Madame’s Special Negotiation

As she walked into the conference room, the blonde haired Californian smiled at the other two women sitting there.

“Good morning, Lily, Tracey,” she said as she sat down, adjusting the fit of her linen jacket, “and what delights do we have on the table for today? No emergencies I trust?”

“Not today, as such,” Lily Harmon said as she sat at the table, wearing a black jersey dress and heels. Next to her was Tracey Cocker, wearing a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and black leggings, smiling as she said “and yet, here the three of us are. Why?”

“Madame has asked us to undertake a particular task – a snatch, but it must be done with all care and decorum. So she has assigned it to us.”

“And the purpose of this snatch?”

“There is some information Madame requires from a certain diplomat – and the easiest way to get him to divulge the location of this information is by inviting his twin daughters to spend a short stay at the farm. Read the files – we need to move this afternoon…”

Jabalah walked into the reception area of the travel agency, looking round as she did so. She stood at about five foot nine tall, her head wrapped in a red and black printed scarf, the edge of a black one visible underneath, a long necklace hanging over the front of her dark grey wool dress. She had a long sleeved black top on under the dress, and dark leggings, the legs of those tucked into a pair of knee length black leather boots.

Walking up to the reception desk, she looked at the dark skinned woman sitting behind it, wearing a black jacket over a white blouse, who was typing on a keyboard.

“Excuse me?”

The secretary looked up and said “good afternoon – how can I help you?”

“My name is Jabalah Assad – I received an e-mail, asking me to call in for an interview this afternoon?”

Looking at her screen, the secretary smiled and said “ah yes – let me just see if Miss Harold is free.” Picking up the telephone, she smiled as she said “Miss Harold? Miss Assad is here?

“Of course – I’ll show her right in.” Putting the phone down, she stood up and said “if you will come this way,” indicating a door behind the counter. Jabalah nodded as she followed, waiting as the secretary knocked on the door and said “Miss Assad?”

As Jabalah walked in, she looked at the brunette who stood up – smartly dressed, large glasses framing her eyes as she came forward and said “thank you for coming in, Miss Assad – I appreciate it was very short notice.”

“True – but the position is very tempting.”

Nodding, Miss Harold said “Tracey, would you fetch some coffee please? Do take a seat, and we will talk.”

As Jabalah sat down, Tracey left the office, closing the door, and then going to the front and locking the main entrance, before pulling the blinds down…

“I must say, you have a most impressive resume,” Miss Harold said as she sat opposite the young woman, “and it certainly meets the brief for the role we have been asked to fill. One question – and I hope you will forgive me for this – will your father’s role at the embassy cause a security issue for this?”

“No offence taken – you would be surprised how often we get asked this question,” Jabalah said with a smile. “No – it should not cause any issues.”

“Excellent – ah, thank you Tracey,” Miss Harold said as the door opened, and Tracy brought in two cups of coffee, placing them before the other two women as Jabalah picked hers up and took a sip. “Well, I see no reason why we should not recommend you for the post, but would you be willing to undertake a short test, to satisfy their HR department?”

“Of course,” Jabalah said as she took another sip of her coffee, and then blinked. “Oh, I apologise,” she said as she put her cup down, “I suddenly feel so tired.”

“Ah yes – that would be the sedative we put into your coffee.”

“The…. The sed…” As Jabalah struggled to keep her eyes open, she saw Miss Harold stand up and walk round the desk, while someone – the secretary – guided her hands behind her back.

“Yes – just relax now,” Miss Harold said in a voice that seemed to be fading into the distance, “all will be explained later…”

As her eyes closed, Jabalah was aware of something been tied round her wrists, but the deep sleep soon overwhelmed her, as Tracey quickly bound her wrists together, before taking a longer length of rope around her arms and chest.

“Once we have her bound,” Lily said as she knelt down, put the unconscious woman’s ankles together, and started to bind them with more rope, “we get her out back to the van and go to pick up Louise and her contact.”

“Agreed,” Tracey said as she smoothed white tape over Jabalah’s mouth, “let’s hope she is as successful.”

“Do forgive me – is this seat taken?”

Jameela Assad looked up at the woman standing in front of her – American, slim, wearing a red trouser suit over a black jumper, a black scarf tied over her hair. “No, of course not,” she said as she indicated the other side of the red couch she was sitting on, “I was waiting for my sister, but she is going to be delayed.”

“As is often the case,” the American woman said as she sat down and looked at the young Muslim woman. “May I say how much I love your outfit – even the headscarf?”

“Thank you,” Jameela said with a blush. She was wearing a short sleeved grey woollen dress, dark tights and knee length black leather boots, a silver and black hijab tied round and over her head. “Just because we are called on to dress modestly, does not mean we cannot be fashionable.”

“Very true indeed – I’m Louanne. May I ask…?”

“Jameela – so what brings you to this place, Louanne?”

“Oh, an escape after a doctor’s appointment – I recently finished some rather radical treatment,” Louanne said quietly as she pointed to the headscarf.

“Ah – I trust you are recovering?”

“So far so good,” the American said as she took a drink. “You come here regularly?”

“I do – I find it a good place to sit, think, plan…” Standing up, she said “excuse me a minute” and made her way to the restroom. Louanne watched for a few minutes, and then followed her, smiling as she put her large bag over her shoulder.

As she walked into the restroom, she saw Jameela looking at herself in the mirror, and smiled as she took something from her bag. She then walked up behind Jameela, smiling as she clamped the damp cloth she had taken from a clear plastic bag over her nose and mouth.

“Whtthhhh!” The Muslim woman reached up and tried to pull Louanne’s hand down, but her grip was like iron, as she whispered into Jameela’s ear “just breathe deeply, my dear – do not fight it, and soon it will all be peace and quiet…”

“Btthhwhhrrruuu?” Jameela mumbled as she felt her brain start to fog.

“My boss wants a word with your father – and for you to stay a while until that chat has borne fruit. I promise you, you’re not going to be harmed,” Louanne whispered as she felt the woman in her grip start to relax, watched as the eyelids fluttered and finally closed, and then let her fall onto the floor, putting the damp cloth back into the bag before she took out several lengths of rope.

She turned Jameela onto her stomach and crossed her wrists behind her back, making sure she wrapped the rope around and between her arms as she secured them tightly together. She then did the same with her ankles, crossing and binding them tightly together with another length of rope, before the third one was tied round her legs below her knees. Rolling her over, Louanne checked her breathing, and then smoothed a length of white tape over her mouth before she sat Jameela up, and started to bind her arms to her sides.

As she tied that rope off, there was a tap on the restroom door, and she looked out, opening it as Tracey came in.

“Good timing,” Louanne said as she took Jameela’s legs, Tracey taking her arms under her shoulders, “let’s get going…”

“Hmmwhthppphnd…”

Jameela slowly started to open her eyes, but what she was seeing through her blurred vision was confusing her. It was as if she was looking at herself, dressed in black, lying on her side, wriggling round as she tried to talk – but nothing understandable was coming out.

What was worse, it was as if she could not move either – her arms seemed to be welded to her sides, and she could barely move her legs. As she lay there, however, her sight slowly returning to normal, she realised just what it was she was looking at.

“Jhbhhlhhh?”

“JHmeelhh – whtsghngnnnn!”

She now recognised her twin sister, and as she looked down she realised they were both the same – bound tightly with ropes, and something over their mouths. They seemed to be in what resembled a hotel room, with two beds, a toilet, and a television – but there were no windows, and she could see the door was heavy.

“WHHRHHWWWHHHH” she screamed out – only to be surprised as the door opened, and three women walked in. She recognised Louanne – and Jabalah recognised the other two.

“Welcome,” the brunette said, “If you both promise to remain quiet, and cooperate, we can remove the ropes and gags. Do you both do so?”

Jabalah and Jameela looked at each other, then nodded as Louise and Tracey walked over and started to untie them, the brunette opening the door as a woman, dressed in black and armed with a gun at her side, wheeled in a trolley with food and water on it.

“Why have you done this to us, Miss Harold – if that is your name,” Jabalah said as soon as she was able to.

“My apologies to both of you, but my employer needs some information from your father – and the only way to get that information…”

“Is to kidnap and threaten us,” Jameela said quietly.

“No – well, yes, to kidnap you, but I assure you, you will not be harmed. You are merely – the leverage we need. Please, eat, drink – the television does work, and we will check on you shortly.”

The twins looked at each other as the four woman left, the door locked behind them before Jabalah said “well, it happened again. At least this time it’s a comfortable place, and they left us untied.”

“True – what has our father done this time…?”

“I see, Madame,” Lily said as she looked at the other two women, “I must say, that is certainly the last place anyone would look for them. How did he secrete them there?

“Okay then – we can retrieve tomorrow, and he will say nothing in the interim?

“As you wish Madame – we will contact you when the job is completed.” Lily put the telephone down, looked at the other two, and then shook her head as she started laughing.

“I get scared when you laugh like that Lily,” Tracey said quietly, “is this another wetworks scenario?”

“Oh lord no – far from it,” Lily finally said, “I’m just wondering what your reaction is going to be to this, never mind Louise.”

“Moi? What is going to cause me to react?”

“Madame has spoken to their father – and we need to inform the Farm they will be staying an extra two days,” Lily said, “and given Madame the information she requested – the location of a diamond collection recently abstracted from Antwerp and brought here. It’s where it located that has made me laugh.”

“Oh,” Louise said, “and that location is?”

“A village called Darvell, in Sussex. Have either of you heard of it?”

“No, I can’t say I have – why,” Tracey said as Lily shook her head.

“Well, you’re going to love this…”

Darvell looks like a typical English village, which is it – with one notable difference, and as Louise walked along the street she said “I’ve been to an Amish village, but I had no idea something like this existed in England.”

“I saw a documentary recently about it,” Lily said as she smiled and bowed her head to two women who were passing, “this is a Bruderhof community – a strict Christian community, where all women are modestly dressed.”

“I know – at least this is comfortable,” Tracey said as she smiled and nodded to two more women, saying “good day sisters.”

“Visiting our community?”

“Indeed – I trust we do not offend?”

“No – you blend in well,” the woman said as she and her friend walked off. Tracy was wearing a long blue pinafore dress over a white blouse, flat black shoes, and a blue scarf tied over her hair, while Louise wore a long blue cornflower print dress, with a white scarf tied over her hair and behind her ears. As for Lily, she wore a grey blouse and long blue skirt, with a grey scarf over her hair.

They were dressed like all the women, and older girls, on the street as they stopped and watched a game of some sort of handball on the green.

“So they stole a batch of diamonds, and hid them here – why?”

“I think because it literally is the last place in the country anyone would think of looking – but we have the address,” she said as she adjusted her large bag on her shoulder, “so let’s go and get them – hopefully with a minimum of fuss.”

They turned and walked slowly down a side street, eventually stopping and looking at a small house behind a white fence.

“So how do we tell if anyone is at home,” Tracey asked quietly.

“We assume there is – Louise, make your way to the rear of the house, and wait for us to open the rear door once we have the house secured.

“Copy that,” Louise said quietly as she walked away, turning a corner.

“Do we have what we need?”

Lily nodded as she patted her bag, and then opened the garden gate as they both walked up to the front door. Lily took a deep breath, and then knocked three times on the wood.

The door was opened by a young woman, wearing a black sweatshirt and a long pale blue skirt, the grey striped socks on her feet just visible between the hem of the skirt and the black training shoes she was wearing. A large grey silk square was tied over her head and under her chin, her brown hairline visible at the front.

“Good morning, sisters,” she said as she looked at them, “how can I be of assistance?”

“Forgive me,” Lily said quietly, “but is the home of Rebekah?”

“I am Rebekah,” she said with a smile, “is there something wrong? Am I needed at the communal hall?”

“No,” Tracey said as she reached into her bag, and drew a gun out, “but you must forgive us if we come in and make sure you cannot raise the alarm.”

Rebekah stared at the gun, and then slowly backed up, raising her hands as she said “but we have nothing to steal, why do you want to rob us?”

“We know you have nothing to steal,” Lily said quietly, “but you will have to forgive us. There is something in the house of value – something you know nothing of.”

“I do not understand…”

“I know,” Tracey said quietly, “so do as we ask, and it will be fine. Turn, and put your hands behind your back please.”

“Why?”

“Because we have to keep you safely out of the way,” Lily said as she reached into her bag, and took out a large roll of grey tape, “now, please, do as we ask.”

Rebekah slowly nodded as she turned, Tracey putting her gun away and gently crossing the woman’s wrists behind her back as Lily tore the end of the roll of tape free, and then secured her wrists tightly together, before she took the tape round her waist to further fix them in place. She then said “let Louise in” as she started to wrap the tape round the upper arms and chest of the captive.

Tracey made her way through the house, admiring the simplicity of the furniture and the craftsmanship, before she went into the kitchen and opened the door – to see Louise standing there with another woman.

“Ah – and this my friend Tracey. Tracey, this is Sara – apparently, she joins Rebekah at this time each morning for coffee. I had to explain it would be a little different today.”

“What is happening,” Sara said as Louise walked her in, her hands behind her back and grey tape wrapped around her wrists, as well as around her waist. She looked to be in her early forties, and was wearing a grey fleece over a long white and blue checked dress, the hem almost reaching the floor. A black scarf was tied over her hair and behind her ears, and she was wearing flat black shoes.

“We do apologise, sister,” Tracey said, “but we need a few undisturbed minutes in this house. Be assured, Rebekah is unharmed – ah, here she is now.”

“Sister Sara – I am sorry, but they have a gun,” Rebekah said as she walked in, while Louise started to wind the grey tape she had around Sara’s arms and upper body.

“It is not your fault, sister Rebekah – they have not harmed you?”

“No – but they say there is something of great value in this house. How could that be?”

Sara shook her head as they both wriggled in the tape bands. “We are a simple community, we share everything.”

“You are indeed and as I said to Rebekah, we regret this intrusion of our world into yours – but be assured, we know what we are doing. Now, we need to keep you both out of the way – Rebekah, pleas lead the way to your bedroom.”

“Do as they say,” Sara said quietly, as Rebekah led them up the staircase, and into a large bedroom. Louise looked round, and said “good – both of you, lay on the bed – my friends will ensure your skirts are adjusted accordingly.”

As Rebekah and Sara lay next to each other, Lily passed Tracey the roll of grey tape, then watched as she and Louise made sure the skirt covered the legs of both captives. They then taped their ankles tightly together, and their legs above and below their knees, trapping their skirts in place as they did so.

“Well, we are going to be here a while – I suggest prayer and silent contemplation.”

“Why silent,” Rebekah said as she looked at Sara – and then she saw Louise raise her friend’s head, and wrap the grey tape tightly round her head, making sure her hair was kept as much out of the way as possible. Tracey then raised Rebekah’s head, taking the tape over her scarf as she gagged her.

“Please, stay and watch over them,” Lily said as Rebekah and Sara looked at each other over the grey bands that covered their mouths, “we will be back shortly.”

As they walked down the stairs, however, they were surprised to hear another female voice say “sister Rebekah, are you upstairs?” They reached the bottom as a third woman walked out, wearing a short sleeved brown blouse, a long blue and white skirt, and brown sandals, a grey scarf tied over her hair as well. She looked at the two women, and then turned to run – but Louise was faster, grabbing her and covering her mouth with her hand as she said “it would not be a good idea to fight, sister – be calm, relax, we mean you no harm.”

“Wrrhsshsshthrrhbhhkh?”

“We’ll take you to her,” Lily said quietly, “but only – only if you accept our word we are not going to harm you, and stay quiet.” As the woman nodded, Louise took her hand away and said “what is your name, darling?”

“Mary?”

“All right, Mary – I want you to stay quiet still, and put your hands behind your back. Do that for me, please?”

As Mary nodded and complied, Lily took the grey tape from her bag and secured the young woman’s wrists behind her back, then wrapped it round her waist in the same way as the other two. She then wrapped it round her arms and upper body, before gagging her, taking the tape round her head and making sure her hair was undamaged.

“Just come with us,” Louise said quietly as they walked back into the kitchen, Mary taking a wooden seat as the other two women looked round, and then moved slightly a large dresser that was against the wall.

“Do you see it,” Louise asked as Lily shone a torch behind the dresser.

“Yeah, I see it – give me a minute,” the second woman said, Mary watching mutely as she knelt down and reached in and then drew out a white bag. Standing up, Lily opened the bag and looked in, then showed Louise the contents before they pushed the dresser back.

“Whtsshnthbhg,” Mary said as she wriggled round – and then her eyes opened wide as Louise took a diamond out and held it to the light.

“Looks like the real thing – let’s test it,” she said as she walked to the kitchen door, and then dragged it along the pane of glass. “Yup – so what do we do with here?”

“Take her to join her sisters…”

“Ushhswhlshshtrrmhreee?”

Mary nodded as she saw Rebekah and Sara on the bed, before Louise helped her to sit in a large armchair, and then taped her ankles and legs in the same way as the other two.

“Did you find them,” Tracey asked quietly, Lily nodding as Louise stood up. “again, please, accept our apologies,” Lily said as she looked at the three captives wriggling in the tape bands, before the three captors left the house, walking along the main street and smiling at other people as they passed.

In Rebekah’s house, the three women were quietly mumbling, their eyes closed as they awaited rescue…

“So we are to be freed?”

“Soon,” Lily said as she looked at Jabalah and Jameela in their room, “but I assure you, you will be returned as soon as possible.”

“And what was it about this time – drugs, money?”

“Diamonds,” Lily said as she left the room, the guard closing and locking the door as she walked to the control room.

“Madame is very pleased,” Tracey said as Lily came in, “especially with what we did in Darvell.”

“It seems wrong that we had to do that,” Louise said as she sipped form a coffee mug.

“True – but she is sending compensation…”

“Are you sure you are recovered,” Sara said as she and Mary sat in the kitchen with Rebekah.

“I am – but you say they only took this bag from behind that dresser?”

Mary nodded as she said “it looked like diamonds – who would have put that there?”

“Who knows,” Sara said, “but we bring news. An anonymous donation to the community to carry out some refurbishment work – fifty thousand pounds.”

“A large sum,” Rebekah said, “but we will use it in the Lord’s name.”

“Amen…”

Return to the Madame X index

Return to the main index