Author's Note: The day after submitting Part 1 I was compelled to complete the story.


The car's engine went quiet and its lights shut off, plunging the small town street into silence and darkness. Detective Jessica Falwell took a deep sigh and composed herself, this was a night for which she'd prepared a long time. Opening the glove compartment, she retrieved her pistol and checked the magazine, knowing full well it didn't magically empty on the drive over here. The car door opened and let in the cool night air, and she placed the pistol in her shoulder holster and grabbed the duffel bag from the passenger seat.

Jessica smelled the brisk air and listened to the sound of branches rattling in a slight autumn breeze. The nondescript blue car would be fine parked on the roadside, this small town life didn't have parking garages or even any meters. But even if it was towed she wouldn't have any concern - she'd bought it for cash at a used car lot, didn't even get it registered with the state. If it wasn't here in the morning there'd be no way to trace it to her, and she could just buy a bus ticket back to the city.

"No cameras," she whispered to herself as she turned her head, scanning the telephone poles and street signs, "But just in case..." she trailed off as she pulled a black headband and a balaclava out of the duffel.

Her brown hair didn't quite reach her shoulders, so she didn't need to pull it into a ponytail, as she tied the headband on to keep her hair out of her face. The balaclava went on afterward just in case someone did see her this evening. She'd left her wallet, cell phone, and any identification back at her apartment in the city, and entered the town as a phantom this evening. Glad in all black, a sleek outfit of pants and turtleneck that wouldn't get caught in anything, black leather gloves, and a pair of black boots, she'd taken all the precautions to ensure nothing she did tonight would ever be traced back to her.

It was a good three mile trek off the road and through some woods before she would reach the farm house. She'd purposely parked several roads away, in town, so that no one might see her pull up. It was just shortly after sunset when she began, and she had to move swiftly to avoid being seen by passing cars or a curious homeowner looking out their window. But in the secluded woods she had time to slow down, as she didn't want to arrive too early. The sweet spot would be just after midnight, to be sure her prey was in bed or preparing for it, and maximizing the time away from normal small town life waking up.

She could see the farmhouse lights through the trees and her heart began racing. Thinking back through all her planning, all the precautions she'd taken, she knew she had earned this night. It was months of trekking to different stores and paying in cash for her supplies, finding openings in her schedule to research this town, this farmhouse, and its inhabitant to confirm all her suspicions, and then cover her tracks. And as she approached the two story house and its couple of acres of yard, the butterflies in her stomach calmed and she knew.

She knew she was ready. She knew she would finally have her closure.

Avoiding the yard lights, Detective Falwell made her way from the tree line to a shed, from the shed to the dark side of the house, and then inched her way toward a window. She knew the strategies of expert burglars from her years as a cop, and exactly what to look for to infiltrate a home. The first window was a bit too high up, opening it and entering risked making too much noise as she would have to stretch and hop to reach. She had no intention of going to the front or back doors, as no doubt the person she was hunting inside would have some method of monitoring them closely. Her eyes settled on a basement window, a bit small and obscured by bushes, but she could fit through. The trick would be opening it.

She got down on the ground and leaned in close, pulling out a small flashlight. The window was frosted, and Jessica reached into her duffel and pulled out a roll of packing tape. She cringed a bit as she tore a strip, but the sound was lost in the bushes and the night air. Placing it firmly against the glass, it worked to somewhat clarify her vision inside. She examined as much as she could see very closely, and after a moment she could make out a small white box stuck to the inside of the window frame.

"The burglar bypassed the magnetic alarm and got in through the basement window," Detective Falwell had her eureka moment.

Her partner, Henry, seemed incredulous, "Even if he got it open, how'd he not set off the alarm?"

"Easy. He kept the magnetic circuit from being interrupted."

She had learned so much about how to break in to houses from a career spent solving crimes. From the duffel she pulled a small box, opening it, and held a strong magnet in one hand. With her other hand she pulled out a screwdriver and a small hammer. Taping the magnet against the window on the side where the magnetic alarm was, she went to work on the old farmhouse window and its seat within the brick. It was only a few minutes before Jessica had worked the window open, and she was able to reach inside and turn the little magnetic alarm switch to "off".

"Bad bet, skimping on security."

Dropping into the unfinished basement, she reached up and grabbed the duffel and quietly let the window shut behind her. Jessica took a moment to listen - no sounds in the house that she could make out. Her quarry had not heard her enter. Stepping lightly, and pulling her handgun out of its holster, she slowly stalked her way across the rough concrete floor to the stairs leading up. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, every tiny sound made by placing her boot on the ground caused her to wince. Every step up the wooden stairs was meticulous and slow, easing her bodyweight down on her foot ounce by ounce, not even a squeak of the wood giving her away. At the top of the stairs she reached with a gloved hand and turned the door handle ever so slowly and carefully, and opened it without a creak into the kitchen.

The linoleum floor was in disrepair, but clean. The double basin sink was full of dishes, and some days-old leftover food was sitting on the oven. With the kitchen light off, Jessica crept cautiously into a doorway on her right, leading into a dark dining room, and listened. She heard a murmur of noise and the telltale electric whine from a television coming from a room nearby. Holding her gun in both hands, she took slow, deliberate steps toward the glow of a screen that dimly illuminated the next room. She peered around the corner, and saw there was a chair facing away from her, towards the TV, a table next to it with a glass and a bowl of popcorn. Jessica knew this was it. She'd trekked miles, broken laws, and painstakingly covered her tracks for this exact moment. She took three quick strides to the chair and swung her gun over the top to aim it at - nothing!

cha-CHICK Jessica's heart froze, she recognized the sharp sound of a shotgun pump when she heard it.

"Hands straight up in the air. And don't even think of turning around," the woman's voice was calm, but firm. She knew it well.

"You don't want to add killing a cop to your resume, Antonia," the detective remained calm as she slowly raised her hands in the air. She was furious with herself for rushing into the room so headstrong without checking, but she'd been so sure she had finally found her target! She'd been so patient for so long, and she fumbled it by rushing to its end.

"A cop?" the shotgun pressed into Jessica's back, "I don't see a cop. I see a robber who broke into my house. Keep your hands where they are, open your fingers, and drop the gun."

A single tear of frustration peeked out of the detective's eye as she complied. She didn't even look down, but heard a dull thump as her weapon hit the armchair. She wondered how quickly she could reach down and get it when a hand on her shoulder directed her away from it, turned her, and the barrel of the shotgun pushed her toward the wall. Jessica looked out the corner of her eye and saw the bathroom door ajar and the light on - you have got to be fucking kidding me!

"Boy am I lucky I got up to piss when I did," Toni smirked, "I almost flushed when I heard these footsteps in my living room. And a gal like me always has to keep a defensive firearm at her side. Never know what kind of lowlife there is out here, in the country. Hands against the wall."

Jessica complied, hatching a plan as quickly as she could. There were plenty of options at her disposal and the confines of a farmhouse with furniture weren't ideal for a shotgun. She just needed an opening. Toni unclipped the duffel bag from her shoulder, and heard a zipper open.

"My, my..." the woman had Jessica where she wanted her, and she knew her best bet was to remain calm, "It looks like you came here looking for a good time. Let's see if I can show you one instead. Left hand!"

Growling to herself, Jessica relented as Toni twisted her left wrist behind her back and she felt the stiff metal of her own handcuffs ratcheting on. Toni didn't ask for her other wrist, just grabbed it and twisted it back as well, cuffing her hands behind her. This was bad, but Jessica tightened her mouth in a frown and knew it'd be no better if she was dead. Toni spun Jessica around and took off the balaclava, revealing the detective's face and hair. Jessica scowled at the black haired woman in front of her.

"Oh! Oh my...I know you. Detective," the smile spread across Toni's face.

Antonia Scalpa stood a couple inches shorter than the detective and was lean and tough, but not athletic. She was wearing a simple pair of pajama pants and a flannel button up shirt, clearly having planned to be in for a quiet night. In a one on one fight, Jessica's advantage in police training and size would end this in a moment. But Antonia, or Toni, got lucky at the moment Jessica forgot her patience, and now her hands were locked behind her as the smaller woman smirked. Toni kept the shotgun trained on her and tilted her head to one side, enjoying the card that fate had dealt.

"You know babe, you could've just learned to take the loss," Toni kept the gun trained on Jessica as she stepped back, then to the left, and picked the detective's pistol up off the floor. She seamlessly held the pistol on Jessica and placed the larger shotgun on the nearby coffee table, right next to her movie night bottle of beer and chocolate chip cookies. She slowly walked back over toward Jessica and grabbed the duffel bag that had been placed on a nearby table, "There's that saying about pride before the fall, right? What? I embarrassed you, and you wanted to come out here and take me down?"

"You're garbage who slipped away once-"

"So what? You were gonna tie me up?" Toni pulled a bundle of rope and a roll of duct tape out of the duffel with one hand while keeping the pistol aimed with the other, "How's that workin' out for ya?"

Jessica's stomach turned as the woman came close to her and pressed the gun, and her pelvis, into her her. She was pressed against the wall and still surveying the room for anything that could be used to aid her escape. Her hands had been hard at work hands behind her back, as Toni had been too concerned with gloating to properly search the detective. If she had done a proper frisk, she would've found the pouch on the inside of her pants. The pouch that Jessica was now working to open, awkwardly, as it was off-center near her hip. The pouch which held a spare handcuff key.

"I wasn't going to arrest you, that's for sure," Jessica wanted to buy herself enough time to get the key, so she played along.

The woman in front of her gave a surprised laugh, she seemed legitimately shocked.

"Wow..." Toni shook her head and smiled a wide, toothy smile at Detective Falwell, "That is cold. You came out here and broke the law just because you're upset I beat you?"

"You didn't beat me," she almost had it.

"I beat the rap, and you're mad. Grow up, darling."

The anger overtook Jessica, and she pushed into Toni as she snarled.

"I. Lost. Everything, because of you! You bribed and fucked your way out, you ruined my reputation, you drugged and fucked my-" she almost said boyfriend. It was all coming out, she saw an eyebrow raise on Toni's face, and she took the opportunity and placed a knee right in the other woman's sternum! Toni was caught off-guard and too surprised to do anything as Jessica raised her foot and kicked the gun away, then shoulder charged the smaller woman, "You'll get what you deserve!"

Jessica was without her hands, but she had size and surprise as advantages. The two women fell to the floor and the detective used her training in jiu-jitsu to land on top, her hips controlling the smaller woman who hadn't expected an attack from a foe without hands. The gun clattered to the side and it took Toni a moment to collect herself. Jessica was working to pin down Toni's arms with her legs as she reached for the pouch and free her hands. Toni shook her head and her surprise turned into a snarl. She had taken a few punches to the sternum, and her wind was back quickly. The detective's hands were still behind her back, and she had room to strike.

Toni popped her hips up and lurched the detective forward, and she swung her fist as hard as she could. It wasn't the strongest punch she'd ever thrown, but she was able to connect with Jessica's unprotected jaw and with a yell her dazed assailant fell to the side. Wasting no time, Toni ignored the gun and grabbed the roll of duct tape. Jessica was seeing stars and her reaction time was a bit slow as the punch had rattled her jaw. By the time she had the wherewithal to fight back Toni already had three winds of tape around her ankles. Jessica let out a yell as she thrashed, and Toni sat on the small of her back and finished a couple more turns of tape.

"You got me...nice try..." Toni was still catching her breath as she kept her weight on the larger woman and spun around, placing her knee in the small of her back and grabbing her by the hair, "But now...I've got you."

"GET OFF ME YOU FUCKING BAAAGRHGM!!!" Jessica's anger got cut off as Toni mercilessly crammed a handkerchief into her open mouth. Toni's hand held the cotton wad in as Jessica felt her headband loosening and being pulled between her lips, her own forehead sweat on her tongue as her scream of anger welled up inside her, "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOPHHH! YRRRRMGH FRRRTHRRRRPH IIITHRRRRGGRRRRRTH!"

Her own cuffs, her own headband, her own gun. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Jessica bit down on her gag and kicked to get Toni off of her, but she only tasted salt, felt tape winding around her knees, and couldn't shake the smaller woman. Her hands swung side to side to try to dislodge Toni's knee from the small of her back, but Toni just pressed more of her weight into it and Jessica could feel the air being squeezed out of her.

"So...let's piece this together," as she finished winding the tape, Toni locked her legs around the detective's waist and sat her up, then began winding the tape around her arms and torso, "That idiot I flirted with, roofied, then fucked...was your boy toy huh?"

"EEEHHRRRRPHRRRRRFFFFFRRRRRRRPHRRRRR!" Jessica shook her head and tried to thrash her way free, but the more tape wound around her, the less of an option that became. The ripping sound of duct tape filled the background as Toni continued to taunt her.

"He was a nice ride, for sure, haha," Toni sneered and wrapped her arm around the detective's throat, "But I really should thank him for the evidence locker key in his top drawer. I came in bawling and crying, a classic damsel in distress, and he took me into his office. He never saw what I put in his coffee...poor boy was out like a light."

Toni snaked her way around the fighting detective, whose tears of anger were welling in her eyes and soaking into the black cloth that was doubled up and pulled tight between her teeth. It bit the corners of her mouth, and the white packing of cotton was barely poking out behind it. The smaller woman grabbed her captive by the jaw, causing the detective to renew a struggle before Toni looked her in the eye.

"Aww, what's the matter, does that make you sad?" Toni stuck out her lower lip, mocking the detective who bit down on her gag and pulled at the cuffs, "No? Does it make you a widdle bit angwy? And now you came out here to teach me a wesson?"

With a laugh, Toni mussed her captive's hair before standing up and letting the bound woman fall over. Detective Falwell was trying to reach to the pouch in her waistband which had the handcuff key, but the tape around her arms made that a bit more challenging. She struggled to face her captor, to mask her efforts to free herself. She glared at the woman, who strutted over and gingerly placed the handgun on a table. She then picked up the shotgun, coyly smiled back at the helpless captive, and went to put the weapon away in the hall closet.

"And how'd that turn out for you?" Toni smirked at the cop, who broke eye contact in disgust, "Now you're all cuffed and taped up and at my mercy. Look, your hair's all messed up. You really should wear your little bandana up there, instead of around your mouth."

"Errrrphhmmmnu, rrrrph eerriiiphhrrrrdrrrr," the cloth in her throat stopped up Jessica's retort.

"Oh yeah? Is that so?" like a cat playing with her food, Toni stalked back over and looked down at her prey, "As I said, you should've just taken the loss, baby. You could be licking your wounds back home. Instead, you're gonna be licking something else tonight."

That insult sent Jessica into a fury, momentarily forgetting about the handcuff key. Rage took over and she tried to get her hands on the smug criminal in front of her, but the cuffs held firm and the tape didn't give way, and she exerted some energy in a futile effort, which only made her kick her legs and scream into her gag.

"EERRRETTHHHRRRRRKKKKKRRRRRR!"

"Oh shhhhh shhhhhh shhhhhhhhh, we're going to have so much time to play. Now, let me see what other fun things you brought me," Toni picked up the duffel and started rooting through it a bit more thoroughly, her captive bound and helpless.

Or so she thinks, Jessica narrowed her eyes and renewed her focus on the hidden pouch. It was a little bit tougher with the half dozen winds of tape around her arms, but soon enough she was able to reach and get a gloved finger inside the pouch. All she had to do was pick the key out without dropping it...

"A girl gets flattered looking at all this attention," cooed the criminal as she retrieved a stun gun, coils of rope, another roll of duct tape, zip ties, and a few other paraphernalia from the duffel and laid them out nicely on the floor between the two. The detective hadn't betrayed any movement behind her back as her captor surveyed the instruments of capture and torture before her, "And to think. All undone in a moment, because you leapt before looking. All this could have been yours to play with on me, but instead...detective...I'm thinking we're going to have fun together."

Toni grabbed a coil of rope and playfully approached her bound captive on hands and knees. Jessica snagged the handcuff key and closed it in her palm just as Toni climbed on to her, pushing the angry officer to the floor under the weight of her captor's breasts, sex, and breath. Jessica squirmed to try to get some room, but Toni grabbed her and they were face to face. What Toni didn't see, however, was the handcuff key slide into its hole, and start to turn. And she had not noticed that Detective Falwell had turned enough that a free hand could reach the stun gun...

"I've had a handful of women...none of them quite as attractive as you, you know," she ran her hand through Jessica's hair and a disgusted grunt came from behind the gag, "And I think we have a lot of time to really explore some new games together, don't we? Your outfit, your gun, the fact that there's no backup...I'm betting nobody knows you're here, do they? Mmm...hmmmmm...we're going to have a long, long time to get to know each other."

Toni's face was right on top of Jessica's as the officer's freed hand found the stun gun behind her. She wasted no time, using every bit of force to wrench her body to the side, pressing the stun gun into her captor's ribs! A sizzle of electricity and the smell of ozone matched a breathless cry from the woman who was in the middle of gloating over her prize. Jessica didn't let up, but pressed in to her with another shock, as Toni convulsed once and lay with eyes wide open trying to regain control over her muscles! Just as quickly as she sprung on the detective, she'd lost her advantage and Jessica was now working her way free of the tape around her upper arms.

The detective didn't even bother to remove her gag or the tape on her legs. With her hands out of the cuffs, Detective Jessica Falwell grabbed, tore, and worked to remove the tape bindings around her arms as she kept a very close eye on the woman who was trying to regain her breath. She gave Toni another jolt with the stun gun that caused her legs to kick and spasm, and she figured that bought her the time she needed. With a grunt through the gag that was still in her mouth, Jessica rolled her former captor over and brought her hands behind her back. With a length of rope in hand, she took a bight of it and looped it several times around Toni's wrists, then gave it a tight cinch before exhaling. Detective Falwell finally reached up and pulled her headband down out of her mouth, spitting out the handkerchief, and then used the open handcuff ratchet to tear at the duct tape on her legs.

"Alright bitch...let's get down to business."

During the process of tying Antonia to the chair, Detective Falwell had periodically shocked her when she saw her captive started to stir in earnest. She wanted no more mistakes, and it wasn't long before she had dragged Toni into a side room, seemed to be an office with a desk and a bookshelf. It was sparse, but it would do. She had initially thought to bring her quarry down into the basement, but there was a chance of screams escaping if she didn't fix the window she had entered through, and she was preoccupied with restraining the woman that had once gotten the best of her. Jessica sat Toni in a wooden chair with slats, and placed Toni's bound wrists over the back. She zip tied the rope that bound Toni's hands together to the slats of the chair, and then tied each ankle to a chair leg.

A groggy black haired Toni was starting to shake the cobwebs when Jessica retrieved a very large harness ball gag from her duffle and popped it in a mouth that was just starting o work. Instinctively, the criminal tried to shake her head loose and spit the two inch rubber ball out, but the detective simply forced it in as she buckled the main strap, then the chin strap, and finally the criss-crossing overhead straps.

"I picked this up at an adult store," Jessica mewed with some self-satisfaction, "I know your sick mind is going to go erotic, but it's so you can feel the humiliation. You're like a dog that needs to be put down, and this is your chew toy."

Jessica pulled down on the gagged woman's lip and some drool escaped and fell from her open mouth.

"You were so arrogant, and now look at you. You've had this coming."

"...erhhhhmerrrrrrphhmrrrr..."

Antonia's muscles were starting to respond again as her head began to steady itself. The rubber ball stretched her jaw and a line of drool fell from her lower lip onto her body. She began to twist at the wrist ropes and weakly kick at her ankles, but this time the detective was on top of her. Cinched ropes were tied at her knees, keeping her legs from gaining any leverage. Jessica had taken a long rope and wound it around Toni's arms, which themselves were wrapped around the chair, and after seven or eight rounds she tied cinches underneath the armpits. Toni's once-confident glare widened as she realized her chances of escape were halving every second.

"I made a costly mistake by rushing in, not checking the doors and corners, and I almost paid dearly for that. Your mistake was gloating before a thorough search," the detective was still breathing a little heavily from the exertion of escaping, overpowering the other woman, and getting her into a chair. Jessica checked each set of ropes that bound her, evaluating their sturdiness closely, "And that pat down I gave you on the way down here? That's the last action you're ever going to see."

"Mrrrphrrrrrhmmmr!" the chair squeaked as Toni suddenly jolted, straining as much as she could against the ropes. She was a prisoner in her own home, a perfect hideout where no one was supposed to ever find her.

Detective Falwell took a moment and stretched her neck, taking a couple deep breaths. She had thought about this for a long time. It was almost cruelly snatched away from her because of a bathroom break, but her determination paid dividends. Her thorough planning had even accounted for her fuck up, she sewed that hidden pocket for her handcuff key just in case, and it saved her life. It had taken almost a year of her life, and every resource available, but everything finally paid off as she looked over at the grunting and struggling criminal who sat before her. The woman who had raped the man she loved in his office, ended his career, sent the couple to disastrous therapy, discredited her own career, and laughed at her the entire time.

"I suppose you're wondering how I found you," Jessica had calmed down, and was now holding a zip tie in her hands, playing with it as she looked at the ball gagged woman out of the corner of her eye, "You disappeared off the map, didn't you? Dyed your hair to jet black. Looks like you got yourself a tan, holed up in this farmhouse over state lines, in the middle of nowhere."

Antonia shifted in the chair and huffed out of her mouth, some spit falling onto her lap.

"Once my relationship ended, after months of therapy, I had a lot of time on my hands," Jessica took quick footsteps behind the chair, and reached the zip tie over Toni's head and around her neck, "I was on paid leave. My depressed ex-boyfriend wouldn't answer my phone. All I had was time...time to scour every source at my disposal to find you. I pieced together every scrap of information I had on your life. I dug deep, and I found this house that was left to a distant cousin of yours...a cousin that died a few years ago. Isn't that funny."

The zip tie suddenly tightened around Toni's throat, ratcheting as Jessica pulled it click by click until Toni could no longer breathe! Her screams didn't even make it to the ball gag, welling up in her throat and stopped entirely by the plastic tie, as she shook and pulled in every direction at once! Jessica stepped away but the pressure remained, the plastic ratchet locked the zip tie in place as Toni pleaded for air. Jessica's anger and energy remained in place around Toni's neck, a phantom choking the life out of the bound woman.

"You and this cousin...you were picked up on petty larceny a long time ago..." Jessica completely ignored the strangled pleas, the bulging wide eyes, and the futile struggling of her captive as she slowly walked back in front of her fading vision, "Then they turn up dead. The property goes to auction...and is bought, with cash, by someone matching your current description. And they're never seen again..."

Toni's lungs were on fire. She could feel the pulsing in her neck, her vision began to blacken at the edges. The most she could do was nod a pathetic plea in the detective's direction as her struggles faded. Instead of twisting and pulling at the ropes, she was now weakly twitching against them, the zip tie cruelly cutting into her neck. She didn't even feel the wire cutters as Jessica placed them to her neck, getting underneath the zip tie.

"And then suddenly...a couple of months ago, this mysterious person appears on surveillance cameras at the gas station in town," Falwell took her time, milking her statement, as she snipped the zip tie, barely nicking the side of her captive's neck.

The pain in Antonia's throat was unbearable as she began coughing furiously. Jessica unbuckled the ball gag and it fell to the floor, the detective allowing Toni to cough for several minutes unable to reach her hand up to comfort her neck. It took nearly five minutes for Toni's vision to return to normal, to get her breath back, and to even contemplate asking a question. She was certain she was going to die, and to have that taken away from her was its own sort of cruelty, Jessica making it clear they would repeat that game as many times as she saw fit. Toni's frantic breathing hadn't caught up to her yet, and her wide eyes were looking side to side to see if there were anything in the room to help her.

"Of course I couldn't use the department's resources. I just got back from suspension, I was not only taken off the case but I was told if I went anywhere near it I would be busted down to meter maid," the detective untied the black headband from around her neck, still damp from having been in her mouth, and neatly folded it before tying it to blindfold Toni's desperate eyes, "It took some...creativity. VPN's, learning how to use Chinese facial recognition software. It was tedious."

Unable to see, her captor's own sweaty and spit soaked gag now over her eyes, Toni couldn't help but burst into tears.

"P...please..." her voice was raspy, "I...I'm s-s...sorry..." in between sobs and coughs, the woman who had been so confident just moments ago sat hopeless, bawling in her own chair in her own room in her own house. She had been tied up plenty of times, but they were always with lovers. When she was cuffed by police, there were always rules. This was the first time she was completely at the mercy of someone who wanted to do her actual harm.

Ignoring her begging, Jessica walked over and retrieved a few more tools from her duffle, still working her jaw from how tight the gag was earlier, and still smoothing her hair out of her face. But she'd taken on a methodical calm, a serene feeling of completion. It hadn't taken long to break her prey, who had been so cocky just a short while earlier, by depriving her of air and of sight. The spectacle of the terrified woman tied to the chair, searching blindly left and right for anything to help her, gave the detective a sense of satisfaction that no arrest or guilty plea ever did. Antonia Scalpa was going to pay not only for her crimes, but for the crimes and jeers and behavior of every deplorable piece of garbage that thought they could get away with it.

"You are sorry," Jessica had no inflection in her voice as she crammed the handkerchief that had been in her mouth into Toni's, still moist with her saliva and dirty from falling on the floor.

"Nnnnnnnooommmmmmmppppppp!!!" the smaller woman tried to cry out, but Jessica placed the two inch ball back in. She hadn't even bothered to wipe it off, grabbing it off the floor and jamming it in to pack the cloth in farther, and buckling the leather straps as tight as she could, "Mmmmph! MMMmck, errrrrrMMMMPH!"

The crinkle of the plastic bag made the gagged woman seize up in her crying and struggling, but it was no use. Jessica pulled the plastic over Toni's head, and no amount of useless shaking back and forth would do anything.

"This necklace won't be as tight as the last," Jessica stated without any empathy or emotion as she placed some tape around Toni's pulsing neck, "We're just going to see how long it takes you to pass out."

Antonia fought for her life, twisting and pulling in one direction then the other. She tried to bite the plastic bag from around the two inch rubber ball, with no success. She thrashed and tried to rub her head against anything she could find, all while crying out. The harder she twisted and tugged, the harder her heart beat. She tried to avoid gasping, but her lungs demanded it, and the bag sucked onto her face with every inhale. Her exhales didn't fair much better, the bag ballooning out with hot air from which there was no escape.

Two bound legs twitched against their ropes involuntarily. Toni's eyes started to roll back into her head as she felt a calmness overcome her. A pleasant numbness draped from the top of her head down her face, and as her eyes closed her struggles ceased. It took Jessica about two seconds to rip the bag open, tearing the tape collar that kept it around Toni's neck. She unbuckled the ball gag and a massive run of drool fell onto Toni's lap from her slack jaw. For a moment Jessica thought that was it, but a sharp inhale came from her captive.

"GuhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH!" Toni's eyes snapped open as air rushed into her lungs. It took her a split second to gasp a few deep breaths before she even began to realize where she was. By then Jessica was behind her, clamping a leather gloved hand over her mouth, "aaaahhhmmmmmmmmmppph..."

Toni tried to bite Jessica's hand, but she only ended up with a little bit of leather in between her teeth for her effort. She reached back with her tied hands to grab on to the detective's leg, gripping a handful of pants but nothing more. Jessica felt the scream come from deep within Antonia's chest and stop at her palm, pressing her hand tight around the woman's mouth.

"You lasted longer than I thought," she said, revealing no actual amount of time. For all Toni knew she could have had that bag on her head for a minute or ten minutes. Not that it mattered, as the detective reached with her second hand and cupped it tightly over Toni's nostrils. The smaller woman bucked, yanking her head as much as she could, but the experienced policewoman pressed the back of Toni's head into her chest, holding it still despite all the struggles, keeping both hands over her captive's mouth and nose, "Let's study some more methods, shall we?"

"mph! mph! mmmmmmmmmmmphhh!" the tiny sounds barely escaped from behind the leather gloved hands.

Toni pulled at the ropes that held her to the chair, but she only filled the air with muffled cries and the unforgiving squeaks of straining against the wood. Outside the farmhouse, one might mistake the sound for that of a TV turned up loud. And at the end of the half mile driveway, there was no sound but distant branches rattling in the cool autumn breeze.

Antonia was young, and she had life right where she wanted it. Anything in the world was hers for the taking, it was only a matter of conning, outsmarting, and disappearing. She'd never needed to use force, but she liked to now and again. A sultry tease could be just as effective as a well placed pistol whip. At the end of the day, all that mattered was she could take, she could get away, and she could enjoy every minute of it.

The last crime finally landed her in some hot water, including getting booked at the precinct and interrogated for a couple of hours. She'd made off with about fifty grand of insured corporate money from an armored car, and she was proud of how smooth she was able to pull it off. It required elegance, precision timing, and a ruthlessness to make the armed guard believe she was absolutely going to kill him if he didn't comply. But at the end of the day, she had disguised herself well enough that he couldn't point her out of the lineup. No evidence was available. She remembered taunting the angry female detective as she sauntered out of the station.

"Let me know if you need any more of my help, please keep the streets safe," she called out in a sing-song, waving as she left the police station.

When she had heard from a fence that some late evidence had been found, Toni knew the lady detective would be on her in a heartbeat. Toni threw on a disguise, something at which she'd grown competent. It's amazing what a good wig with a change of bangs, some contouring makeup, and the right clothes could do. She hadn't yet pulled one over on a cop inside a police station, but it couldn't be that hard. A challenge could be fun. They were trained and there were cameras, but at the end of the day she just had to find some dope. She had crushed up a cocktail of roofies and other sedatives, and prepared some straw packets of it, just in case a chance presented itself, but she was going to play it by ear. Improvisation was a big part of her game.

Toni took a look at herself in the mirror. Her five-foot-two frame and pouty lips made for the perfect little damsel in distress, as she flashed some doe eyes and breathed heavily. She would have whoever she ran into wrapped around her finger.

SPLASH! Ice cold water shocked Toni's system. She tried to reach out and defend herself, but her arms wouldn't respond. She tried to call out, but something stuffed up her mouth. She couldn't even see, she just felt cold. A few seconds of hyperventilation passed before she managed to piece together where she was, what was happening to her. When her captor removed her blindfold, the light from the window hit her with blinding force. It took her a few moments to adjust as the world slowly began to make sense.

"I thought that last one could've been it," Detective Falwell's voice was as cold as the morning air, "It'd have been a shame. You've gone through quite the gambit of garrotes, baggings, smothering, and then that choke hold at the end. I feel like I was just starting to get to know you."

Toni's eyes slowly adjusted and she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror hung on the wall. Her five-foot-two frame was now lashed tightly to a wooden chair. Those pouty lips were stretched, starting to crack, wrapped around a huge red ball in her mouth. She made for a perfect little damsel in distress now, alright. Those eyes flashed with exhausted panic, her breath barely catching up to her. Rope wrapped around her hands, arms, and legs.

"...eeeeph...eeeephhh mmmo mmmmrrrr..." Toni croaked, her voice barely escaping a whimper.

Jessica raised an eyebrow over a cup of coffee. She had allowed herself a couple of cat naps, right after making her captive pass out. As soon as the sun rose she raided the pantry and scrounged the most meager of breakfasts - the last granola bar and some leftover popcorn. Despite her extremely thorough planning on arriving here, she hadn't planned for how exactly this revenge would go...she was sort of letting it take its course. The woman in front of her was directly responsible for the most humiliation and pain she'd ever experienced, and that was before she'd gotten the drop on her and taped her up! Every hour of watching her ex having to explain that he hadn't had sex with a woman in his office, that what happened on camera was a lie. Every painstaking moment of finding those hair samples and fingerprints at the armored truck, only to go up in smoke when the evidence locker was raided. All of it...was worth the repayment, and she was savoring every minute of it.

"What was that?" the detective knelt down in front of the exhausted captive.

"...mmmmo mmmmmrrrghrrr...pleephhh..." the smaller woman was running on fumes.

"Sorry," Jessica made a sideways face and ran a gloved finger along the strap of the gag, "I can't understand you. You might want to work on that."

"MMMMMMPPPPHHHH!" Toni snarled and pulled at the ropes, trying to kick her feet. Jessica slapped her hard across the face, her head snapping to the side as her ears rang. She automatically tried to loosen her jaw, but it was pried open wide and stuffed with cloth.

"You live like an animal you know," Jessica sipped the last of her coffee, grimacing slightly, "Not a clean dish, I had to wash the coffee pot and the mug. Don't even have any goddamn creamer. Nothing but booze and junk food. It's pathetic."

Slowly she walked around Toni, to the desk where some tools had been laid out. She had originally planned to confront the woman that ruined her life, get her to confess, and kill her. But after her brief capture, and during the first strangulation blackout, she realized she had all the time in the world to really milk this therapy of hers for all it was worth. The detective picked up a crescent wrench and a hammer, and walked over in front of Toni. The girl's eyes went wide as saucers upon seeing the tools and she renewed her efforts to free herself.

"HHHHLLLLLLMMMMP!!! HLLLLLLLMP MMMMMPH!" Toni cried as loud as she could, but the words didn't escape the secluded house.

"No one's coming to help you. You know, I was going to give you the choice," Jessica sneered as she held up one tool and then the other, "I was going to see if you wanted me to crush the pinky finger on your right hand, or hammer the pinky toe on your right foot. It was just going to be some pain until confession, then a quick and merciful end. But then you went and held me at gunpoint didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?"

Jessica grabbed the gagged woman by the hair and wrenched her head back. Toni did her best to nod the affirmative, between tears and coughs. Jessica was furious, and she'd been furious for hours now, but her cruelty did know its limits. She was lapping up every drop of this unapologetic woman's mental anguish, her humiliation and terror. But she knew that at the end of the day, she didn't have the stomach for outright physical torture. Sure, she knew interrogation techniques very well. She could make a suspect break psychologically, using a bright light and heat. But the choking and smothering had made the detective feel something. She felt regret when her captive had passed out. She had hoped that Toni would wake up. At first she thought it was so that she could do it again and again, but slowly it pulled on her that she shouldn't be this person. She was pushing her own limit. Detective Falwell studied her whimpering captive for a moment before letting go of her hair. She kept a scowl on her face as she continued interrogation.

"I monitored your movements here for over a month. You've just been going to the store and back. Was this your endgame? Just lay low?" the gagged woman could only nod slowly, "Hoping that the world would just forget what you did. What, six months? Another year? Till things cooled off?"

"...mmmppphhhh hhmmph..." Toni could still only nod, the straps of the gag digging tight into her face.

"I didn't forget, bitch," Jessica reached up and pinched Toni's nostrils shut, causing the bound woman to thrash against the ropes and open her mouth wide around the ball, trying to breath through the cloth in her throat, "I took every precaution. No one is going to come looking for you. I timed this down to the hour, even to the day after you made your goddamn utility payments. You aren't weaseling your way out this time."

As Jessica let go of Toni's nostrils, the bound woman heaved gaping breaths and fell into a deep sob. Every couple of seconds she tried to begin pleading again, her words a nonsensical backdrop of noise as the police detective contemplated putting a bullet in her and being done with it. But this revenge felt so right, she'd waited so long. It was justice that Antonia Scalpa would not escape again, but it was immeasurably satisfying to see her beg and grovel, to admit that she was terrified. Detective Falwell ran a gloved hand over her gun before picking it up. She walked back in front of Toni with it and immediately upon seeing the firearm the smaller woman renewed her struggle, screaming with every bit of energy she had left.

The detective didn't smile, didn't tilt her head, didn't do anything but watch with cold eyes as Toni twisted as much as the rope would allow. She then twisted back the other direction, about a half an inch. She uselessly strained her legs and arms against the ropes and grunted into a mouth full of cotton and rubber until she looked like she was about to burst. Then she slumped, sobbing, exhausted.

"I take it you don't want me to shoot you?" Jessica raised an eyebrow. Toni immediately renewed her limited begging.

"Mmeeephhh! Mmmmoo mmmmrrrrrph!" no more tears came from her eyes, but Toni heaved in sobbing regardless, "Mmmmrrrrgghrph, nnnnmmrgggrrrlphggg...plmmmmmmph..."

Detective Falwell studied the pitiful creature for a moment in silence, then nodded in understanding.

"Fine," she calmly placed the gun on a nearby table, and without hesitation grabbed a plastic bag, "We'll see if a couple hours changes your mind."

"MmmmmmMMMMMMRRRRRPHPHHHH!!!!" Toni reached deep and raged as Jessica loosely draped the bag over her head, then walked out of the room. Her breathing was labored, but not cut off, and it would be agonizing until the detective returned.

Detective Falwell had always had a bit of an edge. She was quick to use physical force, maybe a twisted wrist or a swift elbow to the sternum, if a suspect was resisting. She never crossed the line, but there was something about the audacity of an individual who broke the law and then fought back. She'd had a passion for law enforcement her entire life, and she took it incredibly seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she carefully strode that line herself. She had never broken regulations, hadn't even bent them, except in cases where she was under extreme duress. After years of seeing scumbags skate the system and get off, this girl pushed her over the edge.

The diminutive grifter made it personal. She was on camera, in a detective's office, Jessica's boyfriend for that matter, having sex with him. Then she invalidated a case that Jessica had spent agonizing weeks putting together. In five minutes it was all in flames, and that slut in the other room was the reason. Falwell now had her right where she wanted her, and it dawned on her that she had stepped far over that line. An unblemished record was now marred, and the only thing that would keep Jessica out of jail was the fact that no one would ever know about it.

Jessica stepped into the bathroom and ran the cold tap for a few seconds. She could hear Toni's muffled cries and the occasional struggle from down the hall. Splashing some cold water on her face, Jessica studied herself in the mirror. The red lines of irritation at the corners of her mouth, and on her wrists, were pretty much faded. But the sting of being helpless, her life flashing before her eyes, very much brimmed at the surface. In a weird way, she felt an empathy for Antonia that very few others possibly could. For the first time, she wondered if her cruelty had run its course. In spite of any sick enjoyment she was experiencing, she took a deep breath and realized she should put an end to this.

"There's no going back," she firmly reminded herself in the mirror. The only way out of this was with Antonia paying the ultimate price. Any jury would convict Jessica for what she'd done so far, and she had no interest in jail time. But perhaps her prey had suffered enough. She had wanted to hear the bitch beg, she wanted her to know she'd finally been beaten. Jessica sighed and walked past the spare room, ignoring the struggles and the labored breathing from her captive, and into the kitchen. She poured a glass of water and walked back to the room with Toni before she could change her mind.

The heartbeat that the sadistic detective placed the plastic bag on her head and left the room, Toni began to hyperventilate and twist at her unforgiving bonds. There was some measure of tactics for her, however. This was her home. She knew that inside the top drawer of the desk, the very table where all the tools of torture were laid out, was a switchblade. She'd used it as a damn makeshift screwdriver just yesterday. If she could just get a hold of it, she might manage to live through this!

Barely fighting back a panic attack, Toni worked to scoot the chair back millimeter by millimeter. It came through jolts and struggles as she gasped inside the plastic bag, around the enormous gag. Her hands pulled against the zip tie that held the rope to the chair, her fingers spread wide, reaching desperately for the drawer handle. Her chest heaved and her neck muscles strained as she tried with all her might to quench the fire in her lungs with precious air. It seeped through the open end of the bag until she gasped so hard to plastic clung to her face, and exhaling took extra effort because the wet plastic stuck to the wet rubber ball gag. She was openly flailing as the very tip her finger briefly made contact with the drawer handle.

"MMMMMMRRRRRRGHGGGHLLMMMM!!!" was the primal yell of an animal in full blown panic. Her lungs automatically sucked in air so quickly that the hot and wet plastic of the bag stuck to her face and she shook her head just to get it off, to no avail.

She gasped, tried to kick, and reached to touch the drawer handle again. Her arms pulled against the rope with all their might and she could feel her finger on top of the drawer handle! She was starting to see spots, ready to pass out yet again, when suddenly the bag was ripped off her head.

The girl had remained right where Jessica left her, struggling to breathe as the plastic bag sucked against her face with every inhale. She was bucking wildly against her bonds, trying hopelessly to earn one more lungful of air. With no fanfare or dramatics Jessica removed the bag, which caused Toni to breath deeply, even well after the detective unstrapped the gag. It took Toni a few seconds to work the rag out of her dry mouth. She sucked in the cool air and it was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

"Drink," Jessica cupped the back of Toni's head with her palm to hold it steady, and presented the glass of water near her face. Toni's instincts overcame her and she completely abandoned the potential freedom within the closed drawer, bending forward as much as she could and sipping and sucking water from the glass. She'd been tied and gagged for hours, overnight, and was completely parched. She had pissed herself at one point during the night, probably when she was passed out due to lack of oxygen, but that had gone completely without comment from either woman. She was dry, and she drank.

Jessica held her head, helping guide her, until half the water in the glass was consumed and Toni nodded and held back for some air. Gasping in relief, she closed her eyes and gulped down the liquid, relaxing for a moment in her bondage. It had been a brutal night and morning, with by the worst torture she'd ever endured, and every split second she was certain she was going to die.

"Th-...thank y-you..." Toni managed to croak weakly, almost in disbelief that she would ever thank this bitch for anything.

"You and I both know how this is going to end," there was no kindness in Jessica's voice, only stern authority. She was stating facts, no longer driven by hatred or loathing. She had had her measure of revenge, and this woman that she hated so much had paid for what had been done, "I believe in justice. Something you've escaped from your entire life. But I think at this point you've suffered enough, so there's no need to make this more painful or dragged out than it needs to be."

Toni's breath was shaky. She had managed to touch her fingers to the drawer handle. Even though escape still relied on using her limited leverage to open the damn drawer, reaching in and rooting around inside for a knife without being able to turn and look, and then getting the knife open and cutting the ropes that held her, it was at least a possibility. With the detective sitting there staring at her, gun in hand, talking about how she was going to kill her, that hope snuffed out like a candle.

"If...if you a-arrest m-me...it's y-your word against m-mine..." Toni looked down at the floor, ready to throw herself into jail rather than die today, "N-n-no one would b-believe me, you c-could put me in j-jail-"

"Arrest you for what?" Falwell was direct, blunt, but not cruel, "You think I haven't dreamed of putting you behind bars? Have you committed a crime that I could prove in a court of law, since your exoneration from the armored car robbery? Trust me, I tried to prove that was you on camera stealing from the evidence locker, raping that detective-" Jessica felt a flush of anger, and took a breath. That detective was the man she'd loved, whose life was in tatters. He had left the force in disgrace. He had cut her off completely.

"I'll confess! I'll sign, I'll do anything, please!" Toni was working herself up into tears again.

"You know that won't work," Jessica suppressed her anger and remained in control, "I was taken off your case. I crossed state lines. You know there's no official capacity for me being here. The department won't like to hear how I came here in secret, broke in, and tortured you into a confession for a closed case that has no evidence. It's not going to fly."

Behind her back, Toni reached her fingers up and touched the drawer handle again, even just as a sign of comfort. The idea of escape was literally within her grasp, but it may as well have been on the moon, locked in a safe. The detective had clearly made up her mind on this. She hung her head and cried, then sniffed through a running nose and gave a little laugh.

"...heh heh... *sniff*" a tear fell onto her lap, "You really thought this through..."

"It's the only way."

"H-...how are you going to do it?"

"I think you've suffered enough. I'll shoot you in the back of the head. I'll even bury you, in the back yard."

Toni took the deepest breath of her life, and let it out in a shaky sigh. Her throat was killing her from the zip tie garrote. Her arms and legs were going numb from pulling against the rope. Her jaw was unbelievably sore from the huge ball gag. She shook her head, it was absolutely pounding. She sniffed a couple of breaths.

"...you made coffee...smells good..." she quietly said, "C-...could I have a cup? I think I'm entitled to a last meal, right?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow. Her arms crossed in front of her, she picked up her mug from earlier and scowled, remembering the bitter taste of the bitter black coffee. Other than the hundred or so calories from the granola bar and stale popcorn, it had been her only sustenance. She thought of the three mile trek through the woods, on about two hours of broken sleep. She thought about the long drive back home, and how she wasn't going to risk stopping at a place for any food or drink just in case she ended up on a camera.

"Fair enough," she would not drag this out, but even this horrible woman deserved a reasonable last request, "Don't go anywhere."

Toni let the mocking poke linger unanswered. Once the detective was out of the room, she looked back over her shoulder at the desk. The drawer handle was within reach, and the height of the drawer was just at level with her bound hands. She should be able to reach in and find the knife without needing to dump the drawer's contents on the floor, but if she needed to she was ready to rock the chair and fall down to the floor. The issue of course was time. No doubt if the cop heard anything she'd walk right back in here, that whole show of decency put right to an end, and kill her dead. But that all meant nothing if she couldn't first get some leverage on the handle-

Footsteps. Toni stopped straining over her shoulder and relaxed her arms. There might be ways to buy some time or get some space, but if she was caught reaching for her only means of escape she dreaded what would happen.

"Here you go, you didn't have a straw or anything so-" Jessica had two cups of coffee. She set one down on the table and brought the other to Toni's lips.

"Unless you're torturing me with scalding liquid, I need it to cool off a bit," she said without any attitude, just the fact of the matter.

Jessica huffed. She had even rinsed out a mug (though she didn't scrub it) to give her worst enemy her dying wish. She knew Antonia was stalling for fear of what would happen after she finished the cup of coffee. It made sense, human nature.

"I would put some milk or creamer in it, but you live like a teenage boy," the detective set the mug down next to hers, and picked hers up.

Toni looked down, then up at the detective. Shifting her weight slightly, she nodded toward the kitchen.

"There's non-dairy creamer, third shelf, corner cabinet," she said plainly, "Dairy allergy."

"Mmm," the detective nodded, walking out of the room and calling behind her, "Something to cut the bitterness, good. Left a bad taste in my mouth."

Antonia almost remarked on the comment, she could still taste the rubber and the dirt that was on that rag. She immediately stretched her neck to look back over her shoulder. She pushed with her feet to nudge the chair a centimeter closer to the desk, and reached back to touch the drawer handle. Her index and middle finger hooked over the top and Toni was so overjoyed she almost began crying, when she heard footsteps approaching. Letting go of the handle, Toni settled again as Jessica entered the room. She carried four plastic straw packets, setting her mug down on the desk and opening two of them. She dumped them in to her coffee and stirred it with a spoon, then looked at Toni.

"One or two?"

"Oh, just one."

The detective dumped one packet into Toni's coffee, then opened the last one and added it to her own. She stirred and took a deep sip, her eyes closed, and a smile actually crossed her face for the very first time.

"Oh yeah," Detective Falwell savored the drink, "That's much better."

The detective took another sip as she sat down, placing the handgun on the bookcase next to her. She actually crossed one leg over the other, like she was lounging with a friend on the porch on a Sunday morning. The absurdity of it hit her as she took a deep breath and enjoyed her coffee. Maybe she was working up the courage to actually murder this defenseless woman - this criminal, of course, but still. Maybe that was even why she tortured her for so long. Jessica had told herself that she was prolonging Antonia's suffering, but was she really just backing out from the final act of killing her?

"Hey," the voice from the woman tied to the chair was steadier, "You find the cash?"

Detective Falwell let slip her poker face, she couldn't hide her confusion or surprise. Her eyes were inquisitive as she took a long sip and savored the flavor, uncrossed her legs, and studied her captive. Was this another attempt to win her over? Was this Toni looking to buy her way out of this? Or was this a sort of contrition by the doomed woman, reflecting on her life's work?

"I'm not interested in the money you stole," Jessica said very plainly.

"No, I mean...I guess I'm just kind of proud of how well I hid it," Toni actually smiled as she slumped her head down, biting her lip slightly, "I was really good at it, you know? Covering my tracks. Hiding my stash. Getting away."

"You didn't-"

"Yeah I know," Toni let out a small laugh as she made a show of lightly struggling in the ropes, "I didn't get away with it. But I did, for a long time. And if you didn't hate me so much, I don't think anyone would've pieced it together to find me. You pulled out all the stops to hunt me down. Unless, of course, you fucked up. It's probably not going to look great if someone else tracks me here, and finds me dead."

Detective Falwell nodded. She was actually impressed that Toni thought of that. It was not a bad argument against ending Toni's life, and it made a lot of sense. Unfortunately for the tenacious thief, this was just another escape attempt that was going to be cut off.

"You aren't the only person skilled at dismantling evidence, Antonia," she looked out the window as she thought back through the discovery of where her nemesis was hiding out. The late morning sunlight shone on the side yard of the farmhouse, and she could see the tree line and nothing else. No neighbors, no road, nobody. Jessica continued, "I know the detectives who picked up your cold case. Not only are they incompetent and lazy, their backlog is atrocious. Unless you pull another robbery or make a lot of noise, you're off their radar. And I took care of the trail of this house, the connection to your late cousin...everything."

Jessica stood up and walked over to the window, keeping one eye on the defeated woman in the chair who seemed to have come around to accepting the inevitable. When she reached the window, Jessica leaned to look out one side, then the other. She could barely make out the road in the distance toward the front of the house. Nothing but the shed and woods behind. No one was stumbling across this house. No curious neighbors came to this door.

"I think I'm going to get this show on the road," she looked over her right shoulder to Toni, bound to the chair, "I've got a long drive and the afternoon sun is gumma shy mim...ma fun..."

The words weren't correct, were they? Jessica turned to the window, then back to Toni. The floor tilted upward and she caught herself on the window sill. Both of her legs started to feel like gelatin, and she could hear Toni saying...saying something...but it was like she was saying it from down a well. Something was wrong. Jessica placed her right hand on the nearby wall with her left hand on the window sill, and steadied herself. The house had become a boat, sloping side to side, and she looked at her captive who was saying something unintelligible to her.

Jessica's jaw didn't work, and her breathing began to speed up. She did her best to center her vision on the handgun, so far away, down a long tunnel on the bookshelf. She took a step toward it and almost fell on her face. Bent over, she dragged her other foot and steadied herself on the desk. Reaching out toward the gun, Jessica fell off balance and landed on the floor. It should have hurt, but it felt like she landed on a mattress. It was so comfortable. Warm. The hardwood floor turned to a comforter made of cloud and enveloped her, and she fought her eyes from shutting. But it felt so good just to rest...

In between slow blinks, Detective Jessica Falwell could barely make out the woman in the chair. She was struggling wildly, and she seemed to be pulling at something behind her...

The first thing Jessica noticed was that her head hurt. It was like she'd been drinking all night, then popped some melatonin. She knew she would sleep all day if she didn't get up, and she definitely needed to get some water and some breakfast. The stomach pang of having gone too long without a proper meal was enough to keep her from falling back to sleep. Her body did not want to get out of bed. It felt like she had run a marathon the day before, everything ached and nothing was responding to her signals telling her to get up. Start the day.

Alright, let's go. Her mantra had always worked before. This time when she went to push herself up to rise, her arms didn't move. In fact, she was coming to the realization that her arms were behind her, and she couldn't bring them around to the front of her body! Jessica's eyes shot open and the complete disorientation struck her. She was somewhere dark, on a hard floor. She couldn't manage to lift herself up, and she looked down to see what the problem was.

The sight of her own body woke the detective out of the vestiges of slumber. She could see that she was on a dirty concrete floor, and it there appeared to be a web of ropes, duct tape, and zip ties criss crossing and encircling her body! She immediately kicked to shake loose the dream, and it felt like her legs were welded together. Craning her neck, she could see rope and tape and plastic ties encircling her upper legs, and her legs appeared to be bent at the knee, and she couldn't un-bend them.

"mmmphrrrhk" the bottom of Jessica's stomach gave out when she went to speak. Her jaw was wide open, but it wasn't exposed to the air. She could feel that something was wrapped around her face, and there were layers of it. It didn't give way when she tried to move her jaw, and as she connected the dots slowly she looked up and froze with terror when she saw herself in a mirror on the far wall.

She recognized her hair and her eyes, but the rest of her face was completely obscured. It looked like some sort of wrap, like an elastic bandage, was tightly wound around her head several times. Underneath the bandage she could make out the silver shine of duct tape, poking out above and below. Tape covered from beneath her nose, slightly up the sides of her cheeks, and was visible on her chin and lower jaw. The leather strap emerged from beneath the duct tape and went over her head, and she could see the telltale leather chin strap as well. It was the harness ball gag she had purchased on the way here, and she could feel that there was something - a lot of something - in her mouth besides a two inch rubber ball. The duct tape was wrapped around her arms above and below her bare breasts, marking the first time Jessica noticed she was completely naked. Over the tape were zip ties pulled tight, and beneath the tape she could see a harness of rope criss crossing and winding around her torso and upper arms. That rope had been cinched tight beneath her armpits and at the small of her back, and she could make out that her arms were not in a great way. It looked like her arms were crossed in a sort of box tie behind her back, each wrist tied and cinched to the opposite elbow. Rope, tape, and ties encircled her forearms, and the bindings that held her arms to her sides kept everything snug. She tried to pick at the rope but found that her hands were covered in tape, like mittens, and felt that inside they were formed into useless balled fists. Her taped fists stuck out from behind her back on opposite sides of her body, unable to work together.

Rope, tape, and zip ties continued down to her legs, holding them together at the thighs, above and below the knees, and at the ankles. Another series of layers kept her legs folded in half. There was a cinch and a wrap that held her heels all the way tight to her quads, and a series of ropes and ties that ran from her ankles to her forearms, causing an arch in her back. Then there was the V shaped rope that was pulled tight through her crotch. It all clicked in her waking brain and fury took over.

"NNNNNNNNNRRRRR!" Detective Falwell began to buck and pull, shaking her head, this couldn't be happening, "NR! HHNH NHN'H HRHHMNNNG GRN NRMMNH!! HHNH CRN'H HM HRHHMNNNG!!!"

No no no no no! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! Jessica squeezed her eyes shut and tried to wake up. This was some horrible nightmare, there was no way this was real. She slowed her breathing and concentrated on what her body was telling her. Lucid dreaming had been something she had some experience with, so she knew that the first sign that she was dreaming was if her feeling didn't match up with her sight. With eyes closed shut, Jessica could feel every pound of her heartbeat, she tried to slow her breathing through her nostrils, and she took a second to push out with her arms and legs. There was no movement. Her hands and arms were held together fast behind her back, and to her body. Her legs wouldn't separate or straighten.

Panic set in.

"MRRRRRRRRPHHH ERRRRPHMRRRRRR!...PPPHHHHHRRRKKKRRPHHM!...rrrRRRRRKKKKHHHGRMMM!" she strained against the ropes and tape and ties that held her with each exertion, arching her back and trying to find any leverage she could. Jessica tried to open her fingers to find a knot, a loose bit of rope, anything that could give, but remained cocooned in tape. She kicked her legs, hoping to move something off of her forearms, but there was no give. All strategy gave way to desperate twisting and thrashing, pulling back and forth as she cried out into the massive gag, "hhnh nhn'h hrhhmnnng! hhnh nhn'h hrhhmnnng! NNNNNRRRRRR, HHNH NHN'H HRHHMNNNG HR MM!!!"

It could have been five minutes, or it could have been twenty. By the time Jessica was too exhausted and out of breath to continue struggling, it made no difference. She was sweating profusely, despite being on a cold cement basement floor. Not a single binding had budged, and her gag stayed in place, forcing her to suck in every bit of air through her nose. The tears of rage that welled in her eyes gave way to tears of despair, and sobs of hopelessness replaced her angry struggles. This wasn't a dream. This was very real.

Jessica tried to piece things together in her head as she worked to probe her bindings. Raising her head to look around the room, she took stock of her surroundings. It was a basement, for sure. It didn't seem to be the same part of the farmhouse basement that she entered. There was a door along one wall, but otherwise it was a barren room, probably around ten foot square. The ground was partially finished, and she couldn't see anything to grab on to or any furniture, short of the full length mirror on one wall that gave her a humiliating view of herself.

Inching closer to see what she could examine, Jessica's bare breasts rubbed against the dirt and concrete which caused her to wince. Her eyes thoroughly scanned her bindings, and it only seemed to confirm her helplessness. At this range she could make out that there had to have been at least ten winds of duct tape around her mouth, spanning from just under her nose all the way down to below her chin, tucked up and under her jaw. Over that tape, an elastic bandage was wrapped and pulled tight, probably at least another six or seven layers. The round bulge of the red ball could barely be seen under all the wrappings, and she was completely unable to open her mouth wider to try to move any of it. She couldn't see inside, obviously, but it felt like there was something foul tasting behind the ball. She retched thinking about what it could be.

Each binding also had at least three layers. Even if she were able to somehow miraculously untie the rope, she'd first have to remove the zip ties, which were ratcheted tight over the duct tape. The tape, of course, was in several layers, so any amount of tearing or cutting would have to be done with considerable force and leverage. Not to mention something sharp, which she did not have. Even if she did, the cinched rope around her arms and torso, and the layers of tape, held her arms so firmly to her body that she doubted she could reach out and grab anything. The most frustrating part was that every time she tugged with her hands or arms, or every time she kicked at her feet, the rope in her crotch dug deeper. This situation was completely different than when she was bound with duct tape and her own handcuffs. She almost wished she was simply gagged with a handkerchief and a gross sweaty headband.

The creaking of floorboards above her head caused Jessica to freeze and listen. Footsteps were padding across the story above her. For a moment she was petrified, but she realized this was either her captor, or a potential rescue. Her captor knew exactly where she was, but she had absolutely nothing to lose if it was someone looking for her.

"HHHLLLLLLLLLLLMMMMMMPHHH!!!" it took every bit of air for Jessica to make any noise, she had to cease her struggles entirely. A huge inhale of air through her nose preceded another attempt at calling out, "HHHLLLLMMMMMPHHHHH MMMMMMPPPHHHH!!!"

The footsteps paused, and Jessica could almost visualize someone shifting their weight, craning their ear to wonder if they'd heard something. Her heart fluttered with hope as she desperately sucked in another lung full of air and continued to make as much noise as she could.

"HLLLLMMMPH! HHLLLLMMMPH! MMMMPHH RRRRRRNNNNNNNN HHHHHMMMPH!!!" each attempt took every ounce of air from her lungs, but she heard the padding steps continue, heard a door open, and she could hear someone walking down a set of stairs! Someone had heard her, she cried to them, "HHHHMMMRRHH MMMMM!!! N'M NRMN HMRM!!!! HRMMHRNM HMRH MM!!!!"

The door to the room opened and Jessica struggled to reorient herself toward it.

"I see you're finally awake," a familiar voice chimed from the doorway, and in walked Antonia Scalpa. She wore a silk bathrobe and was drying her raven black hair with a towel. There were still bruises on her neck and arms, but she looked relaxed, and very pleased with herself.

Her hope dashed, fresh tears of anger and helplessness fell from the detective's eyes as she renewed her struggling.

"MRRRRBBBGLRRRRGRRRR!!!" fury burst forth from Detective Falwell, as she lunged her shoulders toward Toni and desperately worked the useless lumps that were her tape covered fists. Jessica pulled as hard as she could with her arms to try to rip apart the ropes and tape and zip ties, her muscles shook and strained and she began to sweat from the effort. She ignored the gag filling her mouth and yelled into it with every bit of anger and rage, "RRRRRRRRRPHHHHMRRRRRRGGGHH!! RRRHHHHPH! NNNNNNNNNNRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Toni tilted her head calmly as Jessica frothed and struggled on the floor. She did nothing to taunt or tease, but just let the detective exhaust herself. It took a few minutes, but eventually Jessica's struggles slowed as she needed to catch her breath. Deep inhales and shaky exhales steadily came and went, interspersed with sporadic tugs and yanks at the bindings.

"I have got to admit, I didn't think it was going to work," Toni said as she finished drying her hair, "You had me. I was done for. It was a huge gamble to even try, but it was literally the only thing between me and a bullet, so I went for it. A real Hail Mary play."

Jessica stopped her struggles and glared at Toni with pure, unadulterated rage.

"Hell, even if you gave me an hour head start to get the knife out of the drawer and cut myself loose," Toni padded over to Jessica, speaking plainly and standing over the furious police detective, "I still would have had to fight you. You'd have kicked my ass. What was it you said to me? Something like...you were so arrogant...now look at you."

"HRCCH MRR!!!!!" a curse into her gag was all Jessica could muster. Her captor didn't even flinch.

"There's a wonderful bit of irony that you dosed yourself with the very same date rape drug I slipped your boyfriend," Toni smiled out the side of her mouth. She enjoyed watching Jessica freeze, her eyes widen with the realization, "Three non-dairy creamers. I only gave him two, damn. It's my own little concoction, and I am particularly proud of how well it works. Aw, your poor head must be pounding...basically on an empty stomach, it had to have hit your system like a freight train."

The tears were flowing now. Jessica had been captured, escaped, turned the tables on her nemesis, and had been moments away from exacting her revenge. She'd made sure everything was in place, a plan so perfect that even when she had fucked up she had a backup. Even when a careless misstep had almost cost her everything, she had a plan that she fought tooth and nail for. One goddamn cup of coffee later, everything was in tatters, and she was completely helpless against the woman that she should have killed. There was nothing she could do, and she was completely at the mercy of the criminal who had now bested her at every turn.

"Yeah, that's a real bummer huh," Toni reached a hand down and stroked her prisoner's hair, causing Jessica to snap a struggle that didn't last but a few seconds, "First you end up cuffed and taped at my feet because you couldn't take a loss. Now, it looks like you're in a real pickle because you couldn't figure out how to just take the win."

"...nr...n hhrrrn'hm chnrrmn mrr..."

"You're right. If you had just killed me, you wouldn't be all tied up right now."

"MMMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRRRMMMGGGGRRRRRLLMMMMMMMMLGGHHHHHHhhmmmmmmmmph-ph-phhh..." the cry of rage was all she had, the only defiance she was capable of, as Toni stood up and reached into her bathrobe pocket.

"Well, here's the good news. I forgive you," Toni looked down at her humiliated and helpless prisoner, "Lesser women might want to kill you, but I'm bigger than that. I have absolutely no desire to kill you. In fact, I have a bit of an offer for you. Something that works out for us both."

Wide eyes shot side to side over the massive gag as the detective tried to catch her breath through nostrils.

"This morning when you were talking about how you'd wind up in jail if anybody found out about how you came here to kill me, it dawned on me. We're both criminals," Toni playfully tugged at the rope between Jessica's breasts, then gingerly held Jessica's jaw and looked deep into the eyes of the bound woman, "Luckily, I happen to have heard from a very reliable source that not a single soul knows you came out here. And that the detectives that are on my file are inept, and have absolutely zero access to the fact that I live in this farmhouse. So, you don't need to worry about them arresting you."

Jessica's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and she slowly shook her head side to side. It was her turn to give way to a sob, something she never thought possible. She was completely and utterly helpless to whatever Toni wanted to do to her. Toni knew this, and hit home the very fact with a slow, deliberate, and full kiss on Jessica's gag, directly over the bulge from the rubber ball. The detective gave two squirms as she clamped her eyes shut and tears streamed her face, but Toni pressed her lips against her captive for several seconds before gently lowering her to the ground. Jessica spasmed from frustrated crying while Toni stood back up.

"Mmm...that kiss was nice. I think there's more where that came from. But I'd like to give you a choice, of course," Toni glared down at Jessica for a brief second, betraying a split second of anger, "I'm not heartless. Unlike some people."

Her arms in a tight box tie, Jessica had to roll to one side and prop herself up on an otherwise useless taped fist in order to maintain eye contact.

"It's lonely out here by myself. A roommate might be fun, but if you don't want to stay just say so."

"Hrcch nr."

Antonia raised her eyebrows and leaned down, cupping one hand to her ear, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"MMMMOOOOPHHH!!!" the detective angrily cursed the negative.

"If we're going to live together, you're really going to have to work on your communication skills."

"RRRRHHHMMMMMPPHHHRRRHRMMMRRRRGGGLLRRRPHHHH!!!" the most movement Jessica could manage was rock back and forth as she yanked at her bonds, "RNHNM MM MRR HRCCHNNG HNHCH, N'RR HRCCHNNG CHNRR MRR!!!"

"Hmm? That sounded like errhmphmmrr murrr murr murr, I'm not sure, what with that ridiculous gag in your mouth," Toni pointed to her own mouth, mocking the furious woman on the ground, "I suppose eventually I'll have to change it out. For now I hope you enjoy the taste of my dish sponge, I know you just used it this morning so it should be reasonably clean...ish."

Retching took over as the foul taste in Detective Falwell's mouth now had a name to it. She wasn't a germaphobe, but she definitely had her limits. There was no pushing the sponge out past the tape and wrap, she couldn't even pray to move it around the two inch ball of rubber. Her hands automatically tried to reach up to remove the disgusting object from her mouth, and the helplessness of feeling her bonds hold her arms securely behind her back sent Jessica into another cry of frustration. It had a cascading effect, since yelling into her gag reminded her of the dish sponge, sending her into another retch.

"Since you seem to love being gagged and aren't even trying to get it out of your mouth, I've got a solution. If you don't want to be my roomie, that's no problem. You can just let me know by cutting yourself loose," Toni reached in to her pocket and pulled out the switchblade she'd used to free herself earlier. The knife was folded closed, and Toni had struggled to open it with both hands behind her back. She gingerly placed the closed knife down in front of Jessica's face, "I will totally understand."

Jessica huffed and looked up at Toni, then down at the knife, then up at Toni again. Furrowing her brow and grunting, she looked back down at the knife and began to tug and turn her body, trying with all her might to angle herself so that she could reach the knife with her hand. It took several minutes of exhausting core work, and Jessica turned over onto her back and was feeling with her shoulders for the small folded blade. Eventually her forearm discovered it, and she followed it to her useless tape mitt. She tried to manipulate the knife with her closed fist covered in tape, but the ball of tape was tied securely to her opposite forearm and gave her absolutely no ability to do anything other than nudge the knife.

"C'mon, it was good enough for me to escape with," Toni mockingly cheered her captive.

"NnnmmmmrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHRRRRRHRHHHHHHHHH!!!" she lay panting on her back, the knife might as well have been locked in a safe on the ocean floor.

"Well, I for one am so excited to be roomies," Toni picked up the knife and the defeated Jessica could only follow it with helpless eyes, "You can stay in here! This was a root cellar a long time ago, but if you can't tell by the mirror on the wall, I was using it as a yoga room and for kettlebell workouts. But this can be where you stay instead, I'm happy to make that sacrifice to you."

Completely defeated, Jessica looked up at the mirror. It was just hanging against the brick wall, probably supported by a nail in the brick a few feet up. The idea of smashing it to grab a shard and cut herself free crossed her mind, but even if she was untied she doubted whether she'd be able to reach high enough to kick it with her legs folded over. As if in response to Jessica's thoughts, Toni calmly grabbed the mirror by the sides and lifted it off its hook, leaning it on the wall just outside the room.

"I'll get that out of your way. This is your room now."

Even her hopeless possibility was cruelly taken away from her.

"But I'll tell you what, just in case you change your mind," Toni took a pair of safety shears out of her pocket, "I'll leave these in here with you, so you can cut yourself free if you get tired of living here."

Jessica's heart leapt as Toni showed her the shears. It would take forever to cut through the tape around her hands, but if she was left alone long enough she had the determination to get them open and saw at it. Then she could systematically cut the zip ties, the tape, and the rope and manage to free herself! Her captor's hubris would be the end of her after all!

"But let me just make sure they're safe for you, in your clumsy state," Toni pulled out a single zip tie and a roll of tape from her other robe pocket.

"Nnnnrrr..." the detective could do nothing as Toni ripped a strip of tape.

Toni first wrapped several inches of tape around the blade of the shears, covering them in at least eight winds of silver tape. She then fed the zip tie through the handles and pulled it tight, closing them together. Jessica would need another set of shears to ever hope to open them. In a final act of cruelty, Toni hung the shears by the handle on the nail in the wall which had held the mirror. It was a good five feet above the ground, a height Jessica would never be able to reach without use of her legs and arms. Toni ripped another piece of tape and stuck it over the shears, holding them against the wall.

"...nnnrrr...mm-mm-mmmmppppp..." for all of her training, experience, anger, and planning, all the detective could do was look upward at the idea of freedom that she would never be able to reach.

"I'll give you some time to think about your new life, detective," Toni leaned forward and tenderly kissed her new roommate on the cheek while Jessica could do nothing but stare in stunned helplessness, "You've got some anger issues to work out. I'll give you some space, let you come to terms with the fact that you and I are going to be hiding out here together for a long time. If you need some help meditating on things, I know a nice breathing exercise."

The plastic bag was placed loosely over Jessica's head before she could understand what was happening. She immediately went into a panic and began to buck and bray. The bag was still wet on the inside from when it was placed over her captor's head this morning, and when it stuck to Jessica's face she felt disgust and terror the likes of which she'd never felt before.

"NRRRRRRRR!!! NNNRRRR!!! GMH NH RHH, GMH NH RHH! HRRRRRMMMMMMRHHHMMMM!!!!" the bag sucked against Jessica's face and her screams echoed inside it.

"Earlier you mentioned a couple of hours, but you only left me to it for a few minutes," Toni thought back to when she was the one begging for the exact same bag to be removed from her head, "I think you can go the distance, detective. I'll see you after I eat some dinner."

Jessica tried to rub her face against the ground, but the wet inside of the plastic bag stuck to her face and didn't move. Her captor stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door and leaving the detective to struggle for air in the cold root cellar.

Pulling into the long driveway, the nondescript blue car eased up next to the farmhouse and parked. Antonia turned off the engine and stepped out, then reached back in and grabbed the grocery bags out of the back seat. She didn't bother locking the car. If anyone wanted to come onto her property and steal it, they earned it. Besides, it's not like she paid for the thing. Opening the back door of the farmhouse, Toni placed the paper bags on the counter and started putting refrigerated items away.

"It's just me, don't worry," she called out, "It's not some stranger. Or the cops, here to arrest you."

She fished an apple from one bag and grabbed the other under her arm, then opened the basement door and trotted down the steps. Reaching the bottom, Toni glanced at the window that had been broken into so long ago. She'd replaced it, and sprung for a better security system that she had installed herself. She'd learned so many new tricks and tips from her roommate, she really didn't know how she got along without her. Toni took a bite of the apple and walked over to the door that led to Jessica's room and knocked twice, then opened.

"Hey, I didn't know if you were sleeping, but I have some good news."

The mattress her roommate lay on was worlds better than the cold floor, and her room was much more comfortable in the spring weather than it had been the last few months of winter. The safety shears were in the exact same spot on the nail, taped to the wall. Toni did provide Jessica another means of freeing herself, an old flip cell phone that was taped shut, its battery removed and balanced on the doorframe. Toni remembered how her roommate lost her temper when she explained that all Jessica had to do was un-tape and flip open the phone, reach up and grab the battery, place it into the phone, turn it on, and make a call. Toni had let her know that the phone was a decade old, so she wasn't a hundred percent certain the battery was charged, or if it had service. But it was there for Jessica if she wanted to try!

The woman formerly known as Detective Jessica Falwell looked up at Toni with eyes that burned with a deep, dark malice. She growled into the three pairs of panties that were in her mouth, held there by the leather harness panel gag. Straining to sit up, Jessica was pushing and inching against the brick wall, but the leather armbinder made that difficult. She had been working on a way to unlock the padlock at the top so that she could unzip it, then unlace the laces so she could slip it off. Then it would just be a matter of cutting or untying the ropes that tied her wrists, forearms, and elbows together behind her back. All this was made more difficult by the rope and leather which kept her in a frogtie position, and the strap that ran from the bottom of the armbinder between her legs.

"So. I was getting some groceries, and I saw a clip about you on the news," Toni set down the paper bag and took another bite out of her apple, talking with her mouth full as she walked over to the former detective, "That ex-boyfriend of yours that cheated on you with me? He was saying how they're hard at work looking for you, thinking you are all tied up with some drug cartel action down by the border."

"MMMMMMMMMLLLLRLRRRRRRRRPHHHHMMMM!!!" Jessica lunged at Toni, but was settled down with a hand on her shoulder. She immediately started to struggle with her armbinder as her roommate stroked her hair. Toni had shaved it a while back, giving it a more boyish look, and it was almost in need of another trim.

"I know! It's such a big relief that they're searching for you several states that-a-way," Toni pointed in a random direction with an outstretched hand, then brought the hand back and hooked her pointer finger onto the large hoop nose ring she had given Jessica for Christmas, "Lets us two criminals breathe easy and just enjoy life."

Letting go, Toni allowed Jessica to fall back to the mattress and struggle with fresh zeal. The angle of Jessica's bare behind showed off the clean mark from the branding iron which had been her New Year's present. Her grunting and mmphing was fairly commonplace, as it seemed her spirit would never quit. Toni was really grateful to have such a spitfire for a roommate. She smiled as she pulled a pair of ballet boots and an enormous double sided strap-on dildo out of the paper bag.

"By the way, I got us some new toys for our six month celebration."

Toni knelt down next to the woman who used to be a police detective. Ignoring Jessica's straining against the inescapable bonds that held her, Toni pet her head and smiled. Rescue was not ever coming for Jessica, and Toni could do as she pleased with her captive for as long as she desired. And it was all her own fault.