The Executive: or, How to Break a Slave in Seven Days
* * *
MONDAY.
"Jesus Christ, lady," he choked. "Is that thing real?"
I blatted the stun gun just under his nose. He recoiled, scattering papers across his desk.
"Look, this is a business. You can't just come in here and--"
"Kidnap you? Why yes, yes I can. In fact, you've been asking for it for months, haven't you,
slave-boy?"
This brought him up short. Birds twittered outside his office.
"Oh, yes," I assured him, "I know all about your little online persona. It wasn't much work to track you down. Don't complain. I'm giving you what you want."
"That was," he said weakly, "that was just a joke. I didn't really mean it. Look, I like to complain about my workload--"
"Yes, you have the Baxter meeting in twenty minutes. Better start moving. Come with me, little man."
"How did you -- no. No! I'm not going anywhere." He grabbed for the phone. An elbow in the nose dissuaded him.
"Jesus!" he yowled, clutching at the gush of blood. As he drew a great breath to scream for help, I landed a knee to his balls. He folded and collapsed with a bleat, and I was on him, jamming the stun gun to his gut.
As the electricity ripped through him, he convulsed, useless and unable to fight back. He whined like an injured animal on the plush carpet.
"I really need to teach you to be less blasphemous. But we'll get to that. Yes, yes, I'll stop. I wouldn't want you to wet yourself. It's such a mess to deal with." I leaned in close to his face, whispering, "This is the lowest setting, you see. Imagine what I can do with this little toy if I turn it up and aim at your heart, hm? Nighty night, white collar boy. You
are
going to cooperate with me, aren't you?"
He whimpered, shaking and glazed.
"That's a good boy. Come with mama."
I hauled him to his feet, where he continued to shudder like a fish hung to dry. I held him while his legs tried to remember how to stand.
"Now, we're going to walk down the hall arm in arm all civilized like, and you're going to act as if nothing's amiss. We're going out to a nice business lunch, that's all. Repeat after me, busin--"
He groaned, awkwardly trying to shake me off. I pointed the gun at his temple. He froze, his eyes nearly cranking out of their sockets.
"Now, now. Remember those pictures you took last week? Oh yes.
Those
pictures. I have them right here. I'm sure you don't want H.R. to see them. Aw, don't look like that. Would I hurt you? Here, I'll even clean you up, see? Much better. Now, where were we going...?"
"I, I d--"
"Lunch. Llll..."
"Lunch," he panted.
"Good boy."
He swallowed, wild eyed. About thirty seconds left before he got his wits back, I estimated. I steered him to the office door. The stun gun pressed insistently into his hip through his coat pocket.
This next bit was always the most thrilling, strolling through Corporate with the freefalling sensation of adrenaline pumping, waiting for something to go wrong, ready to talk my way out or sprint to a predetermined exit...
...but the hall was empty. Well, good.
No one was in the parking lot except for a landscaper blowing some leaves. My captive twitched, fixating on him.
"Pictures," I reminded him.
"Screw your pictures!" he yelled, shoving me away.
The gun zapped empty air, and the ground slammed into me. As I scrambled to my feet, I saw him gesticulating wildly to the man with the leaf blower. Drat. Well, at least there were no security cameras on this side of the building. I darted away.
"Where did she go?"
Dashing footsteps. "I think I saw--
oomph!
"
Prada oxfords scraped across the asphalt.
I popped the van doors.
"
Discreetly,
I said," I frowned.
"Sorry, SeΓ±ora."
"That's good, right there. Fine." I hopped in after the body. "Just follow us to the turnpike. I'm good after that. See you Thursday, Pedro."
"Yes, Ma'am." The doors slammed.
I wrapped my captive's arms first with duct tape -- a very unwieldy way to fight, but this hunk could probably manage it -- and strapped them to his belt. I had just cinched down his second ankle when he stirred.
"Oh... God..."
"Tsk. No more cursing or I'll give you something to curse about."
"My head..." he moaned. "What the..."
"I don't like your tone."
"
You
don't li
mmmph!
"
"This was on your list of fetishes, wasn't it, dear? You never did say
which
kind of gags you like...."
The reality of his situation sunk in as he pulled short against the bonds. His eyes grew huge over the ball gag and he thrashed, screeching at the top of his lungs.
I popped up to the driver's seat, cranking the ignition and my stereo. "Death metal. Nice, huh? Sing along, kiddo." More screeching. "Hey, you're pretty good..."
I climbed back for one last check of his bonds. He flopped wildly, straining to break free. I added a few more rope wraps for good measure, until he was simply straining in place. Excellent. He'd exhaust himself before we even got to Route 70.
"Do you get carsick, dear? Hm? I'll take that as a no. Duct tape, I've found, can loosen if you sweat enough, but medical tape! Medical tape holds a blindfold on nicely. There we are. Ready? I'll take that as a yes." I patted him and heaved to my feet.
I demurely obeyed the speed limit all the way to the warehouse.
* * *
I shut off the engine, listening to the ticking as it cooled, distant highway drone, birdsong, and my captive's raw breathing. He lay still, conserving his energy. He'd managed to work one foot's carabiner free of its hard point, but since his legs were lashed together, it did him little good.
"Whu eye mmm seh..."
"Hm?" I hummed absently, unhitching his other ankle.
"Whu heyemm esseh?"
"Ah. It's," I checked my watch, "one oh five."
A whimper.
"Yes, you're late for your meeting, poor boy. It's okay, I'm sure the other partners will handle it."
A pained noise.
"Now, I'm sure the
other
reason you're asking is to give the police a search radius, hm? Except that we're not to our destination yet, oh no. I'm simply transferring you to my other vehicle. You'll like it. Very spacious. In fact, you'd better like it, because you'll live there for... oh, a few days, at least...."
I tugged him out the back doors, carefully balancing him on his feet. He would be able to waddle forward if he tried, but not much else.
He threw himself to the ground, kicking blindly.