her, in the next moment.
Jennifer was panting, trying to catch her breath, but her body was not accustomed to exercise. Carolyn came at her from behind and, as before, brought her arm around her neck and squeezed tightly against it. Under the water she wrapped both of her legs around one of Jennifer’s. Richard didn’t see it and wondered what she was doing but Carolyn knew the plan and knew that it would work.
Cutting off the blood to any part of the body deadens it. Anyone who’s fallen asleep on their wrist knew that, and Carolyn was going to do that to her prey. Keeping her hold around her neck she put as much pressure as she could on the upper half of Jennifer’s leg.
With all the adrenal energy that she could muster Jennifer was able to barely break the surface one last time. But her leg tired and gave out and the other one wasn’t even strong enough to hold her own body up, much less Carolyn’s as well.
Jennifer looked at Richard, eyes open in terror, and tried to call for him. But before she could do so Carolyn’s free hand came up and slapped itself over Jennifer’s face, covering her nose and mouth. Both women sank and just before Carolyn was cut off from the air Richard heard a deep rasping gasp (one he had heard many times before) as Carolyn took a huge breath before she went under. Then he went into the cabin to watch the TV and the final work of his Anaconda. He was quite sure that Jennifer would never surface again.
Carolyn held on as they began to submerge. She kept her hand over Jennifer’s mouth and nose the entire time. She figured would make the large woman want to inhale instinctively.
Jennifer’s hands came up to pull her hand away. Carolyn increased her grip, knowing what was coming. She knew Richard was watching from the camera he’d set up underwater to record the event. But she didn’t care if she gave him a good show or not. She was too busy trying to make sure this woman didn’t make it back to the surface again.
Her quarry struggled in her grasp, grunting bubbles through Carolyn’s hand covering her mouth. She shifted as she struggled, trying to throw off her attacker. But she simply wasn’t agile in the water.
Carolyn hung on as her added weight helped pull the woman down. Jennifer grunted more bubbles as her adversary continued to cover her mouth. Carolyn figured the hand over the woman’s face should increase her desire to pull it away and reflexively inhale. Just a few seconds more ought to do it.
Buoyancy was working against them; the woman was packing a little too much weight. They did not sink much further. In order to dispose of her body they would need some weight to keep her on the bottom.
A burst of adrenaline caused Jennifer to shake the hand off her mouth. She inhaled reflexively as though that had been what was depriving her of air. But she was still underwater. In this case her body’s natural response was the wrong one as she sucked water into her lungs.
Though she didn’t know it, getting her head free wouldn’t have made any difference. Two seconds sooner and Carolyn would have moved it away herself. Though she’d never admit it, she liked to see the bubbles come up from her prey. More so, she liked to hear them cry for help, or mercy, underwater and Jennifer wasn’t capable of doing it with her mouth covered.
Carolyn took her now free hand and grasped her other wrist with it, securing her hold on Jennifer’s neck. Her other leg tired quickly and gave out. If she had been in better shape it would have kept Carolyn busier.
Richard watched and he saw Jennifer as she tried and tried to reach behind her, trying to get at her attacker. She was too big and too slow. As usual, once Carolyn had the girl in a good grasp it was all but over.
Her legs dead, Jennifer reached and pulled herself up, to no avail. She slowed down while Carolyn still hadn’t felt the first pull of air from her own lungs.
Then it was there…that final cry for help or mercy. Richard couldn’t hear it but Carolyn eased up, taking it in. Neither Richard nor Jennifer could see her sly smile.
Just as her chest began to pull a tiny bit Jennifer went limp in her arms. She was by far the largest woman Richard had found and the buoyancy was a little different. She thought, for a moment, that she could feel the girls pulse against her arm but dismissed it. As the pull for air began in her chest she kicked upward, straining, and taking Jennifer with her.
Richard was already on deck when Carolyn broke the surface. Her head and neck were in the air but the rest of her body, the part holding Jennifer, wasn’t. Needless to say, no part of Jennifer had come up into the air.
Carolyn held her position exactly where it was while Richard looked at his Rolex. After it had been long enough he nodded and Carolyn let go of Jennifer. She started to sink, but then came back up and floated face down.
Richard lowered a ladder into the water and started making a call as Carolyn climbed back onto the boat.
Carolyn went for the towel Richard had brought up with him and left for her. She wiped her face and hair before turning to look at the water. Jennifer continued to float face down. She would need to be weighted down if she was going to disappear, either temporarily or forever.
While she dried herself Richard started up the engine. But he kept the boat where it was until their cleaner arrived on another boat. All three of them said hi and then she and Richard drove back to the Marina.
“That was different,” Carolyn said.
“Well, I can’t control who comes from money and who doesn’t”. Carolyn had no response to this.
They docked and Carolyn left, taking the towel with her. She had gotten back into her clothes while Richard was driving. They said their goodbyes and she walked to her BMW and started home. She slowed at that club, thinking about it. But going in was out of the question. She had no makeup on, her hair was a mess, and her whole body smelled like the lake. Her clothes were half soaked…what a picture she must cut.
At home Carolyn undressed and showered. Despite being fit, these evenings always took a bit out of her. She slid under the sheets, naked, but didn’t sleep. In the dark she looked over at her closet. Richard wouldn’t call for a while and she decided then and there that tomorrow had a makeover, a high end one, in her future and she’d spend a night on the town tomorrow.
© 2016 (written Aug 18 ’16 by Carolyn and Riwa)
