Seven Summits 2

»University Police« – though only an unofficial name, it sounded better than the official one, »Police Department Hubland Nord 2«. When, some 20 years ago, the American soldiers had left Würzburg, the University had rented the area where the barracks had been, building some new student’s hostels and other facilities. The city’s infrastructure had followed, and a few years ago, the city officials had decided that the area was big enough for its own Police Department.

The job had positive and negative aspects: most students didn’t commit anything worse than nighttime disturbance, minor drug delicts or DUI. So, it was usually no problem to get through the nights without having to do more than showing presence and occasionally reprimanding someone. In the three years since the department had been founded, no Policeman had been forced to draw his gun, and only once or twice, they had needed handcuffs in an arrest.

On the other hand, the job was boring. Kommissarin Emily Moser knew that a low crime rate was a good thing, and she definitely didn’t want to serve at a social hot spot,  but right now, on an early Saturday morning, she could have imagined doing something more demanding than cracking her own high score in Solitaire.

The department was run by two more Policemen, but her two colleagues had decided to »show presence« and do a patrol round. Emily knew that the main reason was to test the features of the new patrol car, and she guessed that they would take some time. She yawned. Perhaps, Patrick had cheated when they had drawn sticks, but he had promised to bring some doughnuts for her in exchange for her having to man the post.

»I guess that except for a few joggers, we are the only ones awake!«

Indeed, most students either visited their parents on weekends, or they went to a party and slept until noon on a Saturday. Currently, there were two wine festivals, and so, Emily guessed that it would be another two hours until she would see anyone. She was just getting herself another coffee when she heard the door, and a young man entered. He looked as if he had had a rough night, his skin pale, and even from the distance, she could smell the alcohol. However, he looked as if something had sobered him up.

»I – I want to report someone missing!«

Emily offered him a seat and also a cup of coffee before she noted his name and address. The young man was a Michael Krüger, living at the nearby student’s hostel, and in the beginning, it sounded as if he wanted to confess. for he described how he had tried to flirt with an Australian exchange student, using alcohol to make things easier.

»I – I didn’t harm her, but I think, I got a little – pushy! And then, well, she left the party!«

Emily looked at the young man.

»So, she wasn’t open to your charming behaviour after your seventh beer?«

»Actually, it was Cuba Libre!«, Michael scoffed. He then continued by telling that, after he had thrown up and regained some of his senses, he had felt guilty and wanted to apologize. however, the girl, a Maureen Mc Murdo, hadn’t been at her apartment, and also hadn’t been when he had tried again, just an hour ago.

»Maybe, she just doesn’t want to see you«, Emily commented, and Michael once again scoffed.

»That’s what I thought! So, I sent her a WhatsApp and also told her that I would get some fresh croissants and place them at her doormat! As a peace offer!«

Since Emily had no idea whether Michael had been just annoying or outright insulting, she still believed that Maureen had simply not been ready to accept his peace offer. However, the student now told her that when he had returned from the baker, there had been two co-students of Maureen who had had an appointment with her for jogging. One of them had already peeked through the window and could tell that Maureen wasn’t inside. According to her status, she had last been online the evening before, at about 11pm.

»That was about when – when she left the party! I mean, I can understand if she doesn’t want to see me, but she also doesn’t reply to her friends!«

Michael sounded concerned, and he told Emily that he had even called the Ambulance, but there had been no patient that fit Maureen’s description. Emily, who considered that Michael was already suffering enough for having been pushy, tried to calm him down:

»You said that Maureen also had one or two drinks too many! So, perhaps, she ran into someone, they had one or two more whilst complaining about how bad men are, and now, she and her friend are still sleeping soundly, until they are sober again!«

Michael grinned wryly, expressing his hope that Emily was right. She turned back to her computer and said:

»Most likely, she will send you, or at least her other friends, a message within the next few hours! If so, I expect you to inform us immediately! However, just in case, I need a description!«

During the next minutes, Emily wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cringe. It started normal, as he told her that Maureen Mc Murdo was 19, about 5’7’’ and had long, dark blonde curls. He then got a bit carried away when he described her eyes as »blue, but not grey-blue like yours, more like the Caribbean Sea«, and when she asked him for a picture, he drew his phone, only to look a bit meek when staring at the photos. Emily looked, and she commented:

»So, Maureen’s well endowed! And I will sue you if you compare her bust to mine!«

Michael had taken several pictures of Maureen, but all showed little more than a pair of ample breasts, packed in a tight top with cleavage. Emily sighed.

»I am sure she will call her friends within the next few hours! Now, go home – and clean your teeth before you speak to someone again!«

Michael left like a beaten dog, and Emily looked at the screen when she heard the door again. She thought that perhaps, the young man had forgotten something, but instead, it was a young woman, wearing a hoodie, a baseball cap and even sunglasses. She looked as if she was a celebrity trying to avoid the press, but when she removed the glasses and took off the cap, Emily could only tell she looked vaguely Latin, with her bronze skin and her cascade of black curls.

»You are Police Officer?«, she asked with a strong accent. As a Kommissarin, Emily didn’t have to wear a uniform, and so, she introduced herself, including her rank. The woman seemed surprised that there were no uniformed men, but she sat down and said:

»I am Aurora Delgado! And I feel, how do you say, haunted?«

Emily didn’t speak Spanish, but with the help of an app and their common knowledge of English, she could get together what Aurora wanted to report: for some days, she felt pursued by a white van. Before Emily could comment on that, Aurora interrupted her report:

»I know memes and sayings about white vans! But in my case, it seems real!«

She continued by telling that the van had been parking close to her apartment, and she had also seen it when she had been out lately. So far, there had always been other people, and of course, she knew that there was more than one white van in town, but then, she had noticed something strange:

»I tried to remember license plate, and it was car from Frankfurt! Then, one day later, same van, but license plate from Munich!«

Of course, Emily told her it could also mean that it was two different cars, but Aurora insisted that, being an art’s student, she had a good eye for details, and it had been the same car. Emily frowned. This was a bit too elaborate for a prank. On the other hand, a white van pursuing a girl really was a cliché. So, she asked Aurora if she could think of anyone who could have an interest in following her. the girl shrugged.

»My family’s rich – well, not really rich, but rich for Argentina!«

She got more precisely by telling her that her father was CEO of a company at Buenos Aires with some 100 employees – enough to earn his family a mansion and to allow both her and her two brothers to study abroad, but Aurora doubted that his wealth would attract kidnappers on another continent.

»I even have to work on two evenings a week! So, I may be among the richest two percent in Argentina, but here, I am average!«

With no real evidence of a crime in progress, all Emily could do was giving Aurora her number and telling her to continue avoiding being alone and to call as soon as she noticed something unusual. Aurora didn’t seem pleased, but she left, and Emily once again looked at her computer desk. Reflexively, she started to look for connections.

»One girl’s missing, and one maybe gets stalked! And both are exchange students!«

Of course, there were also many differences: Maureen not only was Australian, she was 19 whilst Aurora was 26, and they looked different. Her hoodie hadn’t allowed Emily to say much about Aurora’s figure, but she definitely wasn’t as busty as Maureen. Also, Aurora was a Latina whilst Maureen was Caucasian.

And yet, Emily was sure that she should keep an open eye on the two cases, even if they turned out to be completely meaningless.

***

»Mmhrrrmmmm! Uuuhhmmmmm!«

Salome’s muffled scream of frustration echoed through her tiny prison, but to no avail. Since she had regained her consciousness, the girl was locked in her cell she had been forced to explore with her hands, for she could not see anything but sheer blackness.

At first, when she had woken up, she had thought that she had somehow gotten entangled in her bed sheets, but then, she had more and more realized the terrible truth. Her head was covered by a stiff leather hood that blindfolded her completely and put some pressure to her ears. It also held a sizeable foam ball inside her mouth, reducing her screams to throaty groans. Salome had tried to get the hood off her head, but though she wasn’t otherwise restrained, she could feel a padlock at her neck.

Of course, she had screamed through her gag and banged against the wall, feeling it was padded with something soft. Then, as exhaustion had forced her to calm down, she had tried to explore her prison with her hands – a task that hadn’t taken her long. The only piece of furniture except for the camp bed she had been lying upon was a seatless metal toilet, like they were used in prison cells, and she also felt a roll of toilet paper. The cell was some two yards wide and three yards long, and at the front, there was a row of vertical bars. Salome had pulled on these and once again moaned, but again, there had been no answer. At least, there had been no answer from her abductors, but when she had stopped yelling, she had been able to hear similar sounds from close to her, indicating that there were two more prisoners, most likely female, in a similar condition. Salome wasn’t yet sure if this was a good or a bad sign.

She still had her clothes, including her jacket, but when she had checked her pockets, she had realized that they had all completely been emptied. Even the box of TicTacs from her inner pocket was missing. Salome once again felt for the padlock on her hood, and she knew that without the keys or a strong tool, it would stay in place.

From what seemed to be opposite to her, she heard a whimper, accompanied by the sound of fists slamming against the padded walls. Unbeknownst to Salome, it was Maureen, who had woken up in a similar predicament, hooded, gagged and locked inside a cell. However, there were two aspects that made things worse for the Australian: the combination of strong Cuba Libres and chloroform had left her with terrible headaches and a sick feeling in her stomach, and she also felt the desperate urge to pee. Maureen had felt the toilet in her cell, but so far, she hadn’t dared to use it, fearing that her kidnappers were watching.

To Salome’s left, the third prisoner was sitting on her camp bed. Being a Gong Fu Sifu, Yini was able to keep her emotions under control, and she had also quickly realized that her gag and hood wouldn’t come off without external help. Unlike her fellow prisoners, she only wore her bra and panties, and she felt that the cell was a bit chilly, albeit not really cold.

Yini had also no idea why someone had attacked Taiko and her, and she wondered if her Japanese friend was one of the other prisoners she could hear. She balled her fists, knowing that sooner or later, not only the answer to that question would come, but also an opportunity to escape, or at least to show her kidnappers she was not yet defeated.

***

At Tamiko’s apartment, the host had warmed some Sake and each had had a cup, but none of the girls had dared to drink more, as they were all waiting for a call from Yini’s kidnappers. They had locked the door twice, and Eileen had also crammed a chair under the doorknob, and the Japanese knife was lying right beside the couch on which Tamiko was lying. She had offered her futon bed to Helena and Eileen, and the girls were lying side by side, whispering excitedly about what had happened and what they should do about it.

Somehow, they had managed to sleep a bit, but at 5 am, Tamiko had started to prepare tea, and when she had seen the girls were awake, too, she had offered them some insta coffee.

»Sorry, I only have some mandarins! Yini and I wanted to go shopping after the training, but – you know!«

During their frugal breakfast, Tamiko told them that she would not continue sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

»It seems we have to go to the Police! But before, we have to go back to the sports hall, to see if we can find some evidence!«

It sounded like a plan, and so, Eileen and Helena waited for Taiko to get showered and dressed. She took her gym bag with her, and in a side bag of it, she put the panties that had gagged her. It would be embarrassing to describe that detail to a Policeman, but if it would help to catch the kidnappers, Tamiko would do so.

They walked the short distance, surprised to see that the door stood open, and one of the janitors was already there. He knew Tamiko from seeing, and he started talking immediately:

»I just came here because of the Volleyball tournament in the afternoon – and can you believe it? Someone broke in!«

»So?«, Tamiko replied, hiding her concern. When they had left the day before, they had not bothered putting the padded mitts back into the box or removing the shredded clothes from the teacher’s changing room. However, the janitor pointed at another door where he had his office. He chuckled and shook his head.

»Some pervert broke the window and climbed inside, but all he took was the content of the ›box of unspeakables‹!«

He let his eyes wander over the three women in a way that seemed a bit lewd. At their questioning looks, he explained:

»Over the year, we of course find all kinds of things – clothes, jewellery, sometimes even phones. Well, we used to put everything in a box, but some year ago, a woman complained that every man could have touched her missing bra, and so, we prepared an extra box for lingerie – the ›box of unspeakables‹!«

Again, he seemed to wonder what kind of underwear the three were wearing, and Eileen reflexively pulled down the hem of her skirt. The janitor grinned and added:

»Well, since we have that box, it has been almost empty! The pervert only stole one thing – a pair of panties that has belonged to some fat-ass chick!«

Now, it was clear that he was trying to imagine the girls’ panties, and they withdrew to the teacher’s dressing room. Here, Tamiko, panting from oppressed rage, quickly grabbed the scraps of cloth and collected them into her gym bag. Then, all of a sudden, she yelled »Kiaah!« and slammed against the door of a cupboard, causing it to break. Eileen and Helena gasped, and Tamiko now seemed to realize what she had done.

»S-Sorry! But the alternative would have been to break this creepy janitor’s nose!«

As on keyword, said man put his head through the door, asking if everything was all right. Tamiko, now having calmed down again, said:

»The door blocked – but I could handle it!«

Something in her voice made him withdraw and not comment the broken cupboard. Eileen chuckled, and Helena put her arm around Tamiko’s shoulders. The Sensei gently removed her arm.

»I have to excuse, but-«

She balled her fists, and her shoulders twitched. Helena wanted to offer another hug, but it seemed that Tamiko wanted to fight down her urge to cry instead. After some panting, she wiped her eyes and told the girls to go to the next Police station.

***

 Aurora Delgado had felt a bit better after reporting the strange van to the Police. The Kommissarin had looked as if she didn’t really believe in a planned crime, but at least, no one could blame her for having done nothing.

She had taken the bus to the city centre and left close to the Residenz. With nowhere in particular to go, Aurora decided to do some shopping when she suddenly spotted a white van. She reflexively withdrew behind a Litfass column and watched as the car turned to the right.

»All right, calm down, it has just been a van like there are hundreds! Everything’s fine, and there are plenty of people around!«

She forced herself to walk along, to the crossing where the van had left. The lane it had taken was narrow, leading to the music college. Aurora’s heart missed a beat: there, some 100 yards ahead, the white van was parking, as if it was waiting for her. She hid behind the corner, and more than one passer-by looked at her with slight concern.

Aurora knew that there was no imminent danger: there were a few other cars in the lane, and in addition, there was no need for her to get there. Unless-

»If I could take a photo of the license plate, the Police can find out the owner – and if it has been stolen, they also know that something’s wrong!«

In theory, walking towards the van until she could take a picture sounded safe enough: even if someone jumped out of it, she could scream and run away. However, right now, it seemed that there was nobody in the lane except her (and, maybe, the people in the van), and so, Aurora decided to try a different approach.

She walked up the hill and then turned to the left. Now, she would pass the main entrance of the music college, and even on a Saturday morning, there would be a few people. If she took another turn to the left, she would get to the lane from the other side, and since it was parked close to the corner, she could take a picture and retreat before those inside could even react.

Aurora took her phone and walked on, her heart beating, though there would be no danger. As she had hoped, there were a few students outside, some of them smoking. A single girl caught her eye, which was perhaps what she had intended. she wore extremely tight jeans, together with brown cowboy boots, and her white and blue top left her midriff bare and had long fringes on it. She had a mane of blonde hair, and she wore a bright red cowboy hat, together with a matching handbag.

»I have a slight assumption that she’s from the USA«, Aurora thought with a giggle, and she followed the girl, involuntarily watching the movements of her butt in the tight jeans as she approached the corner. Aurora checked her phone, and when she saw the girl turn around the corner, she walked on, forcing herself to remain calm.

The sound of the starting engine came to her ears, but Aurora didn’t connect it with the car that suddenly appeared when she was just a few yards away from the corner. It took her half a second to realize it was the van, and so, she missed photographing its front. The car now accelerated, and she could only take a snapshot of its rear before it passed the next corner. Aurora noticed one of the student staring at her, and so, she withdrew behind the corner to check if she had gotten the license plate.

Her jaw dropped as she looked at the place where the van had been parked. There, close to the gutter, she spotted something red. Aurora blinked, but there was no doubt that the object was a cowboy hat. In the lane, there was no sign of the girl that had been wearing it.

***

Emily was still busy finding connections between Maureen and Aurora, following all kinds of thoughts. When her colleague had called her, asking whether it would be okay if they also tested the new car on the highway, she had agreed absent-mindedly. So, she wondered when once again, the door opened, and a small group of women entered.

Like most Policemen, Emily tried to figure out what they could want by looking at them, but in this case, the combination was a bit strange. The two girls looked like ordinary students, a tall blonde in an extremely short dress and a small brunette in a tank top and leggins. Both looked as if they hadn’t slept well, as did number three. She was an Asian, and though her age was hard to guess, Emily was sure that she was at least 35.

»Are you the Officer in charge?«, she asked, and Emily nodded, introducing herself. The Asian took a deep breath; then, she added:

»We want to report a crime – a kidnapping!«

Emily was about to ask whether a white van had been involved, but there was something in the eyes of these three that made her listen to their report instead. Soon, she stopped taking notes and just listened with disbelief on the report of Tamiko Fujimoto, how she and her Chinese friend had been knocked out, and how the two girls, Helena Stock and Eileen Schmitt, had found her, naked, bound and gagged. Though she seemed to suffer from the memories, Tamiko forced herself to go into details, including the crotch rope and the nipple clamps.

Tamiko now opened the side bag of her gym bag and placed something on the table. it was a pair of white panties, crumpled and looking quite big.

»These were used to gag me! I mean, whoever attacked us, he broke into the janitor’s closet before, took these from the lost and found box, and-«

She didn’t continue, and Helena brushed over her back. Emily looked at the panties, and she shuddered with disgust. Not only were they big, they had been worn by another woman before they had been used as a gag on Tamiko. She knew that somewhere at the Department, they kept evidence bags, but she had no idea where, and so, she asked Tamiko for a description of her friend. From her handbag, she produced a purse that contained a passport photo, showing an Asian woman with long hair that showed no resemblance to either Maureen or Aurora.

However, this could hardly be a coincidence, and so, she asked the three:

»Does any of you know a Maureen McMurdo? An exchange student from Australia?«

Emily didn’t mention Aurora, for she had been well and free just an hour ago. None of the girls had heard of her, and so, she added the rather vague description given by Michael, ending with »and, according to the boy who reported her missing, she has very big boobs!«

To her surprise, this seemed to ring a bell in the blonde’s mind. Eileen asked if she lived at the hostel Michael had told her, and she added some details that also seemed to fit. Then, she murmured:

»Titty!«

She slightly blushed when the others looked at her; then, she took out her phone and told them that a few weeks ago, there had been a party at said hostel, and a friend who had attended it had sent Eileen a short video clip, together with the message:

»Sometimes, I know where my sexist thoughts come from!«

The video showed an electric bull ride, to the sound of »Cotton Eye Joe«. Riding the bull was a girl with dark blonde curls, and the bucking of the bull and her attempts to stay in the saddle made her ample boobs bounce like mad. The girl’s tight shirt showed a map of Australia, though it looked a bit distorted by her boobs.

»Well, that’s all I know about her!«, Eileen murmured, feeling a bit ashamed, though she hadn’t taken the video. Emily begged her to send it to her phone, so she could try to get a decent picture out of it, when they heard a car parking in front of the Department. Emily frowned when she saw it was a taxi. then, she recognized the hoodie of the woman paying the driver and storming towards the entrance: it was Aurora Delgado.

»The – the white van!«, she gasped, waving her cell phone.

***

»Four down, three to go! I must say you and your colleague seem to be worth their money!«

The grey-haired man in the suit rose from his armchair and approached the woman that had introduced herself to Salome as Milena Popp. She didn’t repeat the man’s smile; instead, she seemed concerned about something. The man raised an eyebrow.

»Did anything go wrong?«

Milena took a deep breath. This man was different from her previous employers. Not only did he pay more, he was also always friendly and polite. However, Milena knew that these things could change rapidly if things didn’t go the way these rich men wanted.

She forced herself to confess:

»When we took the last girl-«

»Oh, yes, Anna Rose Hatfield from South Carolina!«

Milena nodded.

»When we grabbed her, things had to go fast and so, we – we left her hat behind!«

The man didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

»Are you talking about that terrible red Stetson? Well, I could imagine her in nothing but that hat and her boots, but I think I can afford buying a new one, even more noticeable than that!«

Milena looked at the tips of her shoes, and now, sounding a bit sterner, the man asked:

»Was that all you wanted to tell me?«

Haltingly, Milena now confessed that she was sure that a passer-by had taken a picture of the van. even more, she was almost certain that said witness had been Aurora Delgado.

»Ah, the Argentinian! So, you are trying to tell me that you can no longer use the van, and that you need a new car? Well, cars are more expensive than hats, but I think I can handle that, too!«

Milena looked at him, and she saw he was smiling friendly. Of course, this man could pay a dozen cars without even thinking twice, and the van was now parked where no one would find it. However, this was not the main problem:

»If Aurora goes to the Police, they will not only search for the van! Once the other girls are reported missing, too, they will know that something is going on!«

Now, he placed a hand on Milena’s shoulder. She stiffened, but oppressed the urge to shake it off. Still smiling, he said:

»We both knew that sooner or later, they would get a clue! Now, the game has reached its next level! As I told you, you can earn a lot of money, but it won’t be easy!«

Milena’s eyes widened. It seemed as if the man was glad that the Police was now on their tracks. Was he underestimating their qualities, overestimating his criminal genius, or was he just crazy? Well, no matter what, their deal included that they would only get paid if they had completed their job.

»Yes, Sir!«, she croaked, and as he waved towards the door, she left the room, feeling both concerned and excited.

***

Maureen bit down on the foam ball filling her mouth to oppress a sigh of relief. Even though the hood pressed on her ears, the splashing sound sounded obscenely loud to her, and she knew that her fellow captives would hear it, too. However, she hadn’t been able to hold it any longer, and so, she had opened her jeans, lowered her panties and squatted over the seatless toilet to relieve herself.

Still crouching, she suddenly heard steps, and before she could rise up, she heard a chuckle, followed by a female voice:

»I hope you found everything in the dark!«

Blushing all over, Maureen pulled up her panties, but stumbled over her crumpled trousers and landed on her bed, causing another laughter from the woman outside. She wasn’t sure whether it was the one who had pretended to save her from Michael – only to then kidnap her, and carry her off to that terrible dungeon.

Whilst she struggled to adjust her clothes, she could hear the muffled screams and some banging of fists against bars from the opposite cell, whilst it seemed that the other captive remained silent and quiet. Then, there was a screeching sound as the door of the cell beside Maureen was opened, followed by the sound of something getting dumped onto the bed. Once the woman had closed the door again, she said:

»Once Number Four wakes up, breakfast will be served – as long as you all behave well and do as we tell you!«

Angrily, Salome pulled on the bars and shouted through her gag. Unbeknownst to her, the woman in the corridor between the cells stepped closer and let her eyes wander over her. Then, she reached between the bars and squeezed Salome’s nipples.

»Mhhrrmmm!«

Salome jumped backwards, and since the bed stood so close, she staggered and landed on her backside. Giggling, the woman purred:

»I was trying to get Radio Darussalam, but all I got was some interferences! If you let me try again, I will see if I can get a better sound! Nice panties, by the way!«

With an angry groan, Salome closed her legs and slung her arms around them. her nipples still tingled, but she was panting from embarrassment more than from pain. Maureen, who had approached the bars, shied back, shielding her boobs with her arms, though she hadn’t seen what the mean woman had done to her fellow captive. Yini tried to figure out how close she was standing. If she could grab her arm, she could perhaps pull her towards the bars and get her into a chokehold, either forcing her to hand over the keys, or knocking her out. However, with the hood blocking her sight and making orientation difficult, this would be a hazardous game.

»As I said, our newest guest will soon wake up, and then, you will all be given some relief! You will be freed from the hoods, including the gags, you will be given water and food, and there will also be other amenities! Things might be a bit – frugal here, but we are trying our best to keep our guests well fed, clean and in good shape!«

She managed to let these sentences sound like a threat, and Maureen couldn’t help making a chortling sound through her gag.

The woman now walked along the corridor, and then, there was the sound of another door being opened. Before she left, she turned around and said over her shoulder:

»Of course, we will only be nice as long as you are behaving well! Since this is your first day, some of you might feel rebellious, and think that you might want to be disobedient! If so, you should always ask yourselves one question, and answer it before you act – or refuse to act, depending on the context!«

She paused before she added the question:

»Is it worth the pain of getting punished severely?«

***