As a professional abductor and white slaver, it wasn’t uncommon for Richard to be hired to ensure the disappearance of a particular young woman, even by another woman. There were plenty who felt it would be better if a rival, whether romantic or professional, found herself on the far side of the world with a collar around her neck. It was a bit more surprising, however, when two women each approached the slaver, requesting he arrange the kidnapping of the other, as soon as possible.

A certain Miss Helen Williams and a Miss Katherine Smalls were both junior partners at a large, international firm. The two were the front-runners to become the next full partners at the firm and both, it seemed, wanted to ensure their chance by making sure the other took a one way trip to the far east. As both were quite fetching young ladies, and were sure to bring a good price on the slave markets in that part of the world, Richard saw no problem taking both requests.

The best time to carry out the abduction would be on an upcoming team building retreat the firm was taking to an isolated wilderness park. Before leaving, Richard instructed both women to leave their payment in a public rental locker at a train station not far away and to hide the keys somewhere in the park. When he completed the job, he told them, they would contact him with the locations of the keys to make the payment.

Shortly into the retreat, Helen and Katherine, as instructed, approached each other, ostensibly to discuss the upcoming selection of the new partner in private, but really just to lure their rival away from the rest of the group to where Richard was waiting. Both were surprised how readily the other agreed to head off the beaten path and deeper and deeper into the woods, until at last, Richard emerged from his hiding spot, a silenced pistol drawn.

“Slight change of plans, ladies.” He told them, explaining how both of them had hired him. “I see no reason not to fulfill both your requests by selling both of you to my oversea buyers.”

“Bastard!” Helen growled angrily. “You can kiss that money goodbye! I’ll never tell you where I hid it, unless you let me go!”

A second later, Katherine interjected nervously. “I...I saw where she hid the locker key! If you let me go, you can have her money and mine as well!”

“Where is her key?” Richard asked, sternly. “Prove you know where her key is, before I let you go. Then you can tell me where your key is.”

“It’s hidden in her shoe. I saw her drop it in just before we started the hike!” Katherine said, desperately. “I didn’t know what it was for until just now!”

“Oh?” Richard grinned, turning the pistol towards Helen. “How about those shoes then?”

“Bitch!” Helen growled as she pulled off her hiking boots. Sure enough, hidden in the toe of the left shoe was a small silver key with a number on it. Katherine had a few seconds to look relieved, before Helen continued. “I saw her hide a key as well! She tucked it in the cuffs of her shorts!”

This time, it was Katherine’s turn to howl in dismay while Helen grinned in revenge. It faded fast as the realization set in that now neither of them had any leverage to bargain with their captor. He smiled. “Thank you ladies, for being so cooperative. Now, if you’d continue cooperating and take your clothes off, please...”

Five minutes later, both women sat on the ground, side by side, glaring up at their captor. Both had their hands and feet tightly bound with cord. Strips of cloth covered their mouths, holding in the tight wadding that silenced their angry grunts.

“Just sit tight a minute, ladies. I need to go grab my truck and then we’ll get on our way.” Richard teased his captives, swiftly walking away.

Once they were pretty sure he had gone and wouldn’t double back, both women began to struggle, furiously, against their bonds, kicking and groaning into their gags. But after a few minutes, they both slumped down in defeat, the ropes too strong to pull against, the knots too tight and carefully placed out of reach of the captive’s grasping fingers.

“I’ll bet if we got closer, Katherine could reach the knots...” Helen thought. Squirming, she turned in place, so her back was towards the other woman. Extending her tightly bound wrists out, Helen grunted into her gag to get her fellow prisoner’s attention and to try and get what she wanted across.

After a moment, Katherine seemed to get it, but then she turned and extended out her own wrists, grunting through her gag. It took Helen a second to realize Katherine was asking Helen to untie her wrists instead.

“If you think I’m untying you first, you must be crazy.” Helen thought, angrily. “The second I untie you, you’ll probably just run off and leave me for that bastard!” She shook her head, grunting. “Untie me!”

“I’m not untying you, you bitch!” Katherine thought, shaking her own head. “Soon as you’re free, you’re just going to take off, I know it!”

“Come on! If you don’t untie me soon, we’ll both wind up sent off to God-knows-where!” Helen thought, shaking her bound wrists, insistently.

“Just untie my wrists first! If you don’t, we’ve both had it!” Katherine thought, frantically.

From his hiding spot, Richard watched the silent argument with amusement. He’d crept back, quietly, to keep an eye on the two captives unseen, ready to intervene if it seemed like they might actually get loose. No chance of that now, though. He hurried off to grab the truck. He needed to swing by the station to collect both of his payments, then the two ladies would be sharing a crate to the Far East...