42-year-old country singer Dolly Donovan was in a bind - literally. Tied to a wooden chair in her own kitchen at her remote Texas ranch, the blonde country music star was seething with anger. She'd been shooting the video for her latest single, which involved her and some identically-dressed lookalikes dancing at a party, with Dolly wearing a priceless diamond necklace. The necklace was real - on loan from a high-end jewelry company, who'd sent a security guard to supervise the handling of the priceless item. The shoot had gone well, and all the dancers and film crew had gone - or so Dolly had thought. But a few minutes later, one of the dancers and her manager had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, having hidden somewhere in the house as everyone else left. The man had shot the security guard in the legs and locked him in a back room, before relieving Dolly of the necklace and tying her to the chair, hard and tight, her arms behind her back.
29-year old Daisy Smith was looking pleased with herself. Her boyfriend's plan had worked perfectly, and the arrogant, lazy bottle blonde was looking ahead to a life of luxury and leisure in Mexico. It was a short drive to the border, and Miguel had already departed. The plan was that he'd make sure the corrupt border guard he'd bribed was in place, then call Daisy, who'd bring the necklace. They'd cross the border together, using the money from the sale of the necklace to procure new identities and disappear forever, living as millionaires. Daisy was a dancer and stripper with a long criminal record, only recently paroled from prison for drug and prostitution offenses. The parole board had told her that this was her last chance, and that if she committed any more felonies, she'd be looking at a life sentence. But she was dumb and greedy, and thought Miguel's plan was her ticket out of her situation. She'd taunted Dolly, and had slapped her face a couple of times as the country singer was tied to the chair.
"You spoiled rich bitch," Daisy hissed. "Well, I guess I'm a millionaire now."
"Unlike you, I work damned hard for my money," Dolly replied. "Why, if I wasn't tied up, I'd kick your ass."
Daisy took her small automatic pistol out of her purse and waved it menacingly in Dolly's face.
"I'd like to see you try, bitch."
At that moment Miguel called and told Daisy that their man was in place, and that she should drive the short trip to the border so they could all cross together.
"I guess it's goodbye, honey," Daisy sneered. "I'll be safely over the border before anyone finds you and raises the alarm."
She left through the door and walked into the yard, setting out across the grass for her car, which had been left by the back gate.
Dolly thought quickly. She was damned if these crooks were going to get away with this. The feisty and resourceful blonde singer knew Miguel had tied her expertly and tight, but she had an idea. The old wooden chair she was tied to was quite flimsy, so she started rocking backwards and forwards, until the chair was lurching from side to side, before tipping over, and breaking into several pieces. This enabled Dolly to get free of the smashed chair, and crawl across the floor to a kitchen drawer, pulling it open so that the contents spilled onto the floor. She managed to pick up a serrated knife, and then used it to saw away at the ropes, which finally fell away.
Rubbing her sore wrists, she quickly found her phone and called the police, telling them to intercept Miguel and the corrupt border guard at the remote crossing a few minutes away from the ranch, and telling them to come to the ranch too, to arrest Daisy. The police quickly acknowledged the call, but said that because of a major incident that had tied up all available units, it would be at least half an hour before they could get anyone to respond. Dolly hung up and made up her mind. Even if Miguel got away, she was determined to stop Daisy. And without the necklace, Miguel would have no leverage at the border with his corrupt guard, and no means of support even if he did somehow get across into Mexico.
Daisy was walking briskly across the short grass. It was a hot, humid day and she was sticky with perspiration already. But her car was only a few minutes away and she felt pleased with herself at having gotten away with a fortune. She was dressed as she, Dolly and the other dancers had been for the video, in typical country girl clothes: light blue denim short shorts that showed off her long legs, a flimsy, low-cut sleeveless cotton top, and white open-toed high-heeled mules. Suddenly, something - maybe a faint sound - made her look behind her, and to her horror, she saw that Dolly had somehow got loose, and was running after her across the grass.
Panicking, Daisy ran too - not an easy task in the 4" high-heeled mules.
Now Daisy had seen her, and she'd lost the possibility of surprising her, Dolly had no reason to keep silent.