“Well now, Sheila, how’s our target for this week?” Dirk said, chuckling as he walked over to the desk and cocked a hip up on the desk. The young woman sitting behind it might have had a few good words for the young man. Unfortunately, the thick ballgag strapped tight between her teeth was an effective censor, so she settled for glaring evilly up at him as she opened a desk drawer and dug into the papers inside, the chains of her handcuffs, and the longer one connecting her collar to a large ring bolted to the top of the desk, rattling loudly as she did so.
Dirk could understand her antipathy. Once upon a time, or at least four years ago, 26-year old Sheila Masters had been a hotshot business accountant on the path to management at a major firm...at least until Dirk and his team of professional kidnappers had paid a visit to the young businesswoman late one evening as she was leaving the office and arranged for a sudden career change: joining Acquisition Incs stable of enslaved “administrative assistants.” It was enough for anyone to hold a grudge, he guessed.
Unfortunately for her, there was little she could do, not if she didn’t want to earn herself another stretch of duty in the ‘staff break room’, so tried to keep her expression neutral as she fished out a manila folder stuffed with papers and held it out for Dirk to take.
He grabbed it and flipped it open. For security purposes, certain aspects of Acquisition Incs operations were never stored digitally. Too easy for someone to send anywhere in the world with a click of a button, or copy onto a USB stick and smuggle out. A masterfile and a backup, kept under lock and key and checked regularly were more secure, if a bit less convenient.
Dirk’s eyes scanned the pages, quickly and methodically. He’d been at this business long enough to have a knack for knowing what was the important information and what was extraneous fluff the Scouting teams put in to convince the higher ups they were earning their pay.
His team’s target this week was a Miss Emily Conners, age 23. She was a freelance photographer, mainly doing stock photos for websites and the like. “Might be they want her for that…” Dirk thought. Acquisition Inc did have a need for those types, doing promotional shoots for the stock when they were ready to be sold. On the other hand, she might have been picked to be stock herself. The photographs paperclipped to the file showed a short, slender brunette with short, curly hair, pretty enough, certainly, to be worth a good price once she’d been properly trained.
Still, whatever role the company had in mind for Miss Conners was no business of Dirks. The higher ups had decided to have her targeted for collection, now it was his job to secure the young woman and deliver her to the trainers who would see she was properly instructed for the future they had chosen for her.
Dirk returned the file to Sheila, who deposited it in the desk drawer with a sad expression, reflecting that another innocent woman was soon to suffer the same tragedy she had. “See you next week!” Dirk said with a chuckle as he left to gather his team and brief them.
That night, they slowly rolled up the neighborhood Emily Conner’s house was in. As they were only picking up a single target, they were in a car rather than a van. The unmarked blue sedan was less likely to attract attention, especially driving through neighborhoods at night. As they got close to the target’s house, Dirk switched off the lights and then the engine, coasting the final distance, so the noise wouldn’t rouse her.
“Smith, alarms. Jones, on me.” Dirk whispered to the other two members of the snatch team. He felt three was more than sufficient for one little lady. Smith nodded and took off, moving at a low crouch around the side of the house where he could access and disable the house’s alarm system. Jones followed Dirk up the front path to the door. All three were dressed in dark clothes, carrying their tools in small bags slung over their backs.
Crouched at the front door, Dirk and Jones waited a minute, until Smith laconically reported that the alarms were disabled. The cheap commercial lock and deadbolt on the front door were swiftly dealt with and the two kidnappers entered the front hall. The house was dark and quiet. Dirk recalled the house layout he had memorized from the file and worked out where Emily’s bedroom was and how to get there from the front door.
“Target should be this way.” He whispered, pointing. The two crept up the hallway to an interior door. Dirk tested the knob, finding it unlocked and then the hinges. They weren’t as smooth as he’d have liked, but weren’t so bad they’d waste the time oiling them. He tensed as he swung the door open, listening to the sounds of their target rousing, but to his relief all he heard in the dark room was faint breathing. The young woman they were here for was still fast asleep.
As always happened on this pickups, the final few yards up to the bed and the sleeping target seemed to take as long as the whole rest of the mission. Dirk kept his eyes on the bed and the mound of blankets, watching for any signs the sleeper has awoken, but finally the two stood over the bed, the young woman still fast asleep.
They’d done this often enough by now it was like clockwork. Dirk took out a cloth pad, wrapped in plastic. As he unwrapped it, a faint chemical smell wafted up. Holding it casually in one hand, Dirk glanced over at Jones who nodded, reaching for the edge of the blankets. Dirk took a breath, then nodded back. Jones yanked the sheets back, revealing the cute brunette from the photos.
The sudden movement roused the young woman, instantly. Her wide, brown eyes flashed open, just in time to see Dirk’s hand descend, pressing her pad over her mouth and nose, stifling her cry of alarm. The young woman’s eyes widened in panic as she smelled the chloroform. Emily tried to rise, to reach up and pull away the pad, but Jones grabbed at her arms, pressing the young woman back down onto the bed.
After a couple minutes of struggling, the drugs started to take hold. Emily’s struggles became weaker and weaker. Soon, she lay limp on the bed, moaning helplessly. Dirk kept it up for a little while longer, ensuring she got a dose that would keep her out for a long while. Finally, as he lifted the pad and put it away, Emily dozed once more, not the gentle, peaceful slumber of a happy, carefree young woman, but the deep, lifeless slumber brought on by the knockout drugs.
With little ceremony, the two men prepared their captive. Emily was wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of skimpy panties. These were stripped off, leaving her completely naked. Dirk rolled the young woman onto her belly and pulled her hands behind her back so he could lash them together with rope. Jones, meanwhile, took out a ballgag and strapped it onto her. This was followed up by a blindfold while Dirk crossed and lashed her ankles together. The final piece of her bondage was the collar which he buckled snugly around her neck, completing her capture and enslavement. Through it all, Emily slumped, as yet unaware of how her life had changed.
Jones picked up their captive and slung her over one shoulder. As he carried her from the room, Dirk made a quick scan of the room, making sure neither of them had left anything behind that would leave a clue as to the young woman’s fate. As far as the wider world was concerned, tonight Emily Conner had simply vanished.
The two ran out the front door and across the lawn, carrying the bound and gagged Emily with them. On the street in front of the house, Smith had readied the car, after disabling the alarm. The trunk was swung open, waiting for its unwilling occupant while he was seated in the driver’s seat. As soon as he saw the other two kidnappers coming, Smith started up the engine.
Dirk and Jones jogged around to the back. The young woman was dropped into the trunk, which was lined with blankets for padding and muffling. The lid was slammed shut over her, then the two piled in. As soon as the doors closed, Smith drove off from the house.
“Target acquired.” Dirk reported in, as they tore down the dark, empty highway. In the back of the car, a faint, muffled thumping told the kidnappers’ their victim had come to and was panicking, finding herself a bound and gagged prisoner in the trunk of a strange car. “On our way to drop her off at the training center…”