by Van ©2016
		Chapter 2

Jade opened her eyes... and found herself staring at a dark sky and tall, modern buildings shining with lights.  It was the skyline of Chicago, or a small portion thereof, as viewed through a ceiling-to-floor window-wall.  She was lying on her right side on a plush, thick, well-padded carpet in a large, empty, dark room, probably somewhere on one of the upper floors of the Payne Tower.  She focused on the skyline again and confirmed her first impression.  She recognized the nearest buildings.  She was definitely still in the Payne Tower.

She noted a few other relevant details.  (1) Jade was nude, meaning totally nude.  (2) Something round and hard was lodged in her mouth and her lips sealed and lower face covered by a wide, taut strip of... tape?  It was probably some kind of tape.  (3) Her hands were palm-to-palm, behind her back, and her wrists tied and her fingers and hands wrapped into a single tight, useless bundle.  She lifted her gagged head and looked back over her left shoulder.  Her wrist-bonds were thin, braided nylon cord, and the wrappings on her fingers and hands were neatly overlapping layers of adhesive fabric tape.  The cord and tape were gray or silver in color and glinted in the lights of the city with a slightly metallic sheen.  (4) Jade's ankles were also bound, with more than twenty individual strands of the same thin, braided cord.  The bindings were cinched between her ankles, just as her wrist-bondage was cinched between her wrists.

"Mrrrrr!"  Jade mewled through her tape-gag, tugged on her wrist-bonds, tried to kick her bound feet, and rolled on the soft carpet.  "Mrrrpfh!"  What the hell happened? she wondered.  Actually, it was obvious exactly what had happened.  The kinkily dressed Asian/Chinese woman in the "Aqua Lounge" had dosed her with some sort of knock-out gas, taken her to wherever she was, stripped her naked, and tied her up!  "Nrrrk!"  And gagged her!  Rubber ball?  Jade decided the spherical intruder in her mouth was a rubber ball.

Jade squirmed and struggled and rolled on the carpet, but she was helpless.  Also naked.  Also locked in an empty room-with-a-view.  Minutes passed and Jade continued her efforts to free herself... and made zero progress.

Suddenly, the door to Jade's prison whisked open, the overhead lights began to glow, and two women entered.  They were...

(1) The Asian dominatrix-bitch.  She was dressed as before and was carrying a small duffel bag of black leather.

(2) The Bitch herself: Dominique Payne in all her bitchy glory!  She wore one of her signature little-black-dresses, looking gorgeous and domineering, as always.

"For Miss Porter's tape and cord bonds I decided to go with 'antique silver,' Mistress," the Asian said to Dominique. "I hope you approve."

"It goes well with her lovely complexion, Xin," Dominique purred.  "I quite approve."

Jade looked up at the women looming over her naked, bound, gagged, and recumbent self.  "Mrf?"

"The other one?" Dominique asked.

Xin smiled.  "She won't be leaving the building, Mistress.  I assumed you want to begin with this one, and Dr. Folke has only just finished with Mr. Smith.  You know how she hates keeping her interviewees waiting for her full attention.  Delivering two subjects to her almost simultaneously seems like a bit of an unnecessary imposition."

"Point taken, and I do, indeed, want to begin with this one," Dominique said with a smile that sent a chill down Jade's spine.  "I have a solution.  I'll indulge myself with Miss Porter for a while, and the good doctor can finish with Mr. Smith and begin with the blonde.  From what you tell me, she's the weak link in the conspiracy."

Jade looked from Dominique to Xin—apparently her kidnapper's name was Xin—and back to Dominique.  Conspiracy?  The blonde?  Does she mean... Bonnie?  "Mrrrpfh!"

Dominique and Xin watched Jade roll and squirm at their feet.

"What did you stuff in her mouth?" Dominique inquired, "dirty panties?"

"No, Mistress," Xin purred.  "I used a five centimeter ball of silicon rubber.  Her panties were rather skimpy, more of a thong and not really up to the job.  Also, they weren't particularly dirty.  I think she changed before donning her stolen dress.  And as you know, I don't wear panties while working."

Dominique nodded.  "I'll take it from here.  You may deal with Miss Schnupp."

Jade's eyes widened.  They do mean Bonnie!  She resumed struggling, frantically shaking her head in negation.  "Nrrrf!"

"Mistress," Xin said with a bow, dropped the duffel on the carpet next to Jade's squirming, naked, helpless form, then spun on her booted heels.  The door automatically whisked open as she approached... Xin crossed the threshold... and it closed behind her.

"Now," Dominique purred, smiling down at Jade.  "What to do with you?"

Jade's heart hammered as she continued struggling.  The gag effectively stifled her desire to explain that she'd been just looking for Audrey, her boss, and that there was no "conspiracy."  She couldn't even beg for mercy.  She couldn't say or do much of anything!  "Mrrrfh!"

"Hmmm..."  Dominique continued examining her current plaything.  "Hogtie?  Ball-tie?  Or, perhaps, something simpler?"  She kicked off her heels, knelt by Jade's side, unzipped the duffel, reached inside, and produced a generous coil of silver-gray cord identical to Jade's wrist- and ankle-bindings.  "I know," she said as she released the hitch securing the coil and shook it out to its full length.  "The inchworm."

"Nrrrm?"  Whatever Dominique meant by 'the inchworm,' it didn't sound good.

Over the course of the next hour and with the application of dozens if not hundreds of feet of silver cord, Jade learned exactly what her beautiful, powerful captor meant by "the inchworm."

Now, Jade was bound at the ankles, calves and shins, below the knees, above the knees, the mid thighs, through her crotch, and around her waist and forearms.  Her elbows were bound nearly touching, ropes pinned her arms to her sides, passing above and below her breasts, and yoked her shoulders.  Each of these bindings required something like twenty individual strands of cord, and all were well-cinched.  Finally, using a very long single strand of cord, Dominique tied a long, continuous series of diamond hitches that hugged Jade's body from her big toes to her neck.

Jade found she could barely squirm, and even if Xin hadn't mummified her fingers and hands in a skintight sheath of silver tape with a satin finish, she wouldn't have been able to reach, much less untie, any of the knots securing her incredible bonds.

"You have very nice breasts, Miss Porter," Dominique said as she zipped the now nearly empty duffel closed.  She then climbed to her feet, stepped into her heels, picked up the duffel, and smiled.  "I also like your decision to keep your pubic bush luxuriant but neatly trimmed.  Dimpled rump, firm, defined muscles, flat tummy, and just a hint of girlish baby-fat.  Very pleasing."

Jade managed to roll onto her back and glared up at her captor and tormentor.  "Mrrmpfh!" she complained.

"Such spirit," Dominique purred.  "Now, I'm afraid it might be some time before I find another opportunity for us to play," she said as she strolled towards the door, "so feel free to wiggle around and explore your new office."  The door automatically opened, but Dominique paused in the threshold.  "That reminds me, congratulations are in order.  Your contract has been transferred from Klein Studios to PAYNECOM, and you've been promoted from intern to Junior Executive Special Assistant to the CEO.  I'm afraid there's no bump in salary, but you'll find there are all sorts of fringe benefits."

"Nrrrf!"  Jade squirmed in her bonds.

"Until later, Miss Porter," Dominique purred, then took a step back into the hallway.  The door whisked closed and the overhead lights in Jade's "new office" dimmed to nightlight level.

Jade continued fighting her bonds, but she knew it was hopeless, completely hopeless.  And she saw no point in exploring the rest of the room.  What was the point?  Also, the only way she'd be able to conduct such an exploration would be by squirming, twisting, wiggling, and dragging her nude, bound, and gagged body across the carpet... inchworm fashion.

Bonnie awakened to the loud snort of a large and no doubt very disgusting hog—then realized she was the hog.  That is, Bonnie, herself, had been the one that made the noise.  She lifted her head from her desk, yawned, rubbed her eyes, and frowned down at the small, clear puddle of drool on her desk's smooth, hard surface.  "Oh... frakk," she sighed as she clumsily stood, stretched, and looked around the cubicle farm.  Thankfully, she was the only one present.  None of her fellow administrative slaves had witnessed her humiliating display.

The LED clock on her desk glowed "5:37."  It was nearly time for the early birds among her fellow interns to start dragging themselves in for the next day's work (meaning the current day's work).  I pulled an all-nighter waiting for Jade to return, she realized, snoring and drooling on my desk.  She glanced in her bottom drawer and confirmed that Jade's bundled work clothes were still present.  Either her friend hadn't yet returned from her reconnaissance of the penthouse nightclubs, or she'd gone straight home afterwards.

"I'll murder her," Bonnie promised herself.  She opened another desk drawer, grabbed her compact toiletry kit, and headed for the nearest bathroom.  "The nerve," she groused, "going on an adventure like that and not coming back to fill me in on all the juicy details."  Of course, Bonnie mused, she could have been grabbed by the club bouncers and is cooling her heels in a dreary detention cell down in the basement, waiting for the Chicago PD to show up and haul her away to party-crash prison.  "It would serve her right!" Bonnie huffed as she entered the Little She-intern's Room.

Bonnie's face was a mess.  She scrubbed it clean, then replaced her makeup and signature red lipstick.  Bonnie didn't really want Jade to be in trouble, of course, but is was kind of rude of her to go straight home and leave her in the lurch.  Bonnie made a trip to one of the stalls and emptied her bladder... then planned her next move.  She decided her best immediate course of action was to troop down to the cafeteria for an early breakfast, and her rumbling stomach concurred.  And whenever Jade decided to show herself, she'd get... The Cold Shoulder.  Bonnie would pout and ignore her forever and ever and ever... or at least until Jade was sufficiently contrite.  Bonnie did want to hear all about her friend's escapade, of course.

The cafeteria was nearly empty.  Only a few very early birds or all-nighters (like Bonnie) were present.  The serving line was open, manned by a single cook at this hour, and while Bonnie usually breakfasted on cereal and nonfat milk, she decided to splurge on scrambled eggs, bacon, wheat toast, and coffee—especially coffee.  She'd missed dinner the previous evening, thanks to being callously abandoned at her desk by her alleged friend, so the extra calories were justified (meaning rationalized).

When Bonnie was halfway through her meal a smartly dressed Asian woman approached her table carrying a tray bearing a dessert plate with a single pastry and a cup of coffee.  Bonnie thought she recognized the woman, maybe, but wasn't entirely sure.  The thirty-something (maybe an old twenty-something), strikingly beautiful woman moved with a fluid, athletic grace, and sported an obviously tailored and expensive business suit, in heather-gray.  Her long, dark-brown hair was loose about her shoulders.

"May I join you, Miss Schnupp?" the woman said.  Then, without waiting for a reply, she set down her tray, pulled out the chair opposite Bonnie, and sat.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Bonnie answered (belatedly and unnecessarily).  "Have we met?"  She glanced at the PAYNECOM ID clipped to the woman's jacket pocket, and her eyes widened before she managed to suppress her reaction.  It had the usual photo to confirm the bearer's identity, of course, with the woman's name, "Xin" (with no last name).  And by-the-way, her job title was "SPECIAL SECURITY!"  Whereas other PAYNECOM IDs bore additional info, like division, department, and a color-coded stripe designating the employee's level of clearance (or lack thereof in the case of Bonnie), the rest of "Xin's" ID was taken up by a large block of QR code, and nothing else.

"We've never met in person, Miss Schnupp," Xin replied, "but I must say, the photograph in your employment file doesn't do you justice.  You're very beautiful."

Bonnie blushed.  "Thanks.  Right back at you."  Xin was, indeed, beautiful, but despite her smile she was also somewhat... cold?  Bonnie decided to go with "professional."

Xin took a delicate bite from her pastry, which appeared to be a glazed bear-claw with a sprinkling of thin-sliced almonds and a raspberry or cherry filling, then took a sip of coffee.  "Now, I believe you know Jade Porter?"

Bonnie's heart started pounding, but she covered her reaction with a fork-load of eggs and a sip from her own coffee cup.  "Yeah, Jade and I are good friends."  Bonnie took a bite of toast and decided a good defense (however meager) was a good offense (however inadequate).  "Oh, I get it," she said with a bright smile.  "Jade is up for a promotion and you're interviewing her coworkers.  What do you want to know?"

Xin smiled and took another bite from her pastry, then chewed and swallowed.  "Something like that."  She sipped her coffee.  "After we've finished eating, let's go to my office and have a nice chat."

"Super!" Bonnie gushed, then devoured a strip of yummy, crisp, greasy bacon.  Jade isn't in trouble!  Super!

Xin smiled and continued consuming her modest breakfast.

Jade knew she was in big trouble, to say the least.

Apparently (meaning obviously) the rumors about Dominique Payne being not only a bitch-of-a-boss but a kinky bitch-of-a-boss were true... in spades!  And apparently, she attracted like-minded (meaning perverted) members of the one-percent and had made the Tower's most exclusive penthouse nightclubs dens of bondage debauchery!  Most of that was supposition on Jade's part, but what she'd seen on her way to and especially in the Aqua Lounge was compelling evidence.

Jade twisted and squirmed in her incredible bonds.  Escape was as elusive a goal as ever.  Dominique was as skilled a practitioner of her "hobby" as she was at making billions from giving the masses what they wanted in the way of entertainment.

Jade heaved a gagged sigh and stared out the window.  The sky was brightening.  Dawn was near.  Most of the lights in the neighboring buildings had winked out hours before, but a few were still shining.  She knew the windows of the Payne Tower were all mirrored and tinted bronze-gold.  Even if she somehow managed to squirm her way to her feet and painfully hop until she was right in front of the glass wall of her "office," no one in even the closest buildings could possibly see her, not even a peeping tom with a telescope.

She rolled onto her side and heaved another sigh.  Jade had been tied up for hours, for at least half the night.  She was hungry, thirsty, and increasingly sore.  The dimly lit room was overheated, not excessively so, but a sheen of perspiration covered her nude, bound body.  How long is she going to leave me like this? she wondered.  And what will she do to me next?

Suddenly, the door whisked open and two women entered the office.  Jade looked back over her shoulder and her eyes widened.  "Mrrf?"

For all the world, the women looked like a pair of housekeepers, wearing the sort of sensible shoes, linen dresses, and aprons one would find in any hotel.  Both were in their thirties, admittedly attractive, despite their hair being pulled back into tight buns and a total absence of makeup.  One was a Latina with black hair, and the other a Nordic blonde with a healthy tan.  Both were tall, fit, and decidedly muscular.  The blonde was pushing a laundry cart, a wheeled basket with sides of heavy, unbleached canvas.

"I hate early morning cleanup duty," the Latina huffed.

"No tips," the blonde agreed as she pulled a small tablet from her apron pocket and tapped the screen.  "Seventy-nine—ring three—room forty-two."

"Not one of the staff recuperation spas?" the Latina asked as they approached Jade's naked, bound, gagged, recumbent form.

The blonde flipped open the cart's stretched canvas lid.  "I don't think this one is staff."

"She's a guest?" the Latina frowned.  "They're sending a guest to the third ring of seventy-nine?"

"I don't think she's staff or a guest.  Anyway—"  Working in concert, the blonde and Latina picked up Jade and deposited her in the cart. "—I only work here."

"Mrrrfh!" Jade squirmed and struggled, but the women were as strong as they looked.  She had to tuck her legs to fit into the otherwise empty basket, which caused her leg bonds to tighten until her flesh bulged between the taut cords.  "M'mrghfth!"  The lid closed, plunging Jade into semi-darkness, and the cart began to roll.

"At least the carpet doesn't need 'special cleanup,'" the Latina chuckled.

Jade heard someone tap the lid of her rolling prison.

"Thank you for that, Chica," the Latina said.

"Don't interact with the subjects," the blonde chided her coworker.  "You know the rules."

"No harm, no foul," the Latina purred.

Naked, bound, and gagged, helpless in her cramped, dimly lit, canvas prison, Jade's journey continued.  She hoped that when she reached room forty-two, third ring, seventy-ninth floor, she'd get a nice hot shower, a room service breakfast, and a soft bed—but somehow she didn't think that was going to be the case.

Bonnie and Xin left the cafeteria, heading for... wherever the Asian beauty's office was located.  Bonnie was really impressed by the way the "SPECIAL SECURITY" officer or agent (or whatever her PAYNECOM job title was) moved.  She was obviously in good shape, and her every motion exuded grace and poise, like a professional dancer or a trained martial artist.  Bonnie worked out whenever she could in the Tower's excellent employee's gym—it was encouraged by management—but Xin was really fit.

That must be where I've seen her, Bonnie thought, stealing a sideways glance at Xin's unsmiling face, in the gym.  Step class?  No.  Yoga class?  No.  Maybe in the steam room, but I'd probably remember her better if I'd seen her all nude and sweaty.

Bonnie self-consciously straightened the front of her jacket.  She was also in a business suit—skirt, blouse, and jacket—but it was rumpled and creased, just a little.  Sleeping at her desk hadn't helped, and while it was stylish and fit her svelte form quite well, it was decidedly "el cheapo" compared to Xin's tailored suit.

They came to one of the many "Mysterious Steel Doors" (as the interns called them) that supposedly led to the more secure side of the production offices.  They paused for Xin to gaze into the retinal scanner next to the door, the door whisked open, and they crossed the threshold.  Very Star Treky, Bonnie thought, meaning the door, then looked around.  This is it?  The decor was the same as on the side she was used to, the less secure side.  The carpet, paint, paneling, and decor in general were slightly darker, but that was it.  How disappointing, Bonnie mused.

The door whisked closed behind them and—"Hey!  What are you doing?  No!  Mrrrpfh!"

Xin had struck like a cobra, spun Bonnie around and pinned her against the wall, cuffed her hands behind her back, then spun her back around so they were face to face and slapped a strip of adhesive-backed tape or plastic film or something over Bonnie's mouth and lower face from ear to ear and nose to chin!

"Mrrrpfh!"

"Quiet, Miss Schnupp," Xin purred, "and thank you for your cooperation."

Cooperation?  Bonnie blinked in shock and surprise, then stole a look over her left shoulder, confirming that a pair of stainless steel hinged handcuffs bound her wrists.  She turned back to her captor.  "Mrrrf?"

A thin smile curled Xin's lips.  "My office is this way," she purred, took a grip on Bonnie's left arm, and led her down the hallway.

Bonnie continued struggling against the cuffs, mewling through her gag, and managed to keep pace without stumbling and tripping on her high-heeled pumps.  "Mrrrpfh!"

They passed door after door, all similar to the executive offices on the less secure, less dark, less crazy side of the building.  Generic art and posters from PAYNECOM productions hung on the walls, the same as Bonnie's usual work area.  Xin led Bonnie deeper and deeper into the offices, and they began passing men and women, all in power suits and walking singly or in pairs.  Most completely ignored the spectacle of a handcuffed and tape-gagged intern being dragged through the corridor.  A few passersby briefly locked eyes with Bonnie and favored her with somewhat predatory smiles, but that was it.

What the hell?  Bonnie's heart was hammering and her eyes were blinking more-or-less nonstop.  I have to get away, Bonnie decided.  I have to get back through that door to the 'normal' side... somehow.  They came to a junction with side corridors leading to the left and right.  Xin started turning to the right and Bonnie made an instant decision.  She shrugged her shoulder and lunged to the left, breaking Xin's grip.  Bonnie stutter-stepped, regained her footing, and sprinted away.  She stole a look back and was surprised to see Xin smiling and still standing at the intersection, not in hot pursuit.

Bonnie sprinted down the corridor, came to another junction, randomly chose the right turn, and continued her tape-gagged and handcuffed escape.  There was still no sign of pursuit.  So far, she hadn't passed any more power-suited men or women, but how long would her luck hold?  And how the hell was she going to open one of the steel doors and get back to the normal side?

She came to another junction and this time she turned to the left.  This particular corridor was narrower than the others, and the doors closer together.  She slowed her pace and continued forward.  Up ahead she could see another hallway, and it was one of the wider, busier areas, possibly a "sub-lobby."  As she watched, a man in a suit flashed across the opening, moving from left to right.  Seconds later, a woman passed going right to left.  Bonnie's eyes popped wide.  Immediately behind the woman was a second women, but woman-number-two had her hands cuffed behind her back (like Bonnie), was tape-gagged (also like Bonnie), and was naked (not like Bonnie).  She also had a collar around her neck with a shining steel chain leash, and the far end was clutched in the first woman's hand.  And then they were gone.

Bonnie's heart was still hammering.  What.  The.  Hell?

Suddenly, speakers in the drop ceiling sounded, sending Xin's voice echoing through the hallways.

"Your attention please.  Your attention please.  We have a runner.  Female, five-foot-ten with dark blond hair, Northern European complexion, and blue eyes.  I remind all personnel of the rules.  Anyone giving the runner aid and comfort or attempting to sequester her for their own personal gratification will be punished.  That is all."

Bonnie leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes.  This place is a madhouse!  I've got to get away... or hide... and get free... somehow.  She looked back the way she'd come.  There was still no sign of pursuit.

The doors in her hallway were all standard, with L-shaped door-latches.  Bonnie chose a door at random, turned her back, tried the latch, and it turned in her cuffed hands.  Unlocked!  I can sneak inside and... oh.

The room beyond was obviously a file room, probably one of hundreds of such depositories in the Tower of Payne.  A row of tall filing cabinets lined one wall, and the room already had a human occupant, a twenty-something redhead dressed in heels, a dark-olive pencil skirt, and an ivory-colored cotton blouse.  Bonnie found she couldn't form an opinion regarding the redhead's features—plain, pretty, or stunningly beautiful—and for a very good reason.  The secretary/file-clerk was a redhead.  Her long, straight, auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail and on full display, but her head was laced in a tight, black leather hood that left only an oval-shaped section over her upper face exposed.  They were a few yards apart, but Bonnie's impression was that the redhead had green eyes.

The redhead was sliding a bulging folder among other files in an open file drawer.  Eyes wide with shock and focused on Bonnie, she slid the drawer closed.

"Mrrrpfh?" Bonnie "asked" as she stepped into the room.

"Nrrrmf," the redhead "answered."

Suddenly—"Mrrk!"—a hand clutched Bonnie's hair in a tight grip.

"Naughty girl," Xin chuckled.  "Don't you know the security camera's in the entire building are integrated with the personnel tracking and facial recognition systems?"

"Nrrrrr," Bonnie whined.  She'd been recaptured... not that she'd ever really escaped.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Xin purred then focused on the redhead, apparently motivating her to place her feet eighteen inches apart, lift her arms and interlace her fingers, then rest her hands atop her hooded head.  "Don't worry," Xin chuckled, stepping further into the file room and taking Bonnie with her.  "You're not in trouble.  You haven't had enough time to get in trouble."

Bonnie watched with wide eyes as Xin lifted the front of the redhead's skirt with her free hand and cupped her pussy.  Bonnie noted that the redhead's eyes were, indeed, green.  Also, she wasn't wearing any panties... and was a genuine redhead.

"Just as I thought," Xin purred.  "You aren't even wet."  Still clutching Bonnie's hair, she turned and left the file room, dragging Bonnie with her.

Bonnie had seen fear, and then relief in the redhead's green eyes—and now she was through the door and it was closing behind them.  "Mrrrf!"

"Quiet," Xin said evenly.  "You're caused me quite enough trouble already, young lady."

They continued down the corridors, but this time Xin was setting a faster pace and Bonnie had to scramble to keep up and thereby ease the painful tug on her scalp.

The journey continued down more corridors and they passed more smartly attired men and women, all in their thirties or forties.  They also encountered more secretaries, usually younger, and dressed in heels, skirts, and blouses.  None wore open-faced leather hoods like the secretary in the file room, but two were silenced by gags.  A blonde with fair skin and pale blue eyes sported a mouth-filling ball-gag and an olive-skinned brunette was silenced by a muzzle that cupped her chin and tightly covering her lower face.  Another brunette had her hands cuffed together in front but wasn't gagged.  None of the passersby, executives or underlings, seemed particularly interested in Xin or her prisoner.

Three corridors and a brief elevator ride later, they arrived at a door bearing the sign "HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIAL SERVICES" and the PAYNECOM logo.  The door whisked open as they approached and they entered a reception area with the usual counter and waiting area with sofas, chairs, coffee table, and a scattering of magazines.

A rather unusual receptionist, a big Latina—meaning big as in a female weightlifter or wrestler, and not big as in overweight—sat behind the counter.  She smiled and stood as Xin and Bonnie entered.  At 5'10", Bonnie was generally considered "tall," but the Latina was a giant, at least 6'6", depending on whether or not she was wearing heels.  She wore a white cotton blouse and Bonnie was half-afraid she was going to flex her biceps and rip the fabric.  She came around the counter and Bonnie could see she was also wearing a skirt, had a wasp-thin waist, the thighs and calves of an Amazon warrior, and she was wearing high heels.

"Xin," the Latina greeted Bonnie's escort/captor.  "We've been expecting you.  Did you have any trouble?"

"Marina," Xin responded with a smile and a nod.  "Don't give me grief."  She rolled her eyes towards Bonnie.  "This one is a wiggle worm, and she's quick on her feet."

"I wouldn't dream of giving grief to the mighty Xin," Marina chuckled.  "Perhaps you should remain long enough to help me prepare Miss Schnupp for her preliminary interrogation, just in case."

Bonnie looked from Xin to Marina, and back.  'Interrogation?'  "Mrrrf?"

"I've got nothing on my schedule for the next hour," Xin said, ignoring Bonnie's tape-gagged question.  She followed Marina through a side door and down a corridor, past more closed doors.

Xin's hand was still tightly gripping her hair, so Bonnie had no choice but to follow.  "Nrrrpf!"  The two women led her to a medium-sized room with a somewhat clinical atmosphere.  Stainless steel cabinets with glass fronts lined the walls, and in the center, under a bank of spotlights, was a long, narrow, rectangular steel table with a milky white glass top lit from within.  Two tan leather straps stretched across the table's surface, one near the top and the other near the bottom, and each served as attachment points for a pair of tan leather cuffs padded with white canvas.

Medical restraints!  "Nrrrrr!"  Bonnie struggled for all she was worth, but Marina-the-amazon and Xin-the-ninja easily defeated her best efforts.  They lifted her into the air and Bonnie found herself flat on her back with her ankles two feet apart and strapped in place.  Xin unlocked her handcuffs, then her handlers lifted Bonnie's arms above her head and strapped her wrists in the second pair of leather cuffs.  She squirmed and tugged on the tight, well-padded restraints.  The taut straps traversing the glowing white surface barely moved, and as for the cuffs themselves, Bonnie groped with her fingers, struggling to reach the narrow outer straps securing the wide inner cuffs.  It was hopeless.

Bonnie heaved a sigh and relaxed in her new bonds.  They had put her in a semi-loose spread-eagle, and quite obviously she would stay that way until someone released her.  Xin and Marina stood side by side, smiling down at her.  So...  Bonnie looked from face to face.  What happens next?

What happened next surprised her somewhat.

"Coffee?" Marina offered.

"I just had breakfast," Xin purred, "but why not?"

Bonnie watched as the Ninja and Amazon turned and left, closing the door behind them.  "Mrrrpfh?"  Bonnie's only answer was a metallic click, probably the sound of the door lock engaging.

Well, the prisoner-of-the-table thought, I guess I'm in trouble, and what about Jade?