Chapter 11: Hostage

Gregg Gillstrom stood in the dingy room that was serving as Victoria's prison. He stared at their captive, quite enjoying the way that she sat on the chair testing the ropes that held her.

They had brought her here just as soon as the police had decided that wherever else Victoria Leon was, it wasn't in the theatre. "We'll get out of your way, Mr Gillstrom," the Commissioner had told him. "She's obviously not here. I don't know why the Chief is bothering!"

If the Chief had bothered any more they might have had problems. Victoria was already starting to stir when Gregg and Maxine got back into the under stage space. Gregg released the hidden catch to free the false bottom of the chest. He was impressed at Maxine's ropework and the neatness of the tape across Victoria's mouth and eyes, especially given the speed she had to do it with. Maxine leant forward to give Victoria another whiff of anaesthetic as she started to struggle fitfully. She soon succumbed again.

In fact it had been just after they left the theatre with an unconscious Victoria in the back of their station wagon that Maxine and Greg came closest to being caught. As they pulled out of the alley way that ran along the back of the theatre they were flagged down by a woman police officer.

Gregg, full of confidence reached for his ruby and turned it in his hand in front of her. To his horror it had no effect.

"What is it with the red rock, buster?" the officer snapped.

"Sorry, officer," Gregg stuttered, wondering what had gone wrong. "It's just one of my props. I was – err – performing, back there. The theatre."

"Oh sure," she said. "You know we're checking folk because of what went on there?"

"Ah, yes, sure, ah." Gregg could feel his bowels loosening by the moment as he realised the problem. The officer was wearing dark glasses. Pilot style, mirror shades obviously did something to the light of the ruby. That was why she wasn't affected.

He was busily trying to think of a reason to get her to take her glasses off when a call came from across the street. "Come on, Krupke. Time to go. Chief says we're due back at the station."

The police woman stood up. "You can go," she said. "We're finished here. Have a nice day."

"Thanks officer. Hope you catch them whoever it is." Gregg breathed a sigh of relief as he drove away as slowly and carefully as he could.

Gregg and Maxine had little trouble getting Victoria into the cellar. Gregg had decided to rely on ropes and tape to keep her helpless rather than the rather more unpredictable magical resources, so they had tied her to a chair in one corner of the room, alongside some metal shelving and a pile of old crates.

By the time they had finished Victoria was fully conscious again and doing everything that she could in order to free herself. Gregg was happy for her to try. It wasn't very likely that she'd manage to free herself and, besides, the way that they had her roped meant that Gregg had every opportunity to view her legs and her breasts as she tried to press herself against the ropes.

"I'm going to get bored with this, if I have to watch you leering at her until we can get her trustees to pay out," Maxine muttered.

"There's benefits in my lustful leanings," Gregg responded, taking her by the arm and staring straight into her eyes. "We've got time to kill until we need to do something about the ransom demand, why don't we make use of that mattress over there for a bit?"

Maxine grinned, not so much seduced by Gregg's powers as by the circumstances. "Normally I wouldn't be keen on making out on a mattress in a cellar, but I think I might make an exception," she said staring to unbutton her blouse.

That was enough to trigger Gregg's enthusiastic response. Only half the buttons were unfastened; the remainder were torn open as the two fell together on the mattress.

Victoria, helpless on the chair in the corner of the room, her sight robbed by the pads on her eyes and the tape across them, could hear her captors only a few feet away. What started as a series of puzzling grunts and thumps soon became the obvious sounds of coupling. Maxine was a vocal sexual partner. As Maxine approached her climax, Victoria was left wondering why they had bothered to gag her if they were going to make so much noise themselves.