Previous Chapter Back to Content & Review of this story Next Chapter Display the whole story in new window (text only) Previous Story Back to List of Newest Stories Next Story Back to BDSM Library Home

Review This Story || Author: Freddie Clegg

The Marketing Mix

Part 2

Introduction

Chapter 4 : Jessica in Jeopardy

Jessica was sitting at the bar in Casey’s restaurant waiting for Jo when the message bleep went off on her mobile phone. The message was from Jo and intriguing: “MEET IN CAR PARK NOW – MUST SHOW U – VITAL 4 OUR THA PROJXS – J”. Jessica knocked back her vodka and tonic picked up her jacket and headed for the door that lead to the car park.

Outside there was no sign of Joanna although her car was parked on the far side of the car park next to a white van. Jessica walked over to it, calling out, “Jo, Jo, where are you?”

As she drew level with the back of the van her assailant struck. She was dragged from her feet backward into the van, a gloved hand over her mouth stifling any cry. The doors of the van slammed shut as she was pushed down on to the floor. The motor started and the van was moving out of the car park before she caught her first sight of the two masked men that had grabbed her.

A wad of cloth was jammed into her mouth as she struggled on the floor of the van. Tape was pulled across her mouth while her arms were held pinioned behind her. She felt more tape being strapped around her wrists and then her knees and ankles. The two men finished their work by blindfolding her with more tape, pushing her down on the floor of the van.

She was determined to try and remember as much as she could about the attack. She had already lost track of where the van could possibly be going but she might hear something as they sped along. There had been two of them, both wearing ski masks, both wearing rubber surgical gloves. One had been taller than her the other about her height. What else? Dark clothing, nothing distinctive.

The van hit a bump. “Hey, slow down,” called one of her attackers. “No need to rush, the cargo is quite comfortable back here.”

Jessica, grunted through her gag in protest; comfortable she wasn’t.

“Now, now, darling. Don’t get excited.” Was that a London accent, Jessica thought? “You keep nice and quiet – that way we stay calm and you don’t run the risk of being hurt. Understand?”

Jessica grunted again and nodded.

“Good. Daddy’s going to pay much more if you ain’t hurt, so keep up the good behaviour.”

As the van sped on, Jessica tried to work out what was going on. It sounded as though she had been snatched for ransom. Her father was rich it was true but she had never thought that was a cause to take any extra care. Of course this could have something to do with that dreadful THA organisation – wasn’t this just what they did? And what did Joanna have to do with this- it had been her text message that had lured her into this trap, treacherous bitch!

She kept on listening for clues as to where she might be going but could make sense of nothing she heard. They obviously had pulled on to a motorway at some point – they had driven at speed without stopping for a while. Then they had come off onto another road which had seemed to be one roundabout after another. Then there was a slower stretch. Then the van had stopped for a moment – traffic lights, she thought – before moving off at speed again. After who knows how long, she felt the van slow and take a sharp left turn. She heard the crunch of gravel under the van’s wheels and then it stopped.

Her captor spoke again. “Here we are, darling, journey’s end.” She felt his hands on her legs and tried to struggle away from him. He ignored her efforts and she felt herself lifted up and swung over his shoulder. Trying to kick out with her feet did no good and her muffled cries for help from behind her gag just resulted in advice from her captor that no one was around to hear but him and he knew what was going on anyway so why not keep quiet?

She felt warm air as she was carried inside a building, heard a heavy door slam shut behind them. They went down steps, 10, 20, 30, turning a corner every dozen or so, two more heavy doors and then they stopped. She was put down on her feet. Her captor still held her - with her ankles still bound she would have fallen to the floor.

Then a woman’s voice… “Excellent, she seems in good shape. No difficulties, I take it. Well done gentlemen. Just sit her down and take that blindfold off.”

Chapter 5 : Two Girls and Four “P’s”

The van carrying Joanna and Jane pulled up. Jack got into the back of the van and un-strapped each of his captives from the benches. He sat them up and freed their ankles and legs. “Come on girls,” he said pointing a pistol at them, “time to go walkies. We’ve got a reception committee for you.”

The two struggled to their feet unsteadily as a result of the effect of the gas and the fact that they had been strapped immobile for some time.

Jack rapped three times on the back doors of the van and they swung open. The girls were helped out of the van by a tall, dark man who said nothing. They found themselves in a large warehouse-like building, there were no windows and the doors had been shut behind the van after it entered. They still had no idea where they might be.

“Let’s get them inside,” said Jack, grabbing Joanna by the arm. “Come on, move!” he ordered, prodding the gun against her ribs. The other man pulled Jane along with him and the two of them were hustled through a door at one end of the warehouse, along a corridor and through another door that brought them into a brightly lit but sparsely furnished room.

At the far end stood a man in his early fifties, bespectacled, balding, moustachioed and slightly overweight. Dressed in a sober suit with a pale blue shirt and navy blue silk tie, he looked like a successful business man rather than any sort of criminal. “Do, come in ladies, do. Jack, Norris, please make our guest comfortable down here and don’t be rougher than you have to, I suspect that they have had a sufficiently uncomfortable time already.”

Joanna and Jane were pushed down to chairs in front of their host.

“Now, you will be Joanna Wales, I am sure. And you, will be Jane Ellis, personal assistant and secretary to Ms Brace. Am I right?” The two girls nodded, grunting through their gags.

“Oh, goodness. I am sorry, I had quite forgotten. Jack, these ladies are quite unable to speak – could you please remove their gags. Thank you.”

Jack stepped forward, and unbuckled the ball gag that stuffed Jo’s mouth. Jo coughed and spluttered but was glad to be free of the gag. Jane’s gag gave more problems – he had to cut the torn sleeve he’d knotted across her mouth but soon she too was able to speak again.

“Why are we here?” : “Who are you?” : “What do you want?” : “You must let us go!” : “You’ve no right to do this!” The two girls bombarded their captors with questions and shouts. But the men just stood their smiling.

“Goodness,” said their host. “So many questions. Let me answer as many as I can. We like our guests to understand as much as possible of what is going on. Well, Joanna, as you may have guessed you are here as a result of your project on THA. Of course that was a slight subterfuge but nevertheless you are here. Jane, I am sorry but you were very much in the wrong place at the right time. You weren’t originally planned for this collection but it would have been most unwise to leave you behind and, in any case, I do have a role for you in our activities.”

“Oh, I am sorry – I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Clegg, my colleagues call me Freddie. You will know me as ‘Sir’ or ‘Master’ but we can cover all that later.”

“Now to explain our purpose in bringing you here. As Joanna will know we are an organisation that specialises in abductions. These can be for a number of purposes but the most common is for the collection of slaves for sale on to wealthy owners in other countries where it is easier to keep a stable of women than it is here. You two are lucky enough to be joining our summer collection and after some initial preparation here you will be ready for the auction that we have planned later this week.”

“This is barbarous,” Joanna interrupted.

“Do you know, you are exactly correct. We have learned many of our methods from the Barbary Coast pirates. However, please do not concern yourself with the origins of our activities, I suspect you will have quite enough to occupy you without worrying about that. Also, please restrict your comments to remarks unlikely to antagonise me – I won’t think twice about having your pretty mouth filled up again.”

“Now to get back to matters in hand. Firstly, yourselves. You are both the type of girl that attracts a good price at our auctions. All the money is in the Middle East these days, of course, and there is still a taste for the well mannered, English, middle class, girl there. Both of you obviously know how to dress well – I understand Ms Ellis that the fact that you are without both shoes and hose is no fault of your own. You both are evidently reasonably fit and fortunately neither of you has engaged in any of these ‘self-defence’ classes that make our job more risky. You should fetch a good price, Wales, nicely proportioned, well spoken when you watch your tongue, and, I suspect, sexually responsive given the right, shall we say, incentives. Ellis, I would rate you much the same, plus of course blonde hair always goes down well. Oh, boys, please check that she’s genuine in that respect. It’s always important to make sure the collar and cuffs match.”

“How dare you….” began Jane but Clegg cut her off.

“No matter, we needn’t worry right now, it’s just so that we can get the catalogue details right. Please do try to cooperate – we have a great deal to do and it won’t help if you keep obstructing us.”

Clegg smiled. “Well, Ms Ellis, let’s start with you. My associates here will take you off to get you started on our plans for you. I am rather afraid that it will involve some discomfort and embarrassment but I am sure you will be able cope with it. Gentlemen – if you could take Ms Ellis away, thank you. I’ll stop by to see how you are getting on later.”

Jack stepped forward and grabbed Jane by her arm. “Come along, now, don’t make a fuss. We can always gag you again.” She left with them quietly.

“Now then, Ms Wales, I think it is time that you and I got better acquainted.” Clegg sat down immediately opposite the helpless PR executive.

“I can’t think of anything I’d like to do less,” Joanna, gave a humourless smile.

“Well, of course, that’s understandable but never mind. In this, as in so much in your future, you do not really have any choice. Now let me offer a few words of explanation. As you may have surmised, you are here as a result of the involvement of our two companies. Your Ms Brace was keen to have us provide you with a taste of what life is like for those that encounter us and so…”

“So this is just a way of helping us with our research is it?”

“Oh, no. I am sorry. That will have confused you. I think that was Ms Brace’s idea – she thought it would give you first hand knowledge. I have to confess we have taken advantage of her in that respect. It’s not often we have so much cooperation in collecting someone like yourself and it was just too much of a temptation to ignore.”

“And why am I here? Surely you don’t really sell people?”

“Why ever not? There’s a market. We identified a product and a way to supply the market. You’re in marketing, you should understand. We have to worry about our marketing mix the same as any enterprise. It’s the four “P’s” isn’t it, product, place, promotion and, er,..”

“Price,” Joanna interjected – immediately feeling stupid for joining in the lunatic conversation.

“Thank you, yes. I can see now why I consulted, Ms Brace’s agency. Well, you see, now ‘Product’ – that’s young ladies like yourself usually required for sexual or other personal services.” Joanna shivered at the prospect. “The there’s ’Place’ – well our customers can come from anywhere in the world so an important part of our ‘mix’ is access to the network of collection points, sales outlets and suitable transport systems. ‘Promotion’ – more difficult – we can hardly put adverts on TV can we? This is probably our most difficult area although the Internet is providing a useful channel for us. And finally as you so rightly say ‘Price’. Fortunately the markets are buoyant right now and prices are holding up well. That means we don’t have too many pressures on our costs so we can invest in improved research and new collection methods. You see its all pretty much like any other business, you just have to manage the marketing mix.”

“Except, of course, it’s illegal and, immoral.”

Clegg gave a quiet sigh. It was hard to see how the conversation was going to move forward if she kept bringing in these irrelevancies. A moment later, a lithe, dark haired woman appeared. “Ah,” said Clegg, “Ms. Wales, I don’t think you have met my trusted associate. Eloise, this is Joanna Wales, a colleague of young Ms Ellis.”

“Whose clothes you are wearing…” cut in Joanna.

Elly smiled, “Mmm, yes. Well, she didn’t seem to need them and we seem to be having such a business-like day. Since it’s not often we have guests that come in wearing designer labels I thought I should maybe try these instead of my usual jeans. What do you think?”

Clegg approved. Elly was slim but being slightly taller than Jane she carried the long jacket and the short pleated skirt rather better than Karen’s secretary had. She should strictly have fastened the blouse right to the throat for a real executive look but nevertheless the overall effect was appealing.

Joanna wasn’t convinced. “I think you’ll find that in most offices it’s considered slutty to wear a black bra under a white blouse.”

Clegg sighed again, that wouldn’t help.

Elly rounded on Joanna. “You’ll find out about slutty soon enough and by the end of this week-end you’ll be glad of any stitch of clothing whatever colour it is.“ She turned to Clegg, “Can I take this one to join her friend now?”

“Yes, I have finished with her for now. I fear our conversation was not progressing very well. You will need to use a measure of persuasion on her I am sure. Just don’t damage her.”

“Oh, no I won’t. Least not so it shows.” Elly grabbed a hank of Joanna’s hair and pulled her to her feet. “Come along, fashion guru, let’s get you out of that dress.” She hustled the trussed Joanna out of the room but as they left she hissed in her ear, “and before you go crying ‘slut’, you should make sure your nipples aren’t sticking out like hat pegs, if I were you.”

Joanna whimpered. She’d been terrified by the whole experience but she had also found it greatly arousing. Somehow the whole scenario played to her deepest inner drives and now Elly had noticed.

Once outside in the corridor, Elly pushed Joanna back against the wall. “You’re really hot for this aren’t you?” she smiled. “We’re going to have so much fun.” Elly reached forward and gripped Jo’s left nipple tightly squeezing it until Jo whimpered again. “Now you’re going to do just what you’re told, which you’ll really like and I’ll get off on too. Understand?”

Jo nodded but said nothing.

“I said, did you understand?” Elly barked.

“Oh, mm, yes.”

“I think you can do better than that can’t you. I’m betting you know how this is played. Let’s try again. Do you understand?”

“Mnn,” Jo whimpered again. “Yes, yes Mistress,” she said, huskily, bowing her head.

“I thought you’d got the idea,” Elly smiled, “now let’s carry on down stairs.” She hustled her captive away.

Chapter 6 : Art Collection

Mikki sat staring at her PC. It was evidently going to be one of those days when the creative juices resolutely refused to flow. She hadn’t been able to talk to either Jo or Jessica about THA and on top of that Karen had foisted the new trainee on her. Fresh out of college and eager to please, Beth Dixon was sitting in the outer office waiting with all the rapt attention of a young Labrador dog. Mikki just found her a distraction. Plus she hated being called "Ms. Swift" and Beth had resolutely refused to respond to invites to use her first name, claiming that she felt more comfortable being formal in the workplace. Po-faced and preppy was Mikki’s analysis, another recruit for the Suits. Still if it kept Karen happy…

“I’m going down to the gym for an hour and then I’m going to call it a day,” Mikki called to Beth.

“OK, Ms Swift, Beth replied. I’ll just finish checking these proofs and then I’ll set up the photo portfolios for you to review in the morning.”

“Thanks, Beth” Mikki said. Too bloody efficient by half, she thought.

Mikki grabbed her sports bag and headed off for the gym. One of the benefits of working at BBB was that they all got the use of the gym in the basement of the
Watson Building where their offices were. It was always quiet at this time of day and when she got down there she had the gym to herself. She changed into her exercise gear; shorts, a pair of battered trainers, and an old running vest. For Mikki, the gym was a chance to burn off some of the frustrations of the day – she didn’t have much time for designer jogging outfits. When she got back into the exercise room she set to her regular circuit; a few warm up exercises; twenty minutes on the running machine, ten on the rower and twenty on the cycle.

About half way through two others came in to join her. She didn’t recognise them but that wasn’t unusual, there were always new people coming and going from the twenty or so businesses that tenanted the Watson Building. They looked an ill matched pair. One was quite a young woman – Mikki guessed 22 or 23 while the other was a slightly overweight, balding man in his early fifties. She didn’t look as if she needed the exercise but he definitely did.

She put her head down and got on with burning off the last ten minutes of her cycle programme. Pleased that she wasn’t more out of breath than she was, she stepped of the cycle, filled a paper cup from the water cooler and downed it. “That’s my lot,” she called to the other two who did little more than grunt in reply. Sociable pair, Mikki thought, grabbed a towel and headed off to one of the shower cubicles.

She stripped off her kit and dumped it on the bench outside. With so few people around she wasn’t worried that anyone was likely to steal anything – it was all pretty old anyway. Grabbing the shampoo and body wash from her sports bag she turned the shower to full and stepped under it, luxuriating in the steaming hot water and she sluiced off the sweat of her exercise session.

She didn’t hear the other two come into the shower room.

In fact, she didn’t realise anything was untoward until the shower curtain was ripped back and the woman who had been in the gym earlier lunged at her. She went to scream but her cry was cut off as her assailant’s dive pushed her back against the wall of the shower, cracking her head on the tiled wall and stunning her. Things started moving in slow motion for Mikki. She saw a hand come up to her face, felt a pad pressed over her nose and mouth, smelt a sickly, sweet, odour as she inhaled the chloroform, tried to gasp for breath but only succeeded in sucking in more of the chemical that was robbing her of consciousness. And then, nothing.

Elly turned off the stream of water, pushed her now soaked black hair back from her face, and slid Mikki’s naked and unconscious body from the shower. Clegg was ready to help secure their victim. Turning over her gym kit he pushed her socks into her mouth before tying her sports bra across her mouth to keep the gag in place. The laces from her trainers served to tie her wrists and the strap from her bag was lashed around her ankles. It wasn’t ideal but it would do and she was going to be out for quite a while any way.

Clegg grabbed Miki’s office clothes from her locker and stuffed them into her sports bag.

With Mikki helplessly tied, the two of them carried her out of the door that lead from the rear of the changing rooms directly into the car park. Clegg’s car was backed up close to the door and Mikki was bundled into the boot, together with her sports bag. The car sped off.

They rounded the front of the Watson Building as a young, blonde haired girl skipped down the front steps, clutching a briefcase. “Oh, look,” said Elly, “it’s Beth Dixon – we’ve finished with her input on this project now, shall we tidy up this loose end?”

“Err, no, not just now I think,” Clegg replied swinging the car around the corner of the building and on towards the motorway. “Plenty of time for that later and I don’t want us to be distracted from the package in the boot – it’s a long time since I had an ex-art student in the back of my car and I want to make the most of it.”


“Oh, gosh, I’d forgotten,” said Elly. “That was your first wasn’t it? What was her name, now. Oh yes. Miranda.”

“That’s right, a long time ago now but I guess you always remember the first. Still, no time for nostalgia. Let’s get Mikki back to the ranch.

 

© 2007 Freddie Clegg

Download PDF copies of my other stories at my Yahoo Group :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freddies_tales/

 

 


Review This Story || Author: Freddie Clegg
Previous Chapter Back to Content & Review of this story Next Chapter Display the whole story in new window (text only) Previous Story Back to List of Newest Stories Next Story Back to BDSM Library Home