Chapter 8: Practice Makes Perfect

I fetched up in the car park just before 8 o'clock. The white van that we'd used to pick up Jackie from the petrol station was parked with its engine running. Harry leant out of the driver's window. "Come on," he said, "get in. I'll brief you on the way."

I jogged around to the far side of the van and slid back the door.

"Hi," said a girl's voice as I went to climb in. Sitting next to Harry was a girl in her early twenties with short blonde hair. She and Harry were wearing the same coveralls that I'd put on.

"Hi," I said in response, not sure if names were in order.

Harry cleared up the doubts. "This is Tricia," he said, she's a trainee for the snatch squads. "Tricia, this is Larry."

Tricia smiled as the van pulled away. "This your first live one too?" she asked as she buckled her seat belt. Pulling the diagonal strap tight down between her tits showed that the coveralls were certainly camouflaging something worthwhile underneath.

"No," I said, "not quite, but I'm pretty much a beginner."

"OK," said Harry, as we drove down the motorway, "listen up. This is a training exercise so we don't bring anyone back, all right." Tricia and I both nodded simultaneously. "There's a big house we're going to. There should be two ladies there according to our friends in Research. We bust in, make like it's a burglary and you two get some practice in grab and secure. OK?"

"Sure, Harry," I said.

"Yeah," said Tricia.

"Right. Well since we will be leaving the ladies we meet behind we'll do this in masks, which you should have in your bags. So get those ready and get your gloves on. We're nearly there."

The van off the motorway and along a road towards a nearby small town. We turned left into a leafy avenue of large houses, each set back from the road with fifty yards or so of driveway leading up to them. Some had big security gates. We stopped on one side of the road just as a pair of gates opened on the other side. There wasn't anyone else about, no other traffic and it didn't look like the sort of district where anyone would walk if they were going further than their neighbours. A Porsche Cayenne pulled out of the gates and drove off, a young, blonde woman in sunglasses at the wheel. She didn't bother to close the gates. "There she goes," said Harry. "She's away to drop the kiddies off at playgroup. Now here's the deal. We wait five minutes. Drive in and park around the back. You two are going to do all the work, I'm just along for the ride and to make sure no one drops any bricks. "He grinned at me. "They've had tradesmen in and out all last week so no one will be bothered about us. There'll be a girl inside cleaning house. Tricia, you'll go in; grab and secure the hired help. We'll follow. Yummy Mummy will be back after fifteen minutes so Tricia, you'll need to be slick with the help. Harry, you can do the same for Mummy when she turns up. Clear?"

"Clear enough, I guess," I said not entirely confident after the debacle with Amanda.

"Fine," said Tricia.

"OK. Now this is a nice quiet neighbourhood and we want to come back. So we make sure our guests don't make too much fuss and don't get hurt any more than is needed for you two to get your practice. Like I said, it's to look like a burglary; so if you want to pocket stuff, feel free. If you want to scare them, then fair enough; specially if it help with your grab. Just don't do anything that would get the police more interested in us than necessary. OK, check the contents of your bags and remember to check that you bring it all back apart from the consumables."

Tricia called out, "Ski mask, pair latex gloves, dozen cable ties, one roll duct tape, multi-function tool, knife."

"Yeah, same for me," I said.

"OK," said Harry, "gloves on now, masks on as soon as we are round the back. Here we go." He pulled out across the road and up the drive. "Pleasant Pastures" the sign said on the gate. Gravel crunched under the van's tyres as we pulled in behind the house. I let Tricia climb over me to get out. She trotted over to the back door of the house. The back door was open. She slipped inside. A few moments later she reappeared at the back door and waved us in. We got out of the van and joined her. "Any problems?" said Harry.

"See for yourself," said Tricia pointing into the kitchen.

We went through. The hired help wouldn't be doing any more cleaning up for a while. Tricia had her well and truly helpless on the floor, cable ties around her wrists and ankles, another one linking her wrists and ankles in a tight hogtie, tape across her mouth. Struggling in her tee-shirt and jeans, I reckoned she wasn't even as old as Jacqui, the girl I'd helped Harry pick up at the petrol station. She squealed in fright as she saw there were three of us. "OK," said Harry, "neat enough."

We heard the sound of a car pulling up outside the front. "That will be the lady of the house," said Harry. The help started squealing some more. Tricia pulled a kitchen knife from a wood block beside the cooker and held it against the girl's throat. She quietened down a whole lot and paid the knife a lot of attention. Harry gestured towards the pantry and Tricia grabbed the girl under her arms and dragged her off there. We heard the front door open. Harry gave me a thumbs up and followed Tricia into the pantry. I was on my own.

I stepped behind the kitchen door. It was standing ajar. "Natalie," I heard a woman's voice call out. "Natalie. I'm back. Natalie. Where are you?" The sound of her voice was getting closer. I guessed she would come through into the kitchen searching. The door started to move, I swallowed and got ready to spring.

Before I could, the phone rang. The kitchen door was pulled shut from the other side and I heard the tap of heels on a wooden floor receding down the hall. I waited, uncertain if I should try to follow or stay put and wait. I decided to wait. There was no rush and no point in trying to snatch her in the middle of a phone call, either.

The phone call only took a few moments. "Natalie, Natalie," called the voice again. There was a squeak followed by a muffled grunt from the pantry. I guessed that Tricia had given her a thump. The door to the kitchen opened this time. "Natalie?" I took my chance and grabbed Yummy Mummy as she got through the door. One arm around her waist to trap her arms one over her mouth to silence any cries. Her silk shirt was cool and slippery. The grab seemed to work. I kicked the door shut behind us. "Keep quiet, bitch or you'll really get hurt," I hissed in her ear. She was struggling but it was nothing I couldn't handle, she was quite small and lightly built and she'd obviously never learned any self defence techniques. Neither did she have a bottle of vodka in her hands. "Now do as you're told and it'll be a whole lot easier. Keep quiet and I'll take my hand off your mouth, make a sound and I'll slice your tongue off. OK?"

She gave a grunt that I took as agreement. I eased my hand away and she didn't make a sound.

"Down on the floor hands behind your back," I ordered, gripping her at the back of her neck. I pushed her to the floor, grabbed her wrists and put a cable tie tightly around them. I did the same for her ankles. Good legs, I thought as I pulled the strip of plastic into place. She gasped as I jerked the ties tight.

I took another knife from the block. She looked terrified. "No, please," she said. I cut a strip from my roll of tape and strapped it across her mouth. She gave a resigned "mmph". I sat her up, pleased with my work:- one cute lady, very neat in her Hermés silk shirt and short black skirt, snatched, bound and gagged and no fowl ups this time.

My satisfaction didn't last long. "Louise!" another voice was calling from the hall. The woman I was holding looked even more scared. "It's Jenny," the voice called, "I came straight over. Much better than talking on the phone. Hope that coffee is ready. Louise?" The kitchen door swung open again. The owner of the voice appeared. "Oh, no," she cried as she saw me crouched over the helpless Louise, knife in hand.

"Come and join us," I barked holding the knife against Louise's throat. "Nice and slowly or your friend Louise here is really going to get hurt." Louise whimpered into her gag. The neighbour gave a swallowed cry of fright.

She had obviously read all the right books. She put her hands up. "Please don't hurt us. I'll do as you say."

"On the floor! Face down!" I ordered. "Hands behind you!" She was as good as gold. I had enough cable ties and tape to deal with her as well and she was soon no more of a threat than Louise. I rolled her over and took a look at the pair of them, Louise; early twenties I guessed, blonde, slim; Jenny; older, mid thirties maybe and already using botox if the fixed expression on her face was anything to go by, though I guess that could have been terror. Tricia emerged from the pantry, jogged passed me and out into the hall. Harry pulled the other girl out to join my two. The three of them were evidently all distressed to see the others.