The truth is I couldn't fit all these characters into one place, so the climax is set in two locations (the mansion and the factory). But yes, you'll be seeing a lot of connections now. I'm glad to bring back Bridget, Bobbi, and Felicia, who have been a little underserved in this story, in part because of how many other character arcs there are. But Bridget and her friends had a lot of prominence in the first two volumes, so I decided to let some other, more morally ambiguous characters carry the third.
Karima will never be anyone's idea of a "good guy," but I find it interesting to show her more sensitive side once in a while. She may be a cold, calculating villainess, but she's also a strikingly beautiful woman, and it's interesting to occasionally call attention to her femininity.
I was very happy with how the scene of the two Parisian beauticians turned out. They get a little personality and backstory before their humdrum jobs are unpleasantly interrupted. I've always liked how the practice of clothes stealing upends the boring lives of the victims, and it's especially fun when those victims come from a country without many uniform thefts, and experience a little "culture shock" as result.
It's possible. I know there are some USB scenes in comics from the 1930s or earlier. Unfortunately, most of the European comics from that era are hard to find.
Haleema continued to pace "her" area of the mansion grounds, eyes and ears perfectly alert. Her night-vision glasses improved her vision excellently.
By now, Karima and the others had doubtlessly infiltrated the mansion, and were preparing to carry out their scheme. She was to remain outside, watchful of any suspicious activity.
And at the moment, it looked like she'd found some. Two other security guards were stepping through the grounds - but they appeared sneaky, stealthy. Not like they were on the job.
Haleema stepped into the shadows and used her glasses to zoom in on the women. Their uniforms appeared a bit disheveled, not unlike her own. Almost as though they'd been stolen from other women...
Kimberly and Wanda stepped toward the rear of the mansion, trying to keep silent. They narrowly sidestepped the twigs and branches strewn across the grounds.
"Strange," Wanda said. "I thought I saw a gardening van parked by the front of the mansion earlier. But there are no gardeners outside."
"Shhh," Kimberly held up her hand. "What's that sound?"
A soft, steady moaning... coming from the bushes.
Kimberly and Wanda peeked over. Hidden behind the bushes was a tall redhead, hogtied and gagged, dressed in nothing more than a cream-colored set of bra and panties.
Kimberly's eyes narrowed. "I don't like this."
"Me neither," Wanda said. "Why can't she be wearing a more colorful set of underwear? At least the guards we mugged were more fashionable."
"This is serious," Kimberly hissed. "We're not the only ones who've been disguising ourselves as security personnel. But who...?"
She was interrupted by the sound of a clicking noise behind her. Turning around, both women raised their hands at the sight of a grinning, gun-toting Haleema.
******************
"What should we do with them?" Whitney asked.
She and Darla had herded their four prisoners at gunpoint behind some heavy oil drums.
"Not sure," Darla surmised. "We were told to keep the Indian girl alive, but I've got no idea who these other three are. Maybe we should kill them?"
Whitney switched on her radio. "Sloane, come in."
No answer. Whitney tried again. "Sloane, do you copy? Toshiko?"
She turned to Darla. "What's going on?"
"They must be in an area of the facility where our radios can't reach them," Darla reasoned. "Like the basement or something. Guess we'll have to deal with these girls ourselves."
Felicia spoke up. "You don't want to kill us."
Darla cocked her head. "And why not?"
"We have lots of friends," Bobbi replied. "Friends in high places. If we disappear, they'll know."
"Who?" Prema asked curiously.
Bobbi elbowed her in the ribs. "Like I said, we know people."
Darla shrugged. "Not sure if you're telling the truth, and I don't really care. Whitney, how good is your silencer?"
Whitney hesitated. "I don't know if we should."
"Should what?"
"Kill them. At least, not shoot them, y'know? Not really my style."
"Your style should be not getting caught," Darla said, turning to her coworker. "And there are too many liabilities right now. We need to get rid of them."
"May I offer an alternate perspective?"
Bridget jumped forward, kicking the gun from Darla's hands. Then she flipped the woman over, slamming her into Whitney.
Felicia and Bobbi rushed forward as well. Prema watched in a mixture of shock and amazement as the three smaller women swiftly took down the two muscular ones.
Bridget stood over the two now-unconscious criminals, and turned to her two associates. "Let's strip-search these two," she said. "Tie them up and question them. There's more going on at Hobson than meets the eye."
As Bobbi and Felicia began divesting Darla and Whitney of their clothes, Bridget walked over to Prema. "Are you okay?"
Prema slid to the ground. "I just want to go home."
"Stay strong. We'll keep you safe," Bridget said. "That's a promise."
Prema nodded, though she didn't seem too convinced.
****************
The elevator doors dinged, and three women stepped out onto the top floor of the mansion.
At a glance, they looked like a butler and two beauticians. And fortunately for them, no one gave the trio more than a glance.
"This way," Lucille whispered. "Valencia's room is probably the biggest on this floor."
"How will we know when we see it?" Sonja asked.
Lucille peeked around the corner. In the middle of the next hallway was a room with two large double doors, flanked by a pair of female guards. Interestingly, the indoor guards' uniforms had the colors reversed from those of the outdoor guards - green bodysuit, with lavender gloves and boots. One was Caucasian with auburn hair, the other was Asian with a dark brown ponytail.
"This place is just crawling with security," Chandra noted.
"Good thing we're dressed for the occasion," Lucille responded, straightening her tie. "Let's go."
They approached the doors, Lucille leading the way with a most professional stride.
"Good evening," she addressed the guards. "Madame Steele requested a makeup appointment?"
The guards looked the butler and beauticians up and down. Then the auburn-haired one nodded. She knocked on the door. "Ms. Steele, your stylists are here."
"Send them in," came the response.
Valencia's room was indeed quite lavish. Lucille felt a twinge of envy as she, Sonja, and Chandra entered. But she suppressed it as the doors shut behind her. There was work to do.
Valencia stood at her dresser. She sported a smart blue-grey pantsuit, complete with white shirt and low heels. She turned to meet her new arrivals. "About time you showed up..."
At the sight of the butler, she gasped. "Lucy? W-what's going on?"
"Hello, Val," Lucille smiled. "I think we need to have a little talk."
Valencia opened her mouth to scream for help, but Lucille was on her in an instant. The two women began struggling on the floor, Lucille's hand pressed firmly over Valencia's mouth.
Sonja and Chandra watched the fight unfold with a mix of amazement and indecision.
"Need some help, boss?" Sonja asked.
"No, thanks," Lucille responded. "I can handle this bitch myself."
Desperately, Valencia kicked out, her foot hitting a floor lamp. It toppled over with a dull thud.
The door to the room opened, and the two guards peeked inside. "Everything okay, Ms. Steele?" asked the brown-haired one. "Sounds like there's a wild party in here."
She and her partner gasped at the sight of their boss and a butler, struggling on the floor, while the two beauticians smiled at them.
"You might say it's a slumber party," Sonja quipped.
"Yeah," Chandra nodded. "And now you two are invited."
They grabbed the guards and pulled them into the room, shutting the door once again. More struggling and the occasional sounds of breaking furniture followed.
Mere minutes later, the room had once again grown very quiet.
Lucille had triumphed over Valencia, who now lay unconscious on the floor. Lucille was now scanning the woman's laptop, searching through her recent emails for useful information.
Behind her, Chandra and Sonja were zipping up the green jumpsuits and easing their feet into the lavender boots that had so recently adorned the room's security guards.
The real guards lay snoozing on Valencia's queen-size bed. The auburn-haired guard was down to her lacy floral black bra and white high-cut briefs. The Asian woman had been reduced to her red T-shirt bra and blue boyshorts. Chandra and Sonja had torn up some spare bedsheets and used them to securely bind and gag their two clothing donors.
"Too bad," Sonja groused. "I really liked those beautician uniforms. And now we're back to being security guards. Again."
"At least the uniforms are different colors," Chandra offered.
"Yeah, and they look even worse than the ones on the outdoor guards," Sonja countered, pulling on the gloves. "Can't believe someone thought these outfits were a good idea."
"Enough already," Lucille snapped. "Of the many crimes Valencia has committed, the one I'm least concerned about is her aversion to good fashion. Just finish putting on those uniforms and stand outside the room. We don't need anyone walking past and wondering why Valencia's two bedroom guards have disappeared."
"What will you be doing?" Chandra asked, clipping the belt around her waist.
"Valencia has a video conference with the other heads of Cerberus in a few minutes," Lucille explained. "I'll dress in her suit and join the meeting. Then the rest of the board and I will have a little chat about Ms. Steele's role in the company."
"Why do you need to dress in her suit?" Sonja inquired.
"Because I'm not engaging in a professional business meeting dressed like a goddamned butler," Lucille snapped. "Besides, she deserves a little humiliation after everything she's put me through tonight. Now get going."
****************
Sloane, Toshiko, Marina, and Cassandra entered the sub-basement of the Hobson building. The room was solid concrete, with large, grinding machines lining the walls.
"Must be the heart of the facility," Cassandra observed.
"Amazing," Sloane said, though her voice did not sound amazed. "Where is Melissa? Let's get this thing moving."
"Wonder where Darla and Whitney are," Marina piped up. "Maybe I should step outside and radio them."
She turned and grabbed the doorknob. Twisted. "Uh-oh."
"What's wrong?" Sloane asked.
"I think... I think we're locked in," Marina said. "The door just snapped shut behind us."
"What?!"
All at once, there came a hissing noise. Gas began filling the room.
"It's a trap!" Sloane yelled.
"Hey, I love Star Wars!" Marina responded.
Sloane was about to punch her in the face when a voice boomed over the sub-basement's loudspeakers.
"Hello, girls." It was Melissa. "Enjoying our facility?"
Sloane whirled around. "You bitch. Let us out of here. We had a deal!"
"Yes, didn't we," Melissa responded. She leaned back in her chair in a small room adjoining the sub-basement, where she was watching the fun unfold on closed-circuit cameras. "It's nice to see you finally showing some respect for Hobson."
"What... what are you talking about?"
"I did a little underworld investigating," Melissa explained. "After the bombing of our Texas facility. Found out that you and your girls were responsible. So I arranged a little... revenge scheme. I hired you girls to do some work for me - bombing Dennison and, when the opportunity arose, kidnapping their former CEO so I could gloat at her. And when everything was done, I would kill you all. Great plan, wasn't it?"
"These security uniforms have gas masks!" Toshiko realized. "Everyone put them on!"
"Oh yes, how fortunate," Melissa smiled. "That should buy you an extra... say, ten minutes of air? After which you'll all be an afterthought to the world." She chuckled. "Farewell, Sloane. It's been a pleasure outsmarting you."
"I'll kill you for this!" Sloane shouted. But Melissa had already shut off the mike.
"What do we do?" Cassandra was breathing more heavily, even through the mask.
"Find a way out!" Sloane said. "Everyone take a corner. There's got to be some means of escape!"
******************
Alex and Eliza casually made their way around to the west side of the mansion.
"Stay quiet," Alex whispered. "Those terrorists could be anywhere."
Eliza nodded.
"What I'm wondering," Alex continued, "is how they made it onto the premises in the first place. How do you smuggle weaponry of that magnitude onto an area with this much security?"
Eliza spotted a van marked "Evergreen Gardening," parked by the side of the house. Curiously, she approached.
"What are you doing?" Alex hissed.
"Just wondering where the gardeners are," Eliza said. She peeked through the tinted rear window of the van. "Holy crap."
On the floor of the van were several small metallic devices with wires sticking out of them. They were clearly bombs.
Eliza turned to Alex. "The gardeners. They got in disguised as gardeners. And they're probably going to blow things up but good."
Alex picked up her radio. "Wanda, Kimberly, do you read? We found something."
A moment's pause, then Kimberly's voice came in. "We found something too. Meet us by the shrubs behind the mansion."
Alex shut off the radio and turned to Eliza. "Good work."
Eliza swelled with pride. "Thanks, boss."
The two of them headed off to the rear of the mansion.
"Kim, we're here," Alex called out as they entered a shadowy area of the grounds. "Where are you?"
"Back here," came the response.
Alex and Eliza approached... and stopped short in their tracks. Kimberly and Wanda were kneeling on the ground, hands behind their heads. Behind them was a tall Arabic woman holding a gun to their backs. She also held another gun in her other hand, pointed at the two newcomers.
"Sorry, Alex," Kimberly said. "She... she forced us."
Haleema grinned at Alex and Eliza and motioned for both of them to get on the ground.
******************
Adelaide and Betty struggled uncomfortably against their bonds, and grunted angrily into their gags.
Both women had been stripped to their underwear and tied up with strips of their own clothing. It was humiliating, in a sense - both women were quite adept at stripping other girls of their clothes, and it did not feel great to have the tables turned on them.
Across from them in the quiet back office sat Natalie, casually flipping through a fashion catalog. She hummed to herself as she turned the pages.
"Hrrrmmmppphh!" one of her prisoners grunted angrily.
"Quiet, Janelle," Natalie said without looking up. "Or should I say Adelaide?"
Adelaide's eyes widened.
Natalie smiled at her. "That's right, honey. I know who you really are. It's amazing what you can dig up on the Internet."
Adelaide grumbled to herself. Natalie returned to her reading, then looked up again.
"I'm curious - who hired you? Why'd you take the real Ms. Ryan's place?"
"Mmmmppphhh."
Natalie got up, walked over, and removed the gag. "If you cry for help, I'll make you sorry. Just talk."
Adelaide coughed. "I was hired by a woman named Maxine Ventriss," she said. "Works for Vito Investments. She's been engaged in a lot of backroom deals, digging up dirt on some of the most powerful corporations in the tri-county area. She acts as the middle man... or woman... selling the information to interested parties."
"Like who?" Natalie pressed.
"I don't know too many names," Adelaide admitted. "I know she's doing shady work with someone from Cerberus Chemicals. Happened to mention that offhand when she hired me for the Hobson job."
"So that's what you do?" Natalie asked. "Infiltrate companies and steal trade secrets? Sounds pretty dull."
"That's not all I do," Adelaide replied. "People need all sorts of sabotage work to be done. A couple of weeks ago, I kidnapped a team of handball girls to stop them from competing in a tournament."
Natalie's eyes lit up. "Interesting."
Adelaide nodded. "Disguised myself as their driver and tied them up. It got a little out of control, but things worked out in the end."
Natalie considered. "You know... my cousin is the coach of a color guard team in Tampa. They have a tournament this weekend, and she's pretty worried about the competition."
She thought for a moment. "You wouldn't be interested in... I dunno... kidnapping another sports team, would you?"
Adelaide smiled. "If you can pay, I'm interested," she said.
"How about this," Natalie said. "If I let you go, you do the job. Help my cousin win the color guard tournament."
Adelaide considered. "Sounds tempting..."
Betty interrupted with a loud "mmmmpppphhhh!"
Natalie removed her gag. "What do you want?"
"I'll kidnap a color guard team for you," she said. "I'll kidnap whoever you want. Handball girls, cheerleaders, band girls, you name it. Just let me go."
Natalie thought. "I dunno, you kind of annoy me. Plus, didn't you say you worked for Dennison recently?" She retied the gag. "Sorry, gal, I don't trust you."
"Hhhrrrggghhh," was all the angry Betty could respond.
"So do we have a deal?" Natalie asked Adelaide.
Adelaide nodded. "We do. But... won't your boss be angry if you help me escape?"
"She won't have to know," Natalie said, untying Adelaide. "Not if we make it look convincing. We just need to get you some clothes, since I kind of tore up yours. And no, you're not allowed to steal mine."
Adelaide grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Natalie opened the door and looked out into the office hallway. "Let's see..."
A young, ginger-haired intern was across the hall, standing by the water cooler. The girl wore a white blouse, plaid skirt, off-white tights, and brown penny loafers.
"A little on the small side," Natalie mused. "But she'll suffice."
She raised her voice. "Molly! Come here, please."
The intern looked up, pointing at herself questioningly. Natalie nodded and beckoned her over.
The intern approached the doorway. "What's up?"
Natalie smiled. "Got a special assignment for you."
She grabbed Molly's arm and pulled the startled girl into the office.
Thankfully, the office was situated at the far end of the hall, so none of the punches, kicks, or muffled cries were heard by anyone else. In any case, the fight did not last long, as Adelaide assisted Natalie in silencing the young intern quickly and efficiently.
Lying the poor girl on the ground, the two women stripped off her garments, leaving her only in a pink satin bra and blue-trim white panties. Adelaide rolled the tights up her long legs as Natalie bound and gagged her with spare strips of cloth.
"Haven't worn penny loafers in ages," Adelaide commented as she slipped on the shoes.
"You just need them long enough to get out of here," Natalie smiled. "Good luck."
Once fully dressed, Adelaide tied her hair back into a bun. "Thanks. Do you have your cousin's contact info?"
"Sure." Natalie wrote down a phone number on the back of a business card and handed it to her. "She'll really appreciate your help."
"I'm guessing a certain team of color guard girls won't." Adelaide laughed as she headed for the door. "So long."
Once she'd gone, Natalie turned back to Betty. "So what do we do with you?"
********************
The elevator doors dinged, and three women stepped out onto the top floor of the mansion.
At a glance, they looked like a maid and two chefs. And fortunately for them, no one gave the trio more than a glance.
"This way," Karima whispered. "That bitch's room is probably the biggest on this floor."
"Can't wait," Yasmin grinned.
Peeking around the corner, Karima spotted the large room, flanked as it was by two uniformed guards.
"We'll have to take care of them," she whispered.
Yasmin cracked her knuckles. "Leave it to me."
"Easy, girl," Sabira said. "We do this together."
Inside the bedroom, Lucille had finished donning Valencia's shirt, pantsuit, and heels.
"Fits like a dream," she grinned.
Too bad Valencia was still unconscious and thus could not hear her rival's gloating. Or to realize that she had been stripped down to her blue plunge bra and violet briefs, and was now bound and gagged with bedsheets.
Lucille dragged Valencia over to the closet and locked her inside. "Hope you're not claustrophobic, dearie," she chuckled.
Then, returning to the bed, she retrieved a large satin blanket and used it to fully cover the two security guards. "Can't have anyone on the conference call noticing a pair of underwear-clad women tied up in the background," she chuckled.
Then, from outside the room, she heard several noises - punching, kicks, thrashing about. Then silence.
Lucille stepped towards the door. "...Sonja? ... Chandra? What's going on?"
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a woman in a maid's uniform stormed in, followed by a pair of chefs. The maid grinned at Lucille.
"Hello, Valencia," Karima said. "I believe you owe us some money. And we're here to collect."
Lucille took a moment to find her voice. "I... there must be some mistake?" she stammered. "I'm not Valemmmmpppphhhhh!"
Yasmin had gagged her from behind. "Can't have you calling for help," she said.
"And the only 'mistake' was the one you made," Karima continued, "when you thought you could double-cross us."
"Put her in the laundry cart," Sabira piped up. "We'll take her someplace more... private."
Just before she was shoved into the cart, Lucille saw an unconscious Sonja and Chandra being dragged into a closet across the hall by Yasmin.
"Your guards can't save you now," Karima hissed into her ear. "Nothing can save you... or your precious mansion... unless you pay us back. With interest."
As she was lowered into the laundry cart and covered by linens, Lucille felt her heart pound away in her chest. She was trapped - and there was little chance of anyone coming to rescue her.
******************
The helicopter stood poised on the roof of the Hobson factory, ready for its latest aerial flight. The inspection had been completed nearly twenty minutes ago, with the mechanics finding everything in working order. But no one had shown up to fly.
The flight supervisor spoke into his radio. "Where are the pilots? Has anyone seen Jane and Greta? We're already behind schedule."
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the door to the stairwell open, and two women stepped out onto the roof. Both were tall and well-toned, dressed in green Nomex flight suits and white helmets with face-obscuring black visors.
"Never mind," the supervisor radioed. "They're here now."
He looked up as the two women approached. "What took so long?"
"Sorry," the woman with the "Jane" name tag said. "Had a bit of an issue in the bathroom. Lady problems."
The supervisor raised his hand. "Too much info," he said. "Just get into the copter and start the test flight. The fuel tank's full, but you don't need to stay up for more than fifteen minutes. Just cruise the area."
"Greta" saluted. "Roger that."
The supervisor watched the two women board the helicopter. He shook his head as the copter lifted and began flying off in the distance. "Back in my day," he muttered, "we never had to delay a flight 'cause of lady problems."
Once the helicopter had cleared the outer fence of the Hobson facility, the two women turned to each other, and allowed themselves to laugh.
"Now that," Meredith said, pulling off her helmet and shaking her hair free. "That was an adventure."
Lucinda removed her own helmet as she continued steering the copter. "Plenty of fun... except for the part where we almost got killed."
"Yeah." Meredith gazed out the window. "We're still fugitives, you know. The police are probably already looking for us."
"Then we'll go where they can't find us," Lucinda replied. "Any suggestions?"
"I have some ideas," Meredith smiled. "Head north."
She shifted in her seat, smoothing down her flight suit. It was a good fit - one of the better uniforms she'd worn that night.
But of course, she hadn't been its original owner. Ditto Lucinda's uniform, which looked mighty good on her.
In a dark, isolated wing on the fifth floor of the Hobson facility, stuck inside a cramped broom closet, Jane and Greta struggled for freedom. They had been tied back to back, wrists and ankles bound with rubber tubing, while thick strips of black duct tape covered their mouths. The chestnut-haired Jane had been reduced to a blue polka-dot bra and pink bikini panties, while the raven-haired Greta wore nothing apart from a mauve lace contour bra and periwinkle panties.
They did not understand who those two women were, nor why they had ambushed them or taken their uniforms. But both had a bad feeling the would be stuck in their current predicament for a while...
a bad feeling the would be stuck in their current predicament for a while...
this is one of the best features of the stories by Tirepanted...there is plenty of girls and young women left tied up, gagged and hidden everywhere and forgotten! I am tempted to draw a map with all these hapless clothes donors!
Sure, feel free to draw a map. I can barely keep track of all the clothing donors myself, but I'm sure there's some way that their muggers have found perfect hiding places for all of them.
Haleema paced back and forth, her guns carefully covering her four prisoners. She eyed them all with cold suspicion.
Alex, Eliza, Wanda, and Kimberly knelt on the ground, hands behind their heads. They glared at their captor angrily.
"Who are you?" Alex asked tersely. "Why did you bomb the Dennison building?"
Haleema looked puzzled at the question. She considered saying something when her radio crackled.
Karima's voice came through. "Haleema, we've got her. We're taking Valencia to the basement now. If she doesn't give us the money, the whole mansion goes up in smoke. Signal us if there are any problems outside."
Haleema shut the radio off. Alex grit her teeth.
"You're just a stinking terrorist!" she growled. "And you're going to pay. We'll hand you directly over to the FBI."
At this, Haleema simply smiled and hoisted her weapon.
"No..." Eliza began to tremble. "Please, I'm too young to die!"
"Don't start panicking," Alex snapped.
"I don't want to die," Eliza repeated. "I... urgh!"
Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed facedown on the grass.
Haleema stepped closer to Eliza's prone body. She poked at it with her rifle.
Suddenly, Eliza's hand shot out and grabbed the rifle, pulling it from Haleema's hands. Eliza swung the rifle, smacking it across the woman's face.
Haleema looked dazed for a moment - and it was the moment Alex needed. She lunged at the Arab woman and began wrestling her to the ground.
Finally, Alex rose, triumphant. Haleema was down and out.
Alex, Wanda, and Kimberly all looked at their youngest teammate, who beamed.
"I think she fell for it," Eliza said. "Get it? Fell?"
Kimberly sighed. "Wow. That was almost badass, until you threw in the stupid joke."
"Still kind of badass," Wanda said. "C'mon, let's tie this bitch up."
*****************
The underwear-clad forms of Darla and Whitney grunted angrily into their gags and pulled against their extra-tight bonds as they looked up from the crates in which they'd been stashed.
"Oh, hush," Bobbi said. "You bad guys always get so angry when we turn the tables on you."
Nearby, Bridget was speaking to Prema. "So who's behind all this?"
"The..." Prema clutched her head. "The last few hours have been a blur... I was kidnapped... Then me and my kidnappers were kidnapped... I don't know what's going on..."
"Just give us a name to go on," Bridget urged.
Prema thought. "The last name I heard was... Melissa. I think she's the one behind all this. And she's somewhere on these grounds."
At this, Whitney let out an extra-loud "Mmmpphh!"
Curious, Bridget removed her gag. 'You say something?"
Whitney nodded. "Melissa Marinos was the one who hired us," she said. "She wanted to sabotage Dennison. If you let us go, I'll tell you all about her plans."
Bridget patted her head. "Thanks, hon. But you've already told us enough. You can spill the rest to the police."
"Hey, no! I just helped yommmmpppphhh!" Whitney struggled as she was regagged. Darla just rolled her eyes.
Bridget turned to Bobbi and Felicia. "Time to phone the authorities," she said. "And it looks like we've got a story worth publishing."
*****************
Adelaide exited the Hobson facility and hummed to herself as she strode through the parking lot.
From her blouse she pulled a small flash drive. She had swiped it from Melissa's desk when Natalie wasn't looking.
"Mission accomplished," she said to herself.
She picked up her phone and dialed the number of her employer.
Miles away, in the dark confines of a limo trunk, Maxine's phone began to ring. She glanced at the caller ID.
With her hands still tightly bound, Maxine was forced to hit the "Receive" button with her nose.
"Hello?" Adelaide asked. "I've got the information."
"Mmmmmpppphhhh!" was Maxine's reponse. "Hhhhrrrmmmppphhh!"
Adelaide stared at the phone. "Ms. Ventriss, is that you? Sounds like we have a bad connection."
"Hhhmmmppphhh!"
Adelaide paused. "Actually, it... sounds like you've been gagged. True or false?"
"Mmmmppphhh, mmmmpppphhh!"
Adelaide sighed. "Fine, I'll meet you where you are. Just give me a few minutes to find some wheels and trace your phone."
"Hhhhrrrmmmpppphhhh!!"
Adelaide retrieved a key fob from her stolen skirt and pressed it. "Please have a good car, please have a good car..."
Near the corner of the lot, the headlights of a white sedan flickered on.
"A Prius?" Adelaide mused. "Oh, Molly, for shame... You deserve to have it stolen."
She got inside and revved the engine.
****************
Nadyne was sweating profusely at this point. Her gagged mouth was parched, and her feet had grown quite sore. She was about ready to give up.
Still, the sound of the basement elevator dinging alerted her. Summoning her last reserves of strength, she kicked out again at the metal pipe.
Please, please, please...
From outside, Sabira looked around. "Did you hear something? Coming from the boiler?"
"Nope," Karima said. "Now stop dawdling and follow me to the laundry room. We have a prisoner to interrogate."
Nadyne heard the footsteps recede. She hung her head in defeat.
The bomb continued its countdown...
******************
It had taken hours - long, torturous hours - but they were finally free.
Cora's long fingernails had kept picking at Diane's bonds - consistently, determinedly. Finally, the ropes had been frayed enough for Diane to break them, and she had untied her friend.
The two women exited the closet, shaking and shivering.
Cora grit her teeth. "When I get my hands on those women," she said, "they will be an entire universe of sorry. I swear..."
"Easy, hon," Diane said. "We'll figure this out."
"Thy stole our clothes... twice!" Cora snapped. "We're cops, aren't we? We need to track them down, lock them up, and toss away the key!"
"That we do," Diane said. "But first, we need to get some clothes of our own." She gestured to their own underwear-clad bodies. "Think the nightclub would be willing to lend us some outfits if we show them our badges?"
"We don't have our badges," Cora replied. 'I don't know where are real clothes are. Let's just grab the first two outfits we see and get out of here."
Voices outside caught the women's attention. They peeked outside the door of the lounge.
Two waitresses were walking down the hall, decked out in their skintight silver jumpsuits. One was a light-skinned girl with her blonde hair in a double bun, the other a dark-skinned girl with black cornrows.
"What a mess of a night!" the blonde was saying. "I thought people were going to riot when the club closed the bar!"
"Still don't know what the deal was there," her friend said. "What happened to Gemma? The blonde lady who always runs the bar - where'd she disappear to?"
Though Diane remained hesitant to attack innocent women for their clothes, Cora had no such qualms - she reached out and placed her hands over the two waitress' mouths, dragging them back into the room.
Subduing the two women proved easier than expected. The blonde was essentially paralyzed with shock, which her dark-skinned friend didn't have time to put up much fight. Both women were quickly rendered unconscious.
Stripping them was also fairly easy, and even Diane had to admit it was good to be wearing new clothes again - even a hideous-looking space-age jumpsuit.
"It's not that bad," Cora countered. "And we certainly look better than those two clowns."
The waitresses wore rather unflattering underwear sets - the white girl had a chartreuse full-cup bra and tanga panties, while her black friend wore an orange set of underwear with pink frills.
"No need to mock those poor girls," Diane chided. "Let's just tie them up and get out of here."
Fortunately, there was just enough duct tape left in the lounge closet to bind and gag the two young women.
*********************
Cassandra looked up. "There!"
She pointed at a large patch of cement near the top of the wall. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but the patch was fresher than the rest of the wall.
"I'll bet my ass that was once a window," Cassandra said. "If we can make it a window again, we can get the hell out of here."
"What are you waiting for?" Sloane pressed. "Do it!"
Cassandra climbed up the wall-spanning machinery until she reached the cement patch. Taking a sharp knife from her belt - and blessing Hobson for equipping their security team with so many weapons - she began chiseling away at the wall.
"Hurry up," Marina said through her gas mask. "Getting hard to breathe in here!"
"Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes..."
Finally, Cassandra had weakened the cement enough to allow her to grip the block and wrench it from its spot in the wall. A cool blast of air greeted her.
"Freedom," she smiled. "Come on, girls!"
She climbed out the window as the others stepped towards the machinery. Marina climbed upwards with grace and dexterity, pulling her lithe body through the window. The opening was at ground level, and Cassandra helped her up.
"Let's never do that again," Marina coughed.
Toshiko was next, squeezing through the small opening. She dusted bits of concrete from her hair. "Finally."
Last was Sloane, who was struggling to climb up. Her gas mask had not been as effective as the others.
Toshiko turned to her friends. "You two go on ahead. I'll help the boss."
Still the word felt like poison on her lips, as she watched Cassandra and Marina race off.
Toshiko turned back to the window. Sloane had reached the top of the wall, and was gripping the ledge with her fingers.
"Help me up," she said, a hint of fatigue in her voice.
Toshiko removed her gas mask. To Sloane's surprise, there was a smile on her face.
"From now on," Toshiko said calmly, "I give the orders."
So saying, she lifted her boot and stepped down hard on Sloane's fingers. With a cry, Sloane let go of the ledge and fell back to the basement floor.
Toshiko let out a bubbly laugh as she peered through the window. "Goodbye forever, darling," she said. "You won't be missed."
Her laughter faded as she pushed some crates in front of the window to cover it and walked away, yet it still rang in the semi-conscious Sloane's ears.
Betrayed... by her second-in-command... Sloane lay there furious... but her fury had no strength...
The gas continued to pour in... Sloane's vision was cloudy... Her strength fading away...
Was this the end...?
****************
Haleema grunted as she was gagged with a thick cloth and bound with strong wires. Wanda and Kimberly had already strip-searched her down to her bra and panties.
"Not sure it's even worth gagging her," Wanda commented. "This woman hasn't said a word since we met."
"Still feels good, though," Kimberly replied. "Serves her right and everything."
"Okay, girls," Alex said. "Let's head to the mansion basement. It's time to wrap this case up."
*****************
Adelaide pulled her car into the Cerberus parking lot. She followed the signal of her phone to the trunk of a sleek black limousine.
"Dis must be da place," she chuckled to herself.
The trunk was locked, but a few hairpins took care of that. She popped it open and eyed its contents.
Inside the trunk was Maxine, bound and gagged and stripped to her white underwear. Also in the trunk was a black woman, similarly tied up and gagged in a purple set of bra and panties.
"I can't wait to hear this story," Adelaide mused.
"Mmmmppphhhh!!"
"Sorry, sorry," Adelaide said. She removed Maxine's gag.
"Did you get any files from Hobson?" Maxine asked.
"Sure did." Adelaide pulled the flash drive from her pocket and showed it to Maxine.
Maxine squinted. On the side of the drive was a label: "Cupcake Recipes."
Maxine glared at Adelaide. "Idiot! You were supposed to steal valuable information. Not kitchen tips!"
Adelaide glanced at the label. "...Oops." She looked back at Maxine. "Sorry, I was in kind of a rush. Got smooth-talked by a smart-aleck secretary."
"Just untie me, you moron," Maxine snapped.
Adelaide folded her arms. "Stop calling me names. And I'd like to get paid for my work."
"Paid for what? I can't use information about goddamned cupcakes!"
"You hired me to steal information from one of Hobson's top officials," Adelaide said. "You didn't say what kind of information it should be."
'I said it should be top secret!" Maxine growled.
"Some of these cupcakes might be pretty secret," Adelaide said. "Did I ever tell you about the ones my aunt used to make? So good they should have been a crime."
"Untie me or I'll throttle you," Maxine snapped.
"I don't think you're in position to do that," Adelaide said calmly. "And I don't much care for your hostile attitude." Her eye fell on a wallet lying in the corner of the car trunk. "Ah! Yours, I presume?"
"Don't touch that!"
Adelaide began rifling through the wallet. "Let's see... We agreed on ten thousand... But I'm a fair girl. I'll only charge you half." She removed five thousand-dollar bills from the wallet.
"Thief! That's my money!" Maxine struggled, but the bonds were still too tight.
Adelaide tucked the money into her blouse and tossed the wallet back in the trunk. "Pleasure doing business with you, Max."
"I'll get you for this!" Maxine growled. "You haven't heard the last of me, I promise you!"
Adelaide slammed the trunk shut and returned to her car. She pulled the card with the phone number Natalie had given her from her pocket and input the number into her phone. "Better go see about those color guard girls..."
Inside the trunk, Maxine fumed... and pulled even harder at her bonds. Finally, they began to weaken...
******************
Melissa was beside herself with anger. She had dropped by the abandoned wing of the fourth floor to check on Meredith, but no one was there - only a broken chair and some broken ropes to show signs of escape.
From there she had made her way to the lowest level of the factory, hoping to find her other prisoners in the boiler room. No luck - only a couple of her own employees, tied up and gagged and stripped to their underwear. The helpless women clearly wanted her to free them, but she had other things on her mind.
"What the hell is happening?" she muttered, trekking through the muddy walkway between the factory and her office building. She pulled out her phone to call Natalie, when the sound of sirens reached her ears. Three large police vans had pulled up to the entranceway of Hobson.
Melissa hid behind some large cargo barrels as she listened to the head policewoman speak to the guard on duty. "Evening, miss... We're looking for a Ms. Melissa Stavros."
The guard spoke something into her radio.
"Damn it!" Melissa felt herself starting to panic. She had to get away.
But how? There were at least a dozen police officers now entering the facility and swarming about. Two of them headed for her office building, while others began combing the surrounding area.
Melissa, in her business suit and heels, certainly looked out of place on the factory grounds. She would be spotted in a matter of minutes, unless she did something to change her appearance.
At that moment, one of the factory forewomen happened past her hiding place. The woman had greasy blonde hair beneath a hard hat, a green worksuit, and mud-caked brown boots. She was chewing on a cigarette as she headed for the factory entrance, aiming to relieve the current forewoman of her shift.
As she happened past the barrels, a quick "Psst!" caught her ears. She looked around, into the shadowed space between the cargo and the fence.
"Somebody there - whuggg!" The woman was grabbed by her shoulders and pulled into the darkness.
Two police officers happened to be combing the area nearby; fortunately the loud clanks and rumbles of the nearby factory masked the relatively quiet punches and expulsions of breath as the forewoman was relieved of her shift before it had even begun.
Melissa unlaced the woman's boots, pulling them off to reveal a pair of old white socks beneath. She stripped the unconscious forewoman of her jumpsuit, and was pleased to see that that the label matched her own.
"My compliments to the HR department," she mused as she changed outfits, "for hiring women who are just the right size."
The forewoman was now down to an orange demi-cup bra and purple high-cut panties. A quick search in a few stray barrels yielded a length of rubber hosing. This was used to bind the woman hand and foot. Melissa stuffed one of the woman's socks behind her lips and tied the other one around her mouth.
"That should keep you quiet, doll," she smiled as she laced up the boots. "Ouch, these pinch. Can't believe you factory folks walk around in these all day."
She dropped the forewoman in one of the open barrels and replaced the lid. Then she lowered the hard hat on her head, messing up her hair to give herself a rugged workwoman's look.
Melissa nonchalantly stepped out of her hiding place, instinctively freezing as a trio of policewomen ran past. None of them paid her a second glance. Smiling, she strode back onto the path and continued on her way.
Last edited by tirepanted3 on Wed May 06, 2020 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
"So that's what you do?" Natalie asked. "Infiltrate companies and steal trade secrets? Sounds pretty dull."
"That's not all I do," Adelaide replied. "People need all sorts of sabotage work to be done. A couple of weeks ago, I kidnapped a team of handball girls to stop them from competing in a tournament."
Natalie's eyes lit up. "Interesting."
Adelaide nodded. "Disguised myself as their driver and tied them up. It got a little out of control, but things worked out in the end."
Natalie considered. "You know... my cousin is the coach of a color guard team in Tampa. They have a tournament this weekend, and she's pretty worried about the competition."
She thought for a moment. "You wouldn't be interested in... I dunno... kidnapping another sports team, would you?"
Adelaide smiled. "If you can pay, I'm interested," she said.
"How about this," Natalie said. "If I let you go, you do the job. Help my cousin win the color guard tournament."
Adelaide considered. "Sounds tempting..."
Betty interrupted with a loud "mmmmpppphhhh!"
Natalie removed her gag. "What do you want?"
"I'll kidnap a color guard team for you," she said. "I'll kidnap whoever you want. Handball girls, cheerleaders, band girls, you name it. Just let me go."
well this is a deal
Once fully dressed, Adelaide tied her hair back into a bun. "Thanks. Do you have your cousin's contact info?"
"Sure." Natalie wrote down a phone number on the back of a business card and handed it to her. "She'll really appreciate your help."
"I'm guessing a certain team of color guard girls won't." Adelaide laughed as she headed for the door. "So long."
mr Tirepanted , is this what you were alluding to in your previous answer to Rufusluciusivan?
... I may have already begun outlining the plot of "To Steal Another Sports Team"...
pleasepleaseplease respond yes you are the only remaining writer who wants to describe a scenario with color guard teams
I don't want to give away too much... but yes, Adelaide will soon be crossing paths with a color guard team. Think of it as another "bonus" adventure (though I'll try to make it a little more detailed than my handball girls story).
Adelaide is one of my favorite characters, too - not mainly for her occupation, but her personality. I think it's important for women to have a sense of humor about their uniform thefts.
I just have a few chapters left of "Ladies Night" - "To Steal Another Sports Team" will be published afterwards.
"Me neither," Wanda said. "Why can't she be wearing a more colorful set of underwear? At least the guards we mugged were more fashionable."
"You might say it's a slumber party," Sonja quipped.
"Yeah," Chandra nodded. "And now you two are invited."
"I think she fell for it," Eliza said. "Get it? Fell?"
Puns and jokes... Puns and jokes everywhere... I'm honestly starting to think that I await the next parts of your story as much for your characters' quips as for their actual uniform stealings...
Nothing much else to say about the story. Still waiting to see how this will play out. The story arcs are still colliding. Loved the irony of Lucille (and Chandra and Sonja to some extent) ending up in a dire situation precisely because they were successful in their own infiltration. The mugger mugged because they mugged a person someone else would want to mug too. A classic. Sorry Chandra and Sonja. Bad timing...
