Tina's Story
Tina started walking home from walk, noting dismally that it had started to rain. Her car had broken down only yesterday, so it was Shank's pony for her until she could afford another one.
"At least I've got a long weekend," she thought gratefully. Tina had spoken to her boss and tacked an extra two days leave onto a weekend, giving her four straight days off work, but had had to work late tonight to get her work finished before her break.
Not that she had any plans for her time off. Tina had no family nearby, and being new to the area not many friends either. She hoped to join a few clubs and meet people that way as soon as she found her feet. There was one person at work she liked, well, fancied really -- he was tall and dark, just the type she liked. Eric. Maybe she should ask him what clubs he frequented, just for a recommendation of course, she mused as she strode briskly along.
Tina was not paying attention to her surroundings. If she had, she'd have noticed a large black van driving along slowly behind her. She was lost in her own world, busy thinking of things she could do to make herself at home in this city.
The van paced her for a while longer.
"Get a move on, Decker," said the man in the passenger seat of the van. "Don't dawdle, you'll lose her if she crosses the street." The driver glanced at him.
"Take it easy, Brody, I'm not getting too close before we're ready, and we need another few hundred yards before we grab her," Decker pointed out. He called to the two men in the back of the van, "Are you guys ready back there?"
"Yep."
"Ready," came the replies from the back. Mason and Callum could not see what was going on, and had to wait for instructions from the front, as the van had no windows. The van was equipped with rope, plastic ties and a hood, as well as some chloroform in a bottle in case that became necessary. It never had so far. The team of four men had abducted fourteen women in the past year, and hadn't needed to drug any of them.
They watched Tina walking along the side of the road, head up, with a confident demeanour. She did not look like a victim. But that's what she was about to become.
"Damn, she's hot," breathed Decker as Tina neatly jumped a puddle on the wet pavement.
"Hmmm," agreed Brody with relish.
Tina was around 5' 6", with a curvy body which she obviously kept fit and toned. Her auburn hair was long, but currently held back into a ponytail. She'd changed into her trainers to walk home, and as she was wearing her plain office trousers and sweater, she couldn't really be accused of calling attention to her body, but the team had been watching her for two weeks now, and had seen her looking much more alluring than she currently was. The fact that she was on foot was no accident either -- the team had disabled Tina's car so she was forced to walk home.
Decker reached the place he'd planned the snatch and checked no one was around. The rain had helped them; there were few people out and no one within view.
"Ok guys, get set, coming alongside in thirty seconds," called Decker to the men in the back of the van. Mason got the hood ready, and Callum stood ready by the door to yank it open and pull Tina inside. She wouldn't have a chance against the two big men, but just in case they had the cable tie and anaesthetic ready.
Tina was humming along to the music on her mp3. She barely heard the van pull up alongside. She finally caught sight of it just as the door opened, and she jumped, startled.
Callum leaped out of the van, picked Tina up bodily and practically threw her in the van, where Mason caught her, jammed the hood over her head and pinned her arms behind her in an instant, fastening the cable tie round her wrists efficiently.
The van accelerated away; the whole incident had taken under ten seconds and, as usual, no one had seen a thing.
Tina was so shocked when Callum grabbed her that she didn't even scream at first, but when she felt the van rocketing away and realised what was happening, she started screaming and couldn't stop. Her heart was hammering out of her chest, and she was incapable of drawing breath. She felt faint, and could not believe what was happening to her. She struggled and kicked out, but the arms that were holding her tightly were strong and competent. Tears were streaming down Tina's face and her muffled screams were morphing into gasping sobs. Then she heard a voice talking to her.
"Easy now, Tina. Don't worry, you're going to be ok, just relax, we're not going to hurt you."
The craziness of these words almost had Tina screaming again. She swallowed it down hard.
"What are you doing, please, let me go, I've got nothing you could want, please!" Tina sobbed out, straining against the cable tie on her wrist. The ties were making her feel so claustrophobic she started panicking, thrashing around against the arms holding her.
"Stop it, Tina, you're going to hurt yourself," ordered another voice from the front of the van. "Calm down, stop struggling, you're just making it worse," the voice continued.
"Mason, calm her down," said Callum. He was holding Tina's kicking feet and trying to get them tied up. He succeeded at last, and her kicking changed to furious bucking. Mason continued to speak into Tina's ear. He made his voice soft and calm, trying to get through her panic and into her thinking brain. From experience he knew it took a while for the women to get over the initial terror and start listening to him.
"Tina, just calm down. Relax. Breathe. Listen to me. Breathe. I want to talk to you but you must stop struggling. I know it's hard, sweetie, but try to relax and you'll feel better, I promise." His hypnotic tone and low, velvet voice started to have an effect. He continued to speak quietly and gently to the traumatised woman, and she slowly stilled.
The van grew quieter, filled now only by Tina's gasping breaths.
Brody spoke into the quiet.
"Nearly there, thirty minutes tops," he advised the rest of the team. Decker was driving steadily, not fast. They didn't want to hit a speed trap.
Callum nodded. He spoke to the shaking woman.
"Tina, can you hear me?" There was a short nod from inside the hood.
"Good. Now, if you promise to be quiet and still, I'll take that hood off you, ok?"
Tina's terrified mind could barely function, but she was desperate to see what was going on and who had captured her. She managed another nod.
The hood was slowly removed and Tina blinked rapidly to try to clear her eyes from tears so she could see. As her vision cleared, she took in the man crouching in front of her.
He was tall, at least 6 feet, muscles in all the right places, but not built like a weight lifter, rather a gymnast or swimmer. Dark hair, tanned face and arms. He was wearing a tight fitting black tee, and tight black jeans. His eyes had smile lines around them and looked kind.
Tina gave herself a mental shake. Kind! What planet was she on! The man spoke again.
"Hi there. My name is Callum, and my friend behind you is Mason. Are you hurt at all?"
Tina's control snapped. She lashed out with her tongue, swearing viciously and cursing them to hell and back. Eventually she ran out of steam. Callum was watching her with ... amusement? She was about to start up again, but he held up a hand.
"Yes, I get the idea, you're a bit cross," he said mildly. "But, are you hurt? Are your wrists ok?"