It had started off like any other day for Kayla. She headed into the office to get some paperwork done before following up on one of her leads. She had just sat down at her desk and barely settled in before Toby zipped over. Kayla eyed him with suspicion.

"You look like you're up to something," she said.

"Did you hear about the new hire?"

"What? No! When did they do that?"

"Yesterday. Apparently, she only had two interviews, and was hired right away after the second one."

"You're joking."

"Wish I was, for your sake of course. I know how big your ego is after all."

Kayla gave Toby one of her infamous glares. He immediately backed off and started profusely apologizing. In the meantime, Kayla wondered about the new hire. Currently on staff, she was one of the only rookie reporters. Most folks had been there at least a few years if not more. So it meant a lot to Kayla, and every time she came in clutch with a big story she really stood out. Now, with another rookie on the team, perhaps her work would be overshadowed a bit.

Kayla shook it off. Why was she worrying so much after all? She had no real reason to be threatened. She hadn't even met the girl yet.

"Oh wait...there she is!"

Kayla turned where Toby was pointing. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers, and her jaw dropped to the floor. There she was, the fresh new hire, strutting down the office floor dressed from head to toe in fashionable attire. Her soft pink blouse tucked into a patterned skirt which she wore over a pair of sheer nylons. Her feet tucked into these incredible rose gold heels, and to top everything off she wore this black leather jacket over her top giving her this badass aesthetic.

It made Kayla second guess her own outfit. A plain gray turtleneck under a sleeveless tartan dress was what she had picked out for the day. She paired it with a some nylons and black ankle boots. It was nice enough, but nothing compared to how the new girl looked.

That wasn't even the kicker though. Sure, her outfit was on point, and her strut was confident. The real punch to the gut had nothing to do with any of this. It was the fact that she and Kayla shared something in common, something Kayla thought would give her a leg up in the reporting world at least at the Tribune: they were both of Asian descent.

Not only would Kayla have to be competing with a new hire, but she had to compete with another female Asian reporter! Climbing the ranks in the reporting world and getting put on the big cases was all about clout. The Tribune had made it clear that they were looking to diversify their staff and give voices to more women and people of color. With Kayla checking both of those boxes she was ready to step up to the plate.

On the one hand, it was great that the Tribune was diversifying their new hires! But in Kayla's head this was an utter travesty. She thought her path to success would be so easy, but things had just gotten a lot more complicated for her. Or, well, so she thought in her moment of self pity. Besides, she hadn't even had a conversation with the new girl yet. She could be a total sweetheart, and a potential new friend at the office! Perhaps the two of them could lift each other up as they both climbed the reporting ranks! Yes, surely that was what the future held for Kayla! She kept her hopes high for this outcome and not the first.

"Do you know anything about her?" She asked Toby.

He shook his head, "nothing. I just found out about it this. She looks nice though."

Kayla shot another glare at Toby.

"I mean...looks can be deceiving I guess. Look, just don't make this into something bigger than it needs to be."

"Don't you have something to be working on?"

"Roger. Bye, Kayla!"

Toby scurried away, leaving Kayla to just stare at the new girl watching her every move. She was being shown around by HR.. As Kayla watched her right away she could tell this girl would be trouble. There was just this look of sheer will and ambition in her eyes. Kayla didn't quite know how to describe it or why she got that vibe from the girl, but it was just...there.

It was bound to happen given Kayla's incessant staring, but as the new girl was looking around the office she locked eyes with Kayla. It was like a silent bomb had gone off in the office sending jolts of electricity all across the room. The look the new girl gave Kayla was so cunning, so sly, so...evil? No, not evil, but Kayla was so caught up in her head she was keen to think that at least. Clearly, this new girl had not come to play games, but Kayla summoned up her most threatening look as well and fired it back at the girl.

The two stared at each other for a moment, before H.R. led the new girl away and their stare was broken. A shiver ran down Kayla's spine. No words had been exchanged by the two, but it was very clear that a rivalry had been born...

"I mean you just should have seen the look she gave me! She thinks she's so much better than me just because she's got these long gorgeous legs and doesn't need to wear glasses."

"She told you that?"

"No, but she might as well have!"

Kayla was venting all her frustration to Madelyn as the two girls met for lunch. Madelyn, as supportive of Kayla as she was, could not see why Kayla was making such a fuss.

"You need to just talk to her," she said, "you're going to build up this version of her in your head and stress yourself out. Just talk to her, see what she's about, and who knows, maybe you misjudged her?"

"God, you sound just like Toby."

Madelyn pretended to vomit which made Kayla crack a smile.

"Look," Madelyn continued, "all I'm saying is that you need to at least give her a chance. Once you do that, sure, then we can talk."

"Yeah, you're right...hey, so what are you up to the rest of the day. You still doing that modeling gig?"

"Oh um...yeah."

"What, is it not going well or something?"

"No, it's going fine!"

"Wait then why are you being all weird about it?"

"I'm not, sorry, I don't know why I responded like that. Yeah, modeling gig is going great."

No matter how hard she tried to brush it off, Madelyn was hiding something from Kayla. She was a reporter after all. Sniffing out bullshit was part of her job! She could tell Madelyn didn't want to talk about it though so she left it alone. Still, she pocketed it away and decided she'd bring it up again if the moment was ever right. She didn't want to pry or be intrusive, but she was curious as to what Madelyn wasn't telling her. The two of them never kept secrets from each other, and so this was a bit odd.

"Okay well that's good. Listen, I'd love to stay more and chat, but I've got a lead to follow up on this afternoon. What do you have going on?"

"Me...oh, I've got a few errands to run."

Again, she was hiding something...but still, Kayla let it go.

"Cool, well, I should probably get going. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Definitely! Good luck!"

"Thanks, Mads."

And so Kayla was off. She had an interview with a local shop owner about a recent break in. There had been a few break in's around town recently, and Kayla was interested to see if they were connected in any way. Showing up at the shop she confidently strutted in, ready to rock this case and show that she really was the top rookie at the Tribune.

But when she stepped inside, a true horror awaited her as her worst fears were confirmed. Standing there in the center of the shop, already talking to the owner was the new girl. If this was a cartoon Kayla would have smoke coming out of her ears. How in the hell did she get beaten to the punch? Who even clued her in on this story? Even if she was clued in, shouldn't she have been told this was Kayla's lead? Why was she here?!

Kayla, red hot with rage, composed herself for a moment. No matter what she had to remain calm. Getting angry was no good and only played into the new girls hand. Besides, maybe this was just some honest mistake. She hadn't even had a face to face conversation with the girl yet! Perhaps, this was all something Kayla was building up in her mind and there was nothing to worry about.

Taking one last deep breath she walked over. By the time she arrived, the owner had returned to the counter to help a customer. It was just Kayla and the new girl now.

"Hi," Kayla said in the most friendly voice she could muster, "I'm Kayla, Kayla Grace."

"Jennifer, Jennifer Lee. I've heard quite a lot about you, Kayla. You've made quite the name for yourself at the Tribune already."

"Yes, I have. I've worked pretty damn hard this last year, but I guess it's paying off."

"Seems like it."

"So, I'm sure the chief told you this, but I was following up on these jewelry store robbery leads. I was supposed to meet with Miss Mankin today."

"Yes, he did tell me that. He also said that it would be great if I shadowed you around for a bit, you know, just to get my feet underneath me."

"Oh, I wasn't told about that."

"Really? Gosh, he probably just forget to CC you on the memo. Here, I can forward it to you."

Keep it together, Kayla. Keep it together!

"So did you already interview Miss Mankin?"

"Yes, I took all the information from her already about what happened."

"I hope you mean no offense by this, but if you're going to be shadowing me then I think I should take the lead on these things. Just, you know, so you can see how it's done."

Kayla was trying to set some early ground rules as nicely as she could, but there was definitely a slight tinge to her voice. Jennifer picked up on that tone and responded in kind.

"Oh, I'm sorry, well I certainly meant no offense by talking to her. I just thought since I arrived her first that I might as well get things going by talking to her."

"Right, I can see how that makes sense. It's just, I've been working on this story for a bit now, and I think that it would be best for me to take the leads on these interviews."

"Oh, well alright, it's just the interview was scheduled to be at 1:30, and you got her at 1:33. We were waiting for you to show up, and when you didn't I just decided to jump into things. I didn't want to waste her time after all."

Kayla was about to lose it. Jennifer had this smug look on her face that she wanted to just slap off. She clearly was posturing with Kayla, trying to one-up her and establish dominance. Kayla, as equally competitive, was not about to let that happen.

"Well, I don't think running 3 minutes late is hardly anything to be concerned about. Just, please, wait for me next time. Okay?"

"Oh, so when I schedule meetings I should plan to show up late too? Is that how it works at the Tribune?"

Kayla was throwing politeness and the benefit of the doubt out the window. It was time for the gloves to come off. Jennifer had pushed too many buttons and was clearly asking for it. Kayla laid into her.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but this is my story, got it? I was put on this story, not you. You are shadowing me, and as long as that's the case you'll follow my lead. You may think you're some big hotshot right out the door, but I've been here working my ass off to get to where I am. You do not just get to waltz on into the Tribune and coast on up to the top. Are we clear?"

Jennifer had a sour look on her face. Kayla had gotten through alright.

"Fine, if that's how things are going to be, then so be it."

And with that, Jennifer turned on her heels and stomped out. Even though she knew it wasn't, Kayla still pocketed the exchange away as a victory. Walking over to Miss Mankin, she attempted to conduct her own interview.

"Well, I already gave my statements to that other reporter."

"Yes, I understand that, but..."

"I'm sorry, but I have a lot to take care of around here. If you wouldn't mind checking with her I'm sure she can fill you in on everything."

Kayla didn't want to drag Miss Mankin into her feud with Jennifer. Instead, she chose to swallow her pride, and bid Miss Mankin a good day before heading out. She despised the fact that she'd have to get the information from Jennifer, and she honestly doubted Jennifer would even give her anything. Things had turned into a real mess real fast.

Kayla pouted all the way back to the office, and the first thing she did was march over to Toby's desk as she prepared to unload her drama onto him. She could tell from the look of sheer terror in his eyes that he knew what was coming.

"I told you this would happen," she said with arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm sorry...?"

"Sorry isn't gonna' cut it. Now Jennifer has all the latest information on the jewel robbery case and I have nothing."

"She didn't get any of it to you?"

"What do you think?"

"...no?"

Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Toby said, "for the record, this feud is between you and Jennifer. Don't drag me into the middle of it."

Kayla knew Toby was right, and so once more she swallowed her pride and took her attitude down a notch.

"You're right. Sorry, Toby."

"Hey, no worries. I'd be frustrated if I were you too."

"Guess I better go make the walk of shame...unless..."

Kayla eyed Jennifer's desk. It was currently empty. She looked around and spotted her near the break room with a cup of coffee in her hand. Some guy was busy chatting her up, because of course he was, but in the meantime Jennifer's desk was left totally unattended. Taking advantage of the situation, Kayla sneaked over to Jennifer's desk and rifled around until she found her notes from earlier.

Kayla snapped a few photos and then dipped out fast before Jennifer caught wind of what was going on. As Kayla walked away, she glanced over to where Jennifer was, still chatting it up totally unaware of what Kayla had just done. Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. She was back on top, and ready to trounce Jennifer.

Sitting back down at her desk she pulled out her phone and browsed Jennifer's notes. According to Miss Mankin and what she had seen on the security camera, the robbery had occurred around 3 a.m.. At that time, a dark van was seen pulling up as a few masked men hopped out. After that, the entire security system was taken down as the men cleaned out the store of its most valuable products and then left. No alarms were triggered, and no glass or doors were broken. It was super straightforward and clean, just like the last two had been!

So far, that was the only pattern, but at least this latest break in confirmed the trend. Everything made sense to Kayla, she just had to pitch the idea to her boss, Mr. Kruger to see if he thought so too. She looked over at Jennifer, now sitting at her desk going over her notes and inputting them into her computer. Kayla had to stay a step ahead of her. She saw how cutthroat Jennifer was willing to be. Even though she was only supposed to shadow Kayla, she knew damn well that if given the opportunity she'd look to take credit for all of it and outshine Kayla's work. So Kayla went out on a limb and went to Mr. Kruger herself.

"So, as you can see, there's a clear pattern here with these break-ins. They're not random, it's the same people doing them each time."

"But the vans in each of them are all different. In this one it's a white van, but here it's a much darker one. Also the clothes of the men are all different too."

"It's to throw us off."

"Kayla..."

"No, really! Every other aspect of the break-ins are the same. How the security system is taken offline, the fact that nothing was broken in order to get in. There's a pattern here."

"What does your partner think?"

"Oh, Jennifer? Well..."

"Come to think of it, she should be in here for this."

"Oh, that's okay. I already briefed her on everything, and yeah she agrees."

Mr. Kruger raised his eyebrow at Kayla. He could tell she wasn't being honest with him. He didn't just become the head of the Tribune overnight after all. He had a pretty good snooping sense himself.

"Look, I know it's hard having another newbie around, but you two have to get along. I put her on this case with you so she could learn. You started this thing off on your own, but now I'm asking that the two of you wrap this thing up together."

"You could have told me she was going to be working with me."

"I did, or at least I told Jennifer to..."

Ah, that scheming bitch!

"I see," Mr. Kruger said, "well look, just, try and get along, okay? That's all I ask."

"I'll try my best."

"Good. Oh and, I believe you by the way, about these break-ins. They look fishy to me as well, I just need solid proof of it that's all. Turn that hunch into some hard evidence and I think you've got yourself a nice story."

"Thank you!"

Leaving Mr. Kruger's office, Kayla headed back to her desk. Jennifer was still at hers, none the wiser. It was "tit for tat." Jennifer withheld notes from Kayla and conducted the interview without her, Kayla went to Kruger and pitched the story her way. Now they were even.

"Don't think I didn't see that," Toby said slinking over to Kayla's desk with a smirk on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled.

"Hey," he said, "so what's next? How are you going to wrap up this story?"

"I'm not sure, but there's a link between these cases that'll blow this thing wide open, I'm sure of it. As long as I find that, we're set. I just have to do it before Jennifer does."

"So, you're not going to try and work together on this."

Kayla shot a "what do you think" look at Toby.

"Gotcha. Well, best of luck to you with that."

As he walked away, Kayla went back to looking at her notes. So far, there had been four break-ins. The main common link was that they were all jewelry shops of some kind. They had all occurred over the course of about a month, and each time the break-in had been a clean job. Nothing broken, no excessive force, no injuries, etc.

Looking at her notes, something caught Kayla's eye. The other common thread was the fact that in each on the security system was taken offline with no real hassle. It just would go down at the start of the robbery, and then pop back online after the fact. It was curious to say the least.

What was less curious though was that after she looked it up, she found out that each of the shops carried the exact same security system! Surely that was no coincidence! Kayla was starting to get excited now. Looking into the security system now her excitement grew even more. Turns out, it was a small local company, not some big name national brand. In fact, if she remembered correctly from her notes, a lot of the shops had their systems "upgraded" within the last couple months. One of the shops even had theirs upgraded because of the recent break-ins! If only they knew...

Grabbing her keys Kayla headed out. She was going to follow up on this lead and bust the story wide open! She had a good feeling about this.

.   .   .   .   .

By the time she arrived at the security system office, Lance Systems to be exact, it was already starting to get dark out. She was catching them right at the end of the work day, which she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, she'd try and get a meeting with them tonight, if not schedule something for later.

Pulling up into the lot she parked right out front and headed in. It was a small office building tucked inside a larger business complex with lots of other businesses. As she entered the building she noticed nobody was there. The lights were all on, but no one was sitting behind the desk.

"Hello?" She said.

Eventually, a man entered from one of the back offices and came to greet her.

"Sorry about that," he said, "I hope you weren't kept waiting too long."

"Oh not at all. My name is Kayla Grace, and I was hoping to talk to you about the recent break-ins that have been occurring at some local jewelry store shops."

"Right, of course! Give me just one moment."

The man quickly returned to the back office and was gone for a short while before returning back to the lobby.

"If you don't mind following me back here, I have a manager who can speak with you."

"Great, thank you!"

Kayla followed the man to the back office. She thanked him as he opened the door for her, but stepping inside she realized immediately that she had made a grave mistake.

"No way..."

Inside the small office was a group of men, probably about 5 or 6, but joining them, was none other, than her new rival, Jennifer. How she had beaten Kayla to the punch was beyond her. She'd sort through those emotions later. Now was not the time for petty rivalry.

"What?! Another snoop?"

"I'm a reporter," Kayla said back, but she was also joined by Jennifer who retorted back with the same line.

"Hey, shut it!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. She was currently sat on top of the desk, arms pulled behind her back and presumably tied together. Her legs were also pinned together with more rope as well, a single heel left on her feet with the other laying on the floor nearby next to her leather jacket. The large bow in the front of her pink blouse had come undone revealing some of her lacy bra underneath it. She wasn't gagged though, and there really weren't that many ropes circling her body...yet. Kayla turned to the sound of a lock clicking behind her as she watched the first man she had interacted with lock the door to the office. As if it mattered though. She was severely outnumbered.

"What now, boss?"

"Well tie her up too!"

"On it!"

Kayla didn't even bother putting up a fight as the man behind her grabbed one of her arms while another one approached her and grabbed her other one. They dragged her over to the desk and forced her to sit on it beside Jennifer. Taking rope from a nearby box they tied her wrists behind her back as well before securing her legs too. She looked at Jennifer who was taking everything in stride. There wasn't any look of fear on her face, just one of annoyance. Perhaps this wasn't her first time ending up like this...

"Okay well, let's just leave them here like this while we figure something out. We need to get all that inventory sorted out fast if they're onto us like this. Let's go take care of that first."

"Got it!"

And so the men scurried out of the room leaving Kayla and Jennifer alone by themselves.

"I can't believe you," Kayla said as she tried to strain her wrists and see if there was any slack in the rope.

"I can't believe you," Jennifer said as she too struggled in her restraints.

"How did you even know to come here?"

"Seriously?" Jennifer huffed, "do you think I'm that dumb. I read your notes. It wasn't that hard to put it all together. I'm surprised it took you so long honestly. Guess it's a good thing I'm here."

"Like you have room to talk. Look at where we are! If you had left things to me we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Oh please, don't even give me that. You end up like this all the time...everyone knows it."

"Well it doesn't look like you're any better now does it."

Kayla was about to keep the banter going when the door opened up again. The group entered the room and shut the door behind them.

"You ladies comfortable?"

"Perfectly," Kayla replied not giving him the satisfaction of her getting worked up.

"Are you sure we're good to just stash 'em here?"

"Yes. Everything's packed up. We're good to skip town and just get the hell out of here. Plus, with the two of them together, I'm sure they'll find a way out somehow. We just need to buy enough time to make our escape."

"Well, in that case, should we tighten those ropes up a bit?"

"Absolutely. And add some more for good measure."

Kayla eyed the large box with seemingly endless amounts of rope and watched as the men scooped up a bunch of it. Clearly, they weren't here to mess around...

"Hey," she said, "I'll be honest with you. I've tried to get myself out of these ropes ever since you guys left, and I haven't had any luck! We're probably good tied up like this. No need to do anything more."

"Shut it!"

Scooping Jennifer up off the desk she was lowered onto the ground on her stomach. From here her legs were brought up as she was placed in a hogtie, her other shoe coming off in the process leaving her feet in just her nylons. Kayla too was placed in a hogtie, but on the desk instead. She could just spy Jennifer down on the floor wriggling around as the men pulled her bindings tight.

"K, we just gotta shut 'em up and then we're outta here."

"There should be a roll of tape in the box."

"Got it!"

The man reached into the box and pulled out the roll. Following this he grabbed both of Kayla's boots and yanked them off tossing them to the floor. Underneath, he found a pair of patterned ankle socks that he promptly peeled off Kayla's nylon clad feet. She knew where this was going...the only question was, did Jennifer?

"Alright ladies, open wide!"

"Open wide what the fmmmmmph!? GGGNMMMPH!"

Kayla couldn't help but smile as she watched Jennifer's mouth get stuffed full of sock. It was jammed in deep into her mouth so that layers of duct tape could be wrapped between her lips sealing the sock inside.

"Ffffffmmmmph mmmmmmmmgggggpH!"

It was music to Kayla's ears honestly. To hear her rival coughing and sputtering into her gag made up for the fact that Kayla too was having her own mouth stuffed full of sock along with many rounds of tape going between her lips and around her head.

"K, they shouldn't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Good, then let's dip!"

And so the men made their escape as Jennifer and Kayla remained hogtied and gagged in the office. As soon as the door slammed shut, the two girls went at it trying to get free from their ropes. Kayla watched the way Jennifer flexed her wrists and ankles trying to find weak points in her bindings. Again, this clearly wasn't the first time she'd been left like this. She knew exactly what to do in terms of getting loose.

"Mmmmmmmmmph!"

Kayla grunted through her stuffed mouth as she too tried to get free. Thankfully, the men who had tied her didn't do the best job. The ropes were loose enough giving her room to move her wrists around a bit.

"Hmmmmph!" She grunted and groaned as she struggled through her ropes on top of the desk.

She let out a muffled grunt of triumph as she was able to lower her legs down and push herself upright. From here, all that was left was to get the rest of the ropes around her legs undone and she was good to go! Jennifer on the other hand was not as far along as Kayla was at all. She had barely made any progress on the ropes circling her wrists. Kayla smirked at the sight of this. It brought her much pride knowing she was a better escapee than her rival.

With her body now totally free of rope, the last thing Kayla did was reach up and undo her gag. She spat her ankle sock onto the floor as she flexed her jaw and licked her chapped lips.

"Ffmmmmmph mmmmmmph gggnmmph!"

Jennifer, who had noticed Kayla had gotten herself free, was trying to signal for her to lend a hand and get her free as well. She was making gestures with her head for Kayla to come and help her and wiggling her nylon clad feet up and down, but Kayla had something else in mind. Hopping down from the desk, she first fixed her dress so that it actually covered her rear again. Skirts and dresses were cute and all, but when you get tied up like that they start to get a mind of their own. Jennifer's was currently riding up quite high as well exposing the tops of her tights even!

"Hhhhhmmmmmph!"

"I'm sorry," Kayla said as she crouched down near Jennifer's head, "I can't hear you."

"Ffffmmmph ymmmmph! Hhhmmmmph mmmmmph!"

"I just can't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"GGGnnnnnnnmph!"

"Oh alright, if you insist."

Kayla reached up and undid Jennifer's gag by unwrapping the tape from around her mouth. She too spat Kayla's sock out and took a deep breath of fresh air in.

"God, could you have taken any longer?"

"You're welcome, you know."

"Whatever, just get me untied and let's get out of here! We need to turn those thugs in."

"Still waiting on that 'thank you.'"

"As if I'd ever thank you. Besides, I don't need your help. I could have gotten out of here if I wanted to. You just happened to get free first."

Kayla raised her eyebrow, "is that so?"

"Yeah, they must have tied your ropes loose or something. So don't feel so hot. Clearly, you had some kind of advantage."

"Well if that's the way you feel...then I guess I should just leave you like this."

"Fine by me! I'll get out of these ropes in no time."

"Right...well then, if you really don't need my help at all, then I guess I should put this back."

Kayla picked up her sock that had been stuffed in Jennifer's mouth. At the sight of it, Jennifer's eyes went wide before once again narrowing as she shot a dirty glance at Kayla.

"Don't you dare," she said.

"Hey, you asked for this, not me. You said, and I quote, I don't need your help."

"Yeah but I didn't meanmmmmmph!"

"Too late."

Kayla plunged the sock into Jennifer's mouth, something that had been done to her on many occasions but something she had yet to do herself. It was oddly satisfying to hear Jennifer's speech suddenly garbled behind the sock. She was about to grab the roll of tape and wrap more layers around Jennifer's head when she spied her other sock. She looked at Jennifer.

"Fffffmmmmph yyymmmph nnnnmph ggggmmph!"

Her speech was muffled, but it could be better. Plus, her mouth didn't look that full. There was room for one more sock, surely.

Picking it up off the floor, Kayla balled up her other sock. Jennifer saw her doing this and knew what was coming. She shook her head frantically in protest, but Kayla just ignored her. Pushing the first sock aside, Kayla scrunched the second one into Jennifer's now gaping mouth. She could immediately hear the difference.

"There we go," she said, "much better."

"Fmmmmmmph!"

"Hey, I'm just doing what you asked me to do. Not giving you any help. If you're really going to get out on your own, no head starts!"

Kayla said this as she wrapped tape around Jennifer's head.

"Ggggggggnnnmph!"

"And there we are. Alright, now, I'm going to go call the authorities. You think you'll be able to get out in time?"

"Hrrrrmmmmmmph mmmmmmmph!"

"Eh, if not, they can always help you out."

"FFFFMMMMMMPH!"

Jennifer roared behind her taped and stuffed mouth. Kayla wondered if she had been too mean. Probably, but it was too late now. When all was said and done, Jennifer wasn't able to escape her bindings by the time the police arrived. Reluctantly, Kayla helped cut her loose real quick before they went and gave their statements to the authorities.

The jewelry thieves were never actually caught. They skipped town and vanished. With them gone, there was at least some peace of mind amongst the local shop owners, but Kayla would have liked to have at least turned the thieves in. She settled for second best though.

The story was published under her AND Jennifer's name, which Kayla greatly disliked, but at least it was published. Ever since the ordeal, she could tell Jennifer was giving her the cold shoulder. It was to be expected...after all they were rivals now...and Kayla had a feeling this was only just the beginning...