The hot Miami summer sun blazed down out of a clear blue sky. Mr. Big raised a handkerchief to his brow, as he walked across the back patio of his palatial estate, sinking into the pool chair, beneath the shade of an awning. Stuffing the damp cloth back into the pocket of his white summer suit, he turned, flashing a smile of teeth, ivory and gold towards the other occupant out on the patio.

“Keeping cool?” He replied with a chuckle. The young woman didn’t reply to the pun, mostly because she couldn’t. Truth be told, it was only her feet that were cold, the rest of her body was just as uncomfortably hot as he was, more so now that he had an awning over him while she remained in the hot sun. The unyielding rays burned her naked skin.

“Mmmppphhh!” She whimpered quietly. The panties she’d been wearing that morning were currently lodged inside her mouth, muffling her cries. A rolled up strip of cloth, torn from her maid’s uniform, had been tied between her lips, to keep the gag in place. She twisted her hands, bound behind her back with cord, below, her feet, still in their impractical high heels, were likewise tied.

At the moment, the 28-year old Latina was perched atop a large block of ice, square, maybe three feet by three feet by three feet. A chunk of ice that size had taken quite some time to freeze in the mansion’s large, walk-in freezer. Under the hot Miami sun, it would take considerably less. Already, the sides of it were starting to turn slick and shiny. A wet spot grew underneath the wooden pallet the block had come on, as meltwater ran off.

That, of course, put the block’s occupant in a bit of a predicament. The block had been placed underneath the ivy covered Pergola, directly beneath one of the stout timbers that formed the outside frame of the covering. A rope had been tied off at one end to the timber. The other end was tied into a loose noose that, at the moment, was draped around the young woman’s neck. She’d already calculated the amount of slack in the rope, compared it to the height of the ice block and realized that by the time it completely melted she’d be left swinging with her feet a few inches off the ground.

“I must admit…” Mr. Big teased his captive, from his reclined position, watching her frantic struggles to keep her balance on the increasingly slippery surface. “You had all of us fooled for quite a bit. So many details of my operations getting leaked, to the police, to reporters… I swore for a time it had to be my number 2. Hell, I was getting ready to have him whacked!” He laughed. “Who’d have thought the Maid was sneaking peeks while dusting or listening in at keyholes?”

He grinned. “Well, no more of that. Luckily, my men in the police got rid of the information you sent there and my boys saw to that bitch reporter you’ve been talking to last night. She told us everything about you...after some persuasion.” He chuckled, evilly. “Only one more thing to take care of to end this debacle.” He leered up at the captive woman. “Or should I say, one more person to take care of?” He laughed as she whimpered in fright.

A few more minutes passed. The ice block continued to shrink beneath the girl’s feet. To her growing distress, the slack between the noose and the beam above grew less and less. It wouldn’t be long before it started to pull tight around her neck...assuming she didn’t lose her balance and fall off the block before then.

As quick as that was coming, though, it apparently wasn’t fast enough for Mr. Big. He called for one of his henchmen who came in a second later. In his hands was a brightly colored squirtgun, which he handed to the crime lord. Mr. Big pumped it a few times, then aimed, and pulled the trigger.

With a hiss, a spray of water arced out, landing on the surface of the ice block. A few drops splashed up, landing on the young woman’s ankles. She yelped into her gag, shuffling back, as much as her tightly bound ankles let her. The water was boiling hot! She could see in an instant what  his intention was. Where the hot water had landed, the ice had melted away almost instantly. Maybe an inch, inch and a half of one corner was now gone, and from the way Mr. Big was eagerly pumping up the squirt gun again, he wasn’t going to stop there.

Whimpering in fright, the captive girl danced around on the block. Half of the top was melted away now. She found herself perched on a shrinking island in the middle, struggling to keep her balance on the slick, wet ice. She had only minutes now, less if he used the squirt gun again, before the block melted away too much and she hung…

“I must say, this has been a pleasing afternoon diversion.” Mr. Big teased, pumping the squirt gun up again. “But I think it’s really time to end this.” Up on the ice block, the young woman closed her eyes, waiting for the hiss of the squirt gun, followed by the block of ice disappearing beneath her feet, the rope noose tightening around her neck with grim finality. To her surprise, and some relief, that didn’t happen. When she opened her eyes, the older man was grinning at her.

“Of course, there are a few questions I’d still like to have answered. For starters, how you managed to get this position. I know someone in my organization must have helped you there. I’d also like to know where you hid those files you stole, so I’ll make you a little deal… He waved his free hand idly. “You answer my questions, convince me you’re telling the truth and I’ll cut you down. Course, in that case, I can’t let you go, but there are other ways I can make you disappear. That reporter, her reward for selling you out, is getting sold in the Far East to one of my business associates who’s big in the prostitution racket. You can join her in the crate that’s going out tonight.”

“Or if you don’t like that idea much well…” He raised the squirtgun and fired it up into the air, laughing as the young woman gave a cry of fright when the hot water splashed against the bottom of the ice block, melting away a small bit of the ice. As he pumped it up again, he nodded to his henchman who stepped forward. A knife was produced, cutting the torn cloth gag. The girl spat out the wad of sodden pantied with relief.

“So then…” He said, as she worked some life back into her stiff jaws. “What will it be?”