"Hey, mom," she said as her mother looked up, "I'm going to go check on Kayla."

Hana suddenly had a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything alright?" She said.

"Yeah, I think so...I don't know, I mean she said she just needed to check on something."

Hana leaned in, lowering her voice to almost a whisper as she spoke.

"You don't think something's happened to her," she said with a serious look in her eyes.

"God, you're such a worry wort," said Chloe dismissing her mother's paranoia, "I'm sure she's fine."

Hana didn't buy it. She'd always been very protective of her daughters, and after everything Kayla had shared about running into criminals and thugs she was extra prone to think something had happened. Call it a mother's intuition, but she was ready to spring into action and see what was wrong.

Setting her napkin down she got up from the table and started off toward the bathroom. For as worried as she was, she made sure to take a deep breath, maintaining her composure as she calmly walked to the bathroom. On the inside she was on high alert, ready to do whatever it would take to make sure her daughter was okay.

Meanwhile, Chloe trailed at her heels, sighing with frustration as she watched her mom get all worked up. What could have possibly happened to Kayla in the last five minutes?

"I think you're overreacting, mom," Chloe said as the two of them entered the restroom to find...well, no one inside.

A lump formed in Chloe's throat. Perhaps her mother was right after all. Hana turned to her daughter, that same look of concern as from before.

"Now am I overreacting?" she said.

"Okay, sorry for doubting you," Chloe said sheepishly.

"Something's happened to her, I just know it."

"Look, it's okay," Chloe said pulling out her phone, "all we need to do is just give her a call and see where she's at. I know she definitely had her phone on her."

Finding Kayla's number in her favorites folder, Chloe hit call and waited. It rang...and rang...and continued to ring with no answer from the other side. With each ring the pit in Chloe's stomach grew larger. Why wasn't Kayla picking up her phone?

All of the sudden the door to the bathroom opened as a group of four restaurant staff all filed in. They had sour looks on their faces, and they were all well built and strong looking. A strange sound followed them in, but it was also a familiar one too.

It was the sound of Kayla's phone!

"Oh shit..." Chloe said as she hung up the call, staring down the group of men.

Her mother had a different reaction to the situation, stepping right up to them with a load of anger and confidence as she got right in their faces.

"Where did you take my daughter?!"

They stared back at her, grinning all the while. They were clearly amused by her and not the least bit threatened. Then again, she was pretty small compared to them. Chloe took stock of who these guys might be based on their appearances. They were all Asian men, probably Japanese based on their haircuts and features. They were each dressed in the restaurant staff uniforms, but they also donned aprons meaning they were chefs in the back. Their bare arms were showing out of their short sleeve dress shirts, and on their arms they had tons of tattoos. If Chloe had to guess, they were all probably a part of some gang. Judging from the fact that they'd nabbed Kayla, that had to be the best explanation.

"It seems like mouthiness runs in the family," one of the thugs said, sneering at Hana.

"If you did anything to hurt my daummmmmph!"

Chloe watched as her mother was grabbed from behind by one of the men as they quickly circled around behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and slapping a hand across her mouth. She launched her feet into the air, kicking wildly and trying to break free from his grip. One of her heels went flying across the bathroom, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"MMMMMPH!"

She yelled as she was dragged toward the sink, her upper body forced over the counter as her arms were wrenched behind her back and lashed together with rope. Chloe turned to see a pair of men walking menacingly toward her with more rope in hand. She knew there was no escape for her now, and rather than make things more difficult like her mother she surrendered to the men and allowed herself to be tied up.

"Way to ruin a nice dinner night," she said, throwing up her hands.

The thugs didn't even respond as they grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, pulling her arms behind her back too and applying rope to her arms. Chloe just stood there as they cinched the rope tight around her wrists and her elbows, but behind her she could hear quite the struggle as her mother continued to put up a fight.

"NNNNNNMMMPH!"

Hana was shouting as loud as the hand slapped across her mouth would allow, but it did little to nothing to stop her from being tied up. Her arms were just as thoroughly tied as Chloe, with more rope tied around her chest pinning her arms to her side.

"LLLLLMMMPH MMMMMMPH GGGGGNNNNMPH!"

She continued to kick her legs out in a vain but desperate attempt to break free.

"Damn, this bitch doesn't know when to quit!"

The men laughed at the joke, as Hana was emboldened with a new surge of energy. She actually managed to get loose for just a moment, tearing herself form the men's grip and turning herself around. She tried to launch a kick at one of them, but she was far too slow. They read her attack, grabbed her leg, and then together two of them wrestled her to the ground. Her other heel flying across the bathroom in the process.

"Get your hands off of me, you creeps!"

"Can we shut her up, please?"

"On it!"

There was a loud ripping sound that rang out through the bathroom, but it wasn't the sound of ripping duct tape. It was the sound of ripping fabric! They'd helped themselves to Hana's long grey dress, tearing it from the bottom. By the time they were done with it, the length of the dress had changed from ending at the middle of Hana's calves to now being so short it was well above her knees and then some! Needless to say she was furious.

"How dare you do that to my dress! You absolute criminals! What gives you the right to do that to sommmmmmmmph!"

"There we go, that's more like it!"

"HHHHHHHMMMMPH!"

Taking a balled up strip of the dress they'd torn off, one of the thugs stuffed it in Hana's mouth packing it all the way in. It had been easy to do with all of Hana's shouting, which with a mouthful of dress she had been reduced to garbled grunts and sputters.

"MMMMMMMMMMPH!"

That didn't stop her from shouting though, only now she was severely muffled. With more of the dress in hand, they wrapped more between her lips and around her head completing her gag. With Hana now thoroughly gagged, the men finished their work of tying her legs together. They grabbed her nylon clad legs and lifted them up. Crossing her ankles they tied them together with rope before moving on to the rest of her legs, making sure there was plenty of rope wrapped at all the important joints. She was a fighter after all, and they needed to make sure she was secure!

It's not like Hana was the only one to endure this strict treatment though. For as cooperative as Chloe was being, the men spared her no expense either. With her back still turned to her mother, Chloe could only listen to what was going on as she was subjected to her own bondage treatment. The ropes tied around her arms and her chest were pulled quite taught, with pretty much no give or slack. As Chloe flexed her arms a bit she found them to be quite stuck. She wondered how Kayla ever managed to get herself out of jams like this...probably with a lot of luck.

With Chloe's upper body securely bound, the men turned her around and lowered her to the floor as well. This was the first time she'd gotten to take a look at her poor mother all bound and gagged as she was, and it was quite the sight! Her dress all ripped up, and her body was folded back in a tight hogtie. She flopped around on the ground, moaning and grunting through all the stuffing in her mouth as she wiggled her nylon clad feet.

Chloe felt bad for her, then again she was about to join her! The men holding her started forcing her down to the ground pushing her onto her stomach. She felt them reach for her strappy black heels and unbuckle them. Removing them from her feet, she then felt them reach up toward the hem of her dress pulling it up and exposing her pantyhose clad rear.

"Hey, watch it you assholes," Chloe shouted back.

The men ignored her complaints, grabbing the tops of her pantyhose and pulling them down. They pulled them all the way down, eventually slipping them off her feet leaving her legs now totally bare. Chloe was enraged.

"Why the fuck are you taking my tights off?! You guys are some fucking grade A fucking creeps you know that. Bitch ass mother fucmmmmmph!"

Chloe was too focused on hurling insults that she didn't notice the thug stooping down by her head with her balled up pantyhose in hand. Taking advantage of her wide open mouth thanks to all her shouting, he crammed the tights inside pushing them all the way in with his fingers. Chloe coughed and gagged as the wad of tights filled every inch of her mouth.

"MMMMMMMMMPH!"

She continued to shout and cough as a bunch of tape was wound around her head, sealing the tights in her mouth. At the same time, her legs were being tied as well. Her bare ankles were crossed over and tied together with rope, as were the rest of her legs around her knees and upper thighs. As the group of men finished tying Chloe up, the other members grabbed one of the large duffel bags and began stuffing Hana inside of it.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNMPH! MMMMMMMPH!"

She protested all the while, kicking and screaming as they packed her inside the bag and zipped it shut. As soon as Chloe's legs were all tied, and her arms were connected to her ankles in a strict hogtie, the men stuffed her in her own duffel bag. She was plunged into darkness as they zipped the bag shut and then hoisted it off the ground.

The two women were carried off, but had no idea where to. The inside of the duffel bags were pitch black and so there was no way of knowing where they were actually being taken to. Thankfully, their journey wasn't that far. Before long they were tossed onto the ground as the bags were unzipped and light flooded Chloe's eyes once again.

She was dumped out from the bag, her mother dumped out beside her. They had been brought to some storage room with cleaning products and supplies lining the shelves. They also weren't alone in the storage room either...

"Hnnnmmmmn?!"

"Chhhhmmmnnnmm!"

Even though she was just as bound and gagged, Chloe was relieved to see that Kayla was okay. Although she had been subjected to quite the hogtie! As for Kayla, she was used to herself getting into scrapes like these but it was unfortunate to see her mother and sister now also in a similar bind. Her mother was putting up quite the fight too. Even after being dumped out onto the floor, she was still grunting as she flexed her wrists and ankles trying to break free. She paused for a moment as she looked over and saw Kayla, a flood of relief washing over her as she realized she was okay.

"Hnnnnnnmmmn! Mmmmmmph!"

"Mmmmmmph."

Kayla replied back to her mom the best her gag would allow. For a second there, the three members of the Grace family shared a tender moment as they all realized everyone was okay...just a little tied up was all. That moment came to a grinding halt when one of the Red Tiger's spoke up again.

"Well then, looks like the whole family's here now. How sweet."

"FMMMMPH!"

Hana was never going to give in to their intimidation! She was fiercely determined to fight back even if it meant just moaning behind her gag. Kayla admired her fiery spirit, hell, it was where she got her own!

"You three just sit tight, we'll be back in a little while to get you."

Chloe looked over at Kayla as if to ask what was going to happen to them. Kayla could read her expression like a book, although she doubted she could convey her own message back. How do you give a look that says: "these dumbass Red Tiger gang members thought I was spying on them, now they're going to dispose of us because they think I'm a lousy snoop for reporting on criminal activity."

Instead she just opted for a look that conveyed the message that whatever was going to happen...it wasn't good.

Chloe received the message and understood it. The three of them were about to be in hot water if they didn't escape soon. The group of Red Tigers made their exit, slamming the door behind them and locking it shut. Funny enough, the locked door was the least of Kayla's worries. She'd spent enough time studying lock-picking techniques that there was hardly a lock she couldn't crack.

It was the goddamn ropes around her body that was going to be the issue. Why did these thugs always make things so tight? Kayla looked over at her mother and her sister, feeling bad that they'd ended up in this mess with her. She'd just noticed the state of her mother's dress too, all ripped and torn with a bunch of it stuffed in her mouth. And then there was Chloe. Wasn't she wearing tights earlier? It didn't take long for Kayla to realize where they'd gone given the fact that the lower half of Chloe's face was covered with duct tape.

They'd both been hogties as well, which for a first time bondage experience was quite the shock! Kayla was at least glad they hadn't tied them as tightly as they'd tied her. Then again, that could all change depending on whether or not they managed to make it out of this mess!

The first thing Kayla needed to do, was work her way over to her mother and sister. After that, she needed their help to start picking away at the knots keeping her tied. She would do the same, and if they could just work quick enough they'd be free. The emphasis was on the "if."

"Mmmmmmph!"

Kayla signaled to her mother and sister. They both looked over at her, eyes wide above their gagged mouths.

"Hhhmph?"

Chloe seemed to be asking what Kayla wanted. Kayla's response was to roll over, or at least try to. With how tightly she was tied, movement was pretty difficult. She worried that if she rolled over she'd get stuck given that she could barely move her arms and legs. Getting to Chloe and her mother was probably out of the question. The next question was could Chloe move over to her?

"Mmmmmph! Hmmmm ggnnnnmph!"

Was her muffled gag speak reaching Chloe? Kayla tried to use both her words and head nods to get Chloe to understand her, but thankfully Chloe had no issue figuring out what Kayla wanted her to do.

"Hmmph!"

Chloe nodded her head, turning over onto her side and flopping toward Kayla. There was at least a little give in her ropes allowing for some movement in her arms and legs. It took her some effort, but before long she was by Kayla's side. Now all Kayla needed to do was tip herself over so that her back was facing Chloe and then they could get to work!

Tipping herself over, Kayla manged to flop down onto her side. Crashing into the cold floor stung a bit, but a few bumps and bruises here and there was worth it if it meant getting free! With her hands now in the perfect position, Kayla waited as Chloe started to work on undoing the knots of Kayla's hogtie. Kayla smiled underneath her gag, Chloe was smart and just instinctively knew the correct order to work in. Perhaps it was just intuitive, but Kayla was proud of her sister nonetheless.

It took her a few minutes of picking at the ropes, but finally the knot was loose and Kayla was able to free her legs. This gave her SO much more mobility. Swinging her legs around, she sat up. Her arms were still firmly tied behind her back, but maybe that didn't matter...

For how long it took Chloe to just get one set of knots loose, by the time she managed to get the rest undone and Kayla's arms totally free the Red Tigers would be back. Kayla needed to improvise a bit, and maybe work under some not ideal situations. She only needed her hands to pick the lock, and she was able to stand now. Maybe that was all she needed. Besides, once they were free from the closet they could run out into the restaurant and cause a scene.

It was a bit silly to imagine herself running through this nice sushi restaurant, with no shoes and her own spandex shorts crammed in her mouth as a makeshift gag. Then again, desperate times called for desperate measures. This was probably their only shot of escaping.

"Mmmmmmmph!"

Kayla grunted as she swung her legs around to the side of her body and worked her way into a kneeling position. From here, she pushed herself up onto her toes and then using that momentum she sprung herself up so that she was now standing.

"Hmmmnnnph!"

Kayla's mother and Chloe looked up at her in shock. If Kayla's hands weren't tied, she would have smugly flipped her hair back. This wasn't her first rodeo, not by a longshot. She knew how to work herself out of a tough scrape...

Hopping toward the racks of supplies, Kayla scanned the shelves looking for what she would need to pick the lock. With every second that passed, their chances of escape grew slimmer and slimmer. She still needed plenty of time to get the lock picked too. Thankfully, she found what she was looking for on one of the middle shelves. A small box of paperclips! Hopping over to it, she turned around and with her hands behind her back still grabbed a couple of them.

"Mmmph!"

Chloe offered her another congratulatory grunt as Kayla hopped her way over to the next tool she would need: a pair of pliers. With her paperclips and the pliers in hand, she hopped over to the door.

She'd picked a lock while tied up before, but it had been a while. To make things more challenging, the last time she'd done this had been with a lock-picking kit she had stashed away in her boot. This time she was using just some paperclips which was still doable, just definitely more difficult. The hardest part was getting the paperclips fashioned into the correct shape she would need to even start picking the lock.

She just had to hope that she could do it all from memory behind her back. There was definitely a pretty big chance that this wasn't going to work, but Kayla was never one to give up over bad odds. If there was a chance this could work she was taking it!

With her paperclips ready, or at least as ready as they were going to be, Kayla positioned herself with her back to the door and inserted the first clip that she'd bent as a tension rod. From here, she just needed to insert the "rake" and then wiggle everything around enough so that hopefully the door unlocked. The only problem was she had no idea how well she'd bent the rake, and if it wasn't bent enough this wasn't going to work.

A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Kayla's face as she worked on the lock, inserting the rake now and giving everything a proper jostle. At first, there was nothing and she started to worry. Then, after giving it a few tugs the knob started to move slightly. Kayla tried not to get too excited, keeping her focus on the lock and just getting it open. She would celebrate once they were out of this mess, but for now she needed to concentrate.

*CLICK!*

"MMMPH!"

"Hmmmmmph!?"

Kayla's mother and Chloe looked up at Kayla with wide, impressed eyes. Kayla was just as impressed herself! She honestly could not believe her plan had worked! This was definitely another one for the Kayla Grace history books, and a further proof that she was the best damn reporter Hazeldale had ever seen!

"Well, well, well...look at this."

Kayla spun around as fast as her tied together legs would allow. Standing in the doorway was the group of Red Tigers, staring down at her menacingly. It didn't take Kayla long to realize that it hadn't been her lock-picking efforts that opened the door...they had! She'd been too late. Grabbing Kayla by her shoulders, two of the Tigers wrestled her back down to the ground as the other Tigers filed into the room and shut the door behind them.

"I applaud your efforts to escape, but I'm afraid they have been wasted. It's too late to stop this now, Kayla Grace. Your time is running thin."

"What do we do with them now?"

"Is the transport ready?"

"Yes, the van is all set."

"Good, let's get them loaded up and bring them to the hideout. After that we can discuss our plans to dispose of them, not before having a little fun first. Naughty captives that try and escape must be punished with stricter ropes, isn't that right Kayla Grace?"

"FFFFMPH YYYMMMPH!"

The Tiger just laughed, snapping his fingers as the other men went to work packing the girls away for transport.

"MMMMMMMMMPH!"

Kayla's mother made it quite clear that she was not okay with being stuffed back in that duffel bag. There wasn't anything she nor Chloe nor even Kayla could do at this point to prevent them from being crammed inside the bags and zipped up. Kayla huffed through her gag as she felt herself be picked up and carried away.

Kayla had gotten herself into a real jam this time, only this time her mother and sister were wrapped up with her too. She wasn't sure what surprised the Red Tiger's had waiting for them at their hideout, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to be good...