The Adventures of Raika Élan ESQ.: Hostage of the Year (Runner-Up) Prologue to an Adventure
DATE: JANUARY 10, 2006 TIME: 3:55pm LOCATION: ELAN AND ASSOCIATES
Rebecca Lorgen approached Ms. Kaldur’s offices with resignation. Her clients did not have a tenable position. This meeting was charitable from the other side’s perspective. Nonetheless many corporations were reluctant to literally take money from widows and orphans. Rebecca had practiced law for thirty years. This was not one of her favorite moments. A giant hedge fund held the option to purchase the most valuable unoccupied land on the reservation. The present owners, heirs to a one hundred year old benevolent bequest, had received rents through various tenants. Now the trust was expiring. A spendthrift heir to the fortune had foolishly signed over this future interest to one of the most rapacious assholes in the country. Ms. Kaldur represented that asshole along with numerous others. The six foot statuesque blonde with ice blue eyes, had struck out on her own three years ago. She was famous for being flanked by identical associates who were slightly shorter versions of her. The trio was a mainstay of cable television who never failed to cover their pronouncements from the courthouse steps. As trustee, Rebecca was legally bound to reach an agreement today. If she could stall past sundown, the trust could entertain new offers but the terms of the trust required her to execute an agreement today. All she could do is maybe obtain a little extra money for the beneficiaries. Ms Lorgen sat opposite to the trio at a conference table in Ms. Kaldur’s spacious office. She conceded the obvious immediately, “Looks like you have me over a barrel here.” “More like tied over a barrel with a gag in your mouth.” Ms. Kaldur unintentionally foreshadowed the room’s fate. “Nothing you can do or say today can prevent the transfer. As you well recognize your sole role is to execute the documents. Regardless, my client has gratuitously added one million to the beneficiaries. " “That is less than five thousand per widow and orphan.” Ms. Kaldur’s associate forcefully shoved the document across the table. “Sign please.” Rebecca grasped the pen with a sigh of resignation. Her hand reached down to form the “R” when the door opened with a crash. Into the office came the receptionist, a pixyish brunette with her hands tied behind her back, her eyes wild over the red ball in her mouth and a gun held to her head. “I suggest you don’t sign that, keep your hands on the table where I can see them.” commanded the gun wielding, hooded and leather clad tigress. Rebecca recognized her as Ami DeLigotage by reputation. The multiple felon trained her Beretta on the attorneys while she slid the whimpering receptionist face down onto the marble conference table. Retaining her grip on the gun, the unwelcome assailant deftly performed a one handed hitch to hogtie her hostage. Then she slid the small duffle over to the older woman to her right and barked, “Open it.” Rebecca unzipped the duffle. Inside were numerous coils of rope, Coban, and about a dozen ball gags. “Pass out the red balls.” Rebecca complied. “You know what to do. Buckle them tight or I will do it for you.” Each of the normally confident attorneys meekly strapped on the mouth filling contraptions. Ami pointed her pistol to the left, “You three, come over here and lie on your stomachs and grasp your ankles behind you.” The blond trio assented and assumed prostrate positions on the oriental carpet bent their knees and clasped their ankles. Ami turned her attention to older yet attractive woman. Her distinguished mien remained despite the big red ball in her mouth. Without prompting she put her hands behind her back. Ami secured the counselor’s hands and feet, tied her to the chair with some rope at her waist and turned her attention to the gagged and prostrate trio. Rebecca marveled at how quickly their assailant rendered helpless each of the blond attorneys. Bringing each to their knees one at a time, she tied their wrists, elbows chests and ankles. Then she put ear plugs in each of their ears. The Coban wrap was then wound over the ball gags, ears and eyes. Each of the girls was then helped face down on the Persian rug. The process culminated in three strictly hog tied, silenced, blind, and deaf captives. The receptionist received the exact same treatment on the conference table. The whole process did not take more than ten minutes. It was now Rebecca’s turn. The rope attaching her to her chair was removed and wrapped above and below her ample bosoms. Rebecca was offended that her elbows were not compressed together like the others. It was a concession to her age but Rebecca followed a daily flexibility regimen. She could take it like her younger counterparts. Nonetheless she was effectively bound and gagged. As the band constricted her chin, she felt it push the ball further into her mouth. Fortunately, one of the ear plugs fell out. She was blind mute and couldn’t move her arms or legs. But she could hear out of one ear. Suddenly the conference room door opened again. Rebecca could detect two sets of stiletto heels click on the tile floor. “Courtney’s not at her desk again… What the Hell!?” Then followed a martial arts scream, the sound of a foot to the gut and a thump to the floor. “Holly! … There’s no need for the gun. We’ll cooperate. Looks like you have plenty of rope. You can tie us up like the others.” Rebecca recognized the voice from the monthly Women’s’ Bar Association conclaves. It was Raika Élan, the named partner. Holly must be that paralegal that always accompanies her. “I will tie her up exactly like the others, then you can do me… There’s plenty of money in my purse.” “No more talking. Put one of those red balls in your mouth,” Rebecca heard some more shuffling about and then a door close. Thinking her captor gone, she struggled out of the chair and on to the floor. Despite all her writhing she could not loosen any of her bonds. She could hear the others futile efforts. A few minutes later the door opened again and Rebecca was lifted up. “Where do you think you’re going?” It was the voice of her captor but in a singsong tone, “you’re coming with me. My client would be very upset if you got free and signed those papers.” As she was being carried over the burglar’s shoulder on the way out the door, Rebecca realized what was happening. Under a very old Reservation Ordinance, being bound and gagged was a complete defense to an absolute duty. This exception curiously only applied to women. Despite her discomfort, she was elated. If she remained like this for next five hours or so, the deal could not go through and her clients could receive a much bigger payout. Over in the Kitchenette, Raika was hogtied, blinded, deafened, and gagged like the others. Raika paid rapt attention as she was being tied, making a note of every knot and hitch. Now she took stock her situation. Her arms were cruelly restricted behind her, elbows touching. Ropes compressed her arms to her body. Her legs were tied together at the thighs and above and below the knees. Her ankles were connected to her chest harness, pulled up so tautly that she could grab the heels of her Manolo pumps. This was the same way she tied up Holly. A two inch ball filled her mouth. A copious amount of medical wrapping encased her lower jaw. More covered her hears and eyes. She was encased in solitude. Finding a knife in one of the drawers would be impossible. Raika realized that she could not extricate herself without help. After a couple of wrong turns, Raika got her bearings and inch wormed her way to the conference room door. She sidled her way through the swinging door and attempted to find Holly. Deprived of sight and sound, she detected the scent of Holly’s perfume. With a great deal of exertion she squirmed next to the struggling Holly. Although they could make some sounds through the balls in their mouths, the earplugs prevented any audible communication. Raika pressed her chin into Holly’s right buttock. The paralegal immediately identified her boss’ face pressing against her fingers. Holly discerned that Raika wanted to remove her gag. Feeling the Coban, Holly frantically searched for an end. Raika turned her head to facilitate the process but it took almost ten minutes to find the end. Holly found the end and tugged. Raika, realizing their first breakthrough, began rolling on the floor while Holly held on to the end. Raika rolled about ten feet, spinning slowly despite her trussed state. Eventually the wrap loosened and fell off. Raika became the only one with the benefit of sight. She looked at the other captives in the room. All struggled but did not make any progress escaping. Ms. Kaldur, for one, reacted violently to being trussed up. The Amazon thrust and groaned in frustration. Still, she could hardly move. One of the associates had rolled over her side and could not roll back over again. The poor receptionist was too afraid to move, for fear she would fall off the table. Raika slithered back over to Holly and placed the nape of her neck next to Holly’s fingers. Holly, being familiar with ball gags, reached for the buckle. After what seemed like an eternity, Holly undid it. Raika shot the ball out her mouth and it bounced on the tile floor. “Thanks Holly!” Raika chimed to her fellow captive, although the latter could not hear her, commenced chewing at the knots at Holly’s ankles. That knot undone, Holly stretched her legs out. Raika writhed onto Holly’s back. Raika gnawed at Holly’s elbow bonds. Raika’s undulations and compressed breasts against her forearms proved oddly erotic to Holly. Her elbow bonds loosened, Holly opened her arms so that Raika could gnaw at her wrists. Once her wrists were uncoupled, Holly removed her bonds and freed the others. About a month later, Rebecca arrived late to a Chamber of Commerce gathering. Lily Whitetail, the youngest Tribal Councilwoman ever, was concluding her speech: … Our little island reservation has always lived up to its “Boom City” moniker. We profited from the Gold Rush, the timber expansion, sulfur mining, the Navy’s dredging a deep water harbor during World War II, and the technology revolution. Our history of tolerance has fostered a vibrant tourism industry. Our business friendly policies have promoted a thriving financial enclave on our shores. Our population exceeded three hundred thousand at the last census and it certain to top three hundred fifty thousand at the next. Our future is very bright." The speech elicited subdued yet sincere applause from the gathering. Rebecca observed the hundred or so guests in attendance. They represented Boom City’s elite, both native and migrant. Unlike similar gatherings in other cities, almost seventy percent of the power brokers were female. The aboriginal tribe of the Kinked Wrist Reservation – although everyone called it Boom City after its transformation to a munitions manufacturing center during World War II – operated as a matriarchy. This tradition survived and attracted many ambitious women who felt stunted in their own communities. A women’s college developed, being one of the first to explicitly train women in the hard sciences. Many innovative firms flowered in its shadow. While many male residents were content to service the harbor at union wages or travel to the nearby mines, the women residents settled into the professions. The men in attendance were most likely transplants, local potentates of corporations who had recently established offices in Boom City. Rebecca spotted an extremely attractive Japanese girl in a skirted business suit standing alone in the corner. Rebecca grabbed two glasses and approached. “Ms. Élan, would like a cabernet?” “Thank you. I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure…” “Oh we have but I was in no position to shake hands.” “You’re Rebecca Loregon? I did not recognize you without Coban over your face. How did you survive the ordeal?” “Well she kept me for about five hours. We went to a hotel and watched a movie. At midnight she called for room service and left. It was quite pleasant considering the circumstances. My clients ended up with forty million. Unfortunately I don’t work on commission.” Ms. Élan’s eyes grew wide with interest. “Well my partner’s client was not happy. Nor was my partner but she’ll get over it. You were bound and gagged the whole time?" “Yes. But she was nice enough to remove the blindfold.” Rebecca took a sip from her glass and used the moment to admire her interlocutor’s curvaceous figure. The Asian looked with anticipation to her continuing. “It’s a bit of an honor to be captured by Ms. DeLigotage.” Rebecca signaled to a comely African American woman to approach the pair. “Ms. Élan, may I introduce Annette Scales, she’s in international shipping. Annette, please tell us about your encounter with the notorious Ami De Ligotage.” “I’ll spare you the details. She stole a shipment from me. But that was not enough. Had to truss me up like a turkey. Not enjoyable at all. But everyone wants to hear the story. So Ms. Élan, I heard you had similar problems. Why did you locate to Boom City?”
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