Illustration Friday: Well, wait and see…

I’m not telling what the Illustration Friday word of the week is this week, since it will ruin the end of my story. I will say that this week’s word is the last word in my story. Of course, if you came here from the Illustration Friday website, then my vain bid at secrecy is useless, but oh well, them’s the breaks.

My offering for this week is a gripping drama which I have entitled “No Stone Unturned”. Enjoy

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No Stone Unturned

It had all come down to this…
    Dr. Merkatur sipped his brandy while the great white persian cat purred contentedly on his lap. To think, he had been so close, so many times before without success.
    In Marekesh he would have captured him, if it hadn’t been for that freak rainstorm. In Hong Kong he was within a hair’s breadth of capturing the infuriating man, but he had escaped, as always, with a wry remark and a curt nod of the head. In Bangladesh, the story had been the same.
    Berlin, though, had been a different matter. In Berlin he had finally caught the great secret agent, Edward Stone.
    Merkatur had overseen Stone’s imprisonment himself. The chains that bound his wrists and ankles were pure titanium. He had been drugged with morphine, to make sure he was placid and disoriented. Stone had been stripped naked, and his hair and teeth had been checked thoroughly for concealed weapons. The bunker they were in was located ten miles underground, and Stone now occupied the only room in its lower level. The walls of the room were reinforced concrete over two feet thick. The room’s only feature was the hook where Stone was chained to the floor. The room had been soundproofed so the spy’s cries for help could not be heard by any of his underlings. The only door to the room was of the same design as those Lloyd’s of London used for its high security vaults, for which Merkatur had the only key.
    By now, the cyanide gas should have been released, rendering Stone quite dead. Just to make sure, though, a series of industrial lasers then fired into the room, followed by a shower of hydrochloric acid.
    The Doctor bit his lip in impatience. With a wave of his hand, he summoned two henchmen, and the three of them went to Stone’s death chamber.
    A cruel smile playing about his lips, the evil genius pulled out the key to the door, and slowly, savoring every moment turned it gently in the lock, like a lover.
    He leapt out of the way as the door swung open and the two henchmen aimed machine guns into the room, releasing a spray of bullets. Better to be safe than sorry, thought Merkatur.
    After the noise had died down, the malicious dwarf got up from off of the floor, dusted himself off and went to inspect the room. He peered through the smoke, and saw the titanium chains lying open on the floor in a pool of acid. It was impossible. It was too horrible to even believe. Stone was missing….

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