He sat in his office going over the dossiers of the candidates. It was his job this month to pick the "winner". There were twenty-seven of them in all, but he kept coming back to this one. Vice-president of loans at the largest bank in the state. She was very pretty, thirty-two years old, blonde, five-five and 118 pounds. Married with no children. She lived in an upscale neighborhood in town. What made this one special was that she was a true ball-buster, arrogant and aloof. She had flatly turned down one of the members for a business loan recently and really shot him down, practically smirking as she did it. So much better than everyone else and she lost no time in telling everyone. Yes, she was definitely the one.
The dossier held everything on her since the day she was born. A complete history including the gossip, it ran into the hundreds of pages. The real dirt was that they had discovered her "sideline". She had been diverting funds from the banks more wealthy clients into an offshore account she had set up. Not a lot of money from any one client, but enough so she could retire at any time, or go to jail for twenty years.
He set the other dossiers aside for another day. This was their winner for this month.
*
Amanda sat behind her desk, a wicked smile played across her lips. It had been a particularly pleasing day for her. One more big-wig put squarely in his place. The man had practically begged her for the loan, saying he was going to lose everything if it didn't go through. The warmth inside her watching his face as she dramatically stamped "disapproved" on his application. He had crumbled right before her. Ahh, the pleasure of it all!
She pressed the intercom button for her secretary, "Jenny!" she shrilled, "Get me some coffee."
Mere seconds later, a frazzled young woman scurried into the room with a fresh cup of coffee. It still wasn't good enough for Amanda. "Can't you be any faster? Never mind, put it down and get out!" Jenny hurried from the room. At least she wouldn't have to stay to listen to her boss gloating over her most recent emasculation.
A half-hour later, Amanda closed her office door and locked it. She strutted past Jenny's desk and headed for the elevators without a word to Jenny. It was noon precisely. Jenny knew Amanda would be gone for at least three hours.
When the elevator doors closed and took her hated boss away, she reached into her purse for the disposable cell phone the man had given her. She hit "redial" and waited. After only one ring, a man answered. "Noon." was all Jenny said. She hung up the phone and replaced it in her purse. She would do as instructed and dispose of it on the way to lunch alter. The $5,000 she had been paid would come in handy with her tight budget. She removed a trashy romance novel and turned to her bookmark. At least three hours of peace and quiet.
Amanda's heels made a sharp clacking sound as she strutted across the concrete of the underground parking garage. There was her pride and joy, a new Mercedes parked in her reserved parking space. She frowned as she got nearer. What was that ugly van doing parked so close to her car? She would have a close fit getting to her door. She made a mental note to give security a thorough reaming out over this when she got back from lunch.
Turning sideway, she slid between the vehicles and reached for her door handle. Suddenly, the door to the van slid open behind her and a sack, some sort of burlap material she guessed, was thrown over her head and hands grabbed her, pulling her backwards into the van. She opened her mouth to scream but they had been ready for that. A foul smelling cloth was stuffed into her mouth along with the burlap, preventing any sound. She tried to struggle but they trussed her up like a rodeo calf. A liquid was poured over the sack covering her head. Her mind swirled and she recognized the smell of ether as she lost consciousness.
She was cold. It was the first sensation that returned. Slowly, her mind came back to life. She was no longer blindfolded so she opened her eyes. Pitch black. She could see nothing. She was trussed up in a sitting position on a hard metal chair. At least they hadn't removed her clothes.
Suddenly, with a loud slam, bright lights were turned on to illuminated her, so bright, she had to close her eyes, a sharp pain piercing her head. Gradually, her eyes adjusted so she could open them and take in her surroundings. She was tied to a chair on a raised metal platform. It was circular and had raised edges. There was a drain grate in the middle. It was at least twenty feet in diameter. The lights forbad her from seeing anything beyond the edge of the platform. Despite the cold, she began to sweat.
A figure appeared just at the edge of the lights. She squinted to try to make out details but all she saw was a tall figure dressed in a long flowing black robe. The face was obscured by a black mask, it looked to be leather but she really couldn't tell.
He held out a paper in front of him to read. His hands were white, so he was a Caucasian. These were important details to her so she could tell them to the police. She would revel in these sons of bitches burning in prison.
His voice was calm, "Amanda Pierce, you have been found guilty by a jury of your peers of arrogance and disdain for your fellow man. You will be punished according to our charter." He disappeared back into the darkness beyond the lights.
"You are not my peers. You are nowhere near equal to me!" She sneered.
Another man, dressed as the first, stepped forward. He, too, held a sheaf of papers. He began reading from them. Numbers. Long strings of numbers. She thought something was familiar about them. Her brow wrinkled in thought. Like a flash, it struck her. Her accounts! Her Cayman accounts! All her money! They knew! But how? Now, she really began to sweat.
The man finished reading and returned to the darkness. They knew about all the accounts. They hadn't missed a one. She started to shiver.
Still another figure appeared. She waited for him to speak but he remained silent. He just stared at her. Time edged by slowly. She began to shiver ever so slightly.
Finally, he spoke. "Amanda," he said in a soft voice, "You now have a choice to make."
"What? What choice?" she stammered.
A long pause, then finally, "You can return to your life as you knew it, squashing the little people and draining the wealthy of their money until you make off to your island hideaway, or..."
