(The continuing collaboration between @DarkSkyFalcon and me. 😉)
First class was mostly wasted on Tina. She didn’t need the leg room or the extra width of the seat. She would have had a drink if they had Makers on the flight but all they had was Jim Beam. And that’s distilled in Tennessee. REAL bourbon is only born in Kentucky. But the complimentary sleep mask was nice, and Tina decided to try to get some sleep. The flight was four hours but with the time difference, it would still be relatively early when she landed. Knowing Amber, they’d be up for a long time if they went to sleep at all. Tina smiled at the thought of seeing her friend again. Then she settled a little deeper into her seat. A flight is one of the best places for a girl who’s always on her guard to relax. Tina is used to have the tools and the opportunity to respond to threats. And that brings responsibility. On a plane at 40,000 feet, she had neither. She was, for a change, just as helpless as everyone else. And that was bliss. Tina was out cold before the wheels were even up.
----------------------------------------
Tina was back on the set of Quest. She was in costume and “rehearsing.” That’s what John Dailey called it anyway. In actuality, Tina was hogtied and gagged and struggling to resist her insane director’s persuasive mental conditioning.
“Jesus, no, stunt girl! It isn’t enough for you to TRY to escape. You have to ACTUALLY do it!”
Tina’s mouth was so stuffed with rags her jaw felt like it was unhinged like a snake swallowing a meal. Only Tina couldn’t swallow OR expel the excessive packing. Layers of tape prevented all but the slightest wheezy moan from escaping her mouth. But she thrashed on the floor and let out muted roars of anger just the same.
“Fuck! You can’t be this useless. You’re the hero. You’re Kaley! Kaley wouldn’t just roll around all pathetic like this. Find a way out. You have to find the strength of your character. I can’t do that for you. I can only get you to the ledge. You have to take the leap!”
The ropes were so tight. Tina’s wrists were on fire from her efforts but all she’d managed to do was rub herself raw. The tether between her wrists and her ankles was too short. She couldn’t find any leverage. She’d been at it all day. The crazy fuck had left her tied up in this unused part of the sound stage all, fucking day.
“Goddamn. You and that princess Amber! Neither one of you has the commitment to your craft! Dig down stunt girl. Dig the fuck down!”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Tina ignored all the pain and jerked so hard against her bonds she thought for sure they’d snap. But they held. She just couldn’t do it. It was impossible. She knew it. Tina looked up at Dailey who had perked up somewhat from witnesses her effort. But when she stopped and stared at him with her desperate, pleading eyes, she saw the rage returning to his.
---------------------------------------------
Tina stopped in the family bathroom on her way from the baggage claim carousel to ground transportation. She locked the door and double checked the lock. Then she hoisted her roller bag up onto the baby changing station and unlocked the padlock. Inside was a small, metal case. Tina applied her them to the reader and entered her PIN in the keypad. She opened the now unlocked gun safe and retrieved her Glock. She knew she’d stowed it unloaded, as required by TSA regulations, but it was impossible for her NOT to check the chamber, anyway. Muscle memory cannot be denied. Satisfied of what she already knew, she slid full 8-round magazine into the handle and worked the slide to chamber a round. Tina holstered her weapon and then popped the, now, 7-round magazine out of her holstered weapon and popped another 9mm bullet inside, topping it off. Then she reinserted the freshly filled magazine into the Glock. She smirked remembering when Barry asked her why she always topped off her weapon with an extra round. “Because I can’t top it off with two, Barry.” She had shot back.
Armed with her weapon and the necessary paperwork to allow her Kentucky concealed weapon permit to be valid in gun-phobic California, Tina left the sanctuary of the family restroom and strode to the exit. As she passed through the automatic doors she was greeted with perfect, 72-degree California weather and the sound of her name. “Tina. Tina Glory!” Ok, her STAGE name. Not her REAL name.
“Right here!” Tina waved to the gentleman. Amber had sent driver with excellent fashion sense. His clothes said ‘Hollywood Royalty,’ as clearly as the Rolls Royce double parked on the yellow line behind him. Families like Ambers didn’t follow rules. Anyway. But especially not in Las Angeles.
“This way Tina,” Amber’s employee stated matter-of-factly as he brushed right past her and to the rear of the car, decidedly NOT helping with Tina’s bag. Without looking back at her, he explained, “I was told not to touch your bag, and I was told not to call you Ms. Glory.” He rearranged a few items to make room in the trunk and went around the driver’s seat.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Tina shouted over the roof of the car. She could just barely see over the top.
“I’m Jeremy. Whatever you need while you’re here, I’m your man.” Tina liked Jeremy a lot, already. She swung her bag up high and let it crash into the trunk. She closed the lid and pivoted around to the rear passenger door. Tina was expecting to ride by herself to Amber’s home, so she was absolutely stunned to see another woman seated, waiting for her.
“Oh my God! Mrs. Bancroft!” Tina almost leapt all the way into the beautiful ladies’ lap. As put together as she was, she laughed heartily at Tina’s display of joy.
“OK. OK. That’s quite alright Tina.” Honey Bancroft accepted Tina’s aggressive hug and wrapped her arms around her gently in response. “It is so very good to see you. I just couldn’t wait once I’d heard you were really coming.”
Tina pulled back at the emphasis she heard Honey place on the word “Really.” Honey continued.
“We’ve been trying, as you know, to get you to come for a visit for….well…..we’ve asked you several times.” Tina felt a pang of guilt. She reached back and tapped her jacked and felt the hard hilt of her concealed Glock. Weapon’s checks were a “tick” of Tina’s when she was nervous.
“I know. I’m sorry Mrs. Bancroft. It’s. You know it’s hard for me to come back….here. You know, right?” Honey crossed her arms and frowned.
“Ms. Tina, you need to know by now that I meant NOTHING by that in any way, shape or form. So don’t you dare go pretending that I’m guilt tripping you.” Tina loved how Honey’s southern accent bled through her Hollywood polish, but only when she spoke to Tina. Both women smiled and exhaled deeply. “But it REALLY is just so good to see you Dear.”
“It’s great to be here!” Tina was truly excited. “Where’s Amber?” Honey sighed. And Tina realized that her face was slightly paled compared to the perfect California tan she usually sported. “Mrs. Bancroft. Where’s Amber?”
“Tina. Something happened. We couldn’t tell you over the phone. We needed to you to come out here first.” Tina looked down at her phone. Her last message to Amber was still on the screen, ‘See you soon bi-otch.’ Honey noticed Tina’s confusion. “We sent you the message to come. No. I did. I sent you the message. On Amber’s phone.” Tina didn’t understand.
“OK. But, why? Why didn’t you just ask…” Honey interrupted.
“Nobody can know Amber’s missing. And if I’d have called you, I’d have had to lie to you. And you wouldn’t have believed that everything was OK. I’m not THAT good of an actor.” Honey was holding a sheet of paper. There was an article printed on it.
“What? Missing? What happened Mrs. Bancroft?” Honey held up the article so Tina could see it. The title read, “Disgraced Hollywood Director Released, Served 8 Years of 15 Year Sentence.”
“HE happened, Tina. That devil got out of prison.” Tina’s mouth hung open as she slowly took the paper from Mrs. Bancroft’s hands and slid onto her seat as Jeremy pulled the car away from the curb. And the memories came back. They came flooding back like a tsunami.
---------------------------------------
“We found her! We found Amber!”
All Tina could do was watch. Maybe 20 feet away, at least a dozen Police Officers were attending to Amber. Tina’s friend was hogtied and barely conscious. Just like Tina, John Dailey had been imposing her brand of ‘method acting’ training on the poor girl. Dailey was in the back of one of the police cars on the street just in front of the huge sliding doors. Tina couldn’t see HIM, but she was sure he was there. His proximity gave her chills.
“Get her out. Get her out!” Mrs. Bankcroft came running onto the set next, as the Officers were carefully cutting the many layers of excruciatingly tight hemp rope from Ambers exhausted body.
“Thank you, God. Thank you, God,” Tina prayed. It was about to be over. She’d been tied up into a tiny ball and stuffed in the prop barrel, and Amber had been hogtied in the barn pen for close to two days while Dailey had been evading searches for him. Tina thought they’d never be found. At least not in time. But as Tina watched through the narrow cracks in the barrel, she could tell that the rescuers had all relaxed now. They were helping get Amber onto a gurney. But they weren’t searching anymore. One was taking photographs of the area. Another was causally looking around, seemingly out of curiosity more than out of urgency.
And that’s when Amber realized something truly terrible. “They don’t know I’m here.” Tina tried to wake up her arms which has long turned numb from her cramped and contorted position. “They aren’t looking for me. Why aren’t they looking??” Tina tried to raise up, but all she accomplished was pulling the rope deeper into her crotch. The rope holding the back other neck down into her knees didn’t give a millimeter. Her fingers were still taped up tightly and stuffed into small draw string bags. Tina couldn’t move a muscle.
“Nobody even knows I’m missing. I’m just a stunt girl.” Tina had nothing left. Her body was completely empty and so was her will. Her horror turned to a grim sense of acceptance. She watched helpless and silent as everyone slowly and efficiently filed out and slid the huge doors closed.