Laura Mischief Contest Entry

"Why Karen, this is a pleasant surprise! I didn't think you were going to make it today!" Mrs. Brookes said cheerfully, glancing over at the door to the drawing room. The other four women seated with her around a low table, turned in time to see 28-year old Karen Miller cross the room to join them. Together with Mrs. Miller, the six of them formed the Brook Street Ladies Social Club.   

"Well, I didn't think I was going to be able to either." Karen replied, taking a seat between Mrs. Keller and Miss. Stapleton. "But Mark had to run up to the office, to meet with some of the other executives this morning. Since we were going to have to reschedule our flight anyway, I figured I might as well come here."

"Well, that's too bad." A red-haired woman seated across from Karen, named Mrs. Redding, chimed in. At 24, she was the youngest woman present. "Still, it's good that you could come. I was just telling everyone about George and our trip to Paris last week…"

"If you're going to tell that story again, I'll need a cup of tea to keep me awake." Mrs. Partridge said, with a chuckle. At 42, she was the oldest member of the group, though she looked at least 5 years younger, which she attributed to yearly visits to a special spa in the Swiss Alps. "Or something stronger to put me to sleep; so I don't have to listen to it at all!" She and the other ladies laughed, while Mrs. Redding lived up to her name, turning quite red in the face.

"Don't worry…" Mrs. Brookes said when they'd subsided. "I'm sure that tea is ready by now..."

As if on cue, the door to the drawing room opened again and a young woman wearing a maid's uniform stepped through, carrying a tea pot and a number of delicate china cups on a large platter. Silently, she crossed the room and set it on the table, picked up and the pot and began pouring.

"Please, none for me." Miss Stapleton said, raising a hand. "I'm not really thirsty."

"Oh, I insist." The maid said. "It's my very special recipe. I'm sure you'll like it. Just a sip?" With a shrug, the older woman relented and took the cup from the girl.

"All right." She said, taking a cautious sip. Around her, the other ladies were sipping their tea as well, with every sign of enjoyment.

"That's very good, Sharon!" Mrs. Brookes said, looking up at the maid. "You said this is your special recipe?"

"Yes. My sister and I came up with it in Paris a couple years ago." Sharon said, curtsying.

"Well," Mrs. Keller spoke up, "you'll have to send her my compli-" she was cut off in mid-sentence by a loud yawn. "Oh! I'm sorry. Don't know what's come over m-" Her apology was stopped by an even louder yawn.

In a moment, all of the women were yawning. Mrs. Partridge slumped over in her chair, snoring loudly. The china cup tumbled from her limp fingers, and shattered on the floor, spilling tea across the white carpet. Within minutes all the ladies were sound asleep.

The maid stood, watching what had just happened with eyes wide with shock at what she had just done. She was so startled that she didn't notice someone coming up behind her, until a folded white cloth was pressed across her face, covering her mouth and nose. The teenage girl's eyes rolled up as the chloroform took hold. As she passed out, her attacker slowly lowered her to the ground, where she lay, out like a light.

Laura Mischief smiled as she stood back up, slipping the chloroform soaked cloth into the pocket of her stolen uniform, for later. "Thank you for your assistant, my dear." She said to the unconscious maid, with a smirk, before turning to investigate the ladies. The drugs she'd slipped into the young girl's tea had done the trick.

Laura grinned. Brook Street was a rich neighborhood. The ladies of the social club were all wives or daughters of rich families. Laura would have no trouble getting sizeable ransoms for all of them. Without another word, she stepped over the limp figure of the maid to the first woman, the gently dozing Mrs. Redding. Grabbing her beneath the arms, Laura lifted her first victim out of the chair and set her on the ground, lying beside the maid. Without pausing, Laura moved on to the next woman, until all seven lay on the ground, in a line.

One of the biggest problems in using knock-out drugs, like the one she'd slipped in the tea pot while Sharon wasn't looking, was gauging the proper dosage, especially when you needed to knock out several people at once. Too small a dose, and she woke up while you were still tying her up. Too much, though, and you risked permanent damage, or even death, in the victim. With her long experience as a kidnapper, Laura had quite a talent for guessing the right amount, but she preferred to error on the side of too little. There was less risk that way, though it did mean she had to work quickly, before the ladies started coming to.

Leaving the room, Laura walked down the hall at a brisk pace, to the kitchen. "MMMPPPHHH!!!" a young woman groaned as Laura opened the pantry door. Laura had stuffed her in there earlier that morning, but not before she'd stolen the girl's maid uniform. The captive girl was clad in nothing more than a pair of white cotton panties, and her bonds of course.

Tape covered the lower half of the woman's freckled face, beneath it, her cheeks bulged; Laura had stuffed a dish rag to keep the younger woman quiet. A couple strands of bright red hair had escaped the bun during her struggles and hung across her face, adding to the air of distress about her. The maid squirmed helplessly on the floor of the pantry. Her legs had been bent underneath her body; her ankles bound tightly with rope. Her wrists were crossed behind her back and tied to her feet, leaving her in a sort of kneeling hogtie.

The younger woman glared up at her captor. Laura returned it with an evil grin of her own. The maids didn't know it yet, but once Laura and her partners had finished ransoming the Brook Street Ladies, the two of them would be taking a one-way trip to the Middle East, along with any of the other ladies unlucky enough to not be ransomed. Laura's contacts with the black market slave traders over there would have little trouble selling a pair of young, pretty girls like them for a tidy profit.

"Sorry, my dear." Laura said sarcastically, reaching past her prisoner. From deeper in the pantry, she pulled out a large black bag. She'd hid it there when she'd nabbed the maid early that morning while she was making the breakfast. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here a little longer, but I'll come back for you in just a couple minutes. Ta ta!" The girl groaned in frustration as Laura shut the door, leaving her in total darkness once more.

Whistling to herself, Laura headed back to the Drawing room where the rest of the women were waiting. Opening up her bag, Laura reached inside and pulled out a dozen short coils of white, nylon rope. Going down the line of unconscious ladies, she quickly tied each woman's hands behind her back, before going back the other way, binding their feet tightly together with rope.

Over the next few minutes, Laura trussed up her captives, coil after coil of rope circling their limbs with crushing tightness. Reaching into her bag again, she took out handful after handful of white handkerchiefs. Wadding them up, she stuffed them in each woman's mouth, until her cheeks bulged like a chipmunks, before sealing them in with duct tape. More tape quickly covered each captive's eyes.  

Several times, while she was working, one of the ladies started coming to early, perhaps having drank less of the drugged tea then the others. Before she could cause any trouble, Laura was on the unfortunate woman in a flash, pressing the chloroform soaked cloth tight over her face, until she slumped back down into drug-induced sleep.  

Finally, Laura yanked the last knot tight. Straightening up, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. A half-dozen or so ladies lay helpless at her feet, trussed up and ready for transport. Reaching into the bag one last time, she pulled a cellphone out and dialed a number. After a couple rings, it was picked up. "Hello?" A female voice asked.

"I'm ready for a pickup." Laura said.

"Right. Be there in five." The other woman replied and hung up.

Laura grinned as she closed the phone and tossed it back in the bag. Five minutes. "What shall I do to amuse myself?" She said out loud, her eyes glancing over the bound and gagged women slowly starting to come to once more…

***

Knock! Knock!

Laura looked up from her play as she heard a knock at the front door. She smiled. "Sorry. Just let me get that. Be back in a second." As she stood up, the two maids could only groan into their gags, in mute relief. For the last ten minutes, their captor had amused herself tickling the two girls mercilessly.

Laura had retrieved her first captive from the pantry and taken her to join the other women in the Drawing Room. The two maids had been retied; sitting back to back, with their hands wrapped around the other's waist, but not before Laura had stripped Sharon down to her underwear to match her friend.    

The other ladies groaned softly through their gags as Laura strode past them without glancing down. The women struggled against their bonds, squirming on the floor feebly. Laura wasn't worried about her prisoners freeing themselves anytime soon. Over the years, Laura had mastered the art of tying up other women. When she tied up her captives, they stayed tied up, until she decided otherwise.

"You said five minutes." Laura said, with a frown, as she opened the door. A pair of young women stood on the front porch. They were dressed in workman's jumpsuits and caps. The one on the left had pale skin, liberally sprinkled with freckles. Her short, red hair peaked out from under her hat. The girl beside her was Asian. Her long, dark hair had been curled up into a bun and tucked beneath her cap.  

"Sorry. Traffic." The Asian girl, Amy, said with a shrug, stepping past Laura into the house.  

"Besides," The redhead, Shannon, added, following her partner. "You said you could handle things here by yourself. You said you didn't need our help."

Laura let out a sigh of frustration as she closed the door and joined her "partners". Unfortunately, for all her skill and experience, a job like this was too big for Laura to handle on her own. She needed someone to help her keep watch over the captives while she arranged their ransoms and carry out the grunt work that was beneath her.

Amy and Shannon fit the bill well enough. They were a pair of small time crooks, but ambitious. The two were pulling a string of low end burglaries and home invasions when Laura had found them. Once she'd wowed them with talk of the money to be made in the ransom business, they'd been more than eager to help with this job.   

"My, my!" Shannon said, as she saw the bound and gagged women. "You've been a busy girl, haven't you, Laura." She unslung a duffel bag from her shoulder and opened it up. From inside, she withdrew a number of large, rolled up canvas sacks. Picking one up and shaking it out, she pointed to the woman at the end of the line, Mrs. Redding. "Let's start with her."

The frightened lady squealed in fright and squirmed, as Laura and Amy picked her up. As Sharon held the mouth of the sack open, the other two kidnappers guided their prisoner head first into the bag. When her heeled feet disappeared inside, Sharon cinched the end tight, closing it up. She grinned, setting it aside and grabbing the next sack. From inside, Mrs. Redding softly moaned through the thick cloth surrounding her.  

The three kidnappers worked quickly, bagging up all of the ladies. Within minutes, six long, narrow packages lay on the ground, shaking slightly as the bound and gagged ladies inside struggled in vain. As Laura glanced over them, she couldn't help but chuckle; one of the ladies, Mrs. Keller, had proved to be a little too tall for the sack. Her bare feet stuck out of the bottom of the bag, which had been cinched tight around her ankles.

Unable to resist, Laura knelt down beside the captive woman and slipped off her expensive heels. The kidnapper ran her long fingers across the older woman's soles, tickling the helpless captive. The sack shook as Mrs. Keller struggled in vain. Laura could just make out her muffled laughter through the thick canvas bag. She would have kept at it, but a moment later, Amy interrupted her.

"What do you want us to do with these two?" Amy asked. Laura glanced over. Her two partners stood over the two captive maids. "Should we just leave them here?" The girls in question hurriedly nodded, grunting into their gags.

"No, go ahead and bag them up too. I think we'll be taking them as well." Laura said. The maids groaned into their gags in despair, hearing that. They'd groan even more, Laura thought to herself, when they found out what she had planned for them…

Amy and Sharon just shrugged. "You're the boss." Sharon said. Ignoring the girls' gag-muffled protests, they untied the maids from each other. The two captives quickly went into sacks and joined the other Ladies, trussed up and ready for transport to the kidnappers' hideout.

While Laura cleaned up the house, trying to remove any evidence that would lead the police to them, Sharon and Amy carried the sacks containing the captive ladies out to the waiting van, one by one. With their workman's clothes, to any passerby's the two would appear to be nothing but a pair of movers. When the last woman had been loaded, Laura got in and they drove away…

***

"…If you do not pay the required sum at that time, or if you involve the police in any way, Mr. Brookes, then I'm afraid you'll never see your pretty wife again…" Laura said, speaking in a hard, gruff voice. She'd changed out of the stolen maid's uniform, into a loose fitting black jacket and black ski mask. In front of her, Amy held a video camera pointed at her and one of their captives.

"MMMPPPHHH!!!" Mrs. Brookes screamed into her gag in fright. Tears streamed down her face as Amy zoomed the video camera in close to capture her pained expression. The young woman sat, shackled to a hard, wooden chair. A large, rubber ball gag was clenched between her teeth, muffling and distorting her tearful pleas.

The room the three women were in was empty, save for the chair, and a small table, behind Amy. The walls were bare whitewash and the kidnappers had hung white sheets over the window, to make it impossible to tell where they were from the ransom video.  

Laura waved to Amy who turned the camera back to her. "Remember, $2.5 million in an unmarked duffel bag at the Third Street Bus stop by midnight Friday…or else!" With another gesture, she signaled Amy to shut the camera off. Laura sighed. From her jacket pocket, she pulled out a handkerchief and rolled it into a band. After tying it over her captive's eyes, Laura reached up and pulled the ski mask off and shook her hair. "That's the last one." She said, as Amy plugged the camera into her laptop to download the final ransom video. "Run it through the same encryption and send it to Mr. Brookes."

As Amy sent the ransom demand to Mrs. Brooke's unsuspecting husband, Laura freed the woman from the chair. "No funny business now." Laura warned her captive as she roughly hauled the crying woman to her feet. "You're worth a lot of money to us alive, but don't think I won't kill you if you try and escape." Mrs. Brookes only sobbed softly into her gag. She didn't resist as Laura wrenched her hands behind her back and handcuffed them together again.

"Start walking." Laura said, shoving the other woman forward. Mrs. Brookes stumbled, but kept her balance and quickly started walking, unsteadily. Laura guided her blindfolded captive out of the room and into a hallway.  Like the room they'd just come from, it was unfurnished with bare, whitewashed walls.  

The three kidnappers had set up their base of operations in an unsold property an hour's drive away from where they had kidnapped the ladies. The real estate agent who'd shown Laura the property two weeks ago was now somewhere in the Middle East, beginning a new life in her new owner's harem. A quick raid to the agencies offices that night had deleted the property's listing from their records. By the time they figured out the missing data and sent someone to check it out, the three of them would be long gone.

A short walk led the two women, captor and captive, to the basement stairs. Pausing a second, Laura pulled a small pistol out of her jacket pocket, and then unlocked the basement door. Placing a hand on her captives shoulder, she guided the younger woman slowly down the stairs, keeping the captive girl in front of her as a shield.

The precautions proved unnecessary, the other captives were still as Laura had left them. Scattered around the floor of the basement were a half dozen or so thin, worn out mattresses. Lying on each of them was a single, captive woman. Each prisoner had been bound at the wrists, ankles and knees with soft nylon rope. More rope circled their chests, pinning their arms down. Finally, the women had been blindfolded and gagged.

The captives groaned mournfully as Laura carefully guided the stumbling Mrs. Brookes to her mattress. Laura helped her lie down on her belly, on the mattress. Grabbing some rope, she quickly lashed her legs together, before removing the handcuffs and doing the same to her arms. Leaving the young woman to struggle helplessly, Laura stood back up and walked back to the stairs.

Pausing for a moment at the door, Laura turned back. "By now, your husbands or your parents should have received a video with our ransom demands. When they pay up, you will be released. If not…well, let's just hope they decide to pay up." Savoring her captive's frightened cries; Laura turned and climbed back up the stairs.

She'd just finished locking the basement door, when the front door opened and Sharon stepped through. "Dinner's here!" She called out, holding up two plastic bags filled with folded paper boxes. "Who's hungry for Chinese?"

The three kidnappers gathered around a small, rickety card table in the unfurnished kitchen. Laura spooned generous helpings of fried rice and stir-fry onto paper plates, while Amy poured a bottle of diet coke.

"Well…" Laura said, speaking between mouthfuls as they ate. "The first ransom is two nights from now. Sharon, you'll be making the pickup. Circle the area carefully; make sure there are no police around before you make any move on the drop off.  You don't have a police record, so if you do encounter them they shouldn't recognize you. I'll wait for your call, and release her when you're safe away with the money. Amy, you'll stay here and watch the rest of the ladies."

She reached down and held up her plastic cup. "Ladies, let's get ready to make a lot of money!"

***

Sitting in the front seat of the dark car, Laura watched the lights of other cars zoom by in front of her. She glanced at her watch. The luminous hands pointed out the time: 11:55. It was almost time for Mr. Keller to drop an unmarked briefcase, containing the ransom payment for his wife, near a down town bus stop.

In the backseat, Mrs. Keller was just starting to stir. Before leaving the house, Laura had chloroformed the young woman, to keep her from causing trouble. Laura had also trussed her captive up tightly with rope, gagging and blindfolding her with several handkerchiefs for good measure.

Ignoring her captive, Laura kept watching the cars go by. As she waited for the call from Sharon, whether or not to release Mrs. Keller, Laura's thoughts wondered. The past two days had been busy for the three kidnappers, keeping track of eight captive women. Untying the ladies, one at a time, to let them use the restroom or to feed and water them, was time consuming. Laura got on her partners nerves, trying to get them to tie up the ladies properly. She had to resist the urge to retie every captive's bonds, to her exacting standards.

Still, from here on out, it was all downhill. Tomorrow night, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Redding would go home, assuming their husbands paid for them of course. And once the ladies had been ransomed back to their families…

Laura was interrupted from her thoughts as her phone began to buzz. She picked it up. "Hello?" It was Sharon.

"Everything went smooth, boss." The younger woman said. "Timed the grab so I picked it up just as a bus was unloading, so he didn't see me pick it up. No cops around. I checked the money, like you said. It's all here. Clean too, no bugs, nothing."

"Thanks. Meet you back at the house." Laura hung up and dialed another number.

"Hello?" A man said. His voice sounded nervous, distraught.

"Mr. Keller, my associates have the ransom and I am now releasing your wife, unharmed, at the corner of Baltic and Park." She hung up the phone before the man could respond. Reaching into the glove box, Laura pulled out a ski mask and put it on.

Getting out of the car, she the captive woman out of the car. Quickly, Laura cut the rope around the woman's ankles and untied her blindfold. "Your husband has paid up, which means you're free to go now." Laura told the woman. Mrs. Keller's eyes lit up with hope. "He should be here to pick you up in a little bit so just sit tight until then."

Mrs. Keller grunted into her gag. Her hands were still tightly bound behind her back. Laura ignored the woman's protests, getting back in the car. Pulling off the ski mask, she quickly drove away, $2.5 million dollars richer…

***

Laura yawned. It was very late. About two hours ago, Amy had picked up Mrs. Miller's ransom and Laura had released her after calling her husband with her location. In the backseat, Mrs. Redding groaned softly into her gag. Now, they were just waiting for word to come about her ransom.

She grimaced. Amy should have called ten minutes ago, if everything had gone alright with the pickup. Laura was tempted to head back to the house, but she resisted the urge. If Amy had been caught, the police would be on their way to the house right now. Neither Amy nor Sharon knew where Laura was at the moment, if worst came to worst, she could cut her losses and get out of town.     

Amy's call came five minutes later. Laura snatched up her phone and opened it on the second ring. "Yes?" She asked, trying not to sound so anxious.

"No good, boss." Amy told her. She sounded winded. "The drop point was crawling with cops. They weren't in uniform, but it was pretty obvious the way they kept watching the bag, they were waiting for someone to grab it. I think one of them tried to follow me, but I managed to shake him."

"Alright." Laura said, sighing. "Make sure you're clear, then head on back. I'll take care of Mrs. Redding here." She hung up, with a grimace. It wasn't as if she wouldn't still make a tidy profit selling the young woman abroad, but the sheiks wouldn't pay nearly as much for poor Mrs. Redding as her husband would.

Laura shrugged. Not much to do about it, and there were always plenty of other women with rich parents and rich husbands to kidnap. She quickly dialed another number. It rung three times before the man on the other end of the line picked up. "Hello?" He said, nervously.

"Mr. Redding, you were given very specific instructions not to involve the police in this." Laura said her voice grim.  

"Please, I can explain…" he began, but Laura cut him off.

"It's too late for that, Mr. Redding. Say goodbye to your wife." Laura leaned over the held the phone to Mrs. Redding, who lay on the floor of the backseat, tightly bound and gagged. She screamed into her gag.

"Hear that, Mr. Redding?" Laura said, putting the phone back to her ear.

"I'm sorry…" Mr. Redding begged. "Please! I'll pay you double, just don't kill Cathy!"

"I'm not going to kill your wife." Laura said. She knew she had to keep this short. No doubt the police were tracing this call and would be here soon. "I just wanted to make sure you knew, if you wouldn't pay for your wife, there are others who will." Before he could say anything more, Laura hung up. From the glove compartment, Laura took out a small zip-lock baggy with a folded cloth inside. Learning over the seat again, she pressed the cloth over Mrs. Redding's nose. Within moments, the chloroform took hold, silencing the sobbing woman's cries.

Putting the cloth away, Laura started the car and drove off, quickly. As she pulled out onto the street, she rolled down the window and tossed the cheap, disposable cell phone out. In the distance, police sirens wailed in the night, rushing to where Laura had been, not knowing they were already too late…

***

A light rain was falling from the steel-grey clouds overhead. Laura raised the powerful binoculars to her eyes, peering through the thick mist hanging over the ocean. As she slowly inhaled, the sharp smell of salt water and brine filled her nostrils.

There! Laura spotted the massive bulk of the cargo ship sliding slowly through the sea. Written in large white letters on one side was the word "Neptune". She smiled, that was the right ship. She looked down the rows of cargo containers, stacked on top of each other.  

Inside one of those containers, Laura knew, four young women would be stirring from their drug-induced slumber, finding themselves chained up in the darkness. Besides the Mrs. Redding and the unfortunate maids, Miss. Stapleton was taking a one-way trip to the Middle East. Her parents, too, had made the mistake of bringing the police in to try and rescue their daughter. She'd fetch a tidy profit on the auction block now.

Last night, Laura had sent pictures of the four girls to her agent in Istanbul. He assured her he'd have no trouble finding buyers for all of them at the price she'd set. He knew a few rich men who would just love adding them to their harems. And at 12% commission, he'd do pretty well for himself too. Everyone wins, Laura thought with a smile, except of course the poor girls finding themselves sold as slaves.

Laura was interrupted from her thoughts as a light blinked from the stern of the ship. She raised the binoculars to her eyes and began counting the pattern of dots and dashes. It took her a few minutes to work out the Morse code. "ALL CLEAR. WILL RADIO AT GIBRALTOR." Laura smiled. That was her man on the ship. The customs officials who'd inspected the ship hadn't found anything odd in the cargo, like say, four recently kidnapped women being smuggled abroad to be sold as slaves.   

For a hefty bribe, she'd managed to recruit one of the sailors onboard the Neptune. He'd see to it the four women were fed and watered regularly during the long voyage. Laura had no doubt he's also take certain liberties with the girls, but that was their problem, and the four women were just going to have to get used to such things as they began their new lives as slaves.

Pulling out a flashlight, she flashed back, "BON VOYAGE". Putting it and the binoculars away, Laura returned to her car. As she started it up, she whistled a jaunty tune. Another job well done. There was just one more thing to be done…

***

"I'm back!" Laura said, stepping through the front door. While she'd been out, seeing the last four captives off on their one-way journey to the Middle East, Sharon and Amy had been busy clearing out all evidence the three had been here. "Are you two finished?"

"Just about." Amy said, sticking her head out of a door.

Laura reached into the shopping bag she'd picked up on her way back from the harbor. "I thought we might celebrate our success before we left." She said with a grin, holding up a glass bottle.

"Champagne." Amy said, looking at the label with all the skill of an amateur. "Very classy."

The three gathered in the kitchen. While Laura poured three glasses of the sparkling wine, the three women couldn't help but glance at the three, unmarked briefcases sitting on the table. Inside each one, they'd carefully counted out the money together the night before, were 3 million dollars in cash, the ransoms from the four women.

For Sharon and Amy, that was a fabulous amount, more money than they'd ever expected to see at one time, much less possess. For Laura, it was a pretty good haul, even for a big job like this. She expected the four girls on their way to the Middle East would fetch at least that much again, not that she planned on telling Sharon or Amy about that. Still, Laura was under no illusions how long the money would last before she was back at it, doing her next job. Laura had very expensive tastes…

"Ladies," She said, raising her glass. "It's been a pleasure working with you." Sharon and Amy raised their glasses and drank to the toast. Laura raised hers to her lips, but didn't drink. The other two didn't notice, draining their glasses in a single gulp. She grinned as her two, former; partners slowly sank in their seats, unconscious…

***

"MMMPPPHHH!!!" Amy screamed angrily into her gag, as Laura yanked the last knot tight, binding the younger woman to the chair. Beside her, Sharon screamed equally loud, struggling against the ropes that held her tight against her own chair. Her face had gone livid with frustrated rage, her chair rocked back and forth as she squirmed in impotent fury.

Laura grinned, stepping back to admire her handiwork. The younger women sat with their hands behind the chair backs, bound tightly with rope. More rope circled their chests, running above and below their breasts, pinning their backs tight against the hard wood of the chairs. Their legs were bound together at the ankle and knee. A rope ran from their ankles, under the chair to their bound wrists.

She'd also taken the time to strip the two crooks completely naked, only adding to their humiliation at being double crossed. Their clothes lay in a pile in one corner of the kitchen. Well, most of their clothes anyway. The way the two girls' cheeks bulged beneath the mass of duct tape covering their mouths told what Laura had done with their underwear.

"Sorry girls." Laura said, opening the three briefcases. Quickly, she piled the money, all six million of it, in a black duffle bag. The two captives groaned mournfully as they watched stack after stack of hundred dollar bills disappear into the bag. "Look on the bright side," She added, with a grin. "You could have joined the other girls on the boat. The two of you could have fetched a pretty penny on the auction block."

Laura hesitated, holding the final stack of money in her hand. She shrugged. "Here," she said, dropping it on the table. "Consider this an incentive. First girl to get loose gets to decide how you split it. Now, I've got to go. There's a plane to the Caymans, I've got to catch." Shoulder the bag of money, she turned and left the room. Behind her, the two captives groaned into their gags, struggling furiously against their bonds…