Caught on the Wrong Side of the Fence

12:16 a.m.

“Phuuuhh!”  The girl spat water from her mouth as she was harshly pulled back to reality.  Gasping for air, she tried to regain her bearings.  Turning her head from side to side, she realized her vision had been taken away by the blindfold pulled over her eyes.  Still trying to catch her breath, she managed to get out a few words in between coughing.  “W-what’s…what’s going on?!”

“Rise and shine!”  

The girl thought that the raspy voice came from somewhere in front of her, but she couldn’t tell for sure.  From her seated position, she responded to the stranger.  “Who’s there?”  As she tried to reach up and remove the blindfold from her face her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she realized her hands were stuck at her sides, incapable of moving.  Hearing no response, she again addressed the mysterious voice.  “What do you want?”

“I should ask you the same question!”  The second voice came from behind the girl and was deeper than the first.  “Remove her blindfold.  I want to talk with her face to face.”

The girl heard footsteps approaching her, echoing throughout the room she was being held in.  Suddenly she felt a pair of hands at the back of her head.  Seconds later, the blindfold was removed, restoring vision to the chair-tied prisoner.  She squinted as her brown eyes tried to adjust to the dim lighting of the room.  As her vision cleared, she could discern the outline of a large figure standing in front of her.  The muscular man stood there like a statue with his arms crossed, standing next to a five gallon bucket.  Light originating from the 20 foot ceiling reflected off of the man’s polished, shaved head.

“So, Miss Lily Fischer of the Pearl City local news.  What brings you to my humble abode?”  The deep voice again originated from behind the brunette.  She tried turning her head to see who was addressing her, but couldn’t find the source.  The girl then looked down to see what kind of predicament she was in.  As she had assumed, her hands were fastened to the upright arms of the chair with rope.  Another length had been wound around her chest, securing her to the back of the chair.  At the floor, both of the girl’s bare feet were tied separately to the front legs of the dilapidated piece of furniture.

Lily grunted as she tested her bonds, but they held tight.  Looking back up at the clean shaven man in front of her, she let out a deep sigh.  “You certainly know how to treat your house guests, don’t ya?”

“For a girl in such a dire position, you sure are quite jovial!” came the voice from behind.

“Well, this isn’t exactly my first time being tied to a chair.”

“Well, sweetie, if you don’t want it to be your last, you better answer all of my questions.  Who knows you’re here?”

“Everyone.  My employer.  The authorities.  So you better let me go before the cavalry comes busting in the front door.”  The girl smiled at the intimidating man in front of her, trying to sell her bluff.  It was her only option.

“She’s lying,” said the bulky bodyguard calmly.  “I can see it in her face.”

“Ah, but can you afford to call my bluff?” asked the reporter, still smiling at the man.

“As a matter of fact, we can,” responded the deeper voice.

Lily suddenly heard the sound of a small motor running in the distance, originating from the same place that the mysterious voice had.  As the noise got closer, she turned her head and saw who had been talking.  As his face came into view, Lily’s eyes grew wide as she instantly recognized the man.

“You?!”

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3 hours earlier

“But Marvin, I’m so close to nailing this fencing operation once and for all!”  Lily whispered into her cell phone as she stood inside one of the bathroom stalls.

“Fischer, I sent you over to the museum to cover the mayor’s birthday party.  Not to go snooping around for art thieves!”

“But I just have this feeling that they’re going to strike here tonight.  The party provides the perfect cover.  While the party’s being held over here in the northern corridor, the entire east wing is being left unattended.  They could waltz right in and right back out.  And since the museum is technically still open, the security system won’t be on.  If I could just…”

“Lily, just drop it!  If I find out that you were in any other part of that museum besides where that party is being held, I’ll personally make sure you never sit behind a news desk.  Is that clear?!”  Lily’s supervisor had grown tired of her wild goose chases.  Ever since she had started working at the station last year, she was always chasing after the big stories instead of reporting on the ones she was given.

Lily sighed as she realized that her boss meant business.  “Okay Marvin.  I’ll call you when we finish shooting.”  The disappointed reporter cursed as she hung up her cell phone.  Stomping out of the stall and over to the counter, she checked her appearance in the mirror.  The reporter had her light, natural brown hair pulled up into a loose bun.  She was wearing a backless blue dress that went down to her knees and three inch heels of the same color.  Setting her pocketbook down on the counter, she quickly touched up her makeup then exited the ladies room.

Smiling at one of the cute waiters as she entered the main hall, Lily waded through the party guests looking for her cameraman.  After searching for a couple minutes, she finally spotted him in the corner filming some of the festivities.  Marching over to him, she tapped her partner on the shoulder.  “Hey Louis, have you gotten all the footage you need?”

Pulling the camera off of his other shoulder he turned around to face the girl.  “Yeah Lily, just wrapping it up.  All that’s left now is to get your spiel for the evening news and we’ll be done.”

Lily’s eyes lit up as she realized that they were going to finish early.  If she could convince Louis to carry the tapes back over to the station, she might have a chance to sneak over to the east wing to see if she could finally nail the fencing operation that she had been reading about for months.

About 20 minutes later, Lily and Louis finished recording their segment for the evening news.  As Lily walked over to pack away her microphone she smiled at her cameraman.  “Hey Louis, would you mind getting that tape back to the station for me.  I promised to meet a friend across town for drinks and I don’t want to be late.”

“Sure, but you owe me.”

“Thanks a million!”  Lily started to head for the lobby when Louis called out to her.

“Hey Lily, look!  It’s Walter Carson, the famous antiquity collector!  Marvin will fire us both if we don’t snag him for a quick interview.”

Lily groaned in frustration as she realized her coworker was probably right.  Stomping back over to the equipment case, she retrieved her microphone and followed Louis over to the illustrious collector.  

He was a heavy set man who rode around the party in a motorized wheelchair.  The girl guessed the man must have weighed at least 300 pounds, probably closer to 350.  He was wearing a crème colored suit and a matching fedora.  His short hair was dark brown along with his thick goatee, which had a trace of gray in it.

Walking up to the man, Lily extended her hand and introduced herself.  “Mr. Carson, my name is Lily Fischer of the Pearl City channel five news.  Would you mind if we got a quick interview with you?”

“Will it take long, dear?  I was actually on my way out the door.”  The man seemed to be impatient.

“Oh, it’ll only take about five minutes, tops.”  Lily was relieved that the man was in a hurry.  The quicker she could get the interview over with, the sooner she could get over to the east wing.

“Sure,” replied Walter.  “Do we need to move somewhere a little more private?”

“Nah, we can do it right here if that’s alright with you.”

“Splendid.  Well then, fire away.”

The reporter turned to her cameraman.  “Louis, you ready to roll?”

“Yup, go ahead.”

Looking at the camera, Lily introduced her guest and asked him a few questions.  After several minutes she concluded the interview and Louis turned off the camera.  “Okay, Lil.  I got it.  I’ll get this footage down to the station right away.”

“Here,” said Lily, tossing the microphone to her partner.  “Can you stick that back in the case?”

“Sure.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See ya!”  Lily turned back to the famous collector.  “Thank you so much for the interview Mr. Carson.  You probably just helped me score some brownie points with my producer.”

“It was no problem at all dear.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I really do have to be moving along.”

“Oh, Mr. Carson.  I had one more question I meant to ask you.  Being a collector, I’m sure you’ve read about all of the recent robberies involving rare antiquities.  You wouldn’t happen to have any information that I might be able to use for the story, would you?”

“Ah yes!  It is tragic that somebody would go as far as stealing from museums and collectors just to make a quick buck.  I wish I could help you, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about it.  Sorry.  You have a wonderful evening Miss Fischer.”

“You do the same.  Thanks again!”  Lily turned and headed for the east wing of museum, hoping that this was the night she finally exposed the fencing operation and catapulted herself to stardom.  Making her way back into the lobby, she quietly snuck past an elderly security guard who was napping beside the hallway that led to the east wing.  You’d think they would be a little more on their toes with all the recent burglaries the reporter thought to herself.  

Walking down the long hallway that led deeper into the museum towards the rare antiquities gallery, she realized that her high heels were making quite a racket.  If someone was going to perform a heist, they would surely hear her coming.  Reaching down, Lily unbuckled her blue heels and slipped them off.  Though the freezing marble floor of the museum tantalized her bare feet, she could now silently tiptoe down the corridor without the risk of alerting anyone.

A couple of minutes later, the reporter could see the entrance to the east wing.  As she crept closer to the large arched doorway, Lily realized that she was not alone.

“Vinny, get those crates out to the van now!  The party will be over in about 40 minutes.”  The whisper came from somewhere further inside the gallery, beyond the reporter’s line of sight.  

“What about the boss?” came another voice, a little louder than the first.

“He’s going to meet us back at the warehouse.  Now get moving!”

Lily dropped down to her hands and knees as she entered the east wing, trying to sneak closer to the source of the whispers.  Normally, the girl would have been hesitant to crawl along the nasty floor in her designer dress, but she had to get a closer look at what was going on in the next room.  As she crawled through the dark gallery, she noticed that several pieces of the art were missing from the exhibits.  Sneaking over to another doorway, she slowly peeked around the corner.  The reporter’s eyes grew wide as she saw a man dressed all in black carrying a wooden case towards an emergency exit in the back of the room.  Another man dressed in a tuxedo leaned up against the wall, apparently waiting for the man to return.

I knew it!  I’m going to go straight to lead anchor after I bring this story in!  However, the girl then realized that catching them here was not enough to tie them to the fencing operation.  She needed more evidence.  I’ll have to follow ‘em back to the warehouse they mentioned.  There, not only can I gather enough evidence to expose their operation, but I can also expose the leader!

Lily moved back away from the door and waited for the two men to make their next move.  She thought about calling her boss and telling him to get a news van ready to meet her at whatever warehouse she followed the criminals to.  But then the girl decided it might be better to wait and make sure her lead was substantial.  Especially since her boss had clearly ordered her not to pursue this story.

After about thirty minutes, she heard the voices start up again.  Lily crept closer to the doorway to eavesdrop on the two men.

“Alright Sonny, van’s all loaded up.  We’re all done here.”

“Beautiful!  I’ll relock the emergency exit behind you.  Wait for me in the back and I’ll be around in a few minutes.  Then we’ll take the van back to the warehouse.”

Lily then heard a door shut, followed by a loud click.  Peeking into the room again, she saw the man dressed in the tuxedo walking towards her.  Quickly she crawled away from the door and found a hiding place behind a large statue.  She heard the man’s footsteps grow louder as he entered the corridor.

Sticking her head out slowly, she watched the dark haired man as he quickly walked over towards the arched doorway leading out of the east wing.  Lily crawled out from behind the statue, still holding onto her heels.  Carefully, she climbed to her feet and followed the well dressed man as he made his way towards the lobby.  The reporter tried to remain at least 15 to 20 paces behind him, remaining close to the wall so she could hide quickly if he turned around.

Upon reaching the main lobby, Lily fully expected the criminal to head straight for the exit.  Surprisingly, the man instead snuck past the sleeping security guard and walked in the opposite direction, back towards the party.  Curiously, Lily followed him back into the banquet room, stopping briefly to place the heels back on her bare feet.  As she reentered the party, Lily kept her distance as she watched the man mingle with the other guests as if he had just returned from the men’s room.  

At first bewildered by the man’s actions, Lily suddenly realized what he was doing.  He must have come in through the main entrance dressed like he was attending the party!  After slipping away from the banquet hall undetected, he went to the east wing, let his partner in through the emergency exit and then the two of them snuck the artifacts out the back.  Pretty slick!  As Lily watched her target stop at the buffet she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Lily Fischer, how have you been?!”

The brunette recognized the voice from behind her before she even turned around.  “Caitlin, how are you?!”  Caitlin Bridges was a reporter from the channel 13 news, and a rival of Lily’s ever since the two were in school together.  “I see you still haven’t made anchor yet.”

“Just a matter of time,” replied the golden haired girl.  “I saw you filming earlier.  What are you still doing here?”

“Oh, just mingling around, getting to know the cities patrons a little better.”  Lily had no intention of telling Caitlin what she had stumbled onto.  This was her story.    Trying not to seem impatient, she casually looked over towards the buffet.  Lily’s stomach knotted up as she realized the dark haired man was no longer there.  She scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of him anywhere.  If she didn’t act fast, she would lose her lead and probably the biggest story of her young career.  Quickly she turned back to her nemesis.  “Well, I uh…have to meet an old friend across town.  I’ll catch you later!”

Not hanging around for Caitlin to say goodbye, she scurried towards the main lobby.  Lily scanned the room again, but there was no trace of the dark haired criminal.  The reporter scampered through the lobby and out into the cool night air.  As she descended the steps of the museum, she gasped.  Passing in front of her on the street was the criminal, riding in the passenger seat of a white van.  Slowing down, the vehicle rolled up to a red stoplight and waited for it to change.

Trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible, the girl crossed the street and quickly walked towards the parking lot right across from the museum.  Delving through her blue pocketbook, she yanked out her car keys and hopped in her green two-door coupe.  As she cranked the vehicle, Lily saw the stoplight turn green and the van take off down the city street.  Backing out of her parking space, she maneuvered her car around the lot and pulled out in front of traffic onto the road.  Horns cursed the girl as she punched the accelerator with her foot, but she didn’t care.  She was hot on the trail of the criminals.

The green car tailed the white van for almost 20 minutes down the busy city streets.  Finally the lead vehicle took a right turn down an abandoned alley.  Sensing this was where the hideout was located, Lily pulled up to the curb and watched the white vehicle roll down the narrow alleyway.  The van’s taillights lit up as it pulled to a halt.  The girl then saw the two men exit the automobile and walk through a back door into one of the buildings.

Lily teemed with excitement as she realized that this was the place.  Reaching into her glove compartment, she pulled out her camera.  Alright, if I can just get around to one of the windows and see what’s going on in there, I’ll make a call to Marvin and the police and I’ll bring this fencing operation to a screeching halt!  Leaving her phone lying in the passenger seat, she hopped out of the car and made her way down the dark alleyway.

The alley was littered with empty bottles and tattered newspapers.  Lily wished she had taken the time to change into the spare clothes she kept in the trunk of her car.  But if she wanted to catch the art thieves red-handed, the reporter didn’t have a moment to lose.  Walking next to the brick wall, she made her way towards the white van the two men had left parked in the alley.  She quietly crept past the door they had entered and walked to the corner of the building.  There were no windows for the girl to peek through on the back side of the warehouse.

Next to the building was a chain link fence standing about six feet tall.  Beyond the fence, Lily saw several windows that would give her a perfect vantage point to look inside the hideout.  Slinging her camera over her shoulder, she reached down and took off her heels once more.  Then reaching up, she slowly began to climb the fence.  

Being a gymnast in college, Lily was extremely nimble, making the climb a little easier for her.  However, it would have been a much quicker climb if she wasn’t wearing the cumbersome blue dress.  Reaching the top, Lily threw her first leg over, followed quickly by the second.  Now on the other side, she started to descend the barrier.  About half way down, she felt a little resistance from above.  She looked up and cursed as she realized her dress had gotten caught on the fence.  Using one to hold on, she moved her other hand up to try and loosen the caught fabric.  She tugged fiercely, but the dress was stuck tight.

Suddenly a loud crash came from somewhere down the alley, startling the reporter and causing her to lose her grip on the fence.  The girl went tumbling to the ground as her dress ripped right down the middle.  Luckily, the girl was able to catch herself before hitting her head on the pavement.  The reporter’s heart raced as she looked around, trying to see if the men inside had heard the commotion.  After a few seconds she sighed, relieved that her fall had not alerted the criminals of her presence.  

Reluctantly, she looked down at her outfit to assess the damage.  A huge portion of the blue fabric had been torn off the front of the dress.  As she looked up, she shook her head as she saw the missing portion still hanging from the fence.  Lovely!  I sure hope I don’t get caught by these fools looking like this!

Dusting herself off, she made her way over to one of the warehouse windows.  Peeking inside, a huge grin came over her face.  The girl had found what she had been looking for.  Grabbing her camera, which had miraculously survived the fall, she snapped a few pictures of the criminals inside with the stolen artifacts.  “Got ‘em!  Now it’s time to call in the cavalry.”

“I don’t think so!”

“Whammmmph!”  Suddenly Lily was grabbed from behind, causing her to drop the camera on the ground.  A cloth had been pressed against her face, cutting off her speech.

“That’s it, just breathe it in,” whispered the raspy voice from behind her.

Lily struggled furiously as a familiar sweet smell invaded her nostrils.  Slowly the girl began to lose her grip on reality.  “Mmmmmm…”  Her angry moans had turned into quiet whimpers.  Finally, the girl’s body fell limp into the stranger’s arms.

“Stupid girl!  Let’s go see what the boss wants to do with you.”  Picking up the motionless body, he threw the reporter over his shoulder and carried her into the warehouse.

Making his way through the dark hallway, the muscular henchman walked into the main office with the damsel still thrown over his shoulder.  “Boss, I found her snooping around outside.  What do you want to do?”

The overweight man sat in his wheelchair smiling as he recognized the girl.  “Oh, it’s one of the local reporters.  I actually met her tonight at the museum.  Tie her up.  When she comes to, we’ll give her the story of her life!”

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Present time

“Mr. Carson!  You’re the one who’s been fencing all the stolen artifacts?!”

“You’re very perceptive,” answered the heavy man, grinning as he reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a cigar.  Moving it up to his mouth, he bit off the end of the roll of tobacco with his yellow teeth.  Walking over to his boss, the massive bodyguard pulled a cigarette lighter out of his pocket and lit the cigar.  The collector took a deep drag then blew the smoke out of his nose, his eyes staring at the soaking wet reporter sitting in her tattered dress.

Suddenly Lily recognized what he was staring at.  Having her dress torn right down the middle combined with the fact that her legs were spread wide open being tied to the legs of the chair, the man had a perfect view of her black lace underwear.  “See something you like, perv?!”

“Yes I do.  Maybe you should be more careful when climbing over fences.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

“I apologize for Mr. Greene having to douse you earlier.  We had to wake you up somehow though.”

“That’s alright, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a bucket of water being poured over your head,” replied Lily sarcastically.  “Too bad I didn’t wear my white t-shirt, huh.  I could’ve really put on a show for you!”

“Cute,” remarked the handicapped man.  “Now, addressing your previous question, I can afford to call your bluff because you’ve stumbled upon our endeavor on a momentous occasion.  In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve completely cleaned out our warehouse.  As of tomorrow, we are moving our operation out to the west coast.  So if the police do show up, they’ve got no evidence.  In a few minutes, my men and I will be on our way to the meet over at warehouse seventeen.  We’ll fence the last of what was here, and then we’ll be on our way out of town.  And you…well you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.”

Lily’s confidence quickly turned into panic as she realized the man intended to kill her.  Changing her demeanor, she began to bargain with the two men.  “What?!  Now let’s not do anything drastic here.  You’ve only been guilty of selling stolen merchandise up until now.  But murder, that’s an entirely different story.  They’ll hunt you down like dogs if you kill me!”

“Honey, I’ve been in this business for quite some time,” replied the fat crook, stroking his dark goatee.  “Do you think you’re the first reporter to interfere with our plans?”

“Please!” cried Lily, tears starting to form in her eyes.  “Just…just leave me tied up here and by the time someone finds me, you’ll be long gone!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Fischer, but you’ve already heard too much.”  Reaching down to the joystick on his wheelchair, Carson spun around and started towards the door as his head henchman walked over to a table beside of Lily.  “I’m afraid that I must be on my way to oversee my final sale.  It was nice to have known you.  Mr. Greene will see that you are taken care of…permanently!”  The fat collector unleashed a wicked laugh as he rolled out of sight.

“Mr. Carson!” cried Lily, desperate to convince the man to spare her life.  “Please!  I won’t tell anyone.  Just let me go and I’ll forget the whole thing!”  Seeing that the fencer’s decision was nonnegotiable, she started screaming hoping someone would hear her.  “HEEELLLPP!  SOMEBODY HELLPPP MEEE!  HEELPMMMMmmph!”

While calling for help, Lily had failed to notice the henchman walk behind her.  The man had clamped a white terry cloth over her nose and mouth, muffling her cries for help.  The reporter immediately recognized the sweet smell again.  “Hmmmpph!”  Lily struggled mightily against her bonds, but they held her arms and legs securely to the chair.  Slowly, her eyes began to roll up into the back of her head as sleep overcame her.  Finally she passed out, her body falling limp in the wooden chair.

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“Mmmm…”  The girl groaned as she slowly awoke from her chloroform induced slumber.  Her head ached as she slowly opened her eyes.  For some reason both her arms and her legs burned.  Then, as she regained her bearings, Lily realized why.  She had been hogtied tightly in the back of a van.  The reporter assumed it was the white one she had followed to the warehouse.  Both her ankles and wrists had been bound to each other with another length of rope drawn between the two coils locking the girl’s bare feet near her butt.

“Hmmmpph!”  Lily had not realized until she tried to scream that she had been gagged as well.  A red handkerchief had been pulled tightly in between her teeth.  She could also feel another rag that had been stuffed behind it to muffle her cries even further.  No one would be able to hear her from outside the van.  The cargo hold was separated from the driving quarters and there were no windows in the sides or back of the vehicle, so the girl had no idea where she was.

Lily wondered why the crooks had left her tied up.  Before she had been chloroformed, Carson had said they were going to kill her.  Is there a bomb planted somewhere on the van?  Are they planning to set the van on fire?  The reporter’s mind filled itself with horrific images of what might happen to her.  

Suddenly, the van began to move.  Something was wrong though.  The engine’s not running!  The girl then heard a splash as she went sliding on the metallic floor of the van towards the front.

What the heck’s going on!  As Lily continued to move her hands around blindly looking for a knot to free herself, she felt a cool sensation on her leg.  Turning to look behind her, the hogtied girl gasped through her gag.  Water had begun to seep through the side door of the vehicle.  The van is sinking!

“Hmmmph!”  Lily started to panic as the cold water began to wet the tattered blue dress she was still wearing.  She desperately moved her numb fingers behind her, searching for some way to free herself before she was completely submersed.

Straining, the nimble girl moved her bound ankles closer to her fingertips.  After a few seconds, she was finally able to feel one of the knots her captor had tied.  Desperately, she began to pick at the rope, trying to at least free herself from the hogtied position.  As she felt the knot getting looser, she heard the sound of running water grow louder from behind her.  Spinning her head around, she shrieked in panic as she saw even more water pouring in from the rear doors.  Additionally, the front of the van was starting to tilt forwards, causing all of the water to fill up at the front end of the cargo hold where the hogtied damsel was lying.

Lily refocused her attention on the knot which was nearly undone.  Finally, she felt the rope holding her feet go slack, allowing her knees to unflex and return her lower body to a more relaxed position.  Though relieved she had successfully undone her hogtie, she tried to stay focused.  I’m not out of the woods yet!

Pulling her knees up to her chest, the reporter strained again as she pulled her bound wrists under her feet and in front of her body.  With more control of her hands, the girl reached down to her ankles and began to untie her bare feet.  The floor of the van was virtually at a 90 degree angle, Lily standing on the partition that separated the back of the van from the driving quarters.  The water was almost up to her knees when she finished untying her feet and was rising even faster than before.

Lily stood back up and reached her hands to her face to remove the gag.  Pulling the damp red handkerchief cinched tightly between her teeth over her chin, she spit out the rag that had been stuffed deeply in her mouth.  Not wasting a moment’s time, the resourceful reporter used her teeth to undo the knot at her wrists.  Less than a minute later, she slid the last coil of rope off her body.  The girl was untied now, but was still trapped in the sinking van.

Lily tried to remain calm as the water rose to her waist.  Okay, I read somewhere that if you’re trapped in a sinking car, you wait for the vehicle to become completely submerged before trying to exit.  Something about allowing the pressures to equalize.  Trying to control her breathing, she waited for the water to finish filling the back of the van.  As her head got closer and closer to the rear doors she started taking deep breaths.  Alright, this is it!  Taking one final breath, the water rose over her nose and submersed the girl’s entire body.

Reaching for the handle, she tried to force open the vans rear doors.  However, neither of them would budge.  Lily panicked.  No!  It can’t end like this!  Open!  The girl continued to jiggle the handle and began pounding on the doors.  Open!

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“Too bad, she was kinda cute.”  The henchman spoke to himself as he watched the bubbles rising to the surface of the water where van had just disappeared.  Mr. Greene was certain that there was no way the nosey reporter would escape the van, but just to be certain he waited a couple of minutes to ensure the girl had been taken care of permanently as per his boss’ orders.  Looking down at his watch, he finally walked over to the passenger door of a gray sedan sitting nearby.  

“Alright, let’s get over to the warehouse.  Mr. Carson wants to go over a few last minute details before the meet.”  The car drove away from the desolate docks.  No one had seen them dump the white van into the frigid river.  No one would find the remains of the van or the body inside for days, weeks even.  A boat horn wailed in the distance as ferries and ships moved along the water, ushering their cargo through the dark night.

“Phhuuuuugh!”  The brunette gasped for air as the top half of her body popped out of the water.  She looked around, trying to figure out where she was.  Instantly recognizing the port, Lily realized she was only a couple of blocks from where she had been originally taken captive.  “I’ve gotta get to my car!”

Swimming to the shore, she pulled herself out of the river, still trying to catch her breath.  Looking down at the shambles of what was formerly her best dress she shook her head.  “This is the last time I go snooping around this overdressed!”

The girl jogged up the sidewalk, being careful not to step on any sharp debris that could hurt her bare feet.  As she reached her car, she got down on her knees and pulled out the hidden keys from underneath the automobile.  Opening the trunk, she quickly changed into a black t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans.  After she finished tying her navy converse shoes, Lily grabbed her phone out of the passenger seat and dialed her boss’ number as she started down the sidewalk.  The girl held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she pulled her wet hair into a ponytail.

“Lily, you better have a darn good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night!”

“Marvin, just shut up and listen.  I need you to send a news van and the cops to warehouse seventeen down at the Pearl City port right now!”

“Lily, what in the world are you talking about?!”

“Marvin, there’s no time to explain, just do what I told you!”  Lily hung up the phone as she sprinted down the deserted street.  According to Carson, the meet was only a few blocks away from where she was.

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“Alright, Mr. Greene.  Is everything prepared for the meet?”

“Yes sir.  The truck’s loaded up and the chopper’s ready to go as soon as the meet is over.”

“What about the girl?”

“On her way to the bottom of the river.”

“Marvelous!  Shame, though.  She had quite an exquisite body and such a lovely face.  We could’ve taken her with us or at the very least thrown her into the truck with the merchandise to sweeten the deal.”  Carson laughed as his wheel chair rolled along the warehouse floor.

“That pig!” whispered Lily under her breath.  The girl had successfully infiltrated the warehouse and was eavesdropping on the boss and his henchman’s conversation.  Sneaking past the three armed sentries outside had been easy, allowing her to find a good hiding spot inside until the cavalry arrived.  As the reporter peeked over the crates she was using as cover to get a closer look, she felt something cold press against the back of her neck.

“Are you lost darlin’?  Let me see those hands.”

Lily sighed as she slowly raised her hands, realizing she had been caught again.  She had gotten careless while spying on the two men.

“That’s a good girl.  Now stand up and march over towards Mr. Carson.  And don’t try anything funny.”

“Oh, you mean like this?!”  As Lily stood up, she slammed her foot down on the armed guard’s toes.  Before he could react, Lily spun around and threw her right knee into the man’s groin, causing him to yell in pain as he dropped his weapon.  Realizing she had to get out of there quickly, she ran along the wall of the warehouse towards a garage door that was halfway open.

As she passed by a hallway, a leg came out of nowhere tripping the reporter, causing her to crash onto the concrete floor.  Dazed, Lily tried to get back to her feet when the guard that had tripped her smashed the butt of his rifle against the back of her head.  Lily blacked out.

As the guard stood over the girl’s unconscious body, the overweight fencer rolled up to the two in his wheelchair.  Taking a long pull from his cigar, he shook his head.  “Some people never learn.”

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As Lily slowly came to, she grimaced as her head pounded.  Looking around, she realized that she had once again been hogtied.  However, this time instead of being in the back of a small van, she was on the floor of a freight container.  Sitting in the middle aisle, she was flanked on both sides by priceless artifacts that had been stolen over the past few weeks.  Looking back in front of her, she realized she wasn’t alone.

“Well, well, well.  We’ve got to stop meeting like this Miss Fischer.”

“Mmmmmppph!”  Lily screamed into a cloth that had once again been stuffed in her mouth.  This time it was held in place by duct tape that had been wrapped around her head several times.

“Since you didn’t seem to want to spend the rest of your days at the bottom of the river, I decided you might have more fun as a slave.  Luckily for me, the buyer I’m dealing with is also a slave trader from the middle east, so you’ll make quite a nice addition to the rest of the merchandise I’m selling him.”

“Grrrmmmph!”  Lily growled through her gag as she rolled on the freight car floor, trying to get loose.

“Don’t bother.  Mr. Greene made sure that you were a little more secure than last time.  You won’t get out of that hogtie until your new owner decides he’s ready for you to get out!”

The girl knew he was right.  Not only had her wrists and ankles been tied together even tighter than before, additional ropes had been added to her chest, elbows and thighs.  Reaching around, she couldn’t locate any of the knots that held her tightly bound.

“Mr. Carson, they’re here.”

“Thank you Mr. Greene.  Well, it appears your new master has arrived.  Once again, it was a pleasure knowing you!”

“Nmmmmpph!”  Lily let out one final plea as the container doors closed, leaving her in complete darkness.  She heard the clanking of the doors locking her in the freight car with the stolen artifacts.  The girl started to realize that she may never see Pearl City again.  The next time the container doors opened, she would probably be in the middle of some desert where she would spend the rest of her life in slavery.

Suddenly, the girl heard a flurry of loud noises from outside the container.  Her eyes grew wide as she recognized the sounds.  Gunshots!  Lily tried to remain as still as possible, listening to the fracas that was taking place outside.  She heard even more gunshots as well as voices shouting, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

After a couple of minutes, the gunshots ceased.  Lily heard a clanking noise as the container doors were slowly opened.  As the light poured in she had to squint until her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting.  When her vision was restored she sighed deeply at the sight of men dressed in riot gear.  The police!  Lily then saw her boss being escorted by one of the officers.

“Lily, are you okay!” Marvin shouted as he climbed into the back of the freight car.  Crouching down at Lily’s face, he pulled the duct tape off from around the reporter’s head.  As the last strand of tape was finally removed, the girl spit out the soaked handkerchief that had been stuffed in her mouth.  “Lily, what on earth happened?!”

Lily grinned as she looked up at her boss.  “I guess I got caught on the wrong side of the fence!”