By Mae Ondracek
12/04/01
Startled,
she sat up in bed. Her head was aching and her mouth was very dry. Even her
legs ached, as if she had just walked five miles. The surroundings were very
unfamiliar and she didn't remember how she had gotten there. It seems to be a
-motel room, but where? In fact, right now she didn't even know her own name
and she looked around for a purse but didn't see one.
As she
swings her legs over the bedside, she recoils in terror. Her feet had touched
something soft and cold. Hesitantly, she looked over the side of the bed and
sees the lifeless form of a man lying on the floor. She doesn't recognize him,
but it is obvious he is an Oriental. There is no blood anywhere, so she lay
back down, trying to remember what had happened the day before, or was it
longer than that? She couldn't remember.
She
nearly jumps out of her skin when a booming, amplified voice from outside said,
"Come out now, Mary. Give yourself up and no one will get hurt.”
It
surprised her that they seemed to know her name, even though she didn't. All
the loud noise wasn't helping to ease up her headache, either. Mary slid to the
foot of the bed and walked to the window. Easing back the curtain, so she could
look out, the scene took her by
surprise. There were four patrol cars, 10 or 12 policemen with guns drawn, and
an ambulance with three EMT's nearby. How had they known anything was wrong
when she couldn't remember what had happened.
Mary
looked around for her clothes, but there weren't any anyplace. All she had on
was her underclothes and she surely wasn't going to walk outside like that. She
again heard the booming voice telling her to come or else they were coming in.
Mary pulled the sheet from the bed, wrapped it around herself, and took the
towel from the rack. Opening the door a few inches, she stuck her hand out with
the towel in it, then opening the door wide, Mary walked outside.
Two
policemen grabbed her and were about to tear away the sheet when Mary cried,
"Please don't, I have no
clothes on."
Other
police entered the room and one called out to the EMT's to enter. Soon they
were pushing out the body on a gurney and put it in the back of the ambulance.
Everyone
seemed to be talking at once and Mary's head felt like it would burst. One hand
flew to her head, as tears ran down her cheeks. A policewoman quieted everyone
down and asked Mary what had happened. A tearful reply of, "I don't
know," was all she could say.
The
policemen that had gone inside, stepped outside and one said, "It's all
clean in there. Let's take her downtown."
The
policewoman sat in the backseat with Mary and tried to calm her down. Mary kept
repeating, "I don't know what happened or how I got there, or even where
am. I didn't even know my name until you called out to me. Oh, my head hurts so
much."
When
they arrived at the hospital, Mary was taken to a room and the doctor and nurse
appeared. From head to toe, she was prodded and poked. It seemed like the
testing would never stop. Then they took vial after vial of blood until it
seemed like she wouldn't have any left. Finally
the doctor said they were through and would let her rest.
She
slept fitfully, remembering odd things that didn't seem to go together. She was
lying on a cold table with a sheet covering her. The whole room was white and
sterile looking. There were voices coming from somewhere, but she saw no one.
Suddenly she felt a needle prick the back of one of her legs. Then she was
sleeping again. Another scene was a fully garbed person, looking at her leg.
Someone was forcing her to drink a foul- tasting liquid. More talking, which
she couldn't understand, and then she blacked out. Then the scene in the motel
room unfolded and she screamed, unable to hold it back. The doctor and nurse
quickly returned and tried to calm her down. Mary cried, "Please, where am
1?"
The
doctor said they were in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Mary heaved a sigh of
relief, as this is where she did live. The police sergeant and the policewoman
entered with notepads and wanted to know what Mary could remember. She told
them the bits and pieces of the dreams she had just had. They knowingly shook
their heads and said, "We understand.” How could they understand, Mary
wondered, when she couldn't?
The
doctor and nurse returned with a tray of instruments and asked Mary to turn on
her side. She felt a needle prick in the back of her leg and soon the doctor
said, "Yep, here it is."
The
nurse bandaged her leg as the doctor showed Mary and the policemen a small
round disc. "This is the third one this month," the doctor said.
Mary was
afraid to ask, but she had to know, "What is it?" The doctor
explained, "It is a receiver that was implanted in your leg so you would
do anything you were told to. Then someone would call the police and turn you
in for being in the room with a dead person."
Mary
cried, "Oh, that poor man in the room. Did I HI him?" The policewoman
answered, "No, Mary, you didn't. You were only following orders, like the
other four women were. All five of you were at the same motel and in the same
room, which we thought strange. But we had to act like we didn't suspect
anything."
The
policewoman went on, "After the fourth one, we've been watching them and
when we seen you, Lin Ling, and another man go in, we knew something was up.
The other man was the owner of the motel and he came out of the room carrying
your clothes and purse, so we suspected we were to late to save Mr. Ling. But
you are the last woman they'll use for their devilish dealings. The sergeant
obtained a search warrant and we found the operating room behind a secret
panel. It is being dismantled and all those involved have been jailed.
Mary was
crying, because Mr. Ling had died for no apparent reason. But the policewoman
explained that he and the others that had been killed, had all been undercover
cops, due to be witnesses in a drug deal that had been raided two months ago
and ready to go to trial in a couple of months.
"It
really was a shame we didn't protect our men better, although they knew it was
a dangerous assignment. We have learned from the mistakes we made this time and
hope it doesn't happen again. Those five died from poisoned drinks and are
really heroes. The department is very proud of them. We are glad it is
over."