No matter what, she couldn’t get the dream out of her mind. Even as she sorted through her balloons and other gear, deciding what to give away and what to bring with her, the dream kept flashing in her memory, and its meanings wormed their way into her psyche.

It’s just my mind’s way of telling me to get out of New York, get back to Tucson where I belong. The Scooby Doo Gang? It has everything to do with Ben and those costumes and the whole stupid industry.

But it meant more than that, and she knew it all too well. It’s something I’m afraid of, something here, in this city, or it wouldn’t have been in Central Park. It’s the homeless guys walking around menacing the parties, it’s Mitchell making threats, it’s everything around me, closing in on all sides. Either way, all roads lead in one direction: out of this damned city.

And it meant even more than that, something even more difficult for her to get her head or her heart around. She’d been turned on by that dream, of being besieged and abducted, carted off struggling. She was no longer an actress in that dream, she was the damsel herself. She was Faye Wray in that old black-and-white King Kong movie. No longer some loser from Tucson, Arizona, Kathleen Le Fleur was 99 from the reruns of the TV show Get Smart. She was Diana Rigg’s dynamic British dynamo, Emma Peel, and Yvonne Craig’s brave and beautiful Batgirl, forever righteous and plucky and deliciously overwhelmed before a triumphant escape. Like the characters she’d seen in these and other reruns, Kathleen was beautiful, she was daring.

And she was kidnapped.

But all this was too much to explain to Jackie, and it really wasn’t necessary. And it was too late anyway.

* * *

The Longshadows offices were very slick, in a nice part of the Upper West Side. With glass walls, chrome fixtures and classy paintings of swirling, abstract images, it could have been a law office or an accounting firm. Before going in, Kat stopped Jackie and gushed, “Jackie, no matter how this meeting goes today, I just want to thank you. This whole thing is crazy, but honestly, the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more excited I am! I mean, I’ve always been a rule follower, the good girl, you know that…but the thought of having a gorgeous man, hunt me down like prey and want to ravage me; the whole thing really turns me on! I think too, because all the credentials are in place, and everyone is checked out." Kat was babbling on, a mile a minute, before Jackie smiled and stopped her. "Girl, everyone has unexplored desires; life is supposed to be fun right?! You’re just learning to embrace your sexuality and live a little! Let’s go see what this is all about before we get too ahead of ourselves."

Ultra-sleek redhead, Tia McBride, was perfectly matched to her surroundings: professional, dignified, gorgeous. Her silent subservient, a small Asian woman she’d introduced as her secretary, Shin Lu, quietly served tea and stepped out of the office without revealing a hint of the contempt that Kat knew was brewing just below that icy surface.

“Of course we rigorously screen all of our service providers,” she said with a confident smile.

Kat repeated, “Service providers? Not…prostitutes or male escorts?”

Tia was unfazed behind her big, glass desk. But sitting next to Kat, Jackie was subtly shaking her head in embarrassment. “Prostitution is illegal and an escort is basically just a prostitute, Miss…Flowers, was it?”

“That’s right,” Kat said, “Lena Flowers.”

“Well, Miss Flowers, the service we provide is basically party entertainment—the way someone might hire a clown for a child’s birthday party.”

“Is that so?”

“Quite so,” Tia went on, raising a tea cup to her lips and gently sipping it. “You sure you don’t want any tea?”

“No thanks,” Kat said, glancing suspiciously at Jackie.

Tia said, “That’s really quite clever. You never know, I could drug the tea, send you both to some black market sex ring. I mean, you brought your friend here for protection; why would you overlook your safety now?”

Kat smiled, but she didn’t see the need to confirm the woman’s observation.

Tia asked, “I don’t suppose this is the type of place you expected either, is it?”

Again, a wordless response, this time the little shake of her head was enough.

Tia said, “I don’t blame you, but I think you have the wrong idea about what we do.”

“You’re like party clowns with chloroform?” Kat squinted her eyes suspiciously.

Tia broke out in a surprised little laugh, looking her over as her chuckle wound down. “I like you, Lena. And I want to reassure you that all we provide is a fantasy experience, one which is guaranteed safe. I personally screen every one of our S.P.s, as I said. They’re rigorously tested for drugs and S.T.D.’s; I do full life checks, make sure they’re…physically up to par.”

Kat surmised, “You have sex with them.”

“That’s none of your business,” Tia replied coldly. “This is my business and you came to me.”

Jackie said, “Sorry about that, Ms. McBride, we’re just…. This is kind of a new experience for us. Maybe if you could, um, break it down for us a bit more? How does this all work?”

“Of course,” Tia said, her smile returning as she shifted her focus back to Kat. “You’ll give us a window of four days in which you will make yourself available. We will choose one of those days. During that time you’ll be kidnapped and taken either to your own place or to theirs, and again these places have all been checked out. From there, it’s role-play like anything else.”

Kat asked, “And nothing else?”

“That would be completely up to you. Though to tell you the truth, a lot of our clients do wind up using the go word.”

“The go word?”

Tia gave them a knowing wink. “You can read between the lines. Virtually all our clients wind up getting terribly turned-on by their kidnappings. That’s why they do it! And when you’re that turned on, a lifetime fantasy coming true all around you, well. You’ve heard of a safety word, to stop things; the go word is pretty much the opposite.”

Jackie asked, “And if it’s a no-go? What goes on in one of these kidnappings? Is it fondling, whips and chains; what?”

Tia just broke a little smile. “Nothing that cuts or bruises, rope marks not included.”

Both girls shared a glance. Kat asked Tia, “Can I be frank?”

“Of course…Miss Flowers,” she said, emphasizing the name for reasons that made Kat’s blood run cold.

“How can I be assured of my personal safety? I mean, how do I know you’re not drugging women like me and shipping us out to Hong Kong?”

Tia nodded. “A question I get every time.”

“Makes some sense,” Jackie said with a shrug as if to appease Tia.

Tia said, “Yes, it does. You know, we do offer female service providers, if you’re looking for any work.”

Jackie leaned forward, eyes round with surprise. “Me?”

“Sure,” Tia said with a casual shrug. “A lot of women want to be dominated by other women, and white women by black women quite often. I also have the occasional male client who has submissive needs; you seem just the type.”

Jackie stammered, looking from Tia to Kat and back, clearly not knowing what to say.

Kat turned to Tia. “We were talking about my safety?”

“Yes. We have a package we give every client, including my name and photo, fingerprints, this address, our insurance information, copy of the sales receipt of services, which are paid for in advance. You send the package to whomever you want and trust—neither I nor your S.P. will know where or who. Though I suggest whoever it is, you tell them not to open it unless it’s necessary. And it won’t be, I promise. We’d have been out of business a long time ago.”

Jackie asked, “Do you offer…testimonials from other clients? Referrals?”

Tia’s head shook just a bit, enough to express both her contempt for the question and her dedication to Kat’s protection. “All of our clients have the strictest anonymity; I’m sure you’ll understand. And when the time comes, you’ll be glad.”

“If the time comes,” ‘Kat said quickly.

Tia set down her teacup and stood up from her desk, her tall body lean and sexy, hips swinging with her saunter. “Life’s a funny thing, Miss Flowers. People are…complicated. They have needs, urges; we all do. They’re hardwired into us. But a lot of us live our whole lives without ever having those needs met, not even once. There are women who’ve never had an orgasm, Lena; can you imagine that? Never once! They live stale, dull lives out in Kansas or wherever, married to their childhood sweethearts whose lives peaked in high school and never learned to fuck worth a damn to begin with.”

Tia slowly crossed the desk, Kat and Jackie watching her as she approached one of the huge windows, Manhattan a bustling puzzle beneath them. “But there other people, people who know the value of a life well-lived, people who know enough to stop and smell the flowers. These are people who aren’t ready to crawl into the grave prematurely; they’re not ready to say no to life just yet.”

Tia turned, eyes locked on Kat’s. It was if she was reading her mind, her heart, her soul. “The question is,” Tia went on, “what type of person are you?”

* * *

Staring back on Kat’s laptop screen, Adrienne Le Fleur was smiling more than she had in years, and actually looked years younger. “It’s such wonderful news, dear. We’re already getting your room ready—”

“My room? Oh no, Mom, I’ll be getting an apartment, first thing. I’m almost thirty; I’m not moving in with my parents.”

“Just temporarily, dear, until you get on your feet. When are you coming in? I don’t see why you don’t fly in right away. We’ll handle the fare.”

“Mom,” Kat said with an exasperated chuckle, “stop it! I’m not a charity case! I could still manage out here on my own if I wanted to.”

Adrienne leaned forward to assert her confidence, hands clapping once and then resting in her lap on the other side of the Skype connection. “Of course you could, Kathleen. You’ve done it so far! Even so, I couldn’t be happier that you’re finally coming home.” Kat was glad to see her mother so happy, but there was a lingering melancholy in the back of her spirit, a sense of failure, of resolve, of retreat.

“Anyway, my friend is having a little party for me before I go, and I got a great deal on next week’s flight.”

“If you insist, dear. That sounds like fun, a little party with your friends.” She didn’t like lying to her mother, but in this case a vague half-truth was vastly preferable to anything resembling the whole truth.

Kat’s smartphone rang, Ben’s name appearing on the screen. “Gotta go, Mom. I’ll call before I fly out.”

“’Kay. Love you, dear.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Guess I’ll be saying that a lot more from now on, she couldn’t help think as she clicked out of Skype and swiped her phone screen. In a voice she hoped wasn’t too laden with misery, she forced out, “Ben, hey.”

“Hey, just got your texts. You’re sick all of a sudden?”

“Yeah,” she croaked out, glad he couldn’t see her, “it really knocked me sideways. Must be a flu or the change of seasons or something.”

“That’s a bunch of bull and you know it.” Her blood ran with a chill to wonder what he meant by the remark, but he was quick and casual to add, “It’s stress.”

“Stress? Y’think?”

“Sure, because you’re thinking about this move and you know it’s the wrong thing to do. Listen to your body, Kat, listen to your heart.”

Oh boy, she thought, sad to be saying good-bye to Ben but knowing she wasn’t going to miss his pining for her. But instead of all that, it was simply easier to say, “I’ll be in for a few days, so at least that’ll give me something to do. You’ll take the calls, make sure the gigs all go through.”

“Yeah, sure I will, Kat.” After a pause of inspiration, he asked, “You want me to pop by, bring some chicken soup or something?”

“No, Ben, no,” she said just a little too fast. “Jackie’s taking care of me; I’m fine. I need you out in the field.”

She could sense his disappointment, and she began to wonder if her moving away might not be the best thing for him, if not necessarily for her. “Okay,” Ben said, “well, you take it easy, call if you need anything, and lemme know when you’re feeling better.”

“Sure will. Thanks again, Ben.” She swiped the phone and set it down. I just lied to my mother and my good friend and business partner. Not only is that not my style, but it means if anything goes wrong, they won’t know to check on me or have any clue about what may have happened. Should I leave a note somewhere hidden, just in case?

Kat couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d done, but her thoughts were almost never the same ones twice. Is this really safe? How could it be? On the other hand, how could it not be? What kind of criminal ring would operate with such a risky front? But what if things just get out of hand and safe words and go words don’t have any effect?

Well, I’m not completely unskilled. One good thwack in the sternum like with that homeless guy in Central Park and I should be okay.

Sure, her inner voice contradicted her, should be. But this guy won’t be some malnourished homeless zombie. He’ll be big, strong, and ready…for anything.

No, the place couldn’t operate the way it does, with that posh office, if young women just started disappearing. Anyway, there’s always the package I gave to Jackie to make sure I’m safe.

Unless she’s somehow in on all this, Kat wondered. It was Jackie who introduced me to it in the first place. Could she be that kind of person, winning my confidence and then selling me out to some sex-crime syndicate?

But the idea just couldn’t keep a foothold in her imagination.

No, that’s too crazy. Jackie’s a good friend who wants to see me have a good time. She could have betrayed me all kinds of times in the years we’ve lived together. If I can trust anybody, it’s her.

Sure, just like you trusted Mitchell, and look how that turned out! How much insight and character judgement are we really looking at here? New York is too much, but a private kidnapping with some unknown man at the behest of a mysterious woman is perfectly within reason—that makes a lot of sense.

But Kat couldn’t keep going over it in her mind. She’d committed herself to it the same way she’d committed herself to New York, and she’d given that ten years. This was just one day, and it was one she was determined to have and to enjoy.