In-Law Interrupts (Request) (Mm/Fm)

[Detective-Gag]

Karen Anderson had intended to spend her weekend catching up with the household chores she’d been unable to attend to, due to being caught up at the office during the work week.

That HAD been the plan…though it seemed that her son, Daniel, had other considerations. She’d enlisted him to shoulder the burden of some of these chores…namely his bedroom…but thus far the boy had decided to go sprinting about the house, fencing imaginary villains with the broom she’d issued to him for the hardwood floor.

The mother was currently standing on a small stepladder, dusting the window blinds in the living room with a fiber cloth. She wore a pink shirt with a white apron slung over her neck & cinched around her waist, jeans & sneakers. Her mid-length brown hair was tucked beneath a white handkerchief she’d tied around her forehead to keep loose strands from falling over her brown eyes.

As she reached up to wipe the topmost surface of the window; her son sped past her just behind in a blur.

“You won’t get away…!” Daniel hollered, holding the broom like a spear.

“Danny!” Karen called out, having to brace herself slightly on the stool. “A moment, please?”

The boy trotted to a halt, turning back around to come back. “What’s up, Mom?”

“How’s your bedroom coming along?” she asked him, stepping down to the floor with a knowing look.

“Well…I put all the clothes in the laundry room,” the boy offered.

“That was this morning,” Karen said to her son, tapping a foot expectantly. “What chores have you done since then?”

“Aw, c’mon Mom!” he groaned, but smiled sheepishly.

The mother sighed. “Daniel, I told you that this weekend was a cleaning weekend; you can have your fun & games after they get done.”

“How about a break?” her son asked, shuffling his feet. “We could finish cleaning after?”

Karen knew full well that once she relented; there would be getting nothing else done that day. She gave her child a strained look; but the brown-haired boy meant no harm in his request.

She paused, considering. She’d already cleaned most of the surfaces that morning; and the vacuuming was already done.

Eventually, she caved into Daniel’s expectant look. “ONE game,” she said to him. “Make it a good one.”

“Nice!” the boy whooped, casting aside the broomstick by leaning it against the wall.

“What did you have in mind?” Karen asked her son, mentally running through some of the options they’d done in the past. “A board game? Nintendo Switch?”

“Better!” Daniel replied, scampering upstairs to his bedroom while his mother waited patiently on the main level.

After hearing him rummaging about through the ceiling, Karen heard the boy come running back downstairs; a large shoebox in his hands. He set it on the coffee table in the living room, flipped the lid open, and began pulling out various items…the first was a toy handgun; the kind that produced the sound of a fake gunshot when you squeezed the trigger.

So it’s going to be that kind of game, Karen thought to herself; knowing how partial Daniel was to action movies.

The boy threw his mother a curveball, however, when he also pulled some bundles of white rope from inside the shoebox as well, setting them down on the table next.

“Okay…I’ll bite,” Karen said, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the rope for, hon?”

“I wanna do a game of Cops & Robbers,” Daniel told her, as he also pulled out several white handkerchiefs; identical to the one that she was wearing.

“Been raiding our supply closet, Danny?” Karen inquired to her son.

“A little,” he admitted, setting the shoebox aside. “The stuff was just sitting there; nobody hardly uses it.”

“And what exactly do you plan to use it for?”

“Well, it’s like on the TV shows,” the boy explained to his mother. “I’m like a bank robber, and I bust into the bank where you work, and take you hostage.”

Karen frowned. “You’re going to take me hostage?”

“Exactly!” the boy confirmed. “First you take me to the bank vault so you can let me inside to grab the money; then I tie you up.”

“Ah,” Karen said, understanding the purpose of the rope. “Well. Alright, then…but you need to be careful; no rough-housing.”

“No rough-housing,” the boy agreed, and picked up the fake handgun.

“How do we start?”

“Go over there like you’re working behind the counter at the bank,” Daniel suggested, pointing the toy pistol at the small opening that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Karen shrugged, smiled, and strode over through the opening into the kitchen, resting her hands upon the marble countertop. “This good?”

“Yup,” Daniel said, nodding. “But remember, you gotta act like a bank teller.”

“Right, right,” his mother stated, straightening herself & clearing her throat. She looked down at Daniel through the opening, and fixed him with her best “salesperson” smile (one that she was accustomed to using when she dealt with clients at the office!).

“Why, hello there, sir!” she greeted her son, her voice laced with honey & sweetness. “What brings you in today? Are you making a deposit?”

Daniel lifted the handgun up, pointing it directly at her. “Making a withdrawal!” he quipped. “Hands up! This is a robbery!”

Karen had to suppress a laugh; the boy was coming in STRONG with his play-acting.

“Oh, no!” Karen said shrilly, raising both hands up with their palms facing outward. She grimaced, holding back a grin as she attempted to appear horrified. “Please, don’t hurt anyone!”

“Don’t want to hurt anyone,” Daniel the “robber” grunted, jostling the fake pistol. “Just keep those hands where I can see them; no trying to trigger a silent alarm, okay?!”

Karen nodded, keeping her hands raised. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“First, step out from behind that counter,” Daniel instructed, keeping the handgun leveled at her. Karen slowly stepped back from the counter, turning to make her way back into the living room.

“Please, don’t shoot anyone,” Karen pleaded, deciding to slip deeper into her character; pretending that their living room was filled with other workers & customers.

Her son seemed to like that line. “Everybody down on the ground!” he yelled, firing the fake gunshots up at the ceiling. “Nobody moves, and nobody gets hurt!”

“Tie ‘em, boys!” he said to his imaginary crew, before lightly prodding his pistol into his mother’s back. “Take me to the vault, lady…and no funny business!”

“Whatever you say…!” Karen yelped dramatically, and allowed herself to be amusingly moved along by her diminutive son.

They both ended up in the office; where her husband had a small safe where he kept their more sensitive belongings.

“Alright, give me the combination, lady!” Daniel demanded.

Karen sounded off some nonsense numbers, and she watched Daniel get down on one knee and mime the combination on the front of the floor safe.

“Alright, that’s a good haul,” he said, dusting off his fingers before picking the weapon up off the carpet. “Time to get you tied up with the other hostages!”

Karen was marched back into the living room, where her son made her sit on the couch. He then picked up one of the bundled ropes, untangling it before approaching her.

“Wrists behind your back,” he commanded, and Karen giggled before crossing her hands behind her.

Much to her surprise, her son worked rather swiftly, pulling the soft rope around her wrists a few times before tying it in a bow.

“There!” he exclaimed, stepping back.

Karen tested the knot; it was snug, and if she decided to really pull at them, she could probably wrestle them free…though her hands would get a bit raw if it came to it. Still, the boy had done surprisingly good for an initial tie.

“Are you going to make your getaway now?” Karen asked, shifting into character.

“First we gotta make sure you can’t call the cops,” Daniel revealed, and picked up one of the white handkerchiefs he’d left on the coffee table, folding it into a band.

Karen blinked. “What are you going to do with that?” she asked, as he approached with the folded cloth in both hands.

“I have to tie this over your mouth so you can’t speak,” he said. “It’s a gag.”

Karen lifted an eyebrow. “Um, well, Daniel we didn’t go over…RMPH!”

No sooner than Karen started to voice her apprehension than the brown-haired boy did gleefully drop the white rag over his mother’s mouth, pulling tightly as he did so.

“Gmph!” Karen exhaled through her nose, eyes widening in surprise as Daniel began tying the “gag” behind her head. The boy had moved so quickly, Karen found herself at a loss for words!

“Dan..ielm,” Karen said, pausing as she awkwardly moved her mouth beneath the white cloth. “Youm dnm havm tm coverm mm mouthm…”

“Quiet, lady!” Daniel said, tightening the gag & eliciting another soft grunt from his mother as he did so. “You can’t talk so long as you have that covering your mouth, you got it!?”

Karen let out a long sigh; but allowed Daniel to finish knotting the the cloth in place. The boy stepped back to appraise his handiwork.

“Looks right,” he said.

Karen felt the pressure of the fabric pressed over her lips, finding the feeling curious. If she really wanted to, she could probably conjure some coherent speech if she worked her jaw.

But the boy seemed contented with what he’d done so far, so Karen decided to indulge him.

“Mmph!” she mumbled, keeping her lips pressed together beneath the “gag”; emulating the old damsels-in-distress from the classic crime dramas. “Hlmph!”

“Ha ha ha!” Daniel laughed, grabbing another rope before busily tying her feet together.

Karen silently observed him, continuing her absent mumbling as they continued to play out her son’s chosen game…

—

Meanwhile, an older man with streaks in his dark hair, a grey mustache, wearing flannel, jeans & workboots approached the Anderson residence.

Frank Anderson was the grandfather to young Daniel Anderson, and had been passing through the area when he thought it might be a good idea to stop by and see what his son Thomas’s family was getting up to.

Stepping up to their front door, the grandfather rapped on the door twice with his knuckle, before buzzing the doorbell.

—

Inside the house, Karen suddenly bristled at the sound of the doorbell ringing.

“Dnlmph,” she said, forgetting the cloth over her mouth, causing her to stumble over the uttering of his name.

The boy was “counting” his money he’d collected from the bank heist he’d staged; and he, too, looked up at the sound of the door buzzing.

“The cops!” he hissed, moving over to grab the toy gun from the table next to him.

Was it a solicitor? Karen wondered, and quickly began shaking the cloth down from her mouth. “Dnm…ah…dnml…!”

“Quiet!” he told her, laughing slightly as he moved over to where she sat, and wrapped an arm around her as he jammed the toy pistol in her side. “They can’t know we’re here!”

“Dnml…ah! Daniel!” Karen finally managed to say, as the cloth dropped down from her lips, and around her neck. “Please untie me quickly so I can see who that is…SMPH!”

The boy quickly clamped his hand over his mother’s mouth, cutting her off, much to her surprise.

“You can’t go anywhere!” he said to her, as she shifted and mumbled beneath her son’s palm pressed over her lips. “You’re supposed to be my prisoner!”

“Ymn mn!” Karen warned, but could not shake her head away from her boy’s hand. “Pmt thm gmph nm psmn…!”

Then, Karen heard the front door lock open; a panic welled inside her. Who was coming inside!? Had her husband returned home early...?

“Hello…?” came a much older voice. “It’s Frank; I let myself in with the spare key…”

Karen felt her abrupt panic drop a little; not an intruder, or her husband...but Thomas's father, her in-law. He was known to stop on in to visit every now and then.

"Saw your car in the driveway," Frank's voice continued, as Karen heard footsteps draw closer. "Hope you don't mind...ah, there you are."

Karen saw Frank appear in the doorway, bearing a similar resemblance to her husband; save for his salt-&-pepper hair, grey mustache & a bit more wrinkled around the eyes. The grandfather paused, spying both Karen & Daniel sitting on the living room couch, the boy's hand wrapped around his bound mother to cover her lips, while the other clutching the toy pistol.

"I see I've walked into something," the father-in-law joked, taking in the scene.

"Hlmph, Frnkmph," Karen mumbled, speaking through her son's palm, cheeks reddening a bit.

"Hold it right there; or the hostage gets it...!" Daniel threatened, aiming his fake handgun towards Frank.

"Whoah, not even a hello for your grandpa, kid?" Frank asked, folding his arms & grinning in amusement.

The boy lowered his weapon and returned the smile. "Hey, Grandpa," Daniel answered. "We're playing a game of cops & robbers!"

"And I'm guessing you're doing the robbing," Frank assessed, looking Karen up and down to see the ropes around her wrists & ankles, and the cloth around her neck.

"Yup!" said the boy. "Wanna play?"

Karen motioned with her chin, until Daniel took the meaning and released his hand from his mother's mouth. "Danny, can you give me and your grandpa a moment?" she told her son. "Go and grab a snack in the kitchen, maybe?"

"Okay!" agreed the boy, and bolted from the room.

"Didn't mean to interrupt," Frank said, taking a seat across from Karen in a recliner. "Was in the area, and thought I'd stop in and see my son & family."

"Thomas is out right now," Karen revealed, settling back into sofa. "Had to swing by the office to fix an issue."

"On a weekend, no less," Frank said, shaking his head. "Ah, well...so you get to be the damsel-in-distress, I see."

Karen's cheeks flushed again in embarrassment. "Daniel wanted to play a game," she explained, as she tugged at the boy's rudimentary knots. "The boy's got an active imagination."

"Takes after his father, then," Frank stated. "Thomas & I played these sorts of games when he was growing up."

Karen blinked. "Oh? Did he now?"

"Oh, yes," Frank said, easing back into the recliner. "Games like "cowboys" or "gangsters"; where the good guys chased the bad guys & the bad guys captured the good guys."

"I'd wager Thomas never tied you up, though," Karen said abashedly, showing her tied wrists still behind her back & wiggling her fingers.

Frank chuckled. "Mostly it was the boy and his mother getting tied up," Frank replied. "Though I played the same sorts of games myself when I was younger...there's a variation of this sort of thing with every generation."

Daniel came running back into the living room from the kitchen. "Alright; let's pick up where we left off!" he said eagerly.

"Daniel, how about you untie me so we can have a proper visit with your grandpa," Karen suggested to her son, phrasing it less as a question and more as a command.

"Aw, Mom!" Daniel whined. "You said I could play one game!"

"Please, don't interrupt the boy's fun on my account," Frank interjected, waving a hand nonchalantly.

"It would hardly be polite for me to ignore you while you visited," Karen said to her in-law, frowning.

"Tell you what, then," Frank said, slapping his palms on his pants before lifting himself from the recliner. "Why don't I participate?"

"Ooh, am I gonna take you hostage too, grandpa!?" Daniel said, looking between the adults.

Frank laughed. "I think maybe me and my old bones will pass," he said to his grandson. "But tell you what: how about I help you out?"

"Whaddya mean?" Daniel asked, curious.

Frank turned to Karen. "You're ropework needs a little work," he said to Daniel, while giving Karen a small wink. "If your mother is okay with it; I can be your partner-in-crime."

Daniel seemed to light up at the notion. "Yeah...partners-in-crime!"

"Y'all all right with that, miss?" Frank asked his daughter-in-law. "Pass the time until your husband comes along?"

Karen thought a moment. Truth be told, having someone to keep Daniel occupied while she got a break...albeit presumably tied up...held some appeal.

She shrugged. "Very well," she agreed.

"Awesome!" Daniel exclaimed, pumping a fist excitedly.

"Alright, kid...what sort of racket are we running?" Frank asked, taking on the speaking mannerisms of an old-time gangster.

Daniel paused. "Huh?"

The grandfather tussled the boy's brown hair. "How's about we start the game from the beginning..."

--

"Alright, missy, in ya go!" Frank said, flanked by his grandson holding his fake gun.

"Ah, okay!" Karen replied hurriedly, her feet & hands now free, as she raised them above her head and entered the guest room on the second floor of her home.

“We heard that your rich husband loves you very much,” Frank said, outlining the new story of their game. “So we’re going to keep you here for awhile until he pays us a ransom.”

“Whatever you do, just don’t hurt me or my son,” Karen stammered, in character as she turned to face the two of them once she was in the room.

“Your son will be safe, don’t worry,” Frank the “gangster”said, resting a hand on his grandson’s shoulder. “It’s YOU we’re after; so long as you cooperate, we won’t need the boy.”

“Should we tie her up, boss?” Daniel asked his grandpa, evidently relegated to sidekick now.

“Good idea,” Frank answered, and traded the boy’s fake pistol for a spool of rope.

Daniel then tied Karen’s wrists behind her back, as he’d done before. “How’s this?” he inquired, showing the knot.

“Much better,” Frank approved, inspecting the knot, then picking up a rope himself. “Now, let me show you a trick on how to keep their arms from slipping free…”

Karen watched as her in-law bent the rope in half, wrapped the cord around her waist, fished the ends through the loop he’d made, catching it; and proceeded to start tying the rope repeatedly around her arms.

Karen straightened, feeling her arms being pinned to her sides. Notably, she could feel the material getting pulled tightly under & over her chest, framing it as the ropes were tightened.

“Oof,” Karen grunted. “This is substantially tighter than before!”

“Almost finished,” Frank said to her, before looping the remaining length of the rope under one arm, following the edge of her apron around the back of her neck, and back down under the opposite arm.

All at once, Karen felt the rows of rope encircling her get cinched all in place, as her father-in-law tied the knot behind her back.

“And…there you go!” he said to Daniel, who’s been transfixed by his grandpa’s method.

“Whoah…” the boy breathed, scratching his head. “That seemed complicated.”

“It’s just basic knot-work,” Frank assured the son. “It gets simpler with practice.”

“Can we gag her now?” the boy asked, picking up a white cloth from the bedside.

“Actually, one moment,” said the grey-mustached man, and he picked up one of the sponge balls he’d asked Karen if she’d had in the supply closet.

“This should help prevent her from talking,” he explained, showing the boy and giving the sponge ball a squeeze. He held the orange-colored foam sphere up to Karen’s lips.

“That isn’t necessary, you don’mmmph mmph thmph,” Karen started to say, before her father-in-law poked the sponge ball into her moving mouth.

The material expanded within the inside of her cheeks. “Umph, nmms hrdnmph tm tlkmph nmph,” she mumbled, lips closing around the stuffing.

“See how it muffled her words?” Frank showed to Daniel. “Go ahead and put the gag on now.”

Daniel hopped on the mattress behind his Karen, giving him some elevation, as he pulled the white cloth tightly over his mother’s mouth as before.

“Hrmph,” Karen exhaled, feeling her head pull back slightly as the boy tied the ends of the gag behind her head. Unlike before, she could not speak coherently beneath the fabric; with the sponge lodged inside.

“Now we need to tie her legs,” said Frank, continuing his instruction to young Daniel as Karen sat on the edge of the bed. “But watch what I do here…”

Frank then bent the rope once more before wrapping it around Karen’s ankles; and once they were bound together, he took the ends and crossed the cord between her feet, intersecting the rope.

“See? It makes the rope more like a pair of cuffs,” Frank said to his grandson.

“So she can’t slip them off her feet?” Daniel observed, as Karen wiggled her socks to demonstrate.

“Exactly,” the grandpa confirmed, and did the same kind of knot around Karen’s knees.

Once she was secured, both Frank and Daniel took a step back to look over their handiwork.

“Mmph!” Karen exclaimed, bouncing on the edge of the mattress with eyes wide above the gag. “Hlmph!”

“That should keep you out of trouble while we get the ransom set up,” Frank said to the mother, suppressing an amused expression.

“Yeah!” Daniel added, not even trying to hide his. “You can stay just like that!”

He looked down at his grandson. “Let’s leave her in the room for a bit, alright?” he said to him. “We can watch TV.”

Karen arched an eyebrow again at the prospect of being left alone. Wasn’t the whole purpose was for her to be present for the game?

At any rate, the two of them left the guest room, shutting the door behind them.

Karen took in the silence of the room, listening as her two fictitious kidnappers descended back downstairs.

She tested the ropes; and sure enough, everything Frank had said about the knots held true…the ropes around her chest had been stretched along every contour & groove of her torso. About the only thing she could move were her hands; and even that was just her fingers.

“Mmph…mmph…” she murmured, kicking out with her legs. Those knots were curious; the cuffs weren’t terribly tight; but every time she tried to separate her legs they reminded her that they were bound.

For all intents and purposes, she might has well have been a hostage; for how effectively she couldn’t move!

She wasn’t entirely immobilized, however…after about five minutes of sitting there, Karen decided to stand up from the bed.

Teetering on her feet, the mother hopped her way over to the door to the guest room, placing an ear yo against it to make sure Frank or her son weren’t on the other side.

The sound of the TV turned on downstairs confirmed their absence, and Karen tip-toed to turn around before bending down slightly to grip the door handle with her fingers.

Pressing down, the door swung open slightly…the brown-haired captive then hopped out of the room, and continued leaping awkwardly down the hall to the stairs.

Now, there was no way she was going to get down the steps while she was upright; so Karen leaned against the wall, gently lowering herself to a sitting position, before sliding down the stairs one step at a time.

Upon reaching the main level, Karen heard the sound of the living room television just around the corner; she’d have to be careful if she wanted to sneak away…

“Prisoner escape!” howled Daniel, who stood at the opposite end of the hall behind Karen.

Karen yelped in equal parts surprise & delight, as her son came barreling towards her, and she tried to hop away.

She only managed a few steps before Frank appeared around the corner, blocking her path, and Daniel caught up to her.

“Thought you could escape, huh?” Frank said to his daughter-in-law, who shook her head innocently.

“Nmph!” she mumbled through the gag. “Mmph nmt!”

“Uh-huh,” the relative grunted, and hoisted Karen over his shoulder!

“Hmph!” Karen exclaimed, as she was carried downstairs into the basement, with Daniel following.

The mother was deposited onto the couch once they reached the sitting area downstairs.

“And here I thought we could expect you to behave yourself,” Frank said condescendingly, flashing a knowing wink at her again.

Karen took that as a cue to writhe & struggle on the sofa, making noise through the gag.

"Maybe we need to deal with your son, after all," Frank started to say; causing Karen to cease her movements.

"Mmph? Nmph!"

"It might be the only way to get you to finally cooperate." Frank said to her, before turning to Daniel.

"Oh, do I get to be tied up, now?" the boy asked, perking up at the opportunity.

"If you want," Frank said to his grandson. "You can keep on being the robber; or I can tie you up with your mother. Your choice."

The boy actually took a moment to consider, Karen saw.

But finally, Daniel did seem to go in for the idea.

“Okay!” he agreed, setting his toy pistol aside.

“Let’s go back upstairs so we can get the extra rope,” Frank suggested, leading the boy along with one hand. “Then when we can come back; it’ll be like I just brought you to your captured mother.”

Karen watched the two of them leave the basement, waiting patiently for the next phase of the fantasy scenario.

A few minutes later, Karen heard the basement door open again, and saw a Frank escorting Daniel back down the steps…the boy now had his hands tied behind him, and rows of rope wrapped around his arms.

“Mom!” Daniel cried out, now playing the part of the kidnapped boy.

“Dnlmph!” Karen answered through her gag.

“You were warned about misbehaving,” Frank said to her, assuming his part as the kidnapper as he prodded the boy along to sit next to his mother on the couch. “Now we’re not going to take any more chances with the two of you.”

Franks took out more rope from his back pocket, and tied Daniel’s legs together.

“You won’t get away with this!” Daniel said to the “kidnapper”, as the son watched his knees and ankles he secured.

“I think it’s time you were quiet like your mother,” Frank said to the boy, as he took out an identical white handkerchief to match the gag used on Karen.

“Hmph!” Daniel yelled, as the cloth was pulled over his lower face, and knotted behind his neck. He looked up at his mother sitting next to him, the two of them exchanging muffled noises through the cloths covering their mouths.

“Now, let me go and grab a camera to get some photos to send to your father,” Frank said, once he had gagged the boy. “We’ll use them to show that we mean business when we ransom the two of you!”

Frank left the mother and her son on the sofa temporarily, while he went upstairs to presumably grab a cell phone.

Daniel immediately began thrashing against his ropes, pretending to be a hostage.

“Mmph!” he mumbled through the cloth, bouncing up and down on the couch cushion as he did so. “Hlmph!”

Karen stifled a laugh at his demonstration, and decided to join in. The mother began shifting against the ropes, attempting to reassure her son through her gag.

“Mnts gnmphing tm bmf alrmnt, hnymph,” she replied, leaning over to speak to him.

Daniel locked eyes with Karen, and started shaking his head. “Mmf cmn’t ubdrmstmnd ymph,” he said beneath his own gag. “Lmt mn trymph…”

The boy worked his chin, and gradually began slipping the gag off his mouth. “Don’t worry, Mom!” the boy breathed, the gag slipping down around his neck. “I’ll get us out of this!”

Karen smiled warmly under her own gag. What a sweetheart! Even it it was just a game.

Daniel continued to fight against the ropes; but Frank’s method of tying knots was definitely too advanced for the boy to handle.

Frank returned shortly after, with his phone in hand, and saw Daniel still struggling.

“Got your gag off already, huh?” he laughed, walking over to the boy and untying the cloth from his neck.

“Let us go!” Daniel commanded defiantly, never slipping from his acting.

“Guess we’ll go ahead and shut you up like your mother,” Frank said, with just a “hint” of menace; producing another sponge ball from his pocket.

“You just wait, we’re gonna get out of this and…MMPH!” Daniel said, right before Frank pushed the sponge past his lips, and re-tied the handkerchief back over his mouth.

“Now that both of you are nice & gagged; we can take the ransom photo,” Frank said to the pair, both of them wriggling next to each other on the couch.

Frank took a few steps away from where they were seated, and aimed the camera on the phone in their direction. “Say cheese!” he joked.

Both Karen & Daniel fixed their wide eyes on the cell phone. “Mmph! Hlmph mmph!” they both cried.

“Nice shot,” Frank responded, tapping the screen a few times before placing the phone on the table. “I just sent your husband the photo; we’ll wait & see what he has to say.”

Karen blushed slightly at the prospect of her husband seeing her in such a state.

Minutes passed, and the cell phone began to vibrate on the table.

Frank picked up the phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?” he said.

There was a pause. “I was in the area and decided to pay you a visit; but you weren’t home,” Frank said, relaying the events to his son, Thomas. “Your son wanted to play a game; and he got his mother to join in.”

Another pause, and Frank laughed. "The boy had already tied up Karen when I'd gotten here," he clarified, pacing the basement while the two on the couch watched him. "I just offered to play along."

Frank kept listening to his son on the phone. "Well, now I'm holding the both of them for ransom," he stated, looking back at the hostages. "Wanna speak with them?"

Franked listened, nodded, and switched the phone to speaker before setting it down on the coffee table in front of Karen & Daniel.

"...hello?" came the sound of Thomas's voice.

"Mmmph!" both Karen & Daniel cried, leaning over to vocalize into the phone.

"Sounds like the two of you are still tied up," Thomas responded after hearing them.

"Dmnd!" Daniel spoke to his father. "Hlpmph usmph!"

"As soon as I'm finished at the office, kiddo," Thomas promised. "Is your mother there?"

"Mm hrm, hnymph," Karen mumbled, hoping she could be understood.

"I hope my father didn't get too carried away," Thomas said apologetically. "I'm wrapping up here shortly, as a matter of fact; you both going to be all right until I get there?"

"Mmm thnk smph," Karen confirmed, before thinking a moment and adding, "Plsmph hrrymph!"

Thomas laughed on the other end of the phone. "I'll bring your "ransom" money in about an hour," the husband said. "See you then!"

"They won't be going anywhere," Frank said to his son, before the call was disconnected.

Karen & Daniel looked up at the father-in-law as he pocketed the cell phone. "Looks like all we need to do is wait now," he told them. "The two of you just wait here & be quiet."

Frank then casually went back upstairs, leaving the two hostages to their own devices.

After a minutes or two, Daniel quickly hopped to his feet.

"C'mnph, wm nmmd tm mnk mm rmn frm mnt!" the boy murmured, as he turned to face his mother, wobbling where he stood.

Karen nodded to her son, and carefully stood up from the couch herself. Together, they both hopped across the basement floor, towards the stairs.

"Wmph cnmph gmt upm thsmph," Karen said to her son, shaking her head while emphasizing her ropes. "Nmt wth thsmph nmph."

"Lmph gmph tm thm bckmph drmph!" Daniel responded, jerking his head towards the other end of the basement, where the backyard exit was located.

And so the mother and the son both began hopping towards that direction, grunting with every leap.

Wanting to keep this game inside, however, Karen jiggled the door handle once she came upon the exit. "Mnts lckmd!" she cried, emphasizing that the sliding door was locked.

Daniel groaned, deciding to sit down on the carpet in defeat, and continued strain against his gag and bindings in frustration.

Karen joined her son in apparent surrender, and set herself down into a sitting position on the ground, gently struggling in place while Daniel rolled around on the floor.

Eventually, Daniel managed to work the gag off his mouth, and spit out the sponge ball that had been stuffed inside.

"Gah!" he gasped, now that he could talk, scrunching up his face. "That sponge made that gag MUCH better than before; I couldn't say anything!"

Karen nodded in agreement, tilting her head in a gesture that beckoned her son to come closer to her.

"You want me to get your gag off, too?" he asked, and his mother nodded again.

Daniel brought himself to his knees, dragging himself closer, and Karen laid down on her side so her son could reach the end of the handkerchief covering her mouth with his fingertips.

"Mmph...ah!" Karen breathed, as her son pulled the cloth down & she forced the damp sponge from her mouth. "Are you still okay?"

"Yeah, Mom," her boy assured her, jostling his ropes. "Grandpa is really good at these knots, though!"

"He is indeed," the mother sighed, and the two of them re-adjusted themselves so that they were sitting back-to-back.

Time passed, and they both heard Frank coming down the stairs on the opposite side of the basement again.

"Two of you went on the move, I see," Frank's voice echoed, as he saw that the two captives had re-located from their spot on the couch.

"We're over here!" Daniel called out, and Karen saw the father-in-law appear before them as he drew near.

"You two might be the most rebellious hostages ever," Frank chuckled down at them, and Karen saw that he now had a roll of white duct tape in one hand.

"What's the tape for?" she inquired, having a pretty good idea already.

"Well, it's about time to make the ransom exchange," Frank answered, lifting the hand that held the duct tape. "And since the two of you can't seem to keep those gags on..."

The father-in-law tore off a piece of the white tape for emphasis, and slowly approached the mother and her son...

--

Thomas Anderson was parking his car at the home some time later, stepping out of the vehicle once he'd pulled into the garage.

"Hello?" he greeted, closing the garage door behind him before heading into the house. "Karen? Dad? Daniel...?"

There came the sound of faint mumbling from the living room, followed shortly after with a response. "In here!" came his father's voice.

Thomas Anderson took himself and his briefcase further into the main level of the home, stepping into the living room to take in the scene before him: his father, Frank Anderson, was sitting in the recliner, grinning up at his son.

"Took your time getting here, eh?" Frank japed.

Both his wife, Karen, and his son, Daniel, were sitting in the living room, too...they had apparently taken two of the chairs from the dining room and set them up in the middle of the living room floor. Both Karen and Daniel sat in either of these chairs; tied up as they had been in the photo Thomas had received at the office, with more ropes encircled around their upper bodies to secure them to the back of the seats.

The cloths that had been tied over their mouths had been replaced with what looked like strips of white duct tape, though; smoothed over their lips, with their cheeks slightly bulging as though someone had filled their mouths with stuffing of some kind.

The two captives lit up when they saw Thomas appear before them, rocking slightly in the chairs they were bound to as they began shifting around.

"Dmdmph!" Daniel mumbled through his gag. "Ymph mnd mmph!"

"Hey, son," the father greeted, before turning to his captured wife. "You alright, honey?"

"Mmv bnnm bttrmph," Karen joked, moving her mouth beneath the adhesive gagging her.

"Was the duct tape REALLY necessary, Dad?" Thomas sighed, looking over at his own father sitting in the recliner.

"Hey, those two made it necessary when they couldn't keep those rags over their mouths," Frank said defensively, shrugging. "Besides; you were the same way when you were the boy's age."

"Uh-huh," grunted Thomas, shaking his head before patting the briefcase he held. "So, uh...we gonna pay the "ransom" and get these two freed...?"

Both Karen and Daniel nodded their heads vigorously from where they sat, mmmphing through the duct tape gagging them.

"Well, what's the hurry?" came Frank's response, which caused both captives to shoot the father-in-law an incredulous look. "You just got here, after all...wanna have a beer with your old man for a bit?"

"Dad...you're bad news," Thomas answered with a bemused expression on his face.

"What?" Frank answered innocently. "You're not entitled to a short break every now and then?"

Thomas frowned at his father, but set the briefcase down on the couch, casting a mischievous glance over to where his wife & kid still sat bound & gagged.

"I guess these two aren't going anywhere just yet," Thomas said slowly, a hint of a grin on his face as he saw their eyes widen in shock & betrayal.

"Thmsmph!" Karen mumbled, leaning froward against her ropes as her son did the same next to her.

"Excellent!" Frank beamed, standing up from the recliner to go and pat Thomas on the shoulder. "Let's go have a drink out back, shall we?"

The father-in-law left the living room, and Thomas turned to regard his bound family.

"A quick beer or two; and then I'll come untie you both," the husband promised...leaving his wife and son to struggle in the chairs as they called out after him through their gags...

[charliesmith]

I enjoyed reading this story! It was fun and well written. You have a great imagination! @Detective-Gag

[ILoveHandsUp]

A great story! I loved how Karen got to put her hands up not once, but twice!