“Wakey wakey,” she said to Marcus as he stirred, “eggs and bakey!” Marcus flinched behind Tia, pulling at his cuffs, acclimating to his new helplessness. For a man of Marcus’s strength and power, it was not a customary position. “The sleeping giant stirs.”

He tried to speak, his voice muffled behind a gag of his own. “Aren’t you sexy,” Barbara said, looking him over. “I’ll bet the Queen of Hearts here really has a good time with you. Well,” she added after a thoughtful pause, “had.”

Tia strained to look behind her, barely able to watch as Barbara ran her hand up Marcus’s leg, following his inner thigh to his crotch. “Mmmmm,” she said with a hungry smile, tongue running hungrily over her lips. “What’s this like when the lights are off? Any chance you’re gonna let me find out?” From Tia’s vantage point, she couldn’t see Marcus’s expression, but she could see that Tia was staring at him and he back at her.

Barbara said, “Fine, whatever, your loss. You, John, what is it with you men?” She looked down at her own body. “I’m fucking gorgeous, what’s the matter with you? Must be something in the water. Oh well, it would have been a nice send-off.” Barbara stepped around to Tia, crouching down to meet her at eye level.

“And that brings us to you, red.” Tia glared at her, but she could say nothing and could hardly move. Her hands were becoming numb, the cuffs digging into her skin. Barbara looked her up and down, eyes tracing her legs, exposed by her abbreviated skirt, her breasts pushed out by the position of her hands, cuffed tightly behind her. Barbara said, “You are hot, there’s no doubt about that. And why are you so pissed off? I thought you loved this kinda thing. I know you…personally interview your so-called service providers. I gotta figure you get kidnapped all the time, and you don’t even have to pay for it. Talk about a perk!”

Barbara burst out laughing, leaning back with her hilarity, hand casually resting on Tia’s knee. Barbara’s laughing wound down, but her hand remained.

“So this probably turns you on,” Barbara went on, her hand beginning to slide up Tia’s inner thigh. “Hell, maybe I should charge you for it. Five thousand dollars, isn’t that about the starting rate?” After a mean little pause, Barbara glancing around the penthouse, she sighed. “I know, that’s pretty steep. It’s not for everyone. But I’ll tell you what, we sometimes offer discounts. Not that I’m trying to bribe you or anything, I’d never try to do that.”

Tia recognized her words, from their so-called accidental meeting outside the Michelangelo.

“Anyway, you’re gonna pay for it one way or the other.” She looked around the penthouse. “I’ve already searched the place, found your Magnum in the drawer by the bed. The way I figure it, you two were up to your usual tricks, tying each other up, and John came in, threatened to blackmail you maybe. You killed him, then had a fight about it, lost your temper. Let’s say Marcus tried to take the gun away from you and you accidentally shot him. Then you were overtaken with grief, panicked, blew your own head off with the same gun.”

Barbara’s hand stroked Tia’s leg, closer and closer to her skirt, tracing little circles on her thigh. Tia shuttered in disgust, knowing what Barbara said would probably be believable enough a story.

“I know it sounds a little farfetched, but don’t forget…I was here; I witnessed the whole thing. Yeah, I was suspicious of my partner John over there, so I came here to ask you about it. Then John arrived and things got crazy. After you accidentally shot Marcus, I tried to stop you from doing something desperate; I was afraid you were going to kill me too! Then you just put it in your mouth and pulled the trigger; there was nothing I could do.”

Tia tried to shift, pulling her leg away from Barbara’s taunting attention.

“No real shock though,” Barbara said. “After all, with the lives you two lead, everyone’ll just assume you did it to each other: the stun gun, the taser, some people are into that shit. And you two are as likely a couple as anybody. After that, well, the rest is history.”

Tia saw her one and only opening and made her move. In a flash, she swung her legs up and over Barbara’s head. She pulled her ankles in so she could part her knees and clamp them around Barbara’s neck in a viscous scissor-hold. Tia’s legs fell all the way to the floor, taking Barbara’s upper body along with them.

Barbara landed on her back. She grabbed Tia’s legs, her knees clamped around her neck. Barbara kicked and bucked, trying in vain to free herself from Tia’s grip, her eyes looking up at her.

Tia gritted her teeth, sending as much strength as she could muster into her legs, squeezing them as tight as she could. Tia knew this was her one and only chance to subdue Barbara, to survive and save Marcus’s life and perhaps even the other IRS agent, if it wasn’t already too late for him.

But if Barbara slipped out of that leg lock, retribution would be certain and terrible and lethal.

Barbara looked up, her face getting redder as she strained to breathe. Tia sneered, still unable to speak. You like that, Barbara? Does that turn you on? Me kicking your ass, we call that lezdom in the business, Barbara. Is this what you wanted; does this make you hot?

Tia squeezed tighter, Barbara gurgling as she kicked and pulled harder at Tia’s legs, muscles pulling taut and hard.

Tia thought, Can’t breathe? Blood rushing to your head? That’s a little erotic asphyxia, Barbara; it’s a very rarified taste. But you’re a bit more sophisticated than most, aren’t you? Yeah, you’re a real class act.

Tia kept squeezing, Barbara’s face turning purple. Barbara reached over with her legs, trying to get to that black stun gun, only a feet away and getting closer with every swipe of her desperate foot.

Tia craned her body to the side, shifting her position and rolling Barbara onto her side, killing her hopes of reaching that stun gun.

Tia was confident, the last of Barbara’s strength channelled into pulling herself free. But inspiration struck and Barbara acted, pushing her face into Tia’s leg instead of trying to pull away. And her mouth, unlike Tia’s, was un-gagged.

Barbara’s teeth dug into Tia’s leg, fast and sharp, rods of pain shooting down to Tia’s feet and up past her pelvis into the bottom of her belly. Barbara bit down hard and held on, Tia screaming into her own gag with a shock and agony she couldn’t disguise.

Barbara kept biting until her nerves reacted, flinching just enough to give Barbara enough room to slide out from between Tia’s legs and reaching for that black plastic stun gun. It was do or die for both of them, for all of them.

Tia snapped her legs out, extending them straight and pinning the back of Barbara’s neck, facedown to the floor. Barbara kept scrambling to reach the stun gun, Tia’s cuffed ankles unable to prevent her scrambling escape.

Barbara pulled herself out of Tia’s grip just as Dt. Sanchez came barreling into the room, gun drawn in one hand, badge in the other, the two uniformed officers behind him as usual.

“New York Police Department!”

Barbara finally broke free of Tia’s legs and reached the stun gun, screaming out a battle cry as she spun and lunged toward Tia for a last-ditch assault. But the uniformed officers were faster and they fell on Barbara with their full weight. One grabbed her arm and twisted it until the stun gun fell out of her hand. Then he craned her arm behind her back and cuffed it while the other read Barbara her rights.

“You have the right to remain silent…”

Detective Sanchez sank to John and checked his pulse. “It’s weak. We need an ambulance.”

One of the officers nodded and reached up to the radio transmitter clipped to his shoulder, spitting some muttered code into it while his partner dragged Barbara kicking and screaming out of the room.

“‘ll kill you both for this, I swear to God I’ll kill you!”

The detective turned to Tia and pulled the gag out of her mouth. “Do you know where the keys are?” Tia shook her head, jaw strained and aching, mouth dry, lips numb.

“Are you all right?” Tia nodded as the detective un-gagged Marcus as well.

“Check the woman for the key.”

“Right,” Dt. Sanchez said with a quick nod, snapping his fingers at the remaining officer, who ran out after his partner.

Detective Sanchez returned his attention to Tia and Marcus. “What happened here?”

“IRS agents,” Tia said. “The woman’s insane, wanted to kill us. She was the one leaving those dolls around.”

The detective shook his head as the officer returned with a ring of little cuff keys. Trying one then the other, Dt. Sanchez finally opened the cuffs around Tia’s wrists. She leaned forward, rubbing her numb wrists while Dt. Sanchez worked to free Marcus too.

“You’ve been keeping me very busy,” Dt. Sanchez said to Tia. “And it’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity to help the city, but…maybe you should start thinking about another line of work.”

Tia released a bemused huff. “And give up show business?”