Nothing Personal 6 (F/F)

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Nothing Personal 6 (F/F)

Post by mrjones2009 »

Hi! Hope that everyone is well.

Thought that I should move the next and final story featuring many of these characters to the adult section just to be on the safe side.

https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9343

https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2919

https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1424

https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1373

Previous installments can be found on links above. No need to read to enjoy this story. Just for any that would be interested.

To summarize our heroes Hayley, Kirsty and the rest of the gang have escaped the clutches for Elizabeth Crawford who is currently locked away in a prison cell somewhere deep inside the USA. Picking up after the events of Natalie's wedding at the end of Nothing Personal 5.
Last edited by mrjones2009 1 year ago, edited 4 times in total.
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Prologue

East Coast United States – 3 months after the events of Nothing Personal 5

The six black clad figures sat on bench seats in the rear of the van. “Time check. 1am in 5…” all six, three men and three women pressed the buttons to illuminate the screens of their watches. “4…3…2…1…check!” They all nodded. All six were dressed head to toe in black. Skin tight top, combat trousers and boots. Their attention to detail was such that even their underwear was black. “Go in 3 minutes. Equipment check.” Each member of the team quickly patted down the gear attached to their webbing before they also gave the contents of their rucksacks a final check. It had all been checked on numerous occasions previously but it never hurt to check again. Each member gave the team leader a thumbs up. He glanced at his watch and nodded. They all slipped in the earpiece that was attached to their throat mikes. “Check 1.” Thumbs up all round.

“Check 2.” Thumbs up all round.

“Check 3.” Thumbs up all round.

“Check 4.” Thumbs up all round.

“Check 5.” Thumbs up all round.

“Check 6.” Thumbs up all round.

“Go.” The team leader opened the rear door of the van and they all slipped out into the cool night air. As they stepped out the van the team leader noticed that the streetlights had been turned off as had been agreed weeks before during operational planning. The six strong team walked casually across the road and onto the sidewalk on the other side of the road and toward their target. That was a house further along the street. Behind 2, who had taken the lead and was fixated on the way ahead the other members of the team scanned the area for threats, or more likely on this operation, nosy neighbours. If anybody did see them it was a 50/50 call on whether they called the police. If they had been skulking around it would have been 90/10 in favour of a call being made. At the target house they took a sharp ninety degree turn and headed down a path toward a gate in the fence to the side of the garage that was attached to the side of the house. The side gate was unlocked and the team slipped through. The team leader closed it behind them and shook his head. Typical cop. Think it won’t happen to them. He knew from their surveillance of the target that there were no CCTV cameras installed. There was an alarm system but he doubted it would be activated. As they made their way around to the rear of the house the team crouched down to make them smaller targets. At the back door they fanned out and against the wall of the house and allowed 4 free access to the door. She was their locksmith and made short work of the two locks having been prepared for what to expect. As part of the preparation she had practiced on the same locks beforehand. After popping the locks 4 gently pushed the door open. There was no beep. They were experienced operators. Better to wait and be caught outside then inside. The team leader counted out five lots of sixty seconds in his head and then gave the signal. They all stepped inside the rear door and fanned out in the kitchen. Before stepping inside, each team member had covered their boots with disposable shoe covers. Once inside they pulled their weapons and swept the ground floor, moving swiftly and silently. Professional. Methodical. Quick but not hurried. 4 had already been in the house and drawn up a detailed layout plan so they knew where they were going.

“Clear.” The whispered voice in the earpieces confirmed. They gathered at the bottom of the stairs to the first floor and started to carefully climb. Slowly, taking one stair at a time until they were all on the landing at the top of the stairs. All of the doors off the corridor were closed. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, one cupboard and a small study.

“Clear to procced,” the Team Leader confirmed. Breaking into teams of two, each containing one man and one woman, each team approached their designated bedroom door. Kneeling down each team member removed a gas mask from their rucksack and slipped it on. One member of each team removed their rucksack and then removed a silver canister with a valve and hose at one end. The hose was put under the door of the bedroom and the value opened. A soft hiss accompanied the gas as it left the canister and was let out into the room. The canister emptied and the team looked at their watches again. After two minutes had passed, they cautiously opened the bedrooms doors and slipped inside. In each bedroom the occupant of the bed did not move or show any sign that there slumber had been disturbed. Which was the plan as the gas had been a sedative. Inside each bedroom the female member of the team made their way across to the bed and removed their rucksack. Confirming that the female occupant of the bed was unconscious the team member threw back the duvet. Removing two sets of padded cuffs from her rucksack these were used to secure the unconscious woman’s ankles together and wrists behind her back. A large ball-gag was then used to gag the unconscious woman. Finally, a second canister was removed from the rucksack. This also had a hose but also at the other end of the hose was a black anaesthetic mask. This was placed over the unconscious woman’s nose and mouth and secured in place with a strap. The same process was being undertaken in all three bedrooms. Satisfied that the occupants of the house would no longer be a problem the teams exited the bedrooms and congregated once more on the landing. The Team Leader signalled and they all removed their gas masks “Any problems.”

“No.”

“No,” both other teams confirmed.

“Alright, time to do what we came here to do. Be careful and thorough. We have three hours and then we are out. Full audio and visual in the bedrooms, living room, kitchen, dining room and garage. Audio only in the bathrooms just in the interests of completeness.”

“What about the garden?”

“Good idea 2. See if we can put something on the garden furniture.” 2 nodded and headed off. “5,” the team leader said. One of the men stopped digging around in his rucksack. “You take a look around for any computers, phones or tablets. Try and get a data dump.” The man nodded, picked up his rucksack and headed off for the stairs. “The rest of you get to it.” The remaining members of the team nodded and set off to install the equipment.

For the next two and a half hours the team work silently and efficiently to complete their tasks. “Meet at agreed rally point,” the Team Leader recalled his squad. “Everything installed?” He was greeted with five thumbs-up. He removed a radio from his webbing. “Base. Transmission check.”

“Confirmed. All good,” a female voice responded seconds later. “We have everything.”

“Good. Time to get out of here.” The Team Leader turned to 5. “Check the ground floor to make sure we haven’t left anything. Entry and exit point in seven minutes.” The man nodded and left. With their task completed the rest of the team went back to the bedrooms and the unconscious women. Glad to see that they were all still slumbering they removed the anaesthetic masks, gags and cuffs and put them back into their rucksacks. After a final check the team retraced their steps, locked the rear door and made their way back to the van. 2 got in the driver’s seat and the rest of the team got into the back. Once they were far enough away from their target to allow him to relax the Team Leader look around his team. “Good job team. They will never know we were there.”
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Post by Caesar73 »

So this is it: The long awaited prologue of the Final Part of [mention]mrjones2009[/mention] epic Saga "Nothing Personal" - and it sets the stage quite nicely: A clandestine operation - which raises lots of questions: Who are the six operatives? Which house is their target? Who are the women which were put to sleep?

One question: You write, that the Event happens three months after NF 5. Does that include the epilogue who ended with Nathalies abduction as we know?
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Caesar73 wrote: 1 year ago So this is it: The long awaited prologue of the Final Part of @mrjones2009 epic Saga "Nothing Personal" - and it sets the stage quite nicely: A clandestine operation - which raises lots of questions: Who are the six operatives? Which house is their target? Who are the women which were put to sleep?

One question: You write, that the Event happens three months after NF 5. Does that include the epilogue who ended with Nathalies abduction as we know?
[mention]Caesar73[/mention] - Thanks for the feedback.

To confirm. This is 3 months after Natalie's abduction.
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Post by Caesar73 »

mrjones2009 wrote: 1 year ago To confirm. This is 3 months after Natalie's abduction.
Poor Natalie .... held long time captive again ....
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Post by LunaDog »

THIS is absolutely SUPERB! Hardly surprising as aren't you also the author of that utter MASTERPIECE, Incident at York Manor?
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Post by mrjones2009 »

LunaDog wrote: 1 year ago THIS is absolutely SUPERB! Hardly surprising as aren't you also the author of that utter MASTERPIECE, Incident at York Manor?
[mention]LunaDog[/mention] - Thanks for the complimentary feedback. It is always appreciated.

Yes, I did write Incident at York Manor. Not sure I would call it a masterpiece but once again happy to take the positive comments.

Hope that you enjoy this story.
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Chapter 1

East Coast United States

The phone burred softly on the bedside cabinet. “uumm…nnaahh…” Kirsty mumbled half-awake as she rubbed her eyes with her left arm whilst reaching out for her phone with her right. Just as she managed to find the phone in the dark it stopped. “Bloody hell!” Kirsty cursed. Then is started to burr again. Kirsty squinted at the screen. “What does she want?” Kirsty thought about ignoring the call, after all it was now after midnight. “Argh!” she punched the button with the little green phone. “Jaclyn. What can I do for you?”

“Sorry to bother you Kirsty but I was looking for Hayley and can’t get hold of her,” Jaclyn Smith said from somewhere with an echo. Perhaps a hallway. There was a reason that Jaclyn couldn’t get Hayley. Kirsty sighed, threw off the duvet and swung her legs out and onto the carpet.

“Yeah, Hayley got called out to a job,” Kirsty replied through gritted teeth. She hated lying to someone that had done a lot for her. “Sounded pretty serious. She must be tied-up with that.”

“Well, there is something that I think she should know.”

“Alright.” There was something in Jaclyn’s tone of voice that caught Kirsty’s attention and made the sleepiness disappear.

“Elizabeth Crawford was injured in what prison authorities are currently calling an incident.” That news shocked Kirsty, so much so that she didn’t respond. “Although from what I hear from sources it was some kind of riot.” Jaclyn sighed. “Elizabeth was taken to hospital.”

“How serious?” Kirsty asked, gripping the phone tighter.

“I don’t really know but my sources say it was pretty serious. One of the other prisoners involved in the incident wasn’t so lucky.” Kirsty noticed the emphasis that Jaclyn put on the word incident. “She was taken to the morgue.”

“Shit…what happened?” Kirsty was now fully awake. She stood up and walked across to the window. Peeking through the blinds Kirsty could see a light drizzle was falling. Her first thought at seeing the rain was hoping that Hayley had a coat with her.

“I am still waiting on full details,” Jaclyn said. “Could you let Hayley know?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Thanks Kirsty,” Jaclyn replied. “Good night.” The line went dead. Kirsty crossed her arms and stood at the window thinking for a couple of minutes.
“Sure, I will let Hayley know. Just as soon as I work out what bar she is in.”




Naples International Airport, Italy

“Please remember to take all of your belongings from the cabin. Welcome to Italy and I hope that enjoy your stay.” The flight attendant’s voice said from the speakers. Rhiannon Scott stretched her back and then fiddled with the scarf around her neck to make sure it was sitting correctly. The scarf was a high-quality white silk scarf with a subtle pattern at the edge and an embroidered emblem on it. The emblem was subtle but important. Now that the scarf was sitting to her satisfaction Rhiannon glanced out the porthole as the plane taxied toward its allocated space on the apron and halted. There was a bustle as the passengers got ready to disembark and the flight attendants made the preparations before the door was opened. Rhiannon had watched the mobile stairs approach the plane with a slight nervousness starting to stir in her stomach.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all….” Rhiannon said to herself.

“What was that?” the man sitting next to her asked as he got up.

“Sorry,” Rhiannon replied looking around. “Talking to myself.” The man nodded before finding a gap in the queue of passengers making their way toward the exit of the aircraft. Rhiannon was content to wait until most of the other passengers had already left before grabbing her hand luggage and making her way toward the exit. The expression on the face of the flight attendant who nodded as she stepped out of the aircraft and onto the stairs was weary and Rhiannon nodded. “Thank you.” The flight attendant nodded back. Rhiannon descended the stairs, made her way across the concrete apron and into terminal building. Dressed smartly in a knee length black skirt, green blouse, heels and a black jacket Rhiannon joined the line to have her passport checked. The line moved slowly and it seemed to take an age before Rhiannon found herself facing an officious looking man wearing a blue uniform. The man held his hand out and Rhiannon handed over her passport. The man opened the passport and spent a long time flicking through the pages and examining the stamps.

“Are you visiting for business purposes or for holiday?” The man gave Rhiannon a suspicious look as he waited for the answer. Rhiannon paused and looked blankly straight back at the man. She wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that question. The silence hung for a while before the man broke it. “It isn’t a difficult question to answer…surely?”

“Well…I…guess…it is a bit of both…” Rhiannon replied, suddenly flustered. “Catching up with old friends and perhaps doing some research.” Rhiannon stared at the man who was giving her a very unimpressed look. The silence resumed as the man looked at her. “Is there a problem?”

“Your travel history is interesting,” the man started to look Rhiannon up and down, “perhaps we should have a further conversation about the purpose of your visit in private….” The man’s eyes stopped at Rhiannon neck. Rhiannon watched the colour drain from the man’s face as he swallowed. “Apologies madam,” the man said now flustered and fumbling the stamp before pressing it firmly onto a fresh page on the passport. “Is there anything else that I can do for you?” he asked handing back the passport.

“No,” Rhiannon said slowly, cautiously taking back the passport. “Thanks.” Rhiannon turned and hurried off before the man could change his mind. As she strode toward the baggage collection area Rhiannon wondered what could have caused the sudden change in the man’s attitude. That was until she caught a glimpse of herself in a large mirror and noted the scarf around her neck. She smiled and entered the baggage claim with a confident bounce in her stride. It didn’t take long for Rhiannon to identify her suitcase and haul it from the carousel and onto the hard floor. After extending the collapsible handle Rhiannon turned and headed for the exit, not wanting to hang around in the airport to long. Hopefully there would be someone there to meet her as arranged.

As she exited the airport Rhiannon slipped on her new designer sunglasses. Purchased especially for the occasion and looked around. The car was sitting in the section reserved for taxis but nobody was making a fuss about it, a large black saloon car with tinted windows and the engine ticking over. Rhiannon guessed that was the car that had been sent to collect her and headed across, pulling her wheeled case behind her. As Rhiannon approached the car Claudia Ambrosio, the late Alessandra’s sister, stepped out of the shadows and approached her. “Good afternoon,” the attractive woman with the auburn hair said by way of introduction, “I hope that you had a pleasant trip.” Rhiannon almost jumped as she hadn’t noticed the Claudia approach.

“Fine,” Rhiannon replied. “As well as can be expected.” Claudia nodded as she reached out and took Rhiannon’s suitcase.

“Let me put this away for you.” Rhiannon nodded and allowed Claudia to take the suitcase and put it in the boot of the car. Rhiannon watched this, admiring the cut of the woman’s blue suit. Maybe I should ask where she gets them? Unsure what to do until Claudia stepped around her, opened the rear door and invited Rhiannon to enter. At this point Rhiannon had to admit to herself that she was a little bit nervous but after taking a moment slipped into the car and onto the plush, leather seats. Looking around Rhiannon admired the interior of the vehicle; it smelled brand new. Another familiar face looked back at Rhiannon on the rear-view mirror. Bianca Russo sat behind the wheel and acknowledged Rhiannon with a silent nod. No sooner had Claudia got in the passenger seat than Bianca pulled the car always from the curb and into the flow of traffic. They rode in silence for a while until Cludia twisted round in the seat. “It will be around thirty minutes until we reach the villa.” Rhiannon nodded. “Just relax and enjoy the ride.”

Rhiannon did just that as they moved from the motorways to the more scenic surroundings of the countryside. The rolling hills and trees made for pleasant viewing. Then the car slowed and made a slow turn through large metal gates that had opened to let them in. That was when Rhiannon noticed the high brick wall that had been running on the other side of the road, she had been staring at the views out of the other side of the car. Once inside the walls Rhiannon took in the wide expanse of well-manicured lawns as the car made its way up the drive. “Very nice…very, very nice,” Rhiannon mumbled under her breath as she took in the villa. It was stunning. As the car pulled to a halt Rhiannon sat transfixed looking at the fabulous two-story villa. To be honest, the description of villa didn’t really do justice to the size of the house. Suddenly, the door opened and Claudia beckoned Rhiannon to exit. Once out of the vehicle Rhiannon followed Claudia up a short set of stairs and through a heavy wooden door that was being held open by a man wearing a black suit and shirt.

“Please take Miss Scott’s bag to the main guest room,” Claudia ordered the man as they passed. The man nodded and set off. They walked through the open area toward the rear of the house with Rhiannon a couple of paces behind Claudia, taking in the various paintings and ornaments that were dotted about. As Rhiannon had her attention drawn to a particularly fetching tapestry hanging on a wall, she almost bumped into Claudia who had stopped to chat with a blond haired, blue eyed, woman in her early twenties. The woman’s outfit unmistakably identified her as a maid.
“In the study,” the young maid said to Claudia, who nodded a silent acknowledgment. Rhiannon followed Claudia through the rest of the house trying not to look around too much in awe at the interior decorations or stare at the paintings, sculptures and pottery dotted around and hanging from walls. They all looked expensive. Probably originals.

“Here, is the study,” Claudia had stopped in front of an imposing set of heavy looking wooden doors. The Italian woman knocked, waited what Rhiannon was the required time before opening the door and beckoning Rhiannon to enter. The door was just open enough to allow Rhiannon to slip throw and into a large space that was brighter that she had expected. Rhiannon took a couple of paces into the room stopped. Jumping slightly as the door closed behind her. After regaining her composure Rhiannon looked around. There were the tall bookcases filled with leather bound books carefully stacked, broken up by the occasional ornament or framed photograph. The study was large and designed to draw the eye toward a large desk at one end. Behind the desk were large doors leading to a conservatory and on either side of the doors were floor to ceiling windows that gave a spectacular view of the gardens beyond. Sitting behind the desk was Gina Conti, the Madrina of La Signora Mafia. The woman had a smile on her face.

“Rhiannon, so good to see you again.” Gina got up and went came around the desk with her arms outstretched. Rhiannon took a couple of steps forward and walked straight into Gina’s warm embrace. The older woman then took a step back and looked at Rhiannon. “Thanks for coming. I wanted the chance to speak to you in person.” Could Rhiannon have refused the invitation? “I have to thank you and your associates again for dealing with Elizabeth Crawford.”

“Oh, no problem,” Rhiannon replied. She didn’t really know what else to say.

“Sit, sit,” Gina pointed toward to chairs placed so that however was sitting in them would have a view out into the gardens. “Nice view.”

“Lovely,” Rhiannon replied taking a seat. Gina sat down beside her and they started chatting. Just general chat about Rhiannon’s trip and what she had been up to. Gina was very skilled at keeping the discussions about her work and life generic. After half an hour the maid appeared and deposited two glasses of wine and some snacks on a small table between the two seats. “Thanks,” Rhiannon said as she lifted the glass.

“Local wine,” Gina told her. Rhiannon nodded and took a sip from the glass. It was very good. After the wine arrived Gina started to discuss Elizabeth Crawford.

“She was a thorn, not only in my side, but of a lot of others in my profession across the globe. Now, she is where she belongs.” Gina smiled at Rhiannon. “There are a lot of people that owe you and your friends a favour.” Gina winked when she made that comment. Rhiannon smiled awkwardly, not really being sure if being owed favours by people in Gina’s line of work was welcome or not. “I assume that you didn’t mention us at all?”

“Absolutely not,” Rhiannon confirmed emphatically. Gina reached out and patted her knee. They started talking again, about things other than Elizabeth Crawford and anything illegal. Eventually the sun had disappeared and Rhiannon yawned.

“Sorry, you must be tired after your journey.” Rhiannon nodded. “I have some business to take care of tomorrow,” Gina said, “but we will meet up later on in Palermo for dinner and some sightseeing.” Gina smiled when she used that term. “You just relax during the day and let the staff take care of you. Treat my house as you would your own.” Gina pressed a button and the maid appeared. “Please take Miss Scott to her room.”

“Good night,” Rhiannon said as she got up and followed the maid through the house, up a flight of stairs and along the corridor. The main stopped at a wide wooden door and opened it. Rhiannon walked in and gasped. The room was lovely and had a large balcony that overlooked the gardens. Her bags been emptied and her clothes hung in the wardrobe and put away in drawers. Her toiletries were on a shelf in the bathroom. Rhiannon sat on the bed and looked around the sumptuous bedroom. Wondering how she had got here. She seemed to have made friends with the head of a criminal organisation and to be honest wasn’t that sure how she felt about it.

Industrial Estate, Port of Salerno

It had not been a boring day. Claudia had obviously been tasked with entertaining Rhiannon for the day and she had done a good job. Tours of the gardens and a local vineyard. Shopping in exclusive shops, she had managed to get one of those suits ordered, followed by some lunch. Rhiannon hadn’t had to pay for anything. It made ger feel like a bit of a star. That was also helped by being chauffeured around in a large car all day. After there last stop they made the journey to meet Gina. The landscape changed as the car travelled, from rolling hills to housing and then to large sheds as they entered what Rhiannon assumed was some kind of industrial estate. The car made its way through the estate and stopped beside a large warehouse. Claudia got out of the front passenger seat and opened the door to allow Rhiannon to get out. “Thanks.” Claudia nodded.

“In there.” Rhiannon looked and saw a set of double doors lying open. As the two women approached Rhiannon noticed that Claudia kept looking around.

“Something wrong?” Rhiannon asked.

“Not that I could put my finger on,” Claudia replied somewhat cryptically. Rhiannon shrugged it off as just someone in Claudia’s profession being overly cautious. On entering the warehouse Rhiannon and Claudia walked across the concrete floor to a set of metal steps. As they walked up the stairs Rhiannon looked around at the stacks of boxes and crates in the warehouse and found herself wondering what was in them. Probably best that she didn’t ask. At the stop of the stairs was a large open space. Gina was standing with her back to them looking out the one window.

“Hello ladies,” Gina greeted them as she greeted them. “Did you have a nice day?”

“Brilliant!” Rhiannon replied with genuine enthusiasm. “Claudia looked after me very well.” Gina nodded a thank you to Claudia.

“Apologies for having to meet here in this place,” Gina waved her hand around to indicate the warehouse. “My business got delayed but we have a table booked at a glorious little place about twenty minutes away. The food will…” Suddenly there was a loud thump and then the sound of running feet in heavy boots on concrete.

“What was that?” Rhiannon asked, looking around.

“If I had to guess I would say that it was a police raid,” Gina said with a sigh. Rhiannon turned back to look at Gina with a worried look on her face. “Don’t worry, there is nothing in the warehouse that could cause us issues.” Gina looked at Claudia for confirmation. Claudia held up a hand and wiggled it from side to side. “Well, maybe just a minor inconvenience but nothing that can’t be straightened out.” The sound of the footsteps got louder as the people making them got closer. There was now also some shouting mixed in with the general noise. “Claudia. Did you make the usual donation to the local police charity fund?” There was the sound of boots on metal.

“As we do each month,” Claudia replied just as the head of the first police officer appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Just stay still and don’t say anything,” Gina said to Rhiannon. Gina seemed a lot more relaxed about the situation then Rhiannon thought she should have been. Soon there were twelve police officers forming a loose semi-circle between Gina, Claudia, Rhiannon and the stairs to the ground floor. That wasn’t what made Rhiannon nervous. That would have been the guns that were pointed at them. There was an uncomfortable silence for what felt like ten minutes before someone spoke.

“Questa è la polizia che nessuno si muove!”

“What did he say?” Rhiannon asked raising her hands.

“This is the police. Nobody move! Or something like that.” Claudia replied with a shrug of her shoulders. It was as if this was some minor, tedious interruption to her day rather than a raid by a dozen very serious looking and heavily armed Italian police officers.

“Questa è la polizia che nessuno si muove!” Nothing happened. It seemed to be a stalemate. The police officers looked nervous to Rhiannon, which she didn’t think was a good sign considering that they had guns in their hands and those guns were pointed at them.

“Abbassare le pistole,” Claudia said “Possiamo parlare.” The woman took a step forward and raised her hand in a placating gesture. That seemed to startle the already nervous police officers and there was movement.

“Wait!” Rhiannon called putting her hands out in a defensive manner just before the sound of gunfire echoed around the cavernous space.
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Post by Windrunner »

Have been enjoying all of your previous stories - there are a LOT of them! - and so many creative restraints and torments for the poor, unfortunate captives. Hope you do continue, and if that line of down-filled restraint bags makes it to market, well, I might find myself a customer :)
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Windrunner wrote: 1 year ago Have been enjoying all of your previous stories - there are a LOT of them! - and so many creative restraints and torments for the poor, unfortunate captives. Hope you do continue, and if that line of down-filled restraint bags makes it to market, well, I might find myself a customer :)
[mention]Windrunner[/mention] - Thanks for the positive feedback. Glad that you have been enjoying the stories.

Hope that you enjoy this adventure as well. One further chapter to come before end of 2022!!

Maybe a business opportunity in there somewhere........
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Post by Caesar73 »

This final installment of the great Nothing Personal Saga is picking up steam pretty quick. Another part of the stage is set in the first part of Chapter 1: Elizabeth Crawford in the Hospital? I smell intrigue! I don´t think "Liz" will stay there long. And the list of people on her black list must be long. No doubt Hayley and Kirsty at the top of the list ... Kirsty is shocked - and rightfully so.

The second part of this chapter brings a change of pace and scenery - and leaves a few questions: The most important one? What is Rhiannon doing in Naples? What business she has with the Mafia?

And the ensuing firefight at the end adds more spice to the mix :)

Since the author moved the story to the adult section we can expect a darker tone than in the previous stories ....
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Thanks for the views and feedback so far. This goes for all of 2022 on all of my stories. Very much appreciated.

Leaving one further update here as a sign off. More to come in 2023! Hope that everyone has a good New Year.
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Chapter 2

Pretoria, South Africa

The violet flowers of the jacaranda trees that lined the streets were if full bloom as Penelope Gordon strolled along the pavement as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Which of course was not true. “What did I have to actually like this girl?” Penelope cursed under her breath as she turned the corner and onto another street. It never ceased to amaze Penelope how the entire feeling of a town or city could change just by turning a corner. Suddenly, the atmosphere had changed. You could sense it and Penelope had just turned that corner in Pretoria. It was the way people looked at you more than anything else. Especially, if you were a stranger. “Well, you are committed now.” Penelope walked past a row of shops, pawnbrokers, newsagents and a bar. Penelope walked by all three without glancing in. The same couldn’t be said of Penelope’s ass. That got a lot of admiring glances as she walked by. “If they think the ass is good. Wait until they see the tits.” Penelope had purposefully dressed in tight clothing that accentuated her figure. She thought that it would help in her current operation. As she walked Penelope ran through her journey again in her head. Jaclyn had been true to her word and let her go with a clean slate and a bag of new clothes. Then it had been back to England to have a difficult conversation with Myles Sharpe about his daughter, Grace. To be fair to him Myles took it as well as could be expected. After he calmed down. Then Penelope had to talk him into letting her find Grace. Fortunately, he had agreed. After he had calmed down again. It had taken some time with a lot of travel, dead ends and disappointment. “Let’s hope this lead works out.” Penelope had stopped in front of a bar. Not the nicest bar in town by a long way. It was a working man’s bar. That meant working men like mechanics or dockers, not doctors or accountants. Looking around Penelope noted that the shadows were lengthening as the sun started to set. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the door and entered. It was dark inside and cool. The lighting was muted and in pools below the fittings. There were areas of shade throughout the bar where people could lurk unseen. As she walked over to the bar Penelope’s heels clicked on the wooden floor. As she walked Penelope zipped down her jacket to reveal a form fitting top. She could feel the eyes of the patrons on her. Apart from the clicking of her heels and the sounds of commentators on the horse racing being shown on the television the bar was silent.

“Hello,” a man said from behind the bar. “What can I get you?” Penelope noted the lingering glance at her assets. The man was around forty, meaty rather than muscular, bald and had numerous tattoos on his forearms.

“Just a bottle of beer please,” Penelope replied. The man nodded, turned around and removed a bottle of beer from a fridge. Using a device on the bar he popped the cap off and put the beer on the bar in front of Penelope. “Thanks.”

“Huh, nice to meet someone with manners. Even without the accent I could tell you weren’t from around here.” Penelope smiled and nodded. “So, eh, what brings you to our fine establishment?” Already with the subtle questioning.

“A friend recommended the place,” Penelope replied. “Says it is one of the must visit places in all of South Africa.” The man laughed.

“Your friend couldn’t have visited many places in South Africa!” The man nodded to the other side of the bar. “Take a booth and we can bring any more drinks over,” the man winked. “That’s if you decide to hang around. Settle up before you leave.” After nodding a thanks Penelope picked up her beer and walked across the bar and sat in an empty booth. She took of her jacket, which she folded and put on the seat next to her before dumping her bag on top. Sipping the beer Penelope relaxed a little, it was now just a case of biding her time and picking the correct moment.

The first beer went down nicely, as did the second. When she ordered a Jack Daniels chaser with her third it earned a nod of approval from the barman. Penelope noticed that the bar was starting to get busier with bodies, mostly men and a lot of them were wearing the same top. When the waitress returned with her drinks Penelope decided that this was the correct moment and pulled a wad of notes from her bra and set them on the table where they were clearly visible to the waitress. “Starting to get busy,” Penelope commented casually.

“Yeah,” the waitress replied her eyes never leaving the money. “Big rugby game on tonight.”

“Rugby isn’t my thing,” Penelope stated. “Sweaty, beefy men cuddling each other does nothing for me. Now, if it was the world cheerleading championships.” Penelope put on her best smile. The waitress looked from the money to Penelope. “I am looking for your other room sweetheart,” Penelope said with a wink as she slid the notes across the table. “The one with the sexy, sexy ladies.” The woman nodded and casually slipped the notes into his pockets before heading back to the bar. Fingers crossed. Penelope raised her glass and downed the chaser in one. Glancing at the bar the waitress was talking with the friendly barman. He nodded and the waitress made her way back across.

“Go through the door at the back of the bar. Rather than turn right for the toilets turn left and go through the kitchen. Keep going. The word of the day is pyramid.” The woman then turned and left. Having no desire to watch the rugby Penelope quickly drained her third beer and grabbing her bag and jacket headed as directed. After a brief rest stop Penelope wandered into the kitchen. There were two women working away but they didn’t give her a second glance as she walked through. A door at the end of the kitchen took Penelope into a corridor. However, this corridor was different. It was nicely decorated, brightly lit and smelled nice. There were a couple of doors off it to either side and at the end there was another door being guarded by a large man sitting on a stool with a large dog. The dog was drooling as it looked at Penelope. What have you gotten yourself into now Penelope?

“What can I do for you?” the man asked in a tone that was both a friendly enquiry and veiled threat.

“Pyramid,” Penelope replied.

“Ah, come on then.” The man got up and beckoned Penelope forward. With some hesitation Penelope approached and keeping as far away from the dog as possible made her way down the corridor. The dog growled quietly as she squeezed by. “Don’t worry about Tyson. He don’t bite much.” The man punched a code into the wall and then leaned in and pushed the door open. “Enjoy the night.” When the door opened the sound of dull music drifted along the short, dimly lit corridor. Taking a couple of steps along the corridor Penelope hesitated for a second as the door close with a dull thump behind her. Only one way to go now. At the end of the corridor was a curtain and Penelope pulled it back to reveal a set of stairs. Penelope descended the steps and found herself facing a door. There was the muted sound of bad, European dance music coming from the other side. Pushing the door open the music suddenly stopped and Penelope heard applause.

“Give it up for Trinity,” the man said. “Come on, you can do better than that!” The applause got more enthusiastic. “That is better. Now folks treat yourself to a drink before our next act.” Penelope looked at the man who had been talking. He was wearing a dinner suit and was just walking off stage left. Looking around the whole place had something out of Berlin in the nineteen thirties about it. All satin curtains, booths, blue tinged lighting, wood panels and a long bar. The cliental were mostly men, but Penelope noted that she was not the only woman so at least she wouldn’t stand out from that point of view.

“I better try and blend in then,” Penelope mumbled as she approached the bar. A couple of men smiled at her as she found a stool and took a seat. A barman caught her eye and nodded to let Penelope know that he had seen her. After serving a group of men the barman put a mat down in front of Penelope. “Sex on the beach.” The barman smiled and turned away to make the cocktail. When he returned with the condensation covered glass Penelope thanked him and took a sip. “That is good.”

“And now folks. Show your appreciation for Harmony.” Penelope spun around on the stool just I time to see a young woman dressed as a nurse enter from stage right. Penelope rolled her eyes but managed to sit through Harmony’s stage act and then watch as another two young women took to the stage and danced. Not that it wasn’t entertaining to a degree, just a bit dispiriting as Penelope had hoped that this would be breakthrough. Just as she was trying to get the attention of the barman to order cocktail number three the compere came back onto the stage. “Now, welcome to the stage Harley to the stage.” Penelope turned back to the stage just in time to see a young woman dressed like Harley Quinn bustle onto the stage.
“Shit…surely not…” Penelope actually rubbed her eyes as the dancer started her act to some obscure dance tune played a little bit too loud. “Bingo!” What little fat there had been on Grace’s frame had been burnt off and her figure seemed to have developed a little but there was no mistaking her, even with the heavy make-up. Penelope decided to forgo the third cocktail and settled in to watch the show. At the end Harley/Grace waved and walked off as the compere came back onstage applauding.

“Give it up for tonight’s headline act, Harley!” The compare let the applause continue for a couple of seconds before continuing. “Now, just because the girls have finished there is no need to leave. The bar is open until early in the morning and the DJ will be on to play tunes.” The compare waved and exited the stage. Penelope turned back to the bar and tried to get the attention of the barman but he was busy with several thirsty customers. The barman nodded again and Penelope settled back to wait. Then someone appeared in the corner of her eye. It was the compere. He leaned both elbows on the bar and waved at the barman.

“He is coming over,” Penelope commented.

“Thanks,” the compere said then turned and sat that it was an attractive woman that was making conversation with him. He smiled and relaxed.

“Can I get you a drink?” Penelope returned the smile.

“Sorry, not my type handsome.” Penelope leaned in close to the compere and whispered. “How do you book a little alone time with the performers?” The man didn’t flinch. “I particularly admire that little bundle of energy Harley.” Penelope threw in a giggle. Hoping that would make the man more interested in what she was proposing.

“Sorry, we are not that type of establishment.” The words said that but his eyes said something else. Penelope just looked straight at the man and didn’t flinch.

“Sorry, my mistake. My friend mentioned…never mind, must have just been a misunderstanding.” Penelope winked. “Maybe just a vodka and coke. Top shelf seeing as you are paying.” The compere smiled, pointed at a bottle and held up two fingers. The barman seemed to know what that meant without asking.

“That accent, you aren’t local.” It was a statement and not a question.

“Just moved here for a job,” Penelope replied, trying to be vague.

“If you don’t mind me saying you have a great body.” Penelope accepted the comment with good grace just as the barman put two glasses down on the bar in front of them with a bit more force than he had to. He winked at Penelope. The compere picked up a glass and held it up. “Cheers!” Penelope picked up her glass and gently knocked them together. As they drank the compere made small talk and the crowd thinned a little. Once they had finished their drinks the compere looked around. “Follow me,” the compere pushed himself off the bar and started to walk away. Penelope picked up her bag and hurried to catch up. Snaking between people and tables they wove their way toward the back of the club toward the stage. There was a door to one side and the compere used a key to open it and stepped inside. He held the door open and motioned for Penelope to step inside. She did and the compere closed the door behind her. It was tight in the corridor and as the compere squeezed past Penelope could have sworn that his hand brushed her bottom and lingered for a split second too long. Penelope raised as eyebrow at the compere’s back as he walked down the corridor, deeper into the bowels of the building make a couple of turns until they were standing outside a room. The compere knocked and waited a second before opening the door. “Always best to check.” He beckoned and allowed Penelope to step inside first.

“Wow!” Penelope exclaimed as she entered the room and looked around. The decoration could best be described as cheap boudoir. There was a four-poster bed in the middle of the room with a garish pink and black duvet set. Yes, it was silk. There were a couple of chairs against one of the walls and a wardrobe and chest of drawers against the other.

“There are uniforms and costumes in the wardrobe,” the compere walked around the room, “toys and other items in the chest of drawers. Just not too much damage or the cost goes up. Harley is just new to performing so will be fresh.” Penelope felt her flesh crawl as the compere talked. Sounded like she was just in time. “Now, we have to come to the nasty business of price. There is an hourly rate. Half up front and the balance afterward. Depending on condition of…well.”

“Thanks fine but I want a close look at the merchandise before agreeing a fee,” Penelope walked over to the drawers and opened the top one. Her eyes almost popped out of there sockets. “Jeez,” she whispered under her breath.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Give me five minutes and…” There was the sound of a phone ringing and the compere’s shoulders slumped as he reached into his pocket and removed a mobile. “What now?” Penelope could only hear one side of the conversation. “I am busy. Can’t you handle it.” The compere looked at Penlope and raised his eyebrows. “Alright. Give a second.” He cut the call. “Sorry, I have something to deal with out front. Be back soon. You relax and get ready.” With that he left the room.

“Classy,” Penelope commented as she looked around the room. “I wonder where the cameras are.” Anyway, she wasn’t waiting around for the compere or anybody else to walk into the room. It was time to take a look around. Opening the door Penelope glanced first left and then right. Seeing nobody around she exited the room. Guessing that the girls would be further into the building Penelope headed in the opposite direction to where she had come from. Walking slowly but not sneaking around Penelope followed the corridor until she came to a turn. Pausing at the corner she peaked around and seeing nobody continued on. As she walked Penelope kept glancing behind her to make sure that she wasn’t being followed. Then as she approached the next corner, she heard muffled voices. It sounded like an argument, well raised voices anyway. Penelope put her back to the wall and edged her way along until she was right at the corner before she stopped and listened.

“You little Prima-Donnas don’t know how lucky you are,” a female voice said. “The Boss takes good care of you and all he asks in return is some favors for special customers. Is that too much? Selfish little….” There was the sound of a door slamming and then a lock being turned. “Stay in there and think things through for a while.” Penelope risked a peak and saw a woman standing staring at a door with fury in her eyes. The woman wore a short red sequined dress, matching heels, black tights and chucky gold jewelry. She was tallish but not as tall as Penelope and had a curvy figure and brown hair. The woman turned towards Penelope and she quickly pulled her head back and froze. There was the sound of footsteps approaching and Penelope got ready to bolt but they stopped. Then they started again but this time getting softer. “Ungrateful,” the woman muttered. Pacing. Penelope decided to take some action. It was clear that the girls were in that room and she wasn’t going to get a better chance than this. She just had to deal with the woman and she had something that would do that. Slipping her hand into her purse Penelope found the bottle of chloroform and a lady’s handkerchief. Quickly folded the handkerchief into a pad and poured some of the chloroform onto it. Carefully she folded the pad and put it in the waistband of her trousers before putting the bottle back in her bag and extracting a second handkerchief which she balled-up. Now, all she had to do was time it correctly.

“Alright,” Penelope whispered to herself and closed her eyes. She counted the woman’s steps back and forth until she was happy that they were consistent. They once the woman turned to start walking away Penelope slipped around the corner and quickly closed the distance. Just as Penelope got close Penelope could see the woman tense up like she knew something was wrong but before the woman could react Penelope wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist and hauled her in close.

“Hey! What..UUMMPPFF,” the complaints were shut off as Penelope stuffed the balled-up handkerchief into the woman’s mouth. “MMUUFHH!” Penelope quickly removed the chloroform laced handkerchief from her waistband and clamped it over the woman’s nose and mouth. “uummppff!” That was better. Less noisy now. Penelope held on tight as the woman twisted, squirmed and fought to get free. “hhyyuugg” the woman screamed and tried to break free but Penelope had a firm grip and was not letting go. Unless the woman had been chloroformed before, which Penelope doubted, she wouldn’t know what was going on. Then Penelope knew that the woman was starting to feel the effects of being forced to inhale the fumes as the struggles intensified for a bit and then the fumes started to work their magic and the intensity of the struggling decreased. The screams of protests into the cloth became muffled moans. Penelope was starting to have to support more and more of the woman’s weight until the woman slumped into her arms. “mmmhhnnmm,” the woman moaned as Penelope lowered her to the ground. As she lowered the woman, who was now limp, Penelope changed her position so that she was looking at the woman’s face. The eyes were not focusing and the eyelids fluttering. There was a final moan before the eyelids slammed close. Keeping the handkerchief in place Penelope lifted up the woman’s left arm and let it drop to confirm that she was indeed out. Removing the chloroform laced handkerchief and the balled-up handkerchief from the woman’s mouth Penelope bundled them up and threw them away down the corridor. Penelope bent down on one knee and began to search the woman for the key.

“I hope it isn’t down her bra.” Then the hairs on the back of Penelope’s neck stood up. There was a whoosh of air, then something hit Penelope on the head and everything went black. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Pretoria, South Africa

“uuummm…hhhmmm,” Penelope grumbled as she came around.

“Sleeping beauty is awake,” a male voice said. “I told you I didn’t hit her that hard.”

“Just as well,” a female voice replied. “The boss wants to talk with her.” Penelope shook her head and waited for her eyesight to function properly again. There were two people sitting on chairs around a desk looking at her. Each held cards in their hands. The first was a man, tall and slim with black hair and wearing jeans and a black leather waistcoat over a white t-shirt. The second was a woman that looked like a professional wrestler but wearing basically the exact same outfit as the man. The only change was that the waistcoat was denim rather than leather. There was a resemblance in their faces. The woman rose up and made her was across to where Penelope was seated on the floor and knelt down. Not that Penelope could move. Her wrists were tied behind her back with rope. The rope had been wrapped around her wrists several times, cinched and then a knot tied tightly, just out of reach of her fingers. That was annoying. Meant that the person tying the rope knew what they were doing. A glance down told her that her legs were tied with rope at the ankles, just above and below the knees and then around the thighs. A very competent job. “Now, open up sexy.” Penelope looked at the woman who was holding a balled-up handkerchief in her mouth. Penelope sighed. “They are clean.”

“Oh, great,” Penelope said. “That makes the difference.” Unable to see anyway out Penelope opened her mouth and let the woman stuff the handkerchief inside. That was followed by another, then a third and then a fourth until Penelope’s mouth was gaping and her cheeks bulged.
“mmmmm,” Penelope moaned uncomfortable.

“Stop complaining. Your saliva will reduce that a bit…eventually.” The woman pulled out a silk scarf and folded that into a band. Then she quickly tied that over Penelope’s mouth to stop the packing form being spat out. The tightness of the scarf made it more like a steel band around Penelope’s head rather than silk. “That should do you for now. Just sit still and don’t cause any hassle.”

“uummppff…mmmuurrr,” Penelope moaned and gave her head a shake. The gag was immovable. The woman went back to her chair and picked up her cards. The man studied his for a moment before asking a question.

“Then why did you gag her?” The woman gave the man a look. “If the boss wants to talk to her.”

“Later, idiot. The boss wants to talk to her later.” The female voice sounded exasperated. “For now, we are just keeping her out of the way.” Penelope looked around the room that she found herself in, it was some kind of back office. There was peeling paint on all the walls, old style metal filing cabinets were dotted around, a couple of tables, chairs, piles of old cardboard boxed and several bits of broken furniture were pushed into corners. Not exactly the most pleasant of environments. The way that her bottom was sticking to the carpet wasn’t exactly great either.

“uummpphh…mmffhh….”

“I thought I told you to be quiet,” the woman said as she studied her cards. Penelope mumbled something not very nice and settled in to wait for, well she didn’t know. There was an old clock high on the wall and Penelope watched the second and minute hands crawl around for almost an hour before something happened apart from the man and woman playing cards in silence. The door opened and Grace entered the room being pushed / dragged by a broad chested man wearing a blue suit, black shirt with the top three buttons undone and a massive gold chain around his neck. Penelope looked at Grace. The young woman had been crying and looked scared. Penelope mewed into her gag at the sight. The man threw Grace onto the grotty floor of the office.

“Tie her up with her friend. We will take them out to the ranch and then sort this out tomorrow.”

“Please…please…let her go…and…” Grace stumbled, sniffing and wiping her face.

“And what?” the man who had brought Grace in said. The young woman just looked at her feet. The woman hauled Grace onto her feet and pulled Grace’s arms behind her back. As Penelope watched on Grace meekly surrendered and allowed her wrists to be bound tightly together with rope.

“Open wide girly,” the woman ordered as she shoved a balled-up handkerchief into Grace’s mouth. That was followed by two further handkerchiefs and then the silk scarf was applied to mirror Penelope’s gag. Penelope noted that Grace had only had three handkerchiefs stuffed in her mouth and didn’t think that was fair. The woman hauled Grace over to the wall and pushed her down onto the floor beside Penelope.

“MMMPPPFFHHH!” Penelope spat at the woman, challenging her rough treatment of Grace.

“Quiet you,” the woman said nudging Penelope with her foot. The woman arranged Grace the way that she wanted and then used several lengths of rope to tie Grace’s legs in exact the same fashion that Penelope’s had been. “Now, you pair just sit there all quiet like and everyone will be happy.” Penelope blew air out of her nose in frustration but didn’t do anything else. Grace shuffled closer and Penelope turned to look at the younger woman and their eyes met. Penelope saw that Grace was scared and tried to reassure her with a confident look. Just the door opened and a short, bulky woman with short blond hair and spectacles burst in. She looked excited.

“Boss! Boss!” the woman said.

“Calm down Sue,” the Boss said. “I am right here.”

“Boss, this one has a marker out on her.” Sue pointed at Penelope who arched an eyebrow.

“mmpphhff,” Penelope mumbled confused by that statement. Was that like some kind of bounty?

“A marker?” the Boss made it sound like a question. “Interesting, so somebody is looking for her.”

“Yeah, information and location were the two things mentioned.” Penelope sat still and listened, wondering who would be looking for her. Well, given her history there could be a number of people who would want to have a word with her. “Perhaps we can dispose of her and make a profit at the same time.”

“uummppff,” Penelope mumbled, not liking the sound of that.

“Shut up!” The man they referred to as Boss said. He glanced at his watch. “Another couple of hours and the club closes. Then we can make a move. Until then you pair stay here and watch them.” The man and woman nodded and the man in charge left after grabbing Sue by the arm and dragging her out with her. After the door closed the room was silent. The man and the woman went back to playing cards with the occasional glance over to where Penelope and Grace were sitting. Grace rested her head on Penelope’s shoulder and Penelope tilted her head so that her cheek rested on the top of Grace’s head. All that they could do now was wait.
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mrjones2009
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Post by mrjones2009 »

HNY! Thanks for all of the views and comments so far.

Hope that you enjoy the next chapter. Looking at you [mention]Caesar73[/mention]
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mrjones2009
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Chapter 3

East Coast United States

Hayley pulled her feet up under herself and looked around for the television remote. “There it is.” Reaching over to the coffee table next to the couch Hayley grabbed the remote, careful not to knock over her large glass of wine and changed the station on the large television. “Hurry up ladies, film starts in ten minutes.” Hayley called on her housemates. They had decided to have a night in wearing pyjamas with some wine, nibbles and a couple of films.

“Here we are…” Kirsty replied as she padded barefoot over to the large chair with a glass in one hand and a large bowl of chips in the other that she sat on the coffee table so that all three of them could have easy access during the film. Constance followed carrying a glass and a plate with hot nibbles. They went on the table beside the chips. Hayley leaned over to grab something from the plate.

“Watch it, those are fresh out the oven,” Hayley nodded but carried on. Instantly regretting the decision when she felt how warm the nibbles were and dropping each one back onto the plate. “Told you,” Constance chided. “Move over.” Hayley shuffled over a little and Constance deposited herself on the couch next to Hayley who marvelled at the younger woman’s ability to look stunning wearing a baggy set of grey flannel pyjamas. Anyway, Hayley put away those thoughts and turned back to the television. The local news was about to finish before the movie started.

“In our final story we return to a long running affair with international criminal Elizabeth Crawford,” the news anchor smiled. The three women paused and stared at the screen, suddenly interested. “You will remember that Elizabeth Crawford, subject of a recent hit television series, was severely injured during an incident at the prison facility where she was being held. During that incident another inmate suffered fatal injuries. In a statement today Elizabeth Crawford’s legal representative, Naomi Van Den Bergh, confirmed that Crawford will be concentrating on recovering from her injuries for the foreseeable future and has withdrawn her appeal against her convictions. Miss Van Den Bergh stresses that her client still maintains her innocence and intends to fight to clear her name once she had fully recovered.” The anchor paused for a second as Hayley, Kirsty and Constance exchanged glances. “Now before we leave a reminder of our main story. Our very own Senator Mark Davenport has been confirmed as Vice President elect after the ticket that saw him team up with California Governor and now President elect Henry J Smith won a comprehensive election victory earlier this week.” The image cut to a footage of the two men with their families on a stage with ticker-tape falling down on them. “Both men promised to deliver a brighter future for all Americans.” The screen cut back to the news anchor in the studio. “That’s all from us folks. Enjoy your evening and take care. See you all tomorrow for the late evening news.” The end credits began to scroll through.

“Well, I can’t see the film being as entertaining as that…” Hayley said before finishing her drink and standing up. “Anyone for a refill before the movie starts.” Kirsty and Constance just shook their heads as Hayley got up and left the room.

“Should we ask her how she is feeling?” Constance asked Kirsty.

“Not tonight,” Kirsty said whilst shaking her head. “Let’s just relax and enjoy the film.” Hayley returned with her wine and sat down. It didn’t escape Kirsty that Hayley had brought the whole bottle along with her refilled glass.

“Alright. let’s get to it,” Constance. “Looking forward to this.” Kirsty hit play and then her mobile started to vibrate. “Nice timing.”
“I know,” Kirsty reached for the phone.

“Who is it?” Hayley asked.

“Sasha Conteh,” Kirsty picked up the phone and looked at it. “Strange for her to call. Thought she was on some sort of Europe wide Mafia taskforce at the moment.”

"We go the mattresses!" Constance said as Kirsty answered the phone. There was a chill running up Hayley’s spine for some reason. The chill deepened at the look on Kirsty’s face changed as she listened to whatever Sasha was saying on the other end. “What?” Constance said looking between the two women. “What’s up?”


Tranquil Times Recuperation Home, Southern England

Kendall Stanley-Ramos crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall. “I can’t wait to get out of this place.” A wicked smile played across her lips. Not only thinking about what she would get up to when she had manged to get out but also at how she had managed to end up here when the Elizabeth Crawford criminal organisation was ripped apart. Despite getting caught up in the aftermath the influence and no doubt money of her parents had seen Kendall manage to agree a deal that saw her avoid any time in jail in exchange for voluntarily undertaking a spell in institutional care. “Learning from my mistakes…working through my issues…improving as a person…” Kendall laughed. “Idiots.” Kendall turned round so that her back was resting on the wall and looked around the room. It was pretty nice, brightly decorated, plush carpet, nice furniture, comfortable bed, books, internet access, regular walks in the grounds, weekly trip to the beach, it was basically a holiday camp. The only issue was that the door only opened from the outside. The staff were all nice and couldn’t do enough for her. “Yeah, like having serving staff.” As Kendall was again considering her good fortune the door opened and a new face walked in flanked by two large and intimidating nurses. One of the nurses carried a large duffel bag. The new face was a short woman in her early forties with short brown hair and a pair of wire rimmed spectacles. The woman wore a brown cardigan with a matching tweed skirt and jacket.
“Who are you?” Kendall asked.

“Hello Kendall. My name us Melanie Leonard and I have just taken over as Director of this facility.”

“First I have heard,” Kendall commented dismissively.

“Well, with all due respect you wouldn’t. Believe it or not the world doesn’t revolve around you.” Melanie pushed her spectacles back up the bridge of her nose. “Now Kendall, I have been reviewing your file and don’t think that you have been making the progress that you should have. I think it is time for a change of track.” Kendall glanced from the woman to the two nurses who were unpacking several items from a duffel bag.

“What do you mean?” Kendall asked. “What are they doing?”

“Just getting the restraints prepared,” Melanie replied casually.

“Restraints?” Kendall asked.

“Yes,” Melanie replied. “I think they will help your recovery tremendously. Help you focus on the important things.” Having unpacked all of the items from the duffel bag one of the nurses picked up an item before the both approached Kendall. It was some bizarre white puffer jacket with various straps hanging from it at all angles. The end of each sleeve was adorned with a thick padded mitten.
“What is that?” Kendall asked taking a couple of steps back.

“Straightjacket,” Melanie confirmed. Kendall took another step back as the two nurses stalked her. There was a bump as Kendall hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go.

“Wait, I didn’t sign up for this!” The two nurses continued to approach, closing off escape angles as Kendall’s eyes roamed the room, looking for a way out.

“Kendall, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Kendall looked from Melanie to the nurses and back again before she made a break for the gap between the nurses. It was a desperate move and one doomed to fail as the two nurses converged and tackled Kendall to the ground.

“GET OFF!” There was a tangle of limbs as the three bodies squirmed and rolled around on the floor.

“Stop struggling….” One nurse said, “grab her AARRGGHH!” Kendall threw an elbow that connected with the midriff of one of the nurses. Melanie watched on and had to admit she was impressed at the fight that the young woman put up, but it was in vain as the two nurses quickly got the upper hand and managed to subdue Kendall. Despite that Kendall continued to writhe and squirm. “This isn’t going to be easy to get the straightjacket on, never mind a nappy.”

“NAPPY!” Kendall screamed and increased her resistance. Losing patience Melanie slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. As she approached with the syringe in hand Kendall paused her squirming and fixated on the syringe. “Wait, let me go!” Kendall protested as she twisted and squirmed again to try and escape the grip of the nurses. “You can’t do this!”

“I am afraid that we can.” Melanie said as she plunged the syringe into Kendall’s thigh and depressed the plunger. “This will just help you relax.”

“Argh!” Kendall screamed. “You bitch…what…ooohhhmmm….” The drug took effect and Kendall felt woozy all of a sudden. Her intense struggles against the iron grip of the nurses subsided as she lost almost all strength and co-ordination. The world got a little blurry, like looking through a car windscreen in the rain before the wipers had been switched on. Suddenly Kendall saw Melanie looming over her. “You see young lady, we can. When you agreed your deal, you signed all rights regarding decisions on your treatment across to your parents.” Kendall swallowed, remembering that line in the agreement. “And when you were committed to the care of this facility your parents gave us consent to treat you any way that the facility saw fit.”

“wwhhhaaa….oommhhh…” Kendall mumbled as the nurses let go of her and she slumped to floor. The nurses set to work and quickly stripped Kendall of the jeans, sweater, trainers and underwear that she had been wearing. Then they quickly applied the adult nappy and bent Kendall forward at the waist. With practiced ease the two nurses put Kendall into the hybrid puffer straightjacket. The young woman did try to resist but it was as effective as a sleepy five-year old trying to stop a parent putting them to bed and Kendall found herself quickly restrained in the jacket, hugging herself in a tight embrace. All of the straps, including the crotch strap were viciously tight. “uummhh…mmoonn…” Kendall dribbled. Opening her mouth proved to be a mistake as one of the nurses stuffed an egg-shaped foam object into her mouth. “mmmooohhh,” Kendall mumbled as her mouth was stuffed full. That was followed by a large ball-gag that was buckled at the back on her head.

“That is better,” Melanie commented. “Less distraction. You may learn something if you listen rather than speak.” The drug started to wear off and Kendall started to regain her motor functions. Before Kendall could get too frisky the nurses slipped her legs into a padded leg binder and secured them together with straps at five locations. The final bit of Kendall’s restraints was to be a canvas sleep sack style body bag. The nurses slipped Kendall inside and pulled the zip all the way up to Kendall’s neck and locked it off. They then systematically tightened the ten straps on the outside of the bag, securing Kendall inside.

“uummpff!” Kendall mumbled in complaint and squirmed around as the drug wore of further.

“Pointless waste of energy that now.” Melanie looked at the nurses. “Shall we take Kendall to her new accommodation.” The two nurses carried the squirming, heavily restrained form of Kendall out of the room. They followed Melanie through the facility, along corridors, through doors that had to be opened with a security card and then down into the basement. The group through a last heavy steel door that led to a short corridor with three doors off on each side.

“uummuurr…eeeehhhh…” Kendall cried as she was carried into the last room on the right. It was a large but featureless room. Every surface was padded and slightly off white, just enough so that it didn’t hurt your eyes. The only furniture in the room were two thin cot style beds against opposite walls. The beds had padded leather straps, a mattress and a large pillow. That was all. One of the beds was occupied by a woman who was as strictly restrained as Kendall was but also pinned to the bed with the leather straps.

“You have a roommate Kendall. Won’t that be fun!” Melanie commented as the nurses carried Kendall across to the other cot style bed and dumped her down. Before Kendall could roll anywhere the nurses began to strap her down. “Meet Megan Holick. Now, Megan used to work here and is a recent transfer.” Melanie confirmed. “Megan also has serious issues that need to be addressed and we think that you should take about the same time to complete your treatment program. Probably around ten years.”

“MMPPFFHH!” Kendall screamed as the two nurses held her down and completed applying the thickly padded leather straps that would keep her restrained and strapped to the bed. Kendall was now locked in place as if part of the bed. The restraints made any movement beyond turning her head from side to side and blinking impossible. The two nurses exited the room and Melanie stood between the two beds looking from one bound woman to the other.

“mmpphhff!” Megan grumbled from the other bed.

“Don’t worry Megan. You will get your sedative and sensory deprivation hood soon. Kendall, if you behave and show improvement, I am sure that we can get you out of this room in two or three years.” Kendall just stared at Melanie and blinked, shocked that she had somehow found herself in this situation. “I will leave you to get acquainted and get the orders written up for your treatment.” Melanie left and then the door closed with a thump and a buzz as the lock engaged leaving Kendall to sweat on what was going to happen next.
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Post by Caesar73 »

Especially the first half of this chapter was very intriguing .... I do not think that we learned about the two politicians for no reason. And Crawford claims her innocence .... she has enough people in her pocket still. That might actually fly ...

And I like the contrast: In one moment Hayley, Kirsty and Constance have just a good time ... and then the moods changes: First the news. Then the call of Sasha Conteh. I fear for Rihannon I must say.

What I thoroughly enjoyed was Kendall´s treatment - and her inmate also deserves all is coming her way, after all what she put Natasha and Hayley through.
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Caesar73 wrote: 1 year ago Especially the first half of this chapter was very intriguing .... I do not think that we learned about the two politicians for no reason. And Crawford claims her innocence .... she has enough people in her pocket still. That might actually fly ...

And I like the contrast: In one moment Hayley, Kirsty and Constance have just a good time ... and then the moods changes: First the news. Then the call of Sasha Conteh. I fear for Rihannon I must say.

What I thoroughly enjoyed was Kendall´s treatment - and her inmate also deserves all is coming her way, after all what she put Natasha and Hayley through.
Thanks for the comment [mention]Caesar73[/mention].
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Post by Caesar73 »

mrjones2009 wrote: 1 year ago

Thanks for the comment @Caesar73.
My pleasure :)
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Chapter 4

Pretoria, South Africa

The door opened and The Boss, Sue and another woman walked in. Penelope recognised her as the same woman that she had taken care of earlier. The woman glared at Penelope with barely disguised hatred. Penelope responded with raised eyebrows and a wink. Mel made a move toward the captives. “There will be time for getting even later Mel,” Boss said and raised a hand. “Everyone has left apart from us so let’s get moving. Bring the van round.” The man jumped up from his seat and scurried out the room.

“Just as I had a strong hand…” the woman said, disgusted as she placed her cards on the table. “I don’t trust the big one not to give us any problems. She seems feisty.” Big one!? Well, Penelope was tall but that was just good genetics. Plus, she was right. Penelope was going to try and make a move when they moved her. It made sense.

“What do you suggest?” Boss asked.

“Think I may have an idea,” Mel said, suddenly grinning. “Sue, hand me her bag.”

“mmmooohhh,” Penelope mewed knowing exactly what Mel was thinking. Sue handed the bag to Mel and the tall woman started to rummage through it. Eventually she pulled out a small bottle.

“I guess this is what I am looking for.” Mel put the bag down on the table and unscrewed the top from the bottle.

“What’s that?” Sue asked.

“Hopefully what she used to put me out with,” Mel replied as she sniffed the contents of the bottle and scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, that is definitely the scent.” Mel looked around. “Anybody have a cloth of handkerchief?” Mel looked at Penelope. “It doesn’t have to be clean.” Penelope rolled her eyes. Boss pulled the pocket handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit and handed in across.

“Don’t worry, it’s clean,” Boss said. Mel founded the handkerchief into a pad and then laced it with the contents of the bottle. “What is it anyway?”
“Chloroform…ether…who cares,” Mel said as she made her was across to Penelope and knelt down. “As long as it puts her to sleep. Would you like some of your own medicine?” Mel asked.

“mmuuppff…” Penelope moaned and shock her head.

“Pity you don’t have an option then.” Mel pressed the handkerchief over Penelope’s nose and gagged mouth. “This the correct procedure?”

“uummppff…” Penelope moaned as the sweet-smelling fumes caught her nostrils. The natural reaction was to shake your head to try and remove the offending handkerchief that was forcing you to inhale it’s harsh, soporific fumes. Unfortunately, bound and gagged as she was Penelope could do nothing to prevent the oncoming forced slumber.

“MMMPPPHHH!” Grace cried.

“Quiet girly or you will get the same treatment,” Mel sneered.

“uuuhhhmmm…mmmooohhh,” Penelope moaned. It hadn’t been long but Penelope could feel the drug start to have an effect. Her mind was starting to fog and she could feel her arms and legs She knew what was coming and what made it worse was the look of glee of Mel’s face as she applied the handkerchief laced with chloroform. The fumes invaded Penelope’s nostrils every time she had to take a breath, “mmmuuuhhh,” she moaned, although it was barely audible through the gag and chloroform laced handkerchief. As she continued to inhale the fumes Penelope felt very groggy and was struggling to keep her eyes open and her chin dropped onto her chest. Then jerked back up and then after another breath Penelope’s head lolled off to one side.

“That’s it, almost there…” Mel stated. As Penelope’s eyes closed over. “That’s it.” Mel removed the handkerchief and stood up. “Are you going to behave?” Grace nodded. “Good.” They then made final preparations for leaving. The woman untied the ropes from around Grace’s legs and help her up onto her feet before shoving her in the direction of Sue.

“Take care of her.” Grace whimpered. Then Boss and Mel pulled the unconscious Penelope up and onto Mel’s shoulder. “I will grab the rest of the stuff if you head out.” They made their way out of the office, along a short corridor and out through a fire door. There was a small parking area where the man was standing next to a van holding the sliding door open. They all piled in. Penelope was deposited on a pile of odd sections of carpets and Grace forced down beside her and her legs bound. The man waited for the woman to jump in before closing the door and getting into the cab. The Boss was behind the wheel, started the engine and pulled away.

Outside Pretoria, South Africa

The sun was peaking in from a high-level window as Penelope looked around at her surroundings. She was in a barn. A reasonably large barn with stalls and a lot of straw on the ground. Penelope was in one of the stalls. Her arms were stretched above her head and tied to a solid looking beam. Fortunately, if you looked at it that way, she was also strapped to a pole about six foot in height which took some of the strain from her shoulders. Very good quality rope, Penelope knew about such things, encircled her body just above and below her breast, stomach, thighs and shins. Her legs were still tied together as they had previously been in the office. Penelope wasn’t going anywhere. “oohhmm…uummff…” she moaned as she gave her wrist bonds a try. No give. And, she was still gagged. Penelope had no idea of how long the journey had taken. She had a vague memory of coming round in a moving vehicle before the distinctive smell of chloroform overcame her again and everything went black. Penelope heard some movement and craned her head to look under her left armpit across the barn. Grace was lying bound and gagged on an old mattress that have been shoved into the corner of a horse stall opposite. The young girl was also awake as there was the occasional bit of movement. Penelope decided to just hang around and see what happened. Then there was a bump followed by a loud creak. Then the sound of footsteps behind her and Boss, Mel and Sue appeared in front of Penelope. “Good morning. Sleep well.”

“uummppgg…ggoohhh…” Penelope mumbled and shook her head.

“You are as well taking that gag off now Sue.” Sue nodded and approached. Penelope angled her head so that the shorter woman could get easier access to the back of her head and the knot on the vice like scarf. It took a bit of picking but Sue eventually got the knot loosened and removed the scarf and then the sodden handkerchiefs from Penelope’s mouth before steeping back.

“Those will need washed,” Mel commented. Penelope grinned.

“Shall get straight to the point.” Boss stated. “Why were you sneaking around in our club?”

“Honestly,” Penelope started, taking a breath. “I just want the girl.” Penelope looked over to where Grace was lying. Penelope could now see Grace’s face as she had squirmed around so that she could get a look at what was going on.

“Who sent you? Who are you reporting to? Are you with law enforcement?” Boss rattled off the questions.

“Nobody, I was there of my own free will. Nobody. Absolutely not,” Penelope replied. “That satisfy you.”

“Surely, somebody must have sent you to spy on us?” Penelope shook her head in response.

“Look, all I want is the girl. Let us go and we walk away. No recriminations. No retribution and no authorities. I can arrange for compensation.” Boss titled his head slightly. Penelope could see the cogs turning.

“Ask her about the marker?” Mel said.

“What about that?”

“No idea,” Penelope answered truthfully. She was in the dark about that and keen for information on exactly what that was. “Did it say who had laid the marker?”

“We are asking the questions,” Boss growled.

“Sorry. Thought that it may help if I knew who placed it.”

“What do you know about our operation?”

“I. Don’t. Care. About. That.” Penelope said and sighed. “Look, you can check your CCTV. I was not snooping around. I was just trying to get the girl. No photographs, no stealing. Just the girl. As I said earlier. Give me her and let us go.”

“We have an investment in her.”

“What, now after tying her up and bringing her out here. I doubt it.” Penelope said. “There could also be compensation paid. I have access to funds.” Boss seemed to consider this.

“We can’t trust her boss,” Mel said. The man started to pace around, clearly thinking things through. Any move to dispose of two people would attract attention. It would be better to just let them go and getting paid to do it would be a bonus. Penelope knew that he was thinking about it, she just had to convince him now.

“Look, all that you have to do is MMPPHH…” Penelope felt a hand clamp over her mouth. It was Mel’s.

“Would you just be quiet,” the tall woman hissed.

“Alright Mel, take is easy. Joe and I are going to head back to the club. See if we can find out more about this marker,” he looked at Penelope. “We may be able to make some money and get rid of you without taking any chances. You stay here with Sue and take care of these two.” Decisions made Boss turned and left. Mel awaited until the man had left before removing her hand form over Penelope’s mouth.

“Looks like it’s just us girls,” Mel stated.

“Cool...let’s put on silk pyjamas, make popcorn and have a pillow fight…” Penelope said not trying to hide her sarcasm. Mel clamped her hand over Penelope’s mouth and her other hand started to aggressively massage Penelope’s left breast. “mmmppggg…uummppgg…”

“Oh, we are going to have some girly fun before you leave.” This carried on for a minute before Mel removed her hands. Without their boss around the two women seemed unsure what to do. Penelope decided to try and push the issue to give herself an opportunity to get free. Probably better to try and get it whilst the boss was away.

“Any chance of a toilet break?” Penelope asked. Mel and Sue looked at her. “Ladies have requirements.” Mel and Sue looked at each other. “I will forgo the popcorn.”

“Aright,” Mel said and started to work on the ropes that were holding Penelope in place. “Sue, find something else use to stuff gag this one.” Penelope sighed as Mel removed the ropes holding Penelope to the post and then walked behind Penelope and started to work on the rope that held Penelope’s arms above her head. As Mel worked Penelope felt the tension in the rope relax and then finally end altogether and her arms feel with her bound wrists hitting the top of her thighs. Then caused her to lose her balance and she toppled over.

“Hell,” Penelope commented as she slowly lost her balance with her legs tied and eventually hit the hay covered ground. “Thanks for the help there.” Mel and Sue appeared in Penelope’s vision. Mel had an amused look on her face but said nothing as she knelt down and untied the ropes around Penelope’s before helping her to stand up.

“Not going to say thanks?” Mel asked as she took the length of rope that had been used to hold Penelope’s arms aloft and wrapped it round her torso so that it pinned her forearms to her stomach. Penelope grunted as the rope was knotted tightly.

“What about Grace?” Penelope nodded her head.

“She stays here until you come back,” Mel confirmed. “Then pretty girly can have her turn.” Mel’s arm reached out and Sue handed over a red and blue patterned bandana. “Sue will stay and keep her company.” As she spoke Mel balled up the red bandana. “Now, open wide.” Penelope wasn’t that bothered and opened up to allow the waded-up material to be inserted into her mouth. Once Mel had finished that job, she used the other bandana to cleave gag Penelope, knotting the bandana behind her captive’s head.

“mmppffhh…” Penelope mumbled, giving her head a shake.

“Let’s go,” Mel said as she grabbed Penelope and led her toward the door. As they passed Grace, lying bound and gagged in a stall, Penelope made eye contact and winked. They walked to a small door at in the main door of the barn and Mel opened it and then roughly pushed Penelope out and into the light. After a quick squint Penelope took in her surroundings. Basically, nothing but fields and trees as far as the eye could see with a couple of other barns and a nice-looking house straight ahead. “Over in the house.” Penelope nodded and walked toward the house, Mel staying a couple of paces behind. “Nothing silly now. Even if you make a run for it. What happens to Grace?”

“mmpphh…ggummm….” As if she would leave Grace.

“Couldn’t make that out.” It wasn’t that long a journey to the house and soon Penelope was taking the short flight of stairs onto the porch. Stopping at the door. Mel took the stairs and as she went to pass Penelope slapped her hard on the ass. “You know. You have a great body.” Mel opened the door and invited Penelope to enter. “Perhaps we could have some fun.”

“uummppfff…” Penelope mumbled.

“Up the stairs.” When Penelope entered there was a wooden staircase on her right. She slowly started to climb the stairs. There was a creak with every step. That creaking doubled when Mel started to climb after her. Deliberately, Penelope slowed, allowing Mel to catch up with her. “You teasing me with that fine ass of yours now?” Penelope stopped about two thirds of the way up the staircase and allowed Mal to catch. “That is nice...tight….” Penelope felt a hand rub over her ass and closed her eyes. “I knew you were kinky.” The hand roamed for a couple more seconds before Penelope spung around and smashed her right foot into Mel’s stomach. There was a look of shock on the woman’s face for a spilt second and then gravity took over and she tumbled backward down the stair. There were a couple of thumps and then Mel crashed into a heap at the bottom of the stairs and didn’t move.

“mmiitt…” Penelope mumbled as she slowly walked down the stairs. After carefully treading around Mel, she bent down and made sure that the woman was still breathing. Thankfully she was. Then it was a quick look through the glass in the door to make sure that Sue hadn’t heard anything. Penelope had taken the gamble that there was nobody in the house and it seemed to have worked. Looking around Penelope quickly identified that the kitchen was toward the back of the house and hurried through. Pulling open drawers, she eventually found what she was looking for. A very sharp knife. Now, with your wrists tied and arms pinned it wasn’t easy but she managed to get the knife into a position where she could move it up and down against the ropes around her wrists. It took more time than she would have liked but after some effort Penelope saw the ropes fray and they fall away from around her wrists. “eemmffoomm…” she cried into the gag as she slipped off the rest of the rope before reaching round and untying the bandana at the back of her head. This allowed her to spit out the second bandana that was in her mouth. Picking up the rope Penelope headed back to the foot of the stairs to find that Mel was still unconscious. “What shall we do with you?”
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“I am really sorry about this,” Sue said as she sat in the stall staring at Grace. “I didn’t sign up for this. The job description was strictly IT and a bit of helping out around the club. Then, they pay you well, then it is just the odd favour and before you know it, they have dragged you all the way in.” Sue locked eyes with Grace. “There isn’t a way out.”

“mmppffhh…” Grace moaned.

“Sorry, I guess that you knew that.” Sue’s shoulders slumped and she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, as if hugging her legs. “I would take that gag off but Mel made me promise not to.” Grace just looked at Sue. “Speaking of Mel, they do seem to have been away for a long time now.” Sue craned her neck to look out of the stall and back to where the door to the barn was. It was still closed.
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“Hopefully that should do it.” Penelope stood back and admired her handiwork. After getting free she had managed to woman-handle Mel from the bottom of the stairs, up to the top, along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Form there Penelope’s slightly wicked side bubbled over. She had stripped the woman down to her underwear before throwing her onto the bed. Taking a length of rope Penelope looped it around Mel’s left wrist, tied it tightly and secured the other end to the top right corner of the bed. Then she repeated the process with Mel’s right wrist, left ankle, right ankle, until the woman was securely tied spread-eagled on the bed. To finish off Penelope had raided the drawers and found a pair of female socks that she had popped into Mel’s mouth before sealing them in place by wrapping some silver duct tape that someone had handily left lying around on the floor around Mel’s head on a dozen occasions. Just then a low moan escaped Mel’s gagged mouth. A smile crossed Penelope’s face. “Wakey, wakey.” Penelope watched on as the stunned woman gradually regained her senses.

“ummppff…ooommmnnn…” Mel moaned and looked around at first her left and then wrists, confused as to what had happened. Not really understanding where she was or how she had gotten here.

“Hi!” Penelope said and waved. Mel turned and focused on Penelope. It took a second for the gears to grind and Mel to make the connections.

“UUMMPPFF!” The woman started to struggle furiously and thrash around, trying to free herself of the tight ropes binding her to the bed.

“Oh, not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot. Is it Melanie?” Penelope grinned and Mel stopped struggling just long enough to glare at Penelope before resuming. “As much as I would like to stand here all day and watch you struggle and fail to get free. You won’t get free by the way, I am too good with the knots, I have to get away. Good luck explaining how this happened to Mr Bossman.” Then with a wave Penelope left the room, closing the door behind her. Leaving the muted sounds of Mel grunted and straining to get free behind it. Now, just to take care of Sue and get out of here. Penelope didn’t think that would be an issue, she didn’t think Sue had it in her to put up much of a fight. At the bottom of the stairs there was a sideboard. On the sideboard was a bowl. In the bowl were some keys. Penelope had a rummage through and found a set with a BWM badge. “That should do.” Should be another problem solved. Grabbing the knife that she had used to cut the ropes that had been binding her Penelope headed out the door and across the yard toward the barn. Without stopping Penelope opened the door and burst through into the barn.
“What…” Sue jumped up from the stall as the door burst open.

“You!” Penelope pointed at Sue and strode purposefully toward the stall. Penelope was a tall woman and could be physically intimidating when the situation needed it, especially when she had a knife in her hand.

“Wait!” Sue put her hands up and took a step back, then another, eventually stopping when she hit the wooded fence. “Don’t hurt me.” Penelope entered the stall and glanced down at the bound and gagged Grace.

“MMPPFFHH!”

“We are getting out of here young lady,” Penelope said with a smile before turning her attention to Sue. “The question is what are you going to do about it?” Penelope’s blood was pumping but she could see that Sue wasn’t going to cause her any issues.
“Just take Grace and go” Sue said.

“I was hoping that you were going to say that.” Penelope took a step back and nodded at Grace. “Put your arms down and do something useful by untying her.” It took a second for Sue to compute the information before she hurried across, dropped to her knees and started to work on the ropes that were holding Grace tightly bound. It took a couple of minutes but Grace was eventually free of her bindings and gag. The young woman sprung to her feet and embraced Penelope. The older woman blushed at the outward sign of affection and stood ridged as Grace buried her head into her chest.

“I knew you would come for me Penny.”

“Well, sorry it took so long…anyway...we should get moving.” Grace released her grip and stood beside Penelope. They both looked at Sue. “You know that we need to tie you up before we leave.”

“Do you have to?” Sue said.

“Sorry, can’t trust you not to raise the alarm.” Sue could see the logic in that. “Also, give you some kind of cover with the rest of them. I assume that they won’t be too happy to find that we are gone.” Sue nodded and then lowered her head. “Just turn around and put your hands behind your back.” Sue spun around and put her arms behind her back. Penelope picked up the rope that had bound Grace and quickly wrapped the rope around the woman’s wrists before cinching the rope and knotting it professionally out of reach of prying fingers. During the process Penelope could feel Sue flinch. “Does it have to be that tight?” Sue asked.

“Yip,” Penelope replied. “Has to be realistic.” Grabbing a longer piece of rope Penelope started to wrap it around Sue’s body, pinning her arms to her body. As she worked Penelope spoke to Grace. “Find something to gag her with. Something clean.”

“Do you have to gag me?” Penelope sighed as Grace shot off to search.

“If you aren’t gagged then they will wonder why you didn’t call for help.”

“There is nobody else here,” Sue pleaded.

“You wouldn’t know that,” Penelope stated. Sue sighed, resigned to her fate. Putting a hand on Sue’s shoulder Penelope eased the woman down onto the ground and then used a length of rope to tie Sue’s ankles together. Just as she finished knotting the rope Grace returned carrying two bandanas.

“Will these do?”

“Ideal,” Penelope said and held out a hand. Grace deposited the bandanas in Penelope’s hand. As she balled-up one of the bandanas Penelope tapped Sue on the shoulder. “Open wide.”

“Really, do you ha..mmmuuurrr…” Sue mumbled as Penelope took the opportunity to cram the bandana into the bound woman’s mouth. That was quickly followed up by the second bandana being used as a cleave gag to hold the stuffing in place. Penelope made sure that both ends of the bandana were tightly tied together. Sue moaned and groaned as the gag was applied. Satisfied with her handiwork Penelope stood up and looked down.

“Just relax and lie still Sue. It will go easier that way.” Sue mewed a response but didn’t move. Penelope looked at Grace and smiled. Grace smiled back. “Let’s get out of here.” They both started to walk towards the door. Penelope and Grace left the barn and looked around. “Thanks Penelope,” Grace said, taking deep breathes and enjoying the feeling of freedom.

“I would leave that for now.” Penelope said pointing toward another barn and started to head in that direction. “Wait until we are on a plane out of South Africa.” Grace stood for a second before heading off after Penelope. After reaching the door to the barn Penelope paused. It was locked.
“Bugger!” Looking at the keyring Penelope noted that there was a small key on it. “Let’s try the side.” Walking around they found a small, single leaf door about halfway along the side of the barn. The key fit the lock perfectly and Penelope turned it smoothly and opened the door. Once inside Penelope found the light switch and the interior was illuminated.

“Whoa!” Grace exclaimed on seeing the cars lined up in the barn.

“Typical guy. Who needs this many cars?” Penelope raised the fob and pressed the unlock button. The indicators on a black BMW flashed twice. Fortunately, it was at the front of the barn. “Get in the passenger seat.” They both hurried toward the car and jumped in. Looking around Penelope found the ignition button and the engine roared to life. After a quick adjustment to the seat and mirrors Penelope looked around the interior of the car. “Door…door…door…” Then suddenly there was a buzzing noise. Penelope looked around and saw that Grace had pushed a button on a device that was attached to the rear-view mirror.

“My dad has the same set up in his garage,” the younger woman smiled. Penelope nodded and looked down. The car was a stick shift so she slipped it into first and as soon as the door opened enough gunned the engine and let the car roar out of the barn and onto the dirt road, spinning the wheel Penelope let the car slid to the right and sped out of the yard. “Who taught you how to drive?”

“Just get on that sat nav and look for Kitty Hawk Aerodrome.” As Grace punched in the letters Penelope concentrated on steering the speeding vehicle along the dirt track. As they burst around a corner Penelope saw the junction with the main road appear.

“Left,” Grace said. Using the handbrake Penelope eased the car into the turn before flooring the accelerator. She would hammer it for ten minutes to put as much distance between them and this location as possible before slowing down as not to attract attention.
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Post by Caesar73 »

I love Penelope in action :) Those guys were a bit careless and paid the price. Well done! I am looking forward how this gripping tale unfold further!
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Chapter 5

East Coast United States

“It is with heavy hearts that we gather today to celebrate the tragically short life of our friend, colleague and family member.” The minister looked across at the casket that was sitting next to him adorned with flowers and a framed photograph of the recently department. “A life too short but that was still able to touch so many and create memories that will last for lifetimes.” The minister paused again. It seemed to be a thing that he did. To give you time to think about what he had just said. “And it was not just those who knew her directly that will feel her loss. Her work was read and appreciated by many. Her family has asked that I highlight the great work that she undertook during her time with us in investigating and shining a light on the darker elements of society.” Another pause. “Also, her two fiction novels were both bestsellers and picked up for television adaptation giving her an entire new legion of fans. She will be sorely missed.” The minister glanced across to the casket sitting in the centre of the church. On top of the casket sat two large displays of flowers and a framed photograph of the recently deceased. Elise Rodgers. Two rows from the back of the church Hayley King’s eyes followed the minster but stayed fixed on the photograph. Hayley sighed. The minister was correct a life taken too early. A life with so much still to give. Suddenly Hayley felt a tear run down her cheek and reached for a handkerchief to dab it away. Beside her Danielle Snow and Gayle Hutton both dressed all in black patted Hayley’s thighs.

“Thanks,” Hayley whispered. “Don’t know what came over me.” The news had come as a shock to them all. They hadn’t known Elise long but they had become friends. Hayley especially had felt a connection to the younger woman. Plus, it was so soon after Rhiannon. Two funerals in as many weeks. They settled in again and tried to concentrate on the words of the minister. In the aisle in front of them were two older gentlemen, implacably dressed in dark suits, white shirts and black ties.

“What happened?” the man to the right whispered to the other man. Hayley could overhear their conversation in the hush of the church.

“It was a terrible accident. She was staying in a lodge working on her next book and the place exploded. Faulty gas connection.” The man shook his head gravely. Hayley had heard the story as well. There were actually no remains in the casket. The only part of Elise that they found was her little finger from her left hand. The explosion had turned the lodge into a glorified pile of splinters. It had been a huge blast. The lodge was remote and it had taken over an hour for emergency services to reach the scene once they had been notified by a couple of wild campers using a satellite phone. There was nothing that they could do but douse the remaining flames and tidy up. The police managed to trace Elise through the rental car that had managed to survive the explosion.

“Tragic,” the other man replied. They both nodded their heads in agreement. Hayley suddenly sobbed. Her mind had drifted from Elise to what she had been going through the past four months. It had started when Natalie had vanished on her wedding day. Well, vanished was the official line. As far as Hayley was concerned Natalie had been abducted but even with her connections on the force, Hayley couldn’t convince the Missing Persons unit to keep investigating. There had been no ransom demand or anything. The detectives assigned the case had seemed prepared to believe Hayley until Charlotte had arrived back at their house and found some clothes, money and a bag missing. The detectives only needed that to move on. Hayley couldn’t really blame them. They had a high caseload, Natalie was an adult and Hayley had to admit that with her own history, crying kidnapping was easy to pass off and ignore. Hayley sighed heavily and tried to go back to concentrating on the service. Just as she did music started to play and the casket started to disappear into the floor of the funeral home. Everyone looked on transfixed until the casket had finished its journey and the floor closed over it. The music stopped and there was silence punctuated by the occasional sob and blowing of nose into handkerchief. The minister cleared his throat.

“The family has asked that I remind everyone that you are all invited to join them at the hall around the corner for tea and a buffet. We look forward to seeing you.” With that it was over and people started to get up and drift toward the exit.
----------
Jamsine Lockspeiser approached with arms outstretched and hugged Hayley, then Danielle and finally Gayle. “So, good to see you again. Pity it is under these circumstances.” The women nodded in unison. Jasmine looked well. Other the past year and a bit she had a lot of success producing and starring in the television series based on the Elizabeth Crawford affair. Jasmine’s production company had also secured the rights to both of Elise Rodger’s novels and was currently working on adaptions for the small screen. “Now, where is that man of yours Hayley.” Silence settled and Danielle and Gayle didn’t know where to look. “What did I say?” Jasmine asked looking from one woman in the group to the others.

“You weren’t to know,” Hayley said as she held up her hand to show her ringless fourth finger. Jasmine mouth formed a silent oh and then her left hand went over her mouth. Hayley shrugged, turned and headed off toward the toilet.

“I am such a boob,” Jasmie said, “always putting my foot in my mouth.”

“You weren’t to know Jasmine,” Gayle said putting her hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“What happened? They seemed like such a good match.”

“Nobody really knows,” Danielle confirmed. “He just called it off one night, packed his things and moved out. Haven’t heard from him since.”

“Hayley hasn’t taken it well,” Gayle said with a nod.

“I can imagine,” Jasmine sympathized. “She has been through a lot recently.” The three women stood in silence for a while. “Where is everyone else?” Jasmine said to break the silence.

“Gabriella has her hands full with the twins,” Gayle said with a smile.

“I saw the photographs. They are cute!”

“Charlotte is helping out,” Danielle chimed in, “helps keep her mind off other things.” Jasmine nodded.

“Christina is on a case, Kirsty and Constance didn’t think that it was appropriate to come. I think that Sasha and Lucas should be here somewhere. Let’s go and find them.” At that point Hayley was staring at her reflection in the toilet mirror.

“A few more lines around the eyes these days girly,” Hayley said to herself. It had been a tough couple of months. Coming hot on the heels of Natalie going missing, no being kidnapped, she believed that and her finance dumping her, Hayley’s father who was Commissionaire of the police force had been asked to step down following allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funding. These were of course ridiculous accusations and her father denied all of them. However, it was all over the press and mud sticks. Then the final insult was that she had been suspended from the force. The official line was that she had turned up for duty under the influence of alcohol. Twice. Hayley knew that was just a made-up excuse to get rid of her for her continued defence of her father and trying to find out who was setting him up. The only positive was that it had given her more time to investigate Natalie’s disappearance. Hayley called in all the favours that she could but with Jaclyn retired, Christina still trying to find her feet at the Bureau and her dad fighting his own battles they couldn’t bring any influence to help Hayley much with the investigation. Everyone else she could think of was busy or not in a position to do anything. It even crossed her mind to ask Elizabeth Crawford, after all she was the mistress of making people disappear, but she wouldn’t give the woman the satisfaction. Thankfully Elizabeth was locked way and no matter how many appeals she lodged, wouldn’t be getting out for the remainder of her natural life without a Presidential pardon. There was no way that would happen. Splashing some cold water on her face Hayley dabbed at it with a hand towel. Balling up the towel Hayley threw it at the bin in the corner and missed. That has to be some kind of metaphor for my life at the moment. “Time to face the world again.” Hayley exited the toilet and into the hall. As she made her way through the crowd making for where she had left Gayle, Danielle and Jasmine she took a glance at her watch, noted the time and decided it was time to leave. Making her excuses as she made her way through the crowd Hayley headed for the main door and then out into the fresh air. She had parked her car a couple of streets away and made the walk quickly. Getting behind the wheel she sat and thought about where to go. “Why not?” Hayley asked herself after making the decision.

Six hours later

Kirsty Garrett pushed open the door of the bar and stepped inside. Taking a couple of steps into the bar she looked around and heard Constance footsteps as the younger woman followed her in. “This is not the nicest place,” Constance said under her breathe. Kirsty had to agree. Not the nicest place but then again not the worst that she had been in either. Wooden floors, wood up to three feet on the walls, green wallpaper above, hanging lights, pool tables in the back, bar on the left and booths to the right. The bar wasn’t busy. A younger couple playing pool. A couple of drinkers milling around and two guys standing at the bar. The large man behind the bar raised a hand in greeting and then pointed to one of the booths. Kirsty nodded and made her way across, having to peel her feet off the floor as she did so.

“Ever think about cleaning the floor in this place, Harry?” Kirsty shouted.

“What’s the point,” the man replied as he finished cleaning a glass and deposited in back on the shelf. “This has to stop Kirsty,” Harry said with more regret than Kirsty would have imagined. Kirsty nodded as she approached the booth, put her fists on her hips and sighed. There was a figure slumped over the table.

“What are we going to do with you Hayley?” Kirsty asked as the figure stirred. Hayley twisted her head and looked squarely at Kirsty.

“Have a drink!” Hayley slurred.

“No, I think that you have had enough,” Kirsty commented. “It’s time to go.”

“NO! I want another drink,” Hayley said as she bolted upright in the booth and banged the table.

“Time to get you home,” Kirsty confirmed giving Hayley a stern look. “Harry has cut you off anyway.” Hayley pouted and leaned around Kirsty to get a look at the barman. Harry nodded. Hayley stuck out her tongue. “Time to go home Hayley,” Kristy said as she grabbed Hayley under her left armpit and hauled her up. Hayley stumbled but Kirsty managed to keep her upright. “Can you grab the other arm?” she asked Constance. Hurrying in Constance helped take Hayley’s weight as Kirsty grabbed her jacket and bag. As they were about to head for the door Kirsty caught the two men at the bar staring at Hayley in a way that she did not appreciate. “I don’t think so boys.”

“Not tonight eh,” one of the guys said, laughing and nudging the other.

“Not ever asshole,” Harry said from behind the bar. “Hear the one about not being in the same league.” The two men turned and looked at the large figure behind the bar. Harry crossed massive arms over his large chest and glared. Harry was a large man. Harry could bench press over 300lbs. Harry played left tackle at college. Harry could have gone pro if he hadn’t blown his knee out. Harry used to be on the force with Hayley’s dad. Harry was not messing when he said these things. The two men decided to have a game of pool. As they were retreating Kirsty and Constance wrangled the rubber legged Hayley out of the bar and into the fresh night air.

“This is worse than carrying dead weight,” Constance commented as they made their way toward Kirsty’s car.

“I miss Natalie…” Hayley said then started to bubble.

“I know you do Hayley,” Kirsty said trying to console her friend. “But doing this twice a week isn’t exactly positive.” Then Hayley starting crying full on. “I wish I had some chloroform at the moment.” Kirsty muttered as they reached her car.

“What was that?” Constance asked.

“Nothing…” Kirsty found her keys, opened the front passenger door and they poured Hayley into the seat. After Kirsty closed the door, she turned to Constance. “What are we going to do about her?”

“She has had a rough time lately,” Constance replied. Kirsty was rummaging in Hayley’s bag.

“Yes, but this,” pointing at the bar and then Hayley, “isn’t doing any good.” Kirsty held up the key and pressed the button. Four cars down the indicator lights flashed twice. “Could you follow us back to the ranch?” Handing over the keys Kirsty walked around the bonnet of her car as Constance walked away. Then she stopped. “Second thoughts. Can you drop in at Charlotte’s on the way home and pick something up for me?” Constance nodded.

The following morning

“My head,” Hayley moaned. It was pounding and she hadn’t opened her eyes yet. Her head was hurting but she felt nice and cosy and comfortable. She gave her shoulders a quick shake and then heard the unmistakeable sound of nylon ruffling. “Wait!” Hayley opened one eye and squinted down. “I don’t believe this…” No wonder she was comfortable. She was lying in a restraining bag. A quick check confirmed that she was indeed lying on her on bed, in her own house. Hayley tried to wriggle around and get free. Discovering she wasn’t actually bound inside the bag meant that she had a chance until she discovered that whoever had put her inside the bag had pulled the zip all the way up and locked it in place. “Come on. This isn’t funny.” Despite being highly experienced in the use of these bags Hayley had a thrash about for a minute, more in frustration in a serious attempt to ger free. Gasping for breath Hayley ceased struggling and noticed that the door to her bedroom was open and Kirsty was framed in it.

“Well, hello little sleepyhead,” Kirsty said with a hint of sarcasm to her voice.

“Did you put me in this?” Hayley asked. Not amused.

“Yes, Constance and I did.”

“Why?” Still not amused.

“Well, I think that you need some time to think about your recent behaviour,” Kirsty said as she sat down on the bed and patted the down cocoon surrounding Hayley.

“Like a kid on the naughty step?” Hayley titled her head and glared at Kirsty.

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Kirsty turned and look out of the window. “Come on, it is just one bag and we didn’t even tie you up.”

“Thanks for that,” Hayley said as she stated to squirm around again. “Now, if you will just let me go…” Kirsty heard the swishing of nylon as Hayley twisted around but continued to look out the window as a soft drizzle started to speckle the glass.

“I have to pop out and Constance is at work.” Kirsty clapped her hands on her thighs and got up from the bed.

“Are you leaving me like this?” Kirsty nodded to confirm. “Oh, come on Kirsty. You can’t….” Kirsty held her finger up to silence Hayley.

“You need some time to think and if this is the only way to get you to do that then so be it.” Hayley slumped, knowing that Kirsty was being serious.
“What if I need the…” Hayley trailed off as she noticed the feeling around her groin area. Kirsty winked and headed for a chest of drawers. Pulling open the top drawer she rummaged around and after finding what she was looking for returned to the bed and dumped a pile of fabric onto the bed.

“You aren’t serious!” Hayley exclaimed knowing full well what Kirsty had in mind.

“Don’t trust you to be quiet and not annoy the neighbours?” Kirsty picked up a large cloth and tied a knot in the centre. “Open wide!” Kirsty moved the know toward Hayley’s mouth. Hayley had no intention of being gagged and clamped her lips shut, turned her head and pushed it deep into the pillow. “Now, now Hayley don’t be like that.” Kirsty admonished. “Not like this would be a new experience for you.” Hayley turned and glared at Kirsty but kept her mouth firmly shut. “You asked for it.” Kirsty reached down and pinched Hayley’s nose.

“mmmmm,” Hayley squealed and started to shake her head. Kirsty just whistled softly and kept her finger and thumb pressing Hayley’s nose. Hayley’s face was flushed by the time she had to give in, open her mouth and gulp in air. Someone with Kirsty’s experience she was ready and rammed the knot into Hayley’s mouth. She then tied the two ends of the cloth tightly behind Hayley’s head.

“mmmppgg…gguurrhh…uummggrr…” Hayley spat.

“That did not sound very lady like.” Hayley blew air out through her nose and bounced up and down a couple of times on the bed to show her frustration. “Still a bit loud.” Picking up a couple of ladies handkerchiefs she formed them into a pad and then folded a blue silk scarf. Placing the pad of handkerchiefs at the centre of the folded scarf Kirsty turned her attention to Hayley. “Are you going to behave for this part of your gag?”
“mmppgg…ggrruupp…uucckkk…” That wasn’t a happy mumble but Hayley raised her head from the pillow and allowed Kirsty to place the pad of handkerchiefs over her mouth and then tie the ends of the scarf tightly behind her head. Hayley lowered her head back down and tried to rub the scarf against the pillow as Kirsty headed for the door.

“Almost like I was a professional at this kind of stuff.” Hayley lay still and glared at door after Kirsty had closed it. Leaving her alone to think things through.
Caesar73
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Post by Caesar73 »

First things first: An excellently written Chaper, but a truly sad one. I suspected that Rihannon was dead, now Elise. Hayley had it pretty rough in this chapter: Two friends are dead, her best friend is missing, her loser of a husband has left her - I dare say - she is better off without him anyway. Her father forced to stepped down, Hayley herself suspended. Our favourite blonde has not much going for her at the moment. But one important thing Hayley has going for her: She has good friends, that are there for her. And Kirsty - ressourceful as ever - takes resolutely charge, helping her friend getting her life on track! Well done!
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mrjones2009
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Chapter 6

Casper County, Wyoming

“I can’t believe this,” Christina mumbled to herself as she sat in the car. She had been waiting in the drizzling rain for an hour whilst the police cleared a two-vehicle crash about half a mile ahead. Patience had never been Christina’s strong point and she tapped the steering wheel in time with the windscreen wipers in frustration. “Come on…come on.” A deep sigh emerged from her mouth as she accepted that no amount of frustrated tapping on the steering wheel would make the clearing up of the crash go any quicker. “Just, relax Christina.” Talking to herself helped, but not much. Crossing her arms across her chest Christina leaned back into the seat and her mind drifted away to why she was here.

“This is very thin,” Special Agent in Charge Bishop said as she stared Christina straight in the eye. Christina tried not to squirm. Despite having stared down some intimidating people in her time Bishop’s sharp, grey eyes seemed to penetrate straight through her.

“I know that but we haven’t had any other leads in the case,” Christina didn’t really have anything better to say to convince Bishop to let her make the trip to Wyoming. It was basically ‘we haven’t got anything else.’ So that was it. There was silence in the room whilst Bishop considered her position. The case that Christina was working on was the disappearance of a college student from Westminster College in Salt Lake City. There had been no leads from the local office and Christina had been asked to look at. Since joining the FBI’s Missing Person Unit as a consultant Christina had been successful in cracking some on the tougher cases that they had. The missing student had proved to be tough at first, there seemed to be no leads at all. That was until Chrsitina decided to expand the search to similar cases and found missing students reported from Montana State University and Colorado College. All three missing woman were similar. All were seniors, had blond hair and blue eyes and were all on sports team in their college. After looking at their photographs Christina thought that they could have been related. From there Christina had to roll her sleeves up and do some old-fashioned grunt work. It had actually paid dividends. It had taken time but Christina had found CCTV footage of what she believed to be the same van in the vicinity of the area where each of the missing students had last been seen. All three vans had different plates, although all were Wyoming tags, each van had faded writing on the side. Christina had asked the tech guys to tidy up and enhance the image of the side of the van. It was only possible on one of the vans. The van caught on a traffic camera near the last confirmed sighting of the most recent missing student.

STERLING MEATS
CASPER COUNTY, WYOMING


“Alright Christina,” Bishop finally said. “But just you, I can’t afford to send anyone else.” Jumping up from her chair Christina smiled and almost ran toward the door before Bishop changed her mind. “And be careful….” Christina was already out the door when Bishop called that last instruction.

That was how Christina found herself on the road to Alcova, population thirty-four, in Casper County in the lease densely populated of the United States. Then there was the blaring of a horn and Christina was brought back to the moment. Opening her eyes and looking through the windscreen she noted that the line of traffic was now moving, albeit slowly. Christina raised a conciliatory hand to the driver in the pickup behind her, selected drive on the stick and eased the car forward. It was still slow going for the next couple of miles with the weather, backlog of traffic and people slowing down to take a look at the smashed wrecks as they sat on the side of the road. The local radio played country music as Christina passed the site of the crash, the traffic sped up and Christina could relax and settle into driving again. It hadn’t taken her long to track down Sterling Meats using the internet. In order to not spook any potential suspects Christina didn’t call in advance, she just jumped on a flight, hired a car on landing and turned up at the address. Unfortunately, she found that Sterling Meats had been closed for three years. The windows boarded up and a dirty notice had been placed on the door thanking customers for their business over the years. “Just my luck…” Christina was just about to give up when a man in his forties walked past and asked if he could help. It turned out that he was a former employee of Sterling Meats and after some carefully designed questions Christina was able to establish that the firm had two delivery vans matching the description that Christina provided the man. He remembered that they had both been purchased by somebody out near Alcova. Christina thanked the man and asked for directions. After getting back to her car, via a stop for a coffee, Christina had used her phone to search for Alcova and scanned through the information. An area of land next to Gray Reef Reservoir and the larger Alcova Reservoir, which were linked by Eagle Creek. There were a lot of camping grounds, trailers parks and cabins dotted around the areas. Also, a lot of isolated smallholdings down twisting lanes. The main town consisted of six streets with a church, postal office and general store. Like most of Wyoming the area was dependent on outdoor activities for most of its commerce.

Casper County, Wyoming

Peering through the early evening gloom Christina slowed the car and indicated to turn off the main road. Swinging the car onto the side road she drove slowly past a store and a couple of other structures on her left and then she continued down the round for a couple of minutes until a church appeared on the left and the ghostly outline of houses beyond. Christina took the turn just after the church and headed down a residential street with house on one side. Driving slowly down the street looking for the van. It was a long shot but you never knew your luck. Christina drove down all of the streets, it didn’t take long, but saw no vans. Every house had at least one pickup parked outside, none had vans. “Oh, well. It was never going to be that easy,” Christina said to herself as she turned the car back toward the main road. Night was starting to close in and Christian stifled a yawn. On her right she noticed the general store was open and pulled into the shale lot outside. There were two other vehicles in the lot. Both pickups. Christina exited the car and stretched her back before heading into the store. As she opened the door a bell rang. A man sitting behind the counter looked up and smiled at her. The only other person in the store was a tall man wearing a weathered Stetson, faded jeans and brown cowboy boots. After a quick check around Christina found a fridge and picked up a bottle of water and a can of fizzy juice. Next to the fridge were some sandwiches and she selected two. She doubted that there would be a restaurant open nearby. “Hello,” Christina said as she approached the counter.

“Good evening,” the man replied as Christina dumped her items down. “Passing through?”

“Maybe,” Christina said as she looked around the store. Then she made the decision. She hadn’t come all this way to stop looking after a quick drive around. “Is there anywhere around here that I can stay the night?” There were chocolate bars sitting next to the till and Christina grabbed one and put it down next to the drinks. “Can’t resist.” The man smiled.

“Sure,” the man behind the counter replied as he totalled up her purchases. “If you go back out onto the main road and turn left then just on your right there are cabins that you could rent for the night.” The man smiled as her took the bill from Christina’s hand, put it into the register and handed over the correct change.

“Thanks,” Christina said as she took the change and picked up the two drinks, sandwiches and bar of chocolate.

“Need a hand with the door?”

“No, I should be alright,” Christina called over her shoulder as she approached the door balancing the purchases in her arms. Twisting she used her shoulder and hip to push the door open just wide enough to allow her to slip through and back out into the cooling night air. Once back inside her car Christina deposited the food and the water onto the passenger seat and cracked open the fizzy juice, taking a healthy drink. “What was that?” A vehicle drove by and she caught a glimpse of a van in the driver’s side wing mirror. “Could that have been…” Christina twisted around to try and catch a better view of the vehicle but it was too late. Should she follow? “Just your imagination.” Shaking her head Christina started the engine and pulled her car out of the car park onto the road and followed the directions to the cabins for hire. When she arrived at the shale car park Christina pulled up next to a small cabin with a neon sign above the door. Looking around Christina could see the outline of other buildings around the edge of the car park. There were also lights at high level around what looked to be a path running through the trees. “Welcoming place,” she mumbled as she got out of the car.

Casper County, Wyoming

The man behind the desk turned around as Christina entered. “Hello, how can I help you?” he asked.

“The gentleman at the store said that you may have somewhere that I could stay for the night,” Christina replied as she reached the desk. Now closer she could make out the man’s features. Close cropped blond hair, sharp nose and cheekbones, sunken dark eyes and thin lips. The man actually licked them as he looked Christina up and down. Christina smiled, but inside she sighed despite being used to being ogled by men. “Would you have anything?”

“Certainly,” the man nodded as he looked down and punched on the keyboard. “Cabin seven is available.” The man looked up. “Can I ask how long you will be staying?”

“Just the one night for now,” Christian replied. “Maybe another if I need to.”

“In the area for business then?” the man asked casually. “Oh, do you have some ID?”

“Sort of….” Christina replied to the first question as she pulled her FBI identification from her pocked and slid it across the desk. The man looked down and paused for second before imputing the details into the computer on the desk. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes ma’am,” the man replied. “Just don’t get many Federal workers staying over.” He was smiling nervously before turning round and taking a key from a board on the wall behind him. When he turned back the man slid the key across the desk toward Christina who picked it up. Glancing down she found a single yale key with a large wooden tag attached. “Do you need a hand with luggage?”

“No, thanks for offering though.”

“Alright,” the man replied. “Your cabin is the first on the left through the path,” he pointed in the general direction of the path that Christina had seen when she arrived. Christina picked up the key and headed back toward the door before something crossed her mind and she stopped halfway.

“Sorry, random question. Do you know anything about Sterling Meats?” Christina asked turning back around. The man looked at her. “Used to be a firm in this area but have been closed for a while.” The man shook his head. “What about some of their old vans? Green, I think with faded writing on the side.” The man shook his head again. “Alright, thanks.” Christina turned and headed for the door. As soon as the door had closed behind Christina the man reached for the phone and dialled a number.

There was now a decided chill in the as Christina got back to her car. Opening the boot, she grabbed her short down jacket and put it on before grabbing her suit carrier and small rucksack. The purchases from the store went into the rucksack and Christina began the walk to her allotted cabin.
The walk wasn’t that long and when she opened the cabin Christina was pleasantly surprised. The interior was nice, well-furnished and clean. The front half of the cabin was a combined living/dining/kitchen area with two bedrooms, bathroom and cupboard in the rear half. The front half of the cabin had bare wood flooring with a large rug and the rear area was carpeted. After dumping her kit on the bedroom Christina grabbed her food and laptop before heading back through to the front of the cabin. Sitting at the table and opening the laptop she was surprised to find that the place had Wi-Fi. “Not so far out of the way then.” After finding an online feed for a twenty-four-hour news channel Christina munched through her food whilst reading her work e-mails and sending her supervisor a quick update. As soon Christina hit send a wave of tiredness washed over her. “An early night might be in order,” then a glance at the watch, “maybe not so early.” Time had pushed on with Christina noticing. Computer closed down, rubbish in the trash, alarm set, door locked and it was time for bed. Christina retreated to the double bed in the larger of the two bedrooms and snuggled under the duvet. She was asleep almost as soon as her eyes closed.

Casper County, Wyoming

Christina bolted upright in bed. Had there been a noise? Was she imagining things? “Shit!” Christina looked around the bedroom. Having forgotten to close the curtains so a shaft of moonlight illuminated the room. There were three shadowy figures around her bed. Before she could throw off the covers and get out of bed, she was pounced upon by all three figures. “What are you MMPPFFHH….UUUMMFFF…” a leather gloved hand was clamped over her mouth with such force that it pushed her head deep into the pillow. The second attacker basically flopped over Christina’s hips and thighs, pining them in place and the third mounted the bed and straddled her. “UUMMPPFFHH….MMMUURRR….” Christina screamed into the leather gloved hand as she tried to buck and thrash free. However, the weight on top of her was too much, she barely moved, never mind had enough leverage to through both of the attackers off.

“Hurry up and get that gag ready.” That was a female voice. It was the one with the hand over her mouth. Christina increased her efforts to get free but it was no use.

“UUUMMPPFF……GGRRUUMM….” It didn’t stop Christina putting up a fight.

“Pretty feisty,” the one straddling her commented. That was a male voice. If I get you off me you will see feisty pal! The man had pulled a large cloth from a pocket and had balled it up. Knowing what they had planned Christina doubled her efforts to try and get free and felt that she was able to squeeze her right arm free by slowly pulling it up. As she was concentrating on that Christina failed to notice the balled-up cloth moving toward her face.

“MMMOOOHHH!” The man nodded and the gloved leather hand was removed. Like an amateur Christina opened her mouth to scream which allowed the man to cram the cloth deep into Christina’s mouth which made her wretch as it filled her oral cavity. The cloth was that large that the man had to push and prob with his leather clad fingers the cloth until it was all in. Christina gagged and almost choked on the cloth as it pressed her tongue down and made her cheeks bulge. It would take ages for her to be able to work the cloth out from her mouth without the aid of her hands. Just then there was the sound of tape being ripped off the roll. “mmmooohh,” Christina moaned as the tape was placed over her lips and then wrapped around her head over a dozen times, not taking care to avoid Christina’s hair, each wrap getting tighter and compressing the mass of fabric in Christina’s mouth. “uumgghh…ggrruumm…”

“Don’t think she is to pleased about that gag,” the man said as he tore the tape and flung it off to the side of the bed.

“Enough chat,” the woman warned. “Get her tied up quickly.” Without warning Christina found the duvet pulled down and then she was roughly tuned over, despite trying mightily to resist and fight back. After being flipped onto her stomach Christina felt her arm being wrenched behind her back.

“oohhmmtt…..uummffhh….” Christina screamed through her recently applied gag but quickly a hand was pushed at the back of her head, forcing her into the pillow. Fighting for all that she was worth Christina tried to prevent her other arm from behind brought behind her back but with no leverage and it being three against one it was in vain. The rope was wrapped around her wrists on a dozen occasions being knotted and tied off. The hand remained in place, pushing her face deeper into the pillow and making it harder to breathe.

“Just relax now sweetie,” the woman cooed. “That’s the worst bit over.” Christina knew she was right but it didn’t stop her from bucking and thrashing around for all that she was worth whilst they bound her ankles and thighs together with more rope. Once her attackers had finished that job, they removed their hands and let Christina writhe and wriggle around just to test her bonds. Christina could tell that they were secure enough but not totally professional. With enough time… “Now take her into the living room.” The two men picked up Christina and carried her out of the bedroom and into the living area where they deposited her on the rug. There was a lamp on in the living room and Christina was able to get a glance at her attackers. The two men was around six feet tall, bulky, rather than muscular with distinct paunches and retreating hairlines. What hair they had was cut short and they both wore blue overalls, black leather gloves and white sneakers. The woman walked past Christina and they locked eyes for a second. The woman was in her late thirties with raven black shoulder length hair tied back into a severe ponytail, green eyes and thin lips. The woman walked across and shut the door. Christina eyes followed her. I definitely locked the door. Christina knew that she had checked it. That little runt on the desk must have been in on this. She grunted in frustration at not sensing the danger. Then there was a soft thud and Christina was jolted and rolled over to find a thick blanket dumped beside her.

“Think you scared her Daryl,” one of the men said.

“No names you idiot,” the other responded.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“You are both right,” the woman cut in. “No names and it probably doesn’t matter but let’s try and stay profession.” Christina raised an eyebrow, doubting these guys were indeed professional. “Finish wrapping her up and less chatting.” Daryl took the felt blanket and rolled it out on the floor next to Christina’s bound and gagged form. He then dragged Christina onto the blanket and began wrapping her within its confines. Once he had fully swaddled her into the blanket the other man grabbed another roll of duct tape.

“mmmuurrhh…” Christina moaned as she was spun around and wrapped up. They finished wrapping Christina in a blanket by wrapping tape around the cocoon in four locations. This limited her movement somewhat to Christina’s frustration. If anything, she might be able to roll around, roll around not seeing where she was going. That didn’t sound too promising.

“Before we leave make sure you grab everything that she brought with her in terms of electronic devices and luggage. Just make sure and leave the dirty underwear for that little creep Dwayne.” Christina heard the woman issue instructions. “I will get the keys for her car and drive that. You pair take her to the van.”

“mmmuummhhh…..hhhuunnkk….” Christina complained and tried to wriggle around but she didn’t get far. The blanket had been wrapped tightly around her allowing minimal movement.

“Don’t waste energy trying to get free now little lady,” one of the men offered by way of advice. “You will need all of your strength later.” The two men laughed at this comment. Christina grunted, not seeing the funny side. They wouldn’t either if she wasn’t bound, gagged and wrapped in a blanket. For around fifteen minutes Christina grunted, twisted and rocked in an attempt to get free then without warning she felt herself being picked up from the floor and lifted up. The two men tucked the squirming Christina under an arm each and headed toward the door. They each had an item of Christina’s luggage in the other hand. The woman opened the door and allowed the men to exit before closing the door behind them. She left the key in the door for Dwayne to pick up when they had left. The group made their way along the short path and back to the car park. There were no prying eyes around to see them. As two men carried the struggling Christina toward a van the woman headed toward Christina’s vehicle. The men opened the sliding door and dumped Christina and her luggage inside before getting into the cab and starting the engine. They turned on the radio and waited for the woman. She adjusted the seat and mirrors before firing up the car. Moving out of the space the woman headed for the main road with the van pulling in behind her.
Caesar73
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Post by Caesar73 »

It has not happened often that Christina gets the drop on her. What a pity : ) I love her kicking ass. This tale is very intriguing - impossible to tell at this stage where it goes.
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mrjones2009
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Post by mrjones2009 »

Chapter 7

St Petersburg, Russia

Having read the file front to back more than a dozen times Rogue Hart was satisfied that she knew the brief in full and was confident that plan that she had to succeed would be successful. “Nothing ever goes to plan but this should be simple enough.” Rogue put down her tablet and looked out of the window across the Baltic Sea. “The Company certainly have a nice safe house here.” Looking round at her base for the mission. The furniture wasn’t top notch, it never was, but the location was top class. Her equipment was piled in the corner. Rogue smiled as she remembered the e-mail that Danielle Snow had sent with precise instructions for care and use of every piece of kit. The mission was basic information retrieval. There was sensitive information being handed over by a Russian FSB operative to a private contractor who was then planning to sell that on the open market to the highest bidder. That couldn’t be allowed to happen. Rogue’s plan was relatively simple. Their intelligence had told them that the information would be handed over during a reception at the Rocco Forte Astoria Hotel. That would be Rogue’s best chance of taking the information despite the level of security that would be in place. That was because there would be a large charity ball on. The principles’ involved in the exchange were going to use that as cover. That was not a bad idea on their part. Less conspicuous somewhere with a lot of people rather than sneaking about in a dark alleyway. The hard part would be getting inside the hotel, past the security. Fortunately, as part of the mission pack there had been a file of all of the people that had been invited to the party and passed the security checks. How they managed to come by this information Rogue had no idea. Scrolling through the photographs Rogue found a woman that fitted her physical stature perfectly and facially wasn’t that dissimilar. Her name was Nadia Isinbaeva. A plan had quickly formed in Rogue’s head. Rather than try and sneak in the back door she would walk in through the front door.

St Petersburg, Russia

Rogue followed the target past the Mariinsky Theatre. It was a nice evening and the target showed no signs of being concerned about being followed. Nadia Isinbaeva had exited the office building where she worked at the usual time and looked to be taking her usual route. Once that had been established Rogue could relax a little bit more. “Are you going to stop for a coffee today?” In the three weeks that Rogue had been following Nadia the woman had stopped for a coffee at the same shop eleven times. As Nadia approached the coffee shop, she slowed and went in. Rogue continued and walked past the shop and stole a glance inside, seeing Nadia ordering at the bar trotted on until she found a bench and sat down. She was posing as a student traveller, battered rucksack on her back with a dirty compression sack hanging off the bottom. A pair of spectacles with plain glass in then sat on the bridge of her nose and she was wearing a curly-haired wig and hat to further disguise her appearance. Looking around there were other men and women hurrying about and none of them paid her any attention. When Nadia strode past without a care in the world Rogue let her get a decent head start before getting up and following. They crossed the Fontanka River into the residential areas beyond. Rogue knew they were getting close and slipped on a pair of thin nitrile gloves on as she walked. A couple of turns later Rogue increased the pace to close the gap between them as Nadia searched in her purse for the keys. Nadia opened the door to her block of flats and went inside. As casually as possible Rogue increased her pace and caught the door before it closed over. She could hear Nadia’s footsteps on the bare floor of the close and waited until she could tell that the woman was on the stairs before entering the building and softly allowing the door to close behind her. “Flat 407. Top floor.” Nadia had taken the stairs but Rogue decided to take the lift that was sitting waiting in the lobby. Less chance of meeting people. Pressing the button for the 4th floor Rogue relaxed as the car doors closed. Once they were closed Rogue pulled a bottle and a cloth from the outside pocket of the rucksack and poured some of the liquid from the bottle onto the cloth. Just as the lift pinged and the doors opened Rogue slipped the bottle back into the rucksack. Having studied plans Rogue knew the layout of the building and turned left. There she saw Nadia at her door. “Excuse me, excuse me,” Rogue called in Russian and waved at Nadia. The Russia woman paused with the door open and looked at Rogue. “Help. Lost. Directions.” Rogue said in broken Russian as she approached Nadia, smiling and hiding the chemical laced cloth behind her back.

“No problem,” Nadia replied, relaxing at the young lost woman walking toward her.

“315,” Rogue said as she stood a yard short of Nadia.

“Downstairs, right, along to the end,” Nadia replied and then turned to enter her flat. Rogue waited until Nadia had turned and opened the door fully before she paused Nadia in the back which sent her into the flat, Rogue followed close behind. Before Nadia could react; Rogue rammed home her advantage by grabbing Nadia just below her breasts with her left hand and clamping the chloroformed soaked cloth over Nadia’s nose and mouth with her right. Then she quickly threw out a leg and kicked the door closed Nadia tried to twist free of Rogue’s grasp, but found her efforts thwarted as the arm that encircled her waist only pinned her tightly to Rogue’s body. Rogue leaned backward so that Nadia couldn’t get full purchase with her feet and increase her leverage. Rogue could sense that Nadia had held her breathe, desperately trying not to inhale the fumes given off from the chloroform. Rogue didn’t panic and bided her time, waited for a moment, Nadia would have to breathe eventually but to speed up the process Rogue used the arm wrapped around Nadia’s waist to force the air from her lungs. Nadia gasped as the air was forced from her lungs, the sound dampened by the thick cloth over the lower half of her face and involuntarily took a deep breath, drinking deeply of the drug on the cloth. Rogue could sense the fight drain from her target as Nadia continued to inhale the fumes, her muscles started to relax as the chloroform did its work. As the fight drained from the woman Nadia made a last desperate attempt to get free but fell agonisingly short. After that Rogue felt Nadia’s body go limp but held the cloth tight for another couple of seconds. Finally, satisfied that the woman was helpless, Rogue released her grip and let her slid to the floor.

“Nice place,” Rogue murmured taking a quick glance around before bending over and picking up the keys and putting them in her pocket. “Now, let’s get you ready.”

St Petersburg, Russia

Rogue stepped out of the bathroom noticed that Nadia Isinbaeva had regained consciousness. Judging by the state of bedsheets the Russian woman had made serious attempts to get free of her bindings. “Well, what do you think?” Rogue asked taking a couple of steps forward and striking a pose.

“MMMPPPFFHHH!” Nadia screamed into her gag on seeing Rogue standing in the middle of her bedroom. “MMMPPPFFFHHH!” Nadia screamed again. Rogue had to admit that it couldn’t have been easy for the woman looking at Rogue dressed in her clothing and looking very much like her. It was amazing what a good wig, coloured contacts and the correct application of makeup could do in changing your appearance. Nadia had a good thrash about again, trying to get free of her bonds. After chloroforming the woman Rogue had dragged Nadia into her bedroom and onto the bed. Dumping her rucksack down on the floor Rogue had emptied the contents onto the bed. Taking a pair of padded leather cuffs Rogue secured Nadia’s wrists behind her back. Two similar pairs of cuffs went around Nadia’s ankles and thighs. A long belt like padded leather strap went around Nadia’s midriff and was buckled tightly to pin Nadia’s arms to her back. An egg-shaped foam device was stuffed in Nadia’s mouth was followed by a large ball-gag to keep he woman silent.

“Looks like I will have to give you something to calm you down before I go.” Rogue glanced around and looked at the equipment that the technical department had waiting for her when she arrived at the safe house. “Perhaps I might need an extra layer of security as well given how much you seem to be struggling.” Rogue gave Nadia a wink.

“mmmooohhh…ggrrhh…” Nadia pleaded. Rogue picked up the compression sack that had been in the attached to the rucksack and began to pull out what was inside. It looked like a sleeping bag but was actually a thin restraining bag, a more compact model of those that were used by Elizabeth Crawford’s organisation and Section, that was before they had been disbanded several months before.

“This should do the trick,” Rogue said more to herself than Nadia and also pick up the chloroform and a cloth. On the bed, Nadia had stopped struggling as Rogue approached with the restraining bag in one hand and a bottle wrapped in a cloth in the other.

“mmoohh….uummpp…” Nadia whimpered as her brain put together what was going to happen. Rogue sat down on the edge of the bed and Nadia slithered away.

“Looks like the chloroform will have to come first,” Rogue said as she unscrewed the top from the bottle. “I doubt that you will remain still enough to let me slip you inside the bag without a fight,” she started to pour the liquid from the bottle onto the cloth, “and a girl can’t afford to get sweaty and dishevelled before a big night out.” Rogue finished pouring, put the top back on the bottle and rub the cloth together to make sure the liquid had seeped in. “Now, are you going to behave and take this chloroform like a good girl?”

“eeaassee,” Nadia pleaded and shook her head.

“Sorry,” Rogue reached out and pulled Nadia closer before clamping the cloth over the bound woman’s nose and heavily gagged mouth. There were moans, groans and whimpers but not much in the way of a fight as Nadia was forced to inhale the soporific fumes and quickly slipped into unconsciousness. Once the woman was out Rouge unzipped the restraining bag and laid it out. Then with a bit of effort she managed to slid Nadia onto it and then flipped over the top. Then it was just a case of zipping it all the way up. There would be no getting out of that without help. After making sure that everything that she needed was in her purse and everything that she had brought was in the rucksack Rogue put on Nadia’s borrowed jacket and headed for the door. The rucksack had a built-in acid device that would explode and destroy anything useful inside. As Rogue was walking through the apartment toward the door, she glanced at the coffee table where a newspaper sat. The large healing caught her eye. “Well, well, well. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.” Picking up the paper Rogue read the story.

Khan Empire On Verge Of Collapse


In a dramatic turn of events yesterday law enforcement agencies in several countries made co-ordinated raids on properties owned and operated by companies of Indian Mogul Virat Khan. In another dramatic turn Khan and his wife, Sonam Khan were also arrested and detained. Officials were quick to point out that the couples Hollywood star daughter, Shonali Shelpa Khan, is not a person of interest in their investigations. Relations between parents and daughter have been strained for the last twelve months for undisclosed reasons.
Speculations persists that the Khan’s were involved in illegal activities around the world and that authorities had been investigating this for almost a year being deciding to make their move yesterday. Sources within two of the law enforcement agencies involved confirmed that a dossier of information and evidence was anonymously sent to several agencies which allowed them to commence investigations into the business empire’s dealings.


Rogue knew more than most about the Khan’s, how they made their money and how they ran their business interests. There would be no sympathy in their direction from Rogue. They had ruined enough lives to get to where they were. “Anyway, time to go.” Folding the paper, she put it back on the table and headed for the door. She had a mission to complete.

St Petersburg, Russia

Approaching the entrance of the Rocco Forte Astoria Hotel Rouge slowed her pace slightly, opened her jacket and thrust out her chest. Anything for a little distraction. There were two bull-necked security guards at the entrance. Each wore a black suit that were tight across their well-muscled shoulders. A thin black tie, white shirt, black shoes and an earpiece completed their outfits. Ignoring them Rogue headed for the door and the two men stepped across her path. “Good evening, ma’am,” the man said in a South African accent. Rogue stopped and looked at the man.

“Can we see your invitation please?” asked his partner, also with a South African accent.

“Sorry,” Rogue said in Russian. “I do not understand.” Again, in Russian. She noted the two men looked at each. Rogue smiled and each of them in turn. Then the man on her left looked over her shoulder and Rogue followed his gaze. There were two couples heading in their direction, all were wearing formal dress. Obviously heading for the reception. Rogue was playing for time. It didn’t do to keep important people waiting to enter an event. Or people that thought they were important. Rogue counted to three and then held her hand up.

“Ah!” Rouge started to rummage around in her bag. It was a small bag but Rogue made it seem as large as a suitcase. “This?” Rogue held up the invitation. The man on the left smiled and took it from her. The man glanced at the invitation reading the name and address of Nadia Isinbaeva.

“Do you have identification?” the man asked, again in English. Rogue smiled again, pointed at the invitation and gave a thumbs up signal.

“Yes, yes, yes,” the man said. By now the first of the couples were standing a couple of yards away. There were mutterings. “But, do you have formal identification?” Rogue looked blankly. “Photograph?” the man said, this time badly in Russian.

“Yes!” Rogue screamed. Back into the bag. Now, the second couple had joined the queue and the mutterings increased in both number and volume.
“Here.” Rogue pulled out Nadia Isinbaeva’s drivers’ licence. As she handed it over Rogue said a silent prayer. The man glanced at the photograph on the licence and the at Rogue before handing both the invitation and licence back to Rogue.

“Have a good night?” the man said and held open the door and allowed Rogue to enter. As soon as she stepped inside the man closed the door. Once inside Rogue could relax a little and she looked around. Another bull-necked security guard stood off to one side beside a stairwell, casually blocking it off. It looked like being the lift then. There was a red headed woman in a figure-hugging green dress. The woman beckoned Rogue across. Nowhere else to go. Rogue walked across and smiled.

“Welcome,” the woman said. “My name is Nicola and if you need anything tonight, please ask any of my colleagues. The staff are all wearing green outfits.” At least this woman was speaking Russian, albeit with an accent.

“Thank you,” Rogue responded. “Where is the reception?”

“Top floor. When these couples get across, we will get you all up.” They exchanged pleasantries for a couple of minutes until the group of two couples arrived. Reserved nods all around before Nicola ushered then all into the lift, leaned in and pushed the bottle for the top floor. “Have a great night.” The door closed and the group made the short journey in silence. Then the lift pinged and doors opened onto the floor. The group were met by a man wearing a green suit, it was nicer than you would imagine, who showed them to the cloak room to deposit their jackets. The staff offered to take Rogue’s bag but she declined. The man then herded them around the corner where Rogue caught the faint sounds of classical music along with the general sound of people having a good time, but in a restrained fashion. As they approached a set of double doors another two burly security guards grabbed the handle on a door each and pulled them open. There was suddenly an increase in the amount of noise. Once inside the main room hosting the event the two couples headed straight for the bar. Rogue looked around. A large room with a dancefloor at its centre with a large glass roof above. A stage at one end with a string quartet currently playing, bar talking up almost one side of the hall, tables being set up for a buffet on the other and in the far corner, guests were examining the lots for the end of night charity auction. Having taken stock Rogue went to the bar to get a drink, well you had to blend in. Catching the eye of a particularly cute young man behind the bar Rogue ordered a cocktail and whilst waiting looked around hoping that the target would appear before her. No such luck. Once the drink arrived Rogue decided to mingle and set off weaving her way through the crowd.
----------
One hour and two drinks later. “Bingo!” Rogue mumbled under her breathe and smiled. The target, six feet tall, bald, forty-two, skinny and wearing a tuxedo was having an animated conversation with two other men. The target must have said something amusing as the other two men laughed. The target glanced at his watch and Rogue read a sense of panic in his body language. He threw back the rest of his drink, handed the glass to one of his companions and making his apologies turned and hurried off to the back of the hall. “Just in time for the action it seems.” Always making sure she knew where the target was Rogue weaved through the crowd until she hit clear space at the entrance to a short corridor that looked like it led to the kitchen. Just before the doors to the kitchen there was a fire escape door and the target was a couple of paces away. The target paused at the door to the fire escape and glanced over his shoulder before going through. Rogue timed her arrival perfectly to catch the door just before it closed. She slipped through and stopped. She could hear the targets footsteps echo on the barren walls of the fire escape. Taking off her heels Rouge padded after the target, down two floors and through another door into a corridor with doors off on either side. These were obviously rooms for the guests of the hotel to stay in. The target seemed not to be bothered if they were being followed, either that or he was so confident that he wouldn’t be followed that he didn’t bother checking. Rogue followed until the man stopped by a door and chapped. It was obviously some kind of special, agreed knock as the door opened and the man slipped inside. Rogue stopped and counted to five before approaching the door. As she walked past the door, she dropped her purse and knelt down as if to pick it up but stayed down. Pulling out the compact from her purse Rogue pushed the clip to one side and counted to three before nudging the compact under the gap at the bottom of the door. It was a nifty little device that Danielle Snow had developed. Pretending to adjust her shoes Rogue listened at the door. Rogue heard movement, muffled panic and then two soft thumps as something heavy fell onto the carpet. “30…29…28…” Rogue was counting down to allow the knock-out gas to clear. As part of the mission pack, she had been supplied with an access card that had been cloned from the Night Manager’s copy last week. Using this Rogue opened the door and entered. Stepping inside the bedroom Rogue saw a man and woman lying face down on the carpet. The drug was relatively fast acting and odour free but didn’t last long. So, the first job was to find something to restrain the two unconscious people with. The first place to look was the wardrobe and there were indeed complimentary dressing gowns, two of them that yielded belts. These were used to secure the wrists of the man and woman behind their backs. The belts were wrapped around their wrists, cinched off and tightly tied. Then Rogue saw a small suitcase sitting in the corner. A quick rifle through that yield some lady’s handkerchiefs and two large silk scarves. The handkerchiefs were balled up and stuffed in mouths and then a large knot tied in the centre of each scarf. The knot was put in each of the unconscious persons mouths and the ends tightly tied at the back of their heads. Pillow cases were then stripped off and used to tie their ankles together. “Not ideal but should last long enough.” Now, it was time for what she came for. A computer sat on the bed. Back into her purse of supplies went Rogue and came out with a thumb drive which she attached to the computer and an earbud that went into her ear.

“Can you hear me?” Danielle Snow’s voice was louder than it should have been.

“No need to shout,” Rogue said.

“Alright, I have a signal what does the screen look like?” It went on like that for twenty minutes until Danielle was satisfied that she had downloaded the information onto the thumb drive and wiped the computer of all data. “Just to be on the safe side dump the computer in the bath and run the taps.” Rouge sighed, pulled out the drive and put it in her bra before taking the computer into the bathroom and dumping it into the bath. The plug went in and Rouge turned on the cold tap and left it running. Then she spied the complimentary toiletries and poured them into the bath. “Get out of there.”

“I will be fine. That’s the most dangerous part over.” Leaving the bathroom Rogue grabbed her stuff and headed for the door, weaving between the bound and gagged bodies on the floor. Both were groaning as the sedative started to wear off.

“Don’t get cocky,” Danielle warned as Rogue left the room and turned left. Rogue had only taken five steps when things started to go wrong.

“HEY! YOU!” a man’s voice called from behind her. “Stop right there.” Rogue pretended not to hear the man and once round the corner and out of sight increased her pace to put distance between them. “I said stop!” Rogue hurried on and turned another corner into the lift lobby. Stairs! Rogue pushed through the door and headed down the stairs to the next floor. Now, there was clearly two sets of footsteps behind her.

“Problem?” Danielle asked. Rogue ignored her and carried on.

“FREEZE!” Rouge turned a corner and broke into a run. There was another corner just ahead and Rogue made it round just in time before there was a thud and a small chunk came out of the wall, catching Rogue on the cheek and drawing blood.

“What was that Rogue?”

“Not now!” Rogue could see another turn up ahead and looked behind her, hoping to get round it before her pursuers came around the last corner. Running around the corner Rogue was still concerned with the threat from behind that she didn’t realise what was in front of her until she heard a man’s voice shout.

“FREEZE!” Whipping her head back in the direction she had been travelling and pulled up to a fast halt. A man was standing, slightly crouched, feet apart with both arms outstretched in front of him, both hands holding a gun. The gun was levelled at her chest. Rogue held her hands up, her bag dangling from her left hand.

“Wait, we can talk about this.” The man smiled and his finger tensed on the trigger. “What….” There was a blur of movement and something hit Rogue in the chest, then there was the sound of the gun going off and she fell backwards onto the carpet. The pain wasn’t actually that bad, not what Rogue would have expected, but her vision was getting blurry and narrowing. The last thing that she can remember was seeing a shadowy figure looming over her, an extended arm and another thud in her chest. It didn’t take long for everything to go black.

“Rogue…Rouge…What was that?”

There was no reply.
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