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		T H E     B O N D A G E     I S     O U T    T H E R E	by Van ©2009
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		Chapter 2
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THE NEXT DAY

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Veronica, Claudia, Lindsay, and Megan were in the office the Rookie shared with Megan.  Veronica was in one of the visitor chairs, sitting in the reverse position with her back to the others and facing the wall.  Her knees were splayed and her legs were on either side of the chair's back legs.  This was causing her skirt to ride up, exposing her pantyhose-clad legs all the way to her upper thighs.  Much more would have been on display, of course, if she'd been facing the others.  In any case, at the moment there wasn't a lot she could do about it.  Her arms were folded behind her back, and her wrists were crossed between her shoulder blades and pressed against her spine, high on her back.  Tight, neatly hitched bands of soft, white cotton rope were keeping them there.  Doubled strands of the same rope yoked her shoulders, passing from armpit to armpit by way of the back collar of her jacket, and additional bands encircled her arms, above and below her breasts, and were hitched between her arms and torso.

"The final knot is tied at the nap of the neck," Claudia lectured, as she looped the remaining rope under the shoulder ropes and gave it a firm tug.

"'Nape'," Lindsay corrected.  "A 'nap' is what the Rookie takes every day after lunch."

"Very funny," Veronica huffed, then gasped and bit her lower lip as Claudia's actions caused all the ropes to tighten even further, but she didn't complain.  She'd volunteered to be Claudia's "practice dummy" and she wasn't about to wimp out now.

"Bondarella and her accomplices always use the same unique version of the 'Tudor rose' for the final knot," Claudia continued.  Her fingers flew with practiced skill and an elegant, symmetrical spiral of intertwined loops coalesced.  She gave the now very short free ends a firm tug, and the knot compacted.  "This is, how you say, the trademark.  Almost any knot would do, of course, as the Signorina cannot possibly reach the knot."

"I can vouch for that," Veronica muttered, twisting her upper body and fluttering her fingers.

"And this is one of their favorite ties?" Lindsay drawled, leaning close to peer at Veronica's bonds.

"Yes," Claudia confirmed.  She then took a step back, affording Megan a better view of her handiwork.  "The vittima would be just as helpless and much more comfortable if the arms were tied lower on the back, but they always use what is called the 'crossed-wrist reverse-prayer'.  Nawa-do techniques are used by many, and there is always the variation; but the position I place the arms, the order in which I tie the ropes, and the final knot, are, like I say, the trademark."

"What about the rope," Megan asked.  "The pictures in the files don't look like this stuff."

"They always use the four-strand hemp, conditioned so it is not rough and stiff," Claudia explained.  "I use the cotton clothesline as it is the best I find in the store."

"You've done your homework," Lindsay observed.

"I have cataloged and studied all the techniques and restraints shown in the photographs in all the files," Claudia confirmed, "in the hope that they reveal something significo.  Alas, it has not.  All the items used are either widely available or cannot be traced.  I have learned how they use the rope by... the experiment."

"I bet you're a real hit at dinner parties," Veronica muttered, continuing to test her bonds.

"Scusa?" Claudia frowned.

Lindsay and Megan exchanged smiles.  "I seriously doubt Signorina Bosco conducts public bondage exhibitions, Rookie," Lindsay purred.

"Certainly not!" Claudia said, indignantly... then a smile curled her lips.  "Oh, you make the joke."  She leaned close, took a firm grip of Veronica's arms, and helped her stand.  The diminutive blonde turned and sat back down.

Claudia pointed to Veronica's breasts.  They were lifted and pinched by the ropes, and the top buttons of her jacket and blouse had opened and the garments were pulled to either side, causing her to show more cleavage than was usual (including a significant peek of lacy white bra).  "If the vittima has the big petto," she continued, "they often bind them like the... uh..."  She used her hands to pantomime an expanding sphere.  "Pallone?"

"Balloons?" Megan suggested.

"Yes, the balloons," Claudia nodded.  "In the case of Agent Mars, however, this is not possible."

Veronica affected her trademark sly smirk.  "We can't all have massive hooters," she muttered.

"'Hooters'?" Claudia asked, with a puzzled frown.

Before anyone could answer, Gracie stuck her head through the doorway.  "Dana's office," she ordered, and just as quickly was gone.

Claudia, Lindsay, and Megan smiled at Veronica, then stood and headed for the door.

"Hey, what about me?" the little blonde asked in dismay.

"I assume that includes you, Agent Mars," Lindsay called back over her shoulder... then Veronica was alone.

Veronica sighed, hauled herself to her feet, and followed the others.  "By all means," she muttered under her breath, "let's mess with the Rookie."

Claudia, Megan, and Lindsay filed into Dana Scully's office.  Lindsay pulled the door closed and the group settled into the visitor chairs in front of the desk and the sofa against one wall.  Their leader was behind her desk and Gracie, her second in command, was standing near the window with her arms crossed below her breasts.  Both appeared to be somewhat unhappy.

Lindsay was the first to speak.  "I take it the calls didn't go well?"

Scully and Gracie had been in a series of conference calls for nearly three hours, trying to talk various DoJ attorneys into pursuing search warrants for the various business establishments on the list of possible Bondarella contacts supplied by the NSA.

Scully shook her head.  "Not surprising, really.  We don't have anything we can call probable cause, and they aren't willing to take the heat by going the FISA route.  There is a foreign connection, but no evidence of terrorism, espionage, or imminent threat to National Security.  The lack of corroborating detail from the NSA doesn't help."

Gracie's frown deepened.  "Where is—?"

She was interrupted by a rattling noise from the office door.  The group watched as the doorknob repeatedly turned and slipped.  This continued for a few seconds... then the knob slowly turned and the door creaked open... revealing a kneeling Veronica Mars, still helplessly bound (of course).

"Mars," Gracie growled (after winking at Scully), "get in here and stop messing around."

Veronica climbed to her feet and walked into the office.  "Sorry I'm late," she said, smiling brightly and as self-confident as ever.  "I was... a little tied up?"

The group groaned.  Veronica looked around, but all the seats were taken.  She shrugged, then faced her boss and smiled.

Scully smiled back.  It was impossible not to like this kid.  "It appears you still are.  We were discussing our lack of success regarding search warrants," she told her.

Veronica frowned.  "We'll still be conducting interviews, won't we?"

"Of course," Scully nodded, then addressed the group as a whole.  "Turn on the charm and see what you can discover.  If anything looks suspicious, let me know about it and I'll try again for a warrant, but try not to raise any hackles and cause them to lawyer-up.  Now, suggestions on where to start?"

Claudia cleared her throat and consulted a copy of the list.  "We think we start with 'Hello Pussy', 'Leatherotica', 'BDL', and 'Stocks and Bondage'.  They all sell the bondage equipment.  If the gang is preparing to take the vittima, they might have made the recent purchase.  No?"

Scully nodded.  "Sounds reasonable."

"As good as anything else I can think of," Gracie sighed.

"The four Claudia named are the closest things we have to low-hanging fruit," Lindsay added.  "'Pussy' and 'Leatherotica' are retail stores, both of which also do internet business.  The other two are strictly wholesale, and those four are the only 'specialty' stores on the list.  All the rest are more problematic.  Realtors and hardware and electronics suppliers... that sort of thing.  We need to examine their records, of course; but it will take time to discern any patterns, even with the proprietors' full cooperation.  And before any actual kidnapping takes place, enabling us to focus the search, it'll probably lead to something only if the gang suddenly gets stupid, like by using the same credit card at several different businesses—"

"And signing the invoices 'Bondarella'," Veronica added.

Scully nodded.  "Okay."  She glanced at Gracie.  "You and Megan take two..."  She shifted focus to Lindsay.  "And you and Agent Mars take the other two, okay?"

Lindsay sighed, frowning at Veronica.  "If I have to," she muttered.  It was clear she was kidding.  "I suppose I'll have to untie her."

"You could just flip open her ID and slip it between the chest ropes," Megan suggested.

"Such incredible wit," Veronica purred, then squirmed in her ropes and favored her new partner with a heartbreakingly pitiful pout.

"Okay, okay," Lindsay chuckled, and stepped behind the helpless little blonde.

"I show you how to untie the rose," Claudia offered.

"Don't bother," Lindsay said, and started fiddling with the knot in question.  Several seconds later she sighed and took a step back.  "Okay," she muttered, "I guess I'm a klutz."

"It is, how you say, the 'puzzle knot'," the Italian beauty chuckled.  In less than five seconds she had the rose knot untied and was loosening the rest of the ropes.

"Work out who's going where," Scully ordered.  "Agent Bosco and I will remain here, doing what we can with the rest of the list.  And we still have absolutely no idea of the identity of Bondarella's target," she reminded the team.

ONE HOUR LATER
LEATHEROTICA
ANNANDALE, VIRGINIA

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"I was expecting some squalid little storefront," Veronica noted as Lindsay maneuvered their requisitioned sedan into the parking lot, "but this place is big."  She frowned as Lindsay pulled into a slot at the far end of the lot and well away from the storefront and the main road.  "Why are we parking all the way out here?"

"I don't want anybody to notice the GSA sticker in the back window," she explained.

"Afraid we'll get reported by an alert citizen for patronizing a den of iniquity while on duty?" Veronica purred.

"There's that," Lindsay drawled, "but mainly I don't want whoever's inside to think we're anything other than regular customers."

"Not until we're ready to tell them," Veronica nodded in agreement.

The store was one of several retail businesses on this stretch of semi-rural highway.  Its closest neighbors were an automotive parts establishment on one side, a large comics store on the other, and a mattress warehouse across the highway.  There was nothing remarkable about the structure.  The exterior walls were prefab concrete slabs, the flat roof was metal, and the front was one continuous expanse of picture windows.

The only thing unusual was the signage—pink letters on a black background that read "Leatherotica" in a script font, and underneath, in block letters, "YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR KINK & CONTROL".

Looking through the windows as they approached the front door, they could see racks of leather clothing and other items, in a rainbow of colors, as well as mannequins dressed (and often restrained) in elaborate costumes.  The automatic doors swished open, a gong announced their arrival, and they were engulfed by the aroma of cured leather.

"Wow!" Veronica gasped, looking around with wide eyes.  The entire store appeared to be deserted, but she heard a quiet humming sound and turned to the right to find a female figure dressed in black leather thigh-boots, corset, harness, arm-binder, and a full-head helmet.  It was was slowly twisting and squirming, and what were obviously prerecorded mewling sounds were being piped through a small speaker.  A sign at the base of its display pedestal read: "Audio-Animatronic Gynoid by Roboto-Corp®"

"Not very convincing," Lindsay drawled, eying the writhing form.

"I'll say," Veronica agreed.  The "skin" peeking through the figure's elaborate leather costume was shining plastic dyed an unrealistic flesh-tone, and its "struggles" were unmistakably mechanical.

"Welcome to Leatherotica," a female voice announced from the left.  "How may I help you?"

Veronica flinched in surprise.  "Oh, you're real."  What she had thought to be another mannequin had taken a step forward.  This female figure was dressed in a skintight catsuit of black leather, including knee-boots and gloves.  Her long, straight, brown hair fell down her back in a tight ponytail, and a pair of very pretty brown eyes peeked through a Zorro mask of black leather.  The mask did nothing to diminish her girlish beauty.  A silver name tag above her right breast read "Betty".

"I'm very real," Betty purred, looking Veronica up and down.  "You're the bottom."

"Huh?" Veronica responded.

"Silence," Lindsay growled, addressing her partner, then turned to the clerk.  "Of course she's the bottom," she drawled.  "Her birthday is next week, and I'm looking for a present."

"Huh?"  Veronica blinked—then the light dawned.  "Oh, thank you, Mistress," she gushed, taking Lindsay's hand and giving it an enthusiastic and very wet kiss.

"Stop it," Lindsay hissed, then focused on the smiling clerk.  "Any suggestions?"

"A new collar is always nice," Betty suggested, gesturing towards a glass case across the room.  They walked in that direction, passing racks of catsuits, corsets, harnesses, and straps.  Inside the case there were dozens of leather collars, some rather thin and lightweight, some that looked like they'd been made for large attack dogs, and some that could be better described as neck braces rather than collars.  They also varied in style and color.  Some had metal studs or spikes, and a few were actually steel collars lined with leather.

Betty opened the case and selected a black leather collar.  It was comprised of two straps, a two-inch inner band and a slightly narrower outer band.  Steel rivets linked them together and anchored three steel rings, evenly spaced around the circumference.  A roller-buckle secured the collar in the back.  "We call this the 'Utility' line," she said, handing the collar to Lindsay.  "Why don't you try it on your slave while I fetch the matching cuffs."  She turned and walked to another case.

Veronica favored her partner with a wry smile.  "Haven't I been messed with enough today?" she whispered.

Lindsay opened the collar and smiled back.  "Play along," she whispered back.  "This'll put her at her ease.  After a tour of the place and a little happy-talk, we'll flash our badges and let her know we're not customers."

Veronica raised her hands and lifted her hair away from her neck.  "I bow to your many years of field experience, Mistress," she purred.

Lindsay chuckled as she buckled the collar around Veronica's neck.  "Hold that pose," she drawled, then walked a slow circle around the grinning blonde.  "I like it."

"It's a little tight," Veronica muttered.

"It looks perfect, to me," Betty said.  She had returned with two sets of cuffs and a tangle of lightweight chrome chain.  She handed them all to Lindsay, then retrieved one of the cuffs.  She took Veronica's right hand and started buckling the cuff around her wrist.  "These are also part of the 'Utility' line," she explained.  "When you buy a complete set, there's a substantial discount."  She reached for another cuff, and buckled it around Veronica's left wrist.

Veronica and Lindsay locked eyes.  The tall brunette winked, and the little blonde countered with coy pout.

Betty reached for the tangle of chain, stepped behind Veronica, and gathered the blonde's hands behind her back.  There was a quiet click, she lifted the end of a length of chain to the back of the collar, and there was another click.  Veronica's wrists were now clipped together, at the small of her back, and linked to the back of the collar.  "The second pair of cuffs can be used on the ankles," she said, "but I like this arrangement, as well."  She buckled the cuffs around Veronica's upper arms, just above her bent elbows, then fiddled with the chain and there were two more clicks.  She then spun Veronica around for Lindsay's inspection.

The chain was actually four short lengths linked to a central ring, forming a cross.  The taut, horizontal pair linked the elbow cuffs to the central ring, and the equally taut vertical lengths linked the collar and the joined wrist cuffs to the ring.

"This makes her quite helpless," Betty lectured.  "With the collar chain attached, she can't wiggle the cuffs past her butt to get her hands in front.  And by adding the elbow chains, we lock her arms in the box position, making her even easier to control."

"Speaking of locks."  Lindsay pointed at the heart-shaped padlocks dangling at each cuff, collar, and chain junction.

"Our 'I-Heart-You-Forever' line," Betty explained.  "Pretty enough to lock to the front ring as pure decoration, but as strong as regular padlocks.  Some of our competitors offer similar products that are nothing more than flimsy luggage locks.  Our 'Forever' locks have casehardened shackles and are very pick-resistant."  She pulled a steel leash chain with a black leather wrist loop from a nearby rack, clicked the end to the front ring of Veronica's collar, then handed the loop to Lindsay.  "I have one more recommendation," she said, and walked away towards another rack of merchandise.

"Woe is me!" Veronica sighed, smiling at Lindsay.

"Just wait 'til I get you home, Slave," Lindsay chuckled, then continued in a whisper.  "Enough kidding around.  I'll get the key."

"Scully's gonna have kittens if you try putting all this stuff on your expense account," Veronica whispered back.

"A full litter of cute little marmalade tigers, no doubt," Lindsay chuckled, "but let me worry about that."  She turned and went after Betty, the leash snapped taut, and her 'Slave' had no choice but to follow.

Betty was standing beside a display of rubber balls pierced by leather straps.  The straps and balls of the various products varied in color and size.  "I suggest our two-inch 'Basic' ball-gag, with the semi-soft option."  She lifted a gag from the rack and handed it to Lindsay.  "Some slaves find the two-inch size difficult to take, so we've developed a model with a thick layer of foam around a hard inner core.  It fills the mouth just like a regular two-inch, but is more comfortable.  I find them actually more effective than hard rubber, because they conform to the inside of the slave's mouth."

Lindsay shook her head and handed the gag back to Betty.  "I think I've seen enough," she chuckled.  "Could I please have the key to those locks?"

Just then, a second catsuited, booted, gloved, and masked figure emerged from the back of the store and walked towards the group.  Her name tag read "Belladonna", her brown hair was cut in a shaggy pageboy, and the eyes gazing through her mask were a piercing shade of blue-green.  "Ah, customers.  Welcome to Leatherotica," she said, offering a gloved hand to Lindsay.

"Thank you," Lindsay said, taking her hand.  "I—"  There was a sizzling snap, Lindsay's eyes went wide, and she crumpled to the floor.  The newcomer had grabbed her wrist and thrust a small tazer against her neck with her other hand.

"What the—M'rmf!"  This was all Veronica had time to say before Betty had the ball-gag in her mouth and was buckling it closed at the nape of her neck.  "M'mmfh!"

Belladonna took a step forward, lifted Veronica's skirt, and thrust the tazer against her right thigh  "Quiet," she purred, "and if you try to kick, I'll zap you in a place you'd really prefer I didn't."  She lifted her cold gaze to Betty.  "Go put the 'closed' sign on the door," she ordered.

"In a moment," Betty answered, then nudged the back of Veronica's legs and forced the helpless blonde to her knees.  She unclipped the leash from Veronica's collar, wound the hand loop and part of the chain around her crossed ankles, then pulled the clip through the end of the loop and gave it a firm tug.  She then grabbed a handful of Veronica's hair and pulled her head back, arching her back.  The end of the leash was clipped through the locking ring on the buckle of her gag, then Betty reached under Veronica's jacket and pulled her SIG-Sauer from its holster.  She removed the clip and placed handgun and clip in the drawer of a nearby display case, then walked towards the front door.

Veronica squirmed and struggled as Belladonna grabbed hold of Lindsay's wrists and began dragging her unconscious form towards the back of the store.

Betty hung the closed sign on the door and turned the deadbolt lock.  She then returned to stand over the the kneeling blonde.

Belladonna and Lindsay disappeared through a curtained doorway.

Betty gazed into Veronica's worried blue eyes.  "Such a cute little thing," she purred.  "You and I are going to have a lot of fun."

The acrid burn of ammonia filled Lindsay's nostrils.  She moaned and turned her head away—but found that otherwise, she could barely move.  Her eyes opened, and she blinked in reaction to the bright lights shining in her face.  She was in some sort of storeroom, surrounded by metal racks loaded with neat rows of cardboard boxes.  She was also flat on her back with her arms and legs splayed wide in a stringent spread-eagle.

She focused on her right hand.  Her wrist was captured by a thick, wide, padded cuff of black leather, and her hand was trapped in a tight leather mitten.  A wide, taut strap linked the cuff to a rectangular frame of heavy steel pipes.  Her left wrist and hand were similarly restrained, and her ankles were locked in padded cuffs similar to her wrist bonds.  What buckles she could see were secured with more of the heart-shaped padlocks Betty had used on Veronica.  A ball-gag was strapped in her mouth, tight enough to make its leather band uncomfortably tight.

There was one more detail.  She was naked, except for her sheer, "nude"-colored demi-cup bra and bikini-panties.  She tugged on her bonds, but all this achieved was an almost imperceptible shaking of the straps and to increase the definition of her stretched muscles as they flexed and strained.  There was almost zero slack in her restraints, but the heavy padding of the cuffs did cushion her wrists and ankles.

"You have a very attractive body, Inspector Boxer."

It was Belladonna's voice.  Lindsay lifted her chin and watched the catsuited and masked brunette step from the shadows.  She had a tiny white ampule in one hand, which she tossed into a nearby trashcan.

"Some don't appreciate the lissome form of a tall, willowy, athletic maiden," she said, as she walked around her prisoner.  "Many prefer the voluptuous curves of the classic pin-up..."  She came to a halt and struck a dominant pose, boots apart and gloved hands on hips.  "There is something to be said for a thin layer of baby fat.  It does make it easier for clips and clamps to pinch.  And big, bouncing breasts to bind and torture are an absolute joy."  She walked to a small panel mounted on the wall and pressed her thumb to a red button.

A winch whined, a pair of cables snapped taut, and Lindsay and her frame were slowly lifted from the horizontal to the vertical.  The base remained grounded on the concrete, but Lindsay was now completely suspended inside the frame, with her dangling toes a good six inches above the floor.

Belladonna lifted her thumb as the cables locked, then closed the panel's cover with a snap.  "But there's also much to be said for a pair of perky A-cups, like yours, Inspector, especially on a physique of such perfect proportions."  She reached out and ran her gloved hand over Lindsay's taut, firm abdomen.

Lindsay glared and forced a mewling complaint past her gag, but could do nothing to move away from her captor's humiliating caress.

"Wonderful," Belladonna purred.  "Untold hours in the gym.  Thousands and thousands of sit-ups and crunches."  She focused on Lindsay's angry brown eyes.  "Do you do Pilates?" she inquired.

Lindsay ignored the question, continuing to stare at her catsuited captor.

"No matter," Belladonna continued.  She slid her hand down to Lindsay's crotch and cupped her nylon-clad sex.  "Well... let's get on with it, shall we?"  She gripped the front panel and pulled the panties away from Lindsay's body.  Her other hand appeared with a small, curved, serrated blade.  She sliced either side of the panties with a pair of deft strokes, then tossed the ruined garment away.  "Ah," she smiled, "a delightful bikini-trim.  Very pretty."  She locked eyes with her captive.  "Your pussy is pretty as well.  Dry, at the moment, no doubt..."  Her smile turned absolutely evil.  "But we'll be doing something about that, later."

Next, she reached up, severed the straps of Lindsay's bra, and jerked it away.  It joined the panties on the floor.  "Hmm... your breasts are a little flat at the moment," she purred, "but the size and shape of your nipples are most pleasing.  We'll find ways to entertain them, as well."

Her gloating tormentor stepped away into the shadows and Lindsay tugged and jerked on her bonds in humiliated frustration.  Then, her captor returned—and she froze.  A multi-tailed flogger of black leather dangled from a strap looped around Belladonna's right wrist.

"Don't worry, Inspector," Belladonna purred.  "I have lots of experience whipping female flesh.  I know how to get maximum effect without breaking the skin and causing real damage."  She pulled the handle of the flogger into her hand with a deft, practiced flip before continuing.  "I'm afraid this is going to to be very painful," she whispered, "and it's going to go on for a very long time... but it will give me a great deal of pleasure."

Lindsay watched as Belladonna stepped behind the frame.  She focused on the boxes on a distant rack, and braced herself for what was to come.

She heard a swishing sound—and her back exploded in a white-hot flash of pain.

Lindsay hung from her bonds, her chin resting on her chest.  Her tan skin was slick with sweat and flushed with angry, red, overlapping stripes that covered her front and back from shoulders to thighs.

Belladonna was taking a break.  The flogger still dangled from her right wrist as she lifted a twenty-ounce bottle of spring water to her lips.  She took a long drink, then screwed the cap back on the bottle and slid it into a pocket on the right thigh of her catsuit.

Lindsay watched through hooded eyes.  She was drooling around the rubber sphere strapped in her mouth, but her throat was parched.

"Now that you're warmed up," Belladonna purred, "what shall we try next?  How about a nice crop?  A paddle?  A cane?  No?"

Suddenly, Betty stepped into view, dressed in the same catsuit and mask as before.  She handed her partner a cell phone.  Belladonna read what was apparently a text message on its tiny, glowing screen, and smiled.  The pair took a step back and engaged in whispered conversation.

At one point, Lindsay heard Belladonna say what might have been, "both targets at once", but those were the only words she could understand.

Betty pocketed the phone and both women stepped forward.  Betty was staring at Lindsay's glistening, striped skin with wide eyes.  "How pretty she is.  And look at those feet... those long, long toes.  Is she ticklish?"

"Not as far as I can tell," Belladonna shrugged.  "I didn't really try to find out.  Tickling is your specialty, after all.  You can try her, if you like, but she's a little too far gone for most of your usual tests to work.  What about the other one?"

Betty shook her head.  "Sadly, she's hardly ticklish at all."  Her lips curled in a cruel smile.  "But she has a scrumptious little body."  She smiled at Lindsay's sullen, gagged face.  "Such delicious serendipity, to have two such toys simply waltz into our web."

Belladonna laughed.  "A pity we have to cut this so short."  She reached into a breast pocket and produced a pair of steel clamps joined by a thin chain.  "A parting gift," she purred, then captured Lindsay's right nipple between her gloved fingers and closed the spring-loaded jaws of a clamp on the pink nub of flesh.

A quiet gasp was Lindsay's only reaction... and was followed by another gasp as the second clamp was applied to her left nipple.

"Did you see any weights in the display cases?" Belladonna asked.

Betty shook her head.  "No, but I wasn't really looking.  You want me to go look now?" she offered.

"No time," Belladonna answered, then her lips curled in a cruel smile.  "Oh... I know what to do," she said, then turned and walked away.

Lindsay let her chin droop, again.  Her nipples burned, but it was only a little worse than the ache of her stretched jaw caused by the tight ball-gag.

Betty took a step forward and hooked a gloved pinkie over the nipple clip chain and gave it a gentle tug.  "Bella loves her 'clover clamps'," she whispered.  "She has a pair she modified by drilling little holes and tapping tiny metal screws through the pads, leaving them lined with teeny-weeny sharp points.  There's nothing like them on the market.  And believe me... they hurt."  She reached down and gave one of Lindsay's labia a gentle tug.  "And they really hurt down here."

Belladonna returned with a pair of cell-phones.  They were Lindsay's and Veronica's.  She tied a long, thin, black leather thong around Lindsay's waist, then slid it around until the long free end was at the back, trailing between her buttocks.  She reached between Lindsay's legs, grabbed the thong, and pulled it taut, then took several turns around Veronica's phone and wedged it between her labia.  She then tied the remaining length of thong to the front, pulling it tight enough to tug the lace-thin leather into the shape of a flesh-dimpling "Y". 

"Now," Belladonna purred, "let's summon you some help, shall we?"  She threaded a second thong through the wrist loop attachment point of Lindsay's phone, looped it through the center of the chain linking the nipple clamps, and tied a knot.  She then tapped the phone's keypad for several seconds, hit the "send" button, folded the phone closed with a snap, and let it drop from her gloved fingers.

Lindsay winced as the thong and chain snapped taut.  The phone swung from the end of the thong, about at the level of her knees.

"It's been a pleasure, Inspector," Belladonna purred, "for me, anyway."  She spun on her heel and walked away.

"Likewise," Betty added, and followed her catsuited companion.

Lindsay watched her captors depart, too tired to even tug on her inescapable bonds.  Seconds passed, then Lindsay flinched and moaned through her gag as Veronica's phone began to vibrate against her sex.  Someone was trying to contact her partner.  She shivered in her bonds and tried her best to ignore the throbbing waves rippling through her body.  Mercifully, after several very long seconds, the buzzing stopped.

Lindsay hung from the frame in misery.  Where's Veronica? she wondered.  What have they done to her?  She flinched when her own phone began to vibrate.  Thankfully, very little energy was transmitted up the thong and chain to her aching nipples—but then she shuddered in distress.

Veronica's phone was vibrating, once again.