With reluctance, Will began his story:
"This was easy, too easy. I had the case, I had gotten out clean. I was calmly walking across the parking lot. No alarms, no shouts, but I wasn't going to let myself relax until I was gone. Brandt told me that if I was as good as I usually was, I would just walk out with the case and be gone long before anyone noticed.
I rounded a curve and was surprised by 3 women, two were dressed in black pants suits, and possibly Kevlar vests, the other was in a shiny, sleek dark grey skirt and jacket covering a black shirt that was opened far enough to reveal the most beautiful breasts I had ever seen.
And they all had guns. I didn't have time to get to mine. I started to turn and back up when I noticed 3 more women in black suits walking a few scant yards behind me. They had guns too. The two behind me closed effectively surrounding me. There wasn't any cover I could get to quickly enough. Very smoothly and efficiently I was caught. I put the case down and raised my hands.
The five soldiers formed a rough circle, close enough for guns, not close enough for a fight. The leader slinked towards me in a most sensual fashion.
"You have something that doesn't belong to you, Mr. Turner."
"So I suppose I can just give you the case and walk away then."
She smiled a warm smile that appeared to be truly genuine. "Well, no, Mr. Turner, we do have to talk for a while before we discuss where you will be spending the next part of your life."
"So is this where you try to handcuff me, and I fight my way to a pistol? I have no reason to think I'll live much longer than today, and the rest of the day doesn't sound pleasant if there's to be questioning and torture and the like."
"On the contrary, Mr. Turner, if you DO cooperate, the rest of the day, as well as beyond could be very pleasant. People like you are in demand, we simply have to find the correct way to motivate you to our needs."
She tossed a half-face respirator at me. It had three clear containers on the outside one full of a pink liquid, one with a opalescent purple liquid and one with a white liquid.
"Put it on, then pull the strap until it snaps off. Please don't resist at this point. My plan 'B' is to just kill you and dispose of the body. Looking at you, I think that would be a waste. This encounter was really quite costly."
I figured whatever was going to happen would be less permanent than taking a bullet and I would still be alive to try to escape, so I put on the mask. There was something slick all the way around the rubber seal, and as I started to adjust it over my head, I felt that it was getting sticky. By the time I had the strap over my head, the rubber and the glue had completely sealed to my face. I pulled the strap, which got very snug, then the tail snapped off in my hand, leaving it perfectly tight around my head.
"I want to know what you're going to do." My voice was being amplified electronically by the mask. "I can still stand here and take a bullet. Where are you taking me?"
She looked at me disapprovingly and pressed an icon on her phone and all of the air going in and out of the mask stopped. I started to panic and pull at the mask. It wasn't going to move, it was glued to my skin without a gap anywhere. She pressed another icon and air rushed in. She looked at me and still said nothing, motioning behind me towards the building.
I looked around for any kind of an opening. There had to be a way to get out of this. She turned off the air again without a word. I struggled at the mask again, and in only a short time, which actually felt like it had been forever, spots were appearing in my vision.
I was passing out quickly. My knees buckled and I was on my hands and knees before she opened the valve again. My sucked in all the air I could get. I was raging inside, and could do nothing about it. I was well and truly caught.
I stood up, straightened clothes, picked up the case and held it out to her. She took it gently. She motioned again with her hand. I gently handed her my pistol. I was staring into her face, anger, fear and frustration evident even with the mask on.
"Don't look at my face, Mr. Turner, you've lost the privilege. I thought you would be smarter, and perhaps more civil. Make eye contact again without my permission, and I'll suffocate you standing here. And don't speak again until spoken to, then I expect you to be loquacious. Do you understand?"
I nodded and looked down past her silk jacket and skirt, fixing my eyes at her feet. We walked to a large black panel van. She opened the back door and motioned me inside. There was an ominous black plastic tarp on the floor of the van, perfect for a messy cleanup. There were no seats, so I just sat in the middle and kept looking at her feet.
"I suggest you lie down or lean against the wall. You're going to take a nap." She pressed another button. I saw the white liquid begin to bubble fiercely and a thick flowery vapor filled the mask. I tried not to breathe, but the mask's seal was just making the gas fill up and pressurize the mask. I could feel it seep down my nostrils and eventually I took a breath. The world slowed down, I felt a warm rush and a strange peacefulness and everything began to move far away. I took another breath and fell over on the tarp on my side. That was the last thing I remembered.
I woke up in what looked like a darkened surgical room. I was naked except for strategically placed bands holding me in place. The mask was still sealed to my face and I was comfortably strapped into a chair that separated my legs like a 'y'. Obscenely displaying my crotch in the cool, dark air. A strap was around my forehead keeping my head against the padded head rest and more leather straps secured my arms above the elbow and at the wrist.
"You really seemed to love being gassed to sleep, Will. You got a hard on before you lost consciousness. My girls tried for quite a while to wake you, but you just wouldn't wake up. Maybe you needed a rest. Maybe you just like being gassed and tied up." She gently played with my hair as she spoke.
"Please," I said. "Just ask me what you want to know. Nothing I stole is worth being tortured. I'm not going to fight you. If you're going to kill me, please let's just get this over with. There's no reason to drag this out."
"Will, you're more savvy than this. You know what happened. Work it out. Conners SOLD you to me."
Brandt Conners, my previous employer, had set me up. I knew too much and must be a liability. He must think this woman had some method of rendering me harmless to him. I had been loyal to him. I promised myself if I got out of here alive, he wouldn't remain alive for very long.
"Sold me to you?" My voice sounding weirdly hollow through the amplifier. "How do you expect that to work? I'm not going to cooperate, I'm not collateral. I have no information, nothing to trade, so where does that leave me?"
"I know all about you, Will. What you are capable of, what you are afraid of, where you can be of use to me. The mind is a strange thing, Will. I bought you myself as a PERSONAL investment. You are going to work for me, or more accurately, you are going to BELONG to me, and what's more, you are going to love it. You will beg me for the privilege of my attention."
"This drug is something I am really proud of. I could probably get everything I want from you with only this. It's the most potent aphrodisiac in existence."
