Scott’s Business (revised)

by FreezAntix and Zero

Madrid, Spain

East Sector Police Headquarters

            Adrianna Dashkov had known that when she'd gone to work for Sierra Escorts she'd probably get into some bad things, and sure enough that eventually led to her being arrested by Interpol. The Paradise Foundation, Sierra's parent company, then sprung Adrianna only to turn her into a slave, thanks to a device known simply as a chip that worked with a miracle drug called Type-7, a stasis-inducing sedative that could revolutionize the medical field and much beyond that if it was ever approved for commercial distribution. Since being rescued from the Foundation, also by Interpol, Adrianna had decided to capitalize on Type-7's unique qualities and had spent nearly a year selling the stuff on the black market, making millions. Unfortunately Adrianna was now paying for her crimes.

            The blond Russian shifted in the uncomfortable wooden chair, her hands handcuffed in front of her. Across from Adrianna were two police officers, both fairly attractive, with one a brown-haired man and the other a dyed-blond woman with more than a couple streaks of brown, both cops in their mid-thirties roughly. The short-haired man, who'd earlier identified himself as senior constable Dario Cortez, was clearly the bad cop, scowling and looking over the papers in front of him in disgust. The woman, Chloe Vega, seemed to be going for good cop, offering what Adrianna guessed were supposed to be sympathetic glances. Both were wearing the Spanish Police’s dark blue uniforms, though their blue windbreakers were hanging on the backs of the chairs they sat in. The room was old, located in the station's basement, and since she couldn't see any Adrianna figured there were no cameras. The room itself was run down and outdated at best. The location was most likely used when the police really wanted to intimidate people, and since Adrianna's charges were solely on her shoulders while there were smugglers in town, she figured the cops would try whatever they could to get information out of her lips.

            "Look Adrianna, we want to help you, but you sold an illegal pharmaceutical to an undercover police officer and claimed you had a lot more," pointed out Chloe, her voice sounding sugar-coated, most likely to hide the arrogance behind it. "You even suggested using it on people's drinks in clubs. We can add more time to your sentence for that. You need to help us out." Chloe herself had been under the effects of the drug, having spent several hours ‘frozen’ into a mannequin-like doll; it was a drug that she didn’t want to have floating around her town. She was determined to do what she could to get it off the streets even if it that meant a little dirty police work in the process.

            "Why deal with her?" shot Dario, standing up and slamming the table with her hands. "This little Russian doll's just a drug pusher, nothing more. She's too stupid to be a part of a cartel..." Dario had just made senior constable a few weeks ago; a big bust or useful information could only help him in his climb up the ranks.

            "I can swing entrapment," countered Adrianna, faking a yawn and rubbing the back of her neck after taking a moment to adjust her belt, all of which was a bit annoying with handcuffs. "That guy you used as a mark was willing to pay ten times what the street value of that stuff was worth and even offered to give me a ride, if you'll forgive the euphemism. With the right coaxing its more than likely anyone in this town could get someone drugs. Trying to connect me to a cartel is just sad." As far as Adrianna knew Type-7 was still fairly new in Madrid, there were no such cartels. She was on her own and those that supplied her were smart enough to conceal their tracks, so the supply trail ended with her.

            "No, what's sad is if you think anyone will defend you!" shouted Dario, getting in Adrianna's face. "We've already had state-appointed lawyers decline the case!" That was a lie, Dario and his charge Chloe had not even talked to a lawyer yet, he had to see what he could get from her first.

            "Dario, calm down!" warned Chloe, not even standing. "Look, Adrianna, you've had a lot happen to you. I'm sure you'll get sympathy for how this came about and if you're willing to redeem, we can cut a possible ten-year sentence down to six months, maybe even just community service."

            "You two bore me," yawned Adrianna, faking again as she eyed the key to her cuffs on Dario's belt. As Dario's face went red Adrianna stretched, her right heel pushing against the ground hard enough to crack it. The arrest and interrogation hadn't been expected, but Adrianna did plan for bad things. When she'd touched her belt earlier she'd removed a blank chip, which she'd then placed on the back of her neck, making her immune to the effects of Type-7. Now that her heel was broken, a hidden gas container was quickly flooding the room with the same drug Adrianna was now immune to, though her captors weren't.

            Chloe sat with her arms and legs crossed and stared at Adrianna with serious eyes and a neutral expression. Dario stood over the table, his hands in fists resting over the tabletop, his gaze furious with an angry expression. It would have been intimating but the two police officers were dead still as if they had become statues. Along with their fixed expressions, their eyes displayed a generally vacant look that only wax figures could master. “Well that didn’t take too long…” Adrianna said with a sigh as she stood. She limped her way along, due to the broken heel, around the table over to Dario. The man did not move or react as she reached over and unclipped the keys from his belt. A moment later the handcuffs were off and Adrianna was massaging her wrists. “That was easy enough,” she said as she hopped on top of the table directly in front of Dario’s scowling face. The Russian removed her broken heel and examined it. She shrugged and tossed it aside as she removed her other heel and did the same. “I’m not going to need them anymore, because I need to be dressed like you to get out of here…” Adrianna said with smile as she looked over her shoulder at Chloe’s frozen form. The immobilized woman only continued to stare emptily at where Adrianna had once sat.

            With the skill of a seasoned mannequin dresser, Adrianna had Chloe’s uniform off and piled on the table within minutes. Chloe now stood upright with her bare arms down at her sides, slightly pulled backwards. The policewoman was now only dressed in a white sports bra, pink boxers and black socks. Adrianna herself had stripped down to her matching blue lace undergarments. Her designer jeans and purple short-sleeved turtleneck sat in a pile atop the table as well. She looked through the policewoman’s uniform, visually measuring it.  Luckily for her, Chloe was a little bigger than she, so she wouldn’t have too much of problem donning the uniform. The Russian was about to pull on the slim-looking Kevlar vest when she eyed Dario’s suspended form. The man was attractive, even more so in his current state. She felt a feeling of warmness wash of her, looking around the room she noted there were no cameras once again. No one was watching them; no one for the most part knew they were down there. Adrianna wasn’t in a big hurry, what was a few a minutes? The police officer wouldn’t mind.

            Smiling seductively, Adrianna put the vest aside and padded over to the unaware, unmoving policeman. She let her fingers dance over his arm as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, “Let’s see how you look without that uniform,” The Russian cooed into Dario’s unhearing ears. Within seconds the policeman was on the ground. Adrianna like a crazed animal tore at his uniform, manipulating his stiff limbs like a puppet master. She worked from bottom to top, starting at his boots all the way up to his uniform top. Soon the ambitious constable was completely in the buff and Adrianna was happily riding his tirelessly stiff member.

24 Hours later…

            Ivan Popov tiredly pushed opened the glass door that led into the East Sector police headquarters building. The flight from London had been quick, but it was a crowed flight that seemed to be filled with too many noisy children. All in all it was a stressful trip at best and Ivan, along with the two members of his team Epsilon, Makeda Getachew and Malai Kasem, were glad to be finally on the ground. They had left London on short notice so the only things they carried with them were an overnight bag and some equipment. The equipment was stored in a hard-shell rolling suitcase that was currently being pulled by Malai, the trailing member to enter the building. The Thai agent was dressed in her trusty light khaki jacket over an orange t-shirt and pair of worn grey jeans. White Converse sneakers finished the outfit, giving the petite girl a more child like look. Makeda was dressed the most professionally of the three, wearing a dark grey pantsuit and black heeled boots. The Tall Russian lead agent wore a navy blazer over his simple white dress shirt and black tie. A pair of rough blue jeans and worn cowboy boots finished the outfit. He also had a white Stetson cowboy hat that was now more Ivan Popov than anything else. The hat had been a novelty gift from Cassandra Flick but Ivan had grown to love it and was seldom without it. He took off his treasured hat as he looked around for their contact.

            “Agent Popov,” a sultry Spanish accented voice called out. Ivan looked across the room to see an attractive woman with short chin-length dark hair that curled outward at the tips walk towards him. She was dressed in red buttoned-up pea coat over a black knee-length black skirt. Her legs covered in nude pantyhose and she walked in expensive looking black high heels. She was followed by a blond woman and a dark haired man with a neatly trimmed beard. The man was dressed in dark expensive-looking suit that had ‘senior detective in charge’ written all over it. The woman was dressed in a denim jacket, with a white top underneath and khaki cargo pants over dirty brown hiking boots.  She had big blue eyes and elf-like facial features that contrasted sharply with her rough dress style.

            “Section Chief Castillo?” He asked, surprised at seeing the woman, along with her two companions approach him.

            “Surprised Ivan, Weren’t you briefed?” Sonia Castillo asked smiling warmly.

            “I was, I was just not expecting to meet you this soon,” Ivan answered, taking off his Stetson.

            “I like to get things rolling as soon possible, it’s nice seeing you again Ivan,” The Spanish section chief said extending her hand.

            “Likewise Sonia, it’s been a while, and congrats on your promotion,” Ivan said, returning the handshake. He had worked with the Spanish Interpol agent many years ago. She was good, one of the best in the agency, nearly a legend if it wasn’t for her modesty. The Spaniard had also trained his current boss Lucienne Christophe. Sonia was all about the job at hand and getting things done; she didn’t care about the fame that sometimes came with being a great cop.

            “Thanks, now time to get to work,” Sonia said turning to her two companions. “Ivan, I like you to meet DEA agent Yeardley Luxby,” she said gesturing towards the elfin blond who stepped forward, extending her hand.

            “Nice to meet you,” Yeardley said coolly shaking the Russian’s hand.

            Sonia continued, “The Americans – mainly the DEA – want to know more about Type-7. Yeardley is here as an observer. Though she’s not authorized to carry a weapon she is a valuable asset and a quick learner, feel free to look to and teach her.”

            “You can call my Lux, only my parents call me Yeardley, though I’m mainly an expert in apprehension and close quarter battle. I’m here mostly to help and watch so let me know if I’m getting in the way,” the DEA agent added.

            “The reputation of your agency precedes you Lux, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Ivan replied with a welcoming grin. On the flight over Ivan had read up briefly on Yeardley’s file, she was FAST agent with the DEA. FAST, also known as Foreign Advisory and Support Team, was sort of an elite type of unit that operated overseas. Yeardley was an eight-year vet to the famed agency and the first female to become a FAST agent. Up until two weeks ago the girl was serving in Afghanistan; she had more combat experience than his whole team.

            “And this is Senior Inspector Vasco Arroyo, he is your contact. Inspector Arroyo and myself go back along way, Ivan, he’s very good,” Sonia introduced, gesturing to the man in the expensive suit.

            “Oh, Chief Castillo, I’m not very good, I’m the best,” Arroyo said, laughing as he extended his hand.

            Sonia scoffed, “you’re not that good Vasco, Ivan wouldn’t be here if you were…”

            Vasco gave Sonia a bitter look as Ivan returned his handshake. “I’m sure whatever happened was not directly Inspector Arroyo’s fault,” Ivan said, seeing the two Spaniards look at each other warningly. The two had a history for sure; Ivan wasn’t sure if it was a good one or not though. He needed to keep this on track. ITEA often acted as medium between local agencies, binding everyone together to get a mission done.

            “No, not directly, but Vasco you do oversee major cases don’t you?” Sonia asked.

            “Yes, that’s correct, but the police officers involved kind of went rogue and took matters into their own hands. Frankly they didn’t know what they were dealing with. Had I known they had taken in such a person, I would have handled the arrest myself,” Vasco defended.

            “The police officers are they the frozen victims?” Makeda asked, jumping into the conversation. Sonia and Vasco looked over at the Ethiopian standing behind Ivan. She and Malai had been standing patiently waiting to be introduced, but before they knew it the case seemed to be starting without them.

            “Aren’t you going to introduce your team, Ivan?” Sonia asked smiling guiltily at the two ITEA agents. Introductions weren’t really her thing, she liked to get things started; small talk and formalities just seem to slow things down.

            Ivan quickly introduced Malai and Makeda, explaining their specialties. The two agents exchanged handshakes with the other three before Vasco lead them to the basement of the station. He explained that the station house used to only consist of one floor, with the jail and interrogation rooms situated in the basement. The other spaces, though still furnished, were however seldom used. Vasco explained that some cops and older inspectors sometimes took suspects down there to better ‘question’ them. The explanation brought a raised eyebrow from Sonia, who looked at the inspector seriously. Ivan knew the look; it was a look Irina gave him when he was trouble. He didn’t want to be Vasco’s shoes when this was all over. He was sure the basement of this police station wasn’t going to be used any more in the near future.

            Once in the basement Vasco, led the group to one of the many brick-walled interrogation rooms. Most of the doors of the old rooms were open wide with the exception of the one that Vasco led the group to. That door was shut and two uniformed police officers stood watch. The officers stepped aside as Vasco walked up to them, “Our two officers are in here; we barely touched them since we found them in that condition.”

            “Barely?” Sonia asked looking around the basement at the rooms and the barred cells down the hall. “You should not have touched them at all,” she added, not looking at the senior inspector as she was not expecting or looking for a reply from him. Sonia examined one of the crude rooms and was immediately repulsed by their old dungeon-like conditions.

            “Looks like the prisons back home…” Malai commented, following Sonia’s gaze.

            Sonia turned to the Thai agent with a glare. Malai only smiled nervously; she could feel the aura of authority emanating from the senior Interpol agent. The Spaniard turned to Ivan, “Agent Popov, I suggest you start your investigation here,” she stated; without waiting for a reply she turned to Vasco. “Inspector Arroyo, can I have a word with you upstairs,” she said crisply, turning to leave. She paused and looked over her shoulder and added, “Ms. Luxby, I’ll leave you under the care of Agent Popov, it was nice talking to you.” With that Sonia continued towards the stairs.

            Vasco smiled awkwardly, knowing he was in for an earful, he nodded, “I shall return, agent Popov.”

            Ivan nodded as the Spanish police inspector followed the Interpol chief up the stairs. He then turned to Yeardley, “Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the room that Makeda and Malai had just entered.

            “I guess by barely touched he meant the towel,” Makeda said as she looked around the aging room and then the two stiffly posed police officers. The male officer stood in the buff, only clad in white towel wrapped around his hips. He had his arms raised above his head and his face bore a closed-eyed expression with his mouth open. A hint of lipstick was visible on his lips. Looking at his naked body and lipstick stain, Makeda had an idea what Adrianna had done before she escaped. Nearby was an attractive female police officer, who stood more or less at attention, only clad in her white sports bra, pink boxers and black socks. Her blond hair was still held in a loose conservative bun while her face sported an empty expression with parted lips.

            Malai hefted up the hard case onto the table and eyed the clothing that was piled there. She was reaching out to for the clothing when Lux appeared by her side and gently touched her shoulder, “I think that’s going to be evidence,” she pointed out gently, careful not sound like she knew more than the ITEA agent. “It looks like the suspect took the officer’s uniform, I think those items are hers,” Lux deduced, gesturing at the frozen woman and then the clothes. She had to keep her mind focused. The sight of the frozen nearly naked man in the room had made her… warm. Her investigative skills were minimal, but she knew the basics so she let her mind work.

            “Thanks, for that,” Malai smiled and opened the case up. She then pulled on pair of blue latex gloves and handing a pair to Lux. The Thai agent then began to go through the clothing that was piled on the table.

            “Good catch,” Ivan said, patting Lux on the back and then moving past her to examine the frozen officers. He looked at both frozen people carefully, naturally spending a little bit more time with the female officer. He was a married man, true, but he figured the woman was frozen and he wasn’t doing anything sexual. “Were they injected?”

            “Not sure,” Makeda replied as she pulled on a pair of gloves and walked over to the male officer. He was the easiest to examine for needle marks for the obvious reasons. Makeda’s gloved hands gently probed the unmoving skin around his neck and torso before lowering his arms. Lux watched curiously from the corner of her eye as she looked through the male’s officer discarded uniform that was under the table.

            Ivan moved over to the table where their equipment case sat and retrieved the 7100 zNose, an electronic sniffer. The device was a bit bulky, the size of a small briefcase, but a good portion of that was due to the laptop inside which analyzed what the device picked up. The actual sniffing part of the zNose vaguely resembled an iron, connected to the case part by a flexible hose. As Ivan booted up the device he looked at Yeardley, who was sorting through some clothes on the ground under the table. He could see though her attention was really on Makeda as she examined the male officer. “What do you know about Sedative Type-7, Lux?” he asked as he read the display on the laptop as the zNose finally booted up.

            “Uh, as much as was released to the public from the FDA, my agency got the same amount of information. In other words: not much. Stone Enterprises has stated that its development is complete. I read about the effects and chemical make-up on the flight over here,” Yeardley replied looking up from the clothing. She was glad the senior ITEA agent had pulled her attention away; in a moment she would be completely watching what Makeda was doing.

            “All right, we’ll let Agent Getachew show you the full effects in person, nothing can replace hands on experience,” Ivan said as he read some information on the laptop screen. “Agent Kasem could take care of the clothing.”

            “Uh, alright…” Yeardley replied, standing and then walking over to Makeda. Now looking at the naked Spanish officer face to face, Yeardley felt warm again and hoped that her cheeks weren’t blushing. The man was handsome, even more so in his current state; he seemed completely oblivious that two women were looking at him, one had her hands all over him. Something about the mere fact made the DEA agent extremely aroused.

            “So, in nutshell, Type-7 is basically a tranquilizing drug but instead of knocking you out it stiffens your muscles, turning you more or less into a life-size doll; of course you should know all that from your reading. What the briefing doesn’t tell you is that while under those effects, a person’s body is fully poseable, that’s why I used the doll analogy,” Makeda explained as she demonstrated by moving the Spanish officer’s head from left to right. She even worked his jaw up and down.

            “So, you have full control over him…” Yeardley asked quietly, looking at the man’s muscular bare chest. It was taking every bit of her discipline to stay focused. She wanted so badly to touch the man and move his limbs around, control his body.

            “Pretty much,” the ITEA agent said simply as she moved around to his back to check for injection marks. “Could you remove the towel and check his thighs.”

            Yeardley looked around the room, trying not to grin like a schoolgirl. The other two agents were busy with their tasks. Malai was still looking through the suspect’s clothing and was paying close attention to one of the heels of the suspect’s shoes. Ivan moved around the room with odd iron-looking device while Makeda was examining the officer’s back now. Looking at the towel, the DEA agent bit her lower lip as she pulled it off the man’s hip. The fact that he did nothing but stand there now completely in the buff turned her on even more. Her cheeks were hot and she knew for sure she was blushing as she knelt down to examine his thighs and legs. His member was impressive to say the least. Type-7 looked to be an interesting drug, she thought as she ran her gloved hands over the man’s naked thighs, keeping the urge to fondle his manhood barely at bay.

* * *

Madrid International Airport

            Scott Dawson was planning a trip to the states with his wife Ryoshi when he got the call from his ITEA mole, Colette Landry. She reported that Adrianna Dashkov had resurfaced in Madrid and had been arrested the by the authorities only to escape. An ITEA team was heading to Spain to investigate. Adrianna had been one of Scott’s employees in what felt like a lifetime ago when he worked for the Foundation; he had dealt with her as a loose end at that time. Controlling her with a Type-7 and a chip, he then had sold her to a client as a living sex toy. She was later rescued and had slipped from his radar. The last he heard anything about her was that she had started dealing Type-7 all over Europe. She was arrested once before and also escaped; Scott had found out about that too late and was able to do anything.

            He had informed Colette to report to him immediately if the Russian secretary was ever caught again. Adrianna was one of the few people still running around that knew what the former Paradise Foundation executive looked like. It was imperative that he should deal with her more accordingly. He and Ryoshi were always looking to add to their collection. They had a pretty nice-sized cadre, as it stood, of girls who were chipped and acted as their mindless slaves; Adrianna was going to be the latest addition.

            The trip with Ryoshi to the states, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be exact, wasn’t just a pleasure trip; it was mission more or less and was just as important as was capturing Adrianna. So with the chance of reuniting with the Russian once again, Scott decided to divide his forces. Ryoshi with some of their chipped ladies would head to the states while Scott and some others headed to Spain. It wasn’t a big deal as the couple mostly worked independently on operations. This left a safety net of sorts; if one was ever to be caught, the other was available to save the unlucky one. Ryoshi had only three other girls with her and her mission were not as difficult, so it was decided that she would take a commercial flight. Scott, on the other hand, had five of their ladies with him and was bringing back another, so he had taken their Lear jet. Having a private jet also helped him slip past customs more easily so he could enter and leave the country quite quickly with no one being the wiser.

            “I’m here,” Scott said simply into his satellite phone as he entered the terminal of the airport. He was dressed in three-piece gray pinstripe Brooks Brothers suit with a white dress shirt underneath and a black tie. Trailing behind were five gorgeous looking women; two were dressed as pilots, one was dressed as a flight attendant while the last two had dressed in sharp looking business attire similar to Scott’s. They all dragged rolling suitcases behind them. The women walked with supermodel-like confidence in their stride while their eyes carried an empty but focused look. Unknown to those around them, the only man in the group had full control of the group of beauties, thanks to the Type-7 neural chips that were on the nape of each of the ladies’ necks.

            “Great to hear boss, hope your flight was good?” Colette Landry greeted and asked on the other end. The Canadian agent was in her London apartment, snug in her favorite lounger, dressed in a heavy wool robe and wrapped in a thick faux fur blanket. A mug of cocoa steamed next to her while a laptop sat on her lap and an earpiece nestled in her ear. She was on vacation and recovering from a cold but was more than capable in supporting her boss, her real boss, on his latest operation.

            “Took the jet, and I had good company so it was a nice flight. How are you feeling?” Scott replied and then asked.

            “I’m feeling much better, going skiing while sick wasn’t my best idea and it was just rotten luck that some nut would then load me up with Type-7… well enough with that, point is I’m better. Ivan’s team landed an hour before you, boss. He’s at the police station now. Malai just checked in with some info, but it sounds like they’re just starting. No real clues yet.”

            “Good, we still have a chance of getting ahead of them. You looked up Adrianna’s finances?” Scott asked, as ideas were running through his head on his next course of action. He was still walking, on his way to rent a car, his ladies close on his heels. At the same time he was also scanning the crowed terminal, making sure no one was looking too much at him or his entourage. He was in his zone. This was what he was good at. He loved it.

            “I have, it looks like she checked into the Stilton Hotel of Madrid; I’ll squirt the info to your phone. That’s about the only info I have at the moment, but I think it’s enough to start with,” Colette answered.

            Scott could hear the girl’s typing in the background as she relayed him the info, “Sounds good; keep me posted on Ivan’s team if you can. I’ll stick a tail on him though, just in case he decides to move a bit more quickly.”

            “Will do boss, good luck,” Colette said as she flipped back on the screen she had opened and re-read the information that Malai had sent back to the home office for any details she might have missed. She was good; Ivan had noted that Adrianna was likely now dressed as police officer, but Colette knew that the woman would change at the first chance she got, so that info was pointless to pass on.

            “Thanks and get some sleep, don’t contact me unless you have to; you’ve done more than enough,” Scott said, hearing a soft chime and pulling the phone from his ear to see that Colette’s info had reached his phone.

            “Roger that, thanks,” Colette said before killing the line.

            As they passed the ladies room, Scott stopped and turned around and ordered, “Carol, Heather, Natalia go change into something less conspicuous; outfit three Carol, outfit six Heather and outfit four Natalia.” With that the two ‘pilots’ and ‘flight attendant’ headed off as ordered. The three women had at one point been Vancouver working girls that he and Ryoshi had taken with them when they parted ways with the Foundation. “Izel,” he said, next looking at one of the businesswomen behind him. Izel Cortez was a former Mexican Federal Police captain. Scott had added her to his collection simply because his wife had a thing for Hispanic women, along with the fact that Izel had seen his face at one point. The woman was now dressed in simple but sharp black skirt-suit with a while blouse underneath and dark pantyhose over black heels. Her long black hair was tied back into a ponytail. “Go rent us a small sedan,” he ordered. The woman nodded before leaving to do her task.

            Shortly afterward, once the rest of his ladies were dressed in something more appropriate, he rented a luxury sedan for himself. He then sent Izel, along with Carol and Natalia, to follow Ivan’s ITEA team at the police station. He, Janet (the other girl dressed in business attire also a former Vancouver lady of the night) along with Heather headed to the address that Colette had sent him. His total time at the airport was less than thirty minutes. At this early point in the operation, he felt that things were going without a hitch so far and his team was ahead of the ITEA team.

* * *

East Sector Police Headquarters

            “So it looks like she had an ampule of Type-7 gas loaded into the heel of her shoe. It was released into the room after she broke the heel against the floor. She also had a chip that looked to be hidden on her belt that she was able to slip onto her neck before releasing the gas, making her immune to it. The two cops would have gone under within seconds, judging that they were so close to her and the room being so confined,” Ivan explained to Sonia and Vasco, holding up the bagged items in question. It was his second time explaining what had happened, as he already gone over it with his teammates and had Malai report back to the home office with the latest information.

            “Amazing,” Vasco simply said, looking at the items in the evidence bag, “Truly cunning for just a drug dealer.”

            “The organization that Ms. Dashkov once worked for was highly organized and well trained. It’s likely that she picked something up on how they operated,” Ivan commented, handing the evidence bags over to Sonia to examine.

            “She wouldn’t have escaped so easily if she had been in the proper integration room…” Sonia said, looking over the evidence. “Inspector Arroyo, do not give the criminals the credit when the police officers sworn to bring them to justice broke the rules and allowed their prisoner to escape.”

            Vasco sighed and looked at the Interpol chief, “Are you not going to let it go, Sonia?”

            Sonia handed the evidence bag back to Ivan and looked at the senior inspector coldly, “No Vasco, I’m not going to let it go, your officers chose not follow protocol and results have let a dangerous drug dealer back on the streets. The same streets in which my daughter also walks, so no, Vasco, I will not let this slide.”

            “Fair enough, Chief Castillo,” Vasco replied, defeated. “I’ll make sure the officers are dealt with per protocol when I officially reprimand them when this is all over. They are suspended until further notice for now.” After the examination, Mekeda had administered the counter-agent and bought back the two officers to full mobility. They were sent home shortly after a berating from their shift commander and Vasco himself. The latter had also been severe on his charges, given that the Interpol chief had tore into him regarding their actions.

            “I don’t want them to lose their jobs Vasco, just make sure they learn from this mistake and make sure it does not happen again,” Sonia said. As mad as she was, she didn’t want anyone losing their jobs over anything, they had been outsmarted – simple as that – though it was sort of their own fault, it was mistake nonetheless. Mistakes happened so you could learn from them; that was Sonia’s belief.

            “As you wish chief,” Vasco replied with a nod, “Shall we continue this investigation?” The three senior investigators had been standing in the Major Case Unit’s command center, where Vasco’s office was located, along with a darkened room housing several computer work stations in front of large flat screen wall mounted monitor that resembled something out of a sci-fi movie. The monitor was used to display information from a case so investigators could easily map events and data together. At the moment however it was displaying images from various traffic and crime cameras from around the sector. After getting berated by his Interpol counterpart, Vasco had come up with the idea of tracking Adrianna via the cameras since the East Sector had them everywhere.

            “Yes of course,” Sonia replied, looking back at the screen. So far they had tracked the Russian woman leaving the station dressed as a police officer. She then headed east and ducked into clothing store. Sometime later she emerged, clad now in some jeans, sneakers and a blue windbreaker. The shopping bag she carried had the stolen police uniform in it and that went into the first trash bin she came across. She continued to head east for a few more blocks before mixing in with crowd. The cameras for the most part had lost touch with her and the officers were not sure what direction she was now heading in. Ivan had agent Kasem and Yeardley Luxby working with two police officers in charge of camera operation to see if they could pick up Adrianna’s track once again. Agent Getachew had ventured out to the trashcan with one of Vasco’s people to retrieve the evidence. At the moment she was on the phone with ITEA’s home office, conferring with staff from the technical wing as they dug through Adrianna’s electronic trail.

            “How is it coming along, Malai?” Ivan asked. The Thai agent turned from the computer she was leaning over and shook her head. “Lux?” The American turned from the workstation she was assigned to and shook her head in defeat. “This isn’t going well,” Ivan sighed, playing with the brim of his Stetson.  It seemed like Adrianna had given them the slip.

            “The east sector has the most cameras in all of Madrid; if she’s still in that sector we’ll find her,” Vasco said with confidence as he loomed over the nearest workstation, looking over its operator’s shoulder.

            “What happens if she’s not in the sector anymore?” Ivan asked.

            Before Vasco could answer him Sonia chimed in. The Interpol chief had been focused on the large screen that held the last image of the fugitive while the two men talked. “I know where she went,” she said, still looking at the screen. The whole room went silent as all heads turned in her direction. Ignoring the looks, she stepped forward next to her closest workstation and leaned over the operator’s shoulder. “Put the Ventas on the big screen, West Avenue to be exact, and roll back say forty-five minutes in our estimated time frame,” Sonia ordered.

            “West Avenue of Ventas? Sombra de la Mano territory?” Vasco asked in puzzlement, and then his eyes grew wide as Sonia’s idea hit him. “Of course she would go exactly there! It is probably how she got her drugs into the country too and Leocadia will surely be able to find her a way out as well.”

            “What’s going on?” Ivan asked, confused. His own eyes widened as well as she suddenly saw Adrianna and her blue windbreaker appear on the big replay monitor. “How in the world…”

            “Sombra de la Mano, simple translation, shadow of the hand. It’s a smuggling organization probably responsible for all the contraband, drugs and even people coming into and out of Spain. These people would smuggle anything if it’ll give them a profit. Their leader is Leocadia Braga; her base of operation is a café on West Avenue,” Sonia explained and then asked the operator, “Do we have a camera around there?”

            “No ma’am,” the operator answered without even checking. Before Sonia could ask why, Vasco explained.

            “We did put a camera up there, we put one there a few times and they keep on ‘breaking’. We don’t the budget to keep replacing them so we eventually stopped, we do have a camera set up down the block instead, but coincidently there is tree blocking its view from that very café.”

            “That bitch…” Sonia muttered, shaking her head in disgust. She then whipped out her cell and flipped it open as Ivan watched, still a bit confused, this time of his old friend’s behavior. Sonia Castillo was known through Interpol as one of the coolest operators, though she was considered a bit of bitch at times, she was almost always cool headed.

            Seeing Ivan’s confusion, Vasco explained a bit more, “We can’t catch her,” he simply said. “We’ve tried over and over and over again but we never seem to get her. Interpol has also  tried many times with the same results. Leocadia seems to always be a step ahead of us.”

            “I can catch her, I just haven’t yet,” Sonia said confidently as her phone connected. “Blake? Did you have eyes on the café yesterday?” Good, did you see an attractive blond dressed in jeans and a blue windbreaker enter it at any time?” Excellent! Head out there now I’ll be down there in five minutes. I’ll explain when I get there,” she said, hanging up the phone. “We have a lead, my friends.”

            “You had agents on site?” Vasco asked, “How did you know?”

            Sonia smiled at him, “I didn’t know. I always have someone watching that bitch. I’m going to catch her someday. Now with your little fugitive wandering into her café I have probable cause to go looking in there myself, so let’s get going while we still have a chance to find out where Leocadia sent her.”

            It was soon decided that Ivan would head to the café with Sonia, who had two of her best agents heading there as well for back up, while Makeda, Malai and Lux headed to the Madrid Stilton that Adrianna had stayed at, Paddy’s people were able to track the location down through Adrianna’s credit cards. It had been nearly a day since Adrianna was seen visiting the café and since it had a rear entrance they never saw her leave. There was a chance she could have headed to her hotel, which was located in the northern sector. Vasco would stay back at the station and coordinate tactical teams from his sector and the north sector if needed. He also was charged in keeping an eye on the cameras looking out for Adrianna in case she resurfaced again. Sonia knew the chances were slim since if she went to Leocadia for help, the Russian fugitive would probably not been seen on the cameras again. Leocadia and her people knew how to move without being seen by the authorities. In the rush to get to the destinations, the law enforcement agents didn’t notice the three pair of eyes that watched them from across the street.

            Izel Cortez sat at an outdoor coffee stand situated right across the street from the station, surrounded by the many of the very cops who were stationed there as it was a popular hangout spot for breaks. She sat, calmly drinking her tea with a newspaper in front of her. Her eyes, behind dark sunglasses, however were locked on the main entrance of the station house. Nearby at the curb in their rented car was Carol Danvers. She was a former Vancouver prostitute turned pimp who got a little too close to the Foundation before becoming one the Scott and Ryoshi’s chipped girls when the whole ordeal ended. Like the other prostitutes that were taken, she was given a new name based on a Marvel Comics character. The chocolate-skinned beauty was dressed in simple form-fitting long sleeved t-shirt under a brown vest over leather pants; she did not draw any attention to herself as she sat in the car. Like Izel, her attention was to the police station as well. To the bystanders around her, it looked like she was waiting for someone who was in the station house. Finally, down the street, not far from the coffee stand in front of a flower shop was Natalia Romanova, another former Vancouver resident who had also been a street-walker before becoming an operative thanks to the chip that made her a slave to Ryoshi and Scott. Much like Carol and the others, Natalia was not the girl’s real name as that was unknown. The girl wasn’t even Russian, so the name did not fit her Asian features. She was dressed in khaki trousers with a white ‘I love Spain’ t-shirt. She wore backpack with a camera looped around neck to fit the tourist image that she was portraying. At the moment she was looking into the shop window, as if admiring the flowers behind it, but instead her true gaze was fixed on the reflection of the police station behind her.

            “Target is moving,” Izel reported emotionlessly in almost a whisper. Each of three chipped women had tiny low-profile earpieces in their ears that could receive and send transmissions.

            “Very well,” Scott’s voice sounded on the other end of the earpiece. “Izel, fall back to the vehicle; Natalia fall back to vehicle thirty seconds after Izel and Carol, once secured begin your tracking of the target,” Scott then ordered.

            “Acknowledged,” all three women whispered in unison as they did what they were told. Ivan carrying some equipment with him and Sonia climbed into a white Maserati Quattroporte with large black wheels with the local in the driver seat. Ivan looked around, astonished at the high end Italian sports sedan. Sonia simply started the powerful V8 that came on with a roar and placed a magnetic blue bubble police light on the roof as the car shot away from the curb. Makeda, Malai and Yeardley climbed into black undercover Alfa Romeo 159 police cruiser and started off in the opposite direction. Moments later, Carol directed her rented BMW One Series after the Maserati.

* * *

24 hours ago…

Ventas West Avenue, Café Jewel

            Adrianna slowed her heart rate down as she pulled open the glass door that led into the small café. She had not been on the run that long but she felt as if she been at it for weeks; it was exhausting looking over her shoulder at every street corner. The panic she felt was indescribable every time saw a police officer or police cruiser pass her. She had enough; she wanted out of the country and to start over somewhere else. Thought it wasn’t the first time she had eluded police, she felt this time her luck had run out, it was time to leave while she could still do so. Café Jewel was the base of operation for the Sombra de la Mano smuggling syndicate. It was the same group that had assisted her in getting her drugs into the country and the group could get her out just as easy too. They were also her only option, as the police would soon be hot on her trail after her escape from the station.

            The café looked nothing like its namesake; it was dirty and old. It had creaky wood floors and peeling off white wallpaper. The ceiling was high and cobwebbed; several naked light bulbs suspended from above lit the room. The tables were plain wooden and surrounded by a mix of unmatched chairs, from cheap metal folding ones to padded aging high backed throne-like dining room chairs. A heavily chipped and scratched long bar counter sat in the back of room that held the cash register along with several coffee making products and equipment. The crowd of the place, all men with a handful of butch women that nearly filled the place to capacity, also looked like they did not belong either as their dress styles suggested they should be a in bar, not a café. They were gruff and scary looking individuals, to say the least. They all stopped what they were doing and stared threateningly at Adrianna when she entered the café; she paused a moment, contemplating immediately leaving, which is what most normal people would do.

            She reminded herself as she continued on that these people weren’t really patrons but employees and members of Sombra de la Mano. The café itself wasn’t really a café but a cover for Leocadia Braga’s operations. Holding her head up high, she made her way towards the bar, ignoring the looks of the leering eyes aimed at her from all directions. The man behind the bar, was the barista, something Adrianna would never dream of calling this person as he looked more like a bouncer than anything else. He looked up at her with sneer as she approached him. “I need to see Leocadia, tell her it’s Adrianna Dashkov,” she said in hush tones. The man only looked at her menacingly for another moment before turning and lifting up a nearby phone. He held it to his ear and spoke softly in Spanish. Adrianna only looked around the café nervously; she noted the crowd had gone back to what they were doing and it was just her and the ‘barista’ at the moment.

            A moment later the man hung up the phone and turned around. He continued to stare at Adrianna in silence, making her feel awkward. At that moment she was seriously playing with other options in her head, one of them being leaving that very place. She was about to make her decision when a voice called to her from behind the bar, “Ms. Dashkov, so good to see you again,” a woman’s voice greeted in Spanish-accented English. Adrianna turned her attention to the woman that had appeared from a back hallway behind the bar. She was a short curvy woman with long brown hair pulled back into ponytail, showing off her flawless round face. She was dressed in black slacks and stood on black high heels. A black short-sleeved blouse was tucked into the slacks. A few buttons were unbuttoned at the top of the blouse to show off the woman’s ample cleavage.

            “Ms. Zuniga, it is good to see you too,” Adrianna replied as she moved to meet the woman. Teresita Zuniga was the number two of the organization and Leocadia’s most trusted assistant. “Is Leocadia available?”

            “She is and what may I say is the reason of your visit?” Teresita asked, crossing her arms and looking at the Russian up and down. The last time they had met the woman was dressed nicely in high-end designer clothing. She was now dressed in an ugly windbreaker, a white t-shirt and a pair of second hand jeans. She was also edgy and nervous, a contrast from her confident behavior when they first met. Obviously the drug dealer had gotten into some trouble.

            “I need to get out of the country,” Adrianna replied in a quick hushed tone.

            “Oh?” Teresita asked with a raised eyebrow and grin. “You don’t expect Ms. Braga to just help you for charity, do you?”

            “Please… I’ll pay anything,” the Russian pleaded.

            “Anything?” Teresita asked, holding her grin and then motioned the woman to follow, “Ms. Braga will see you then.”

            Teresita led Adrianna down the tight passageway behind the bar. There were three doors in the small hallway. Two of them were clearly marked as the men’s and women’s room. The third door the Spanish woman opened and walked down a dark narrow stairwell, which led to another door to the left of the stairwell. Pressing her thumb on the doorknob produced a beep, followed by electronic latches unlocking before it opened automatically. Adrianna followed Teresita into another room, with the heavy door automatically closing behind her.

            The room the two women entered was a high ceilinged room with a chandelier suspended over the center of the space. The walls were polished wood with richly tanned wallpaper. Several classic oil paintings hung on the walls decoratively. A Persian carpet covered the floor along with plush Victorian-style furniture. A large oak desk sat off towards the back of the room in front of a puffy red leather swivel executive chair. Leocadia Braga, the ‘Smuggling Queen’ of Madrid, smiled from behind the desk, looking up from the laptop that she was typing on. The short haired Spaniard was dressed in a firm fitting tailored blue skirt suit. “Ms. Dashkov, what may I do for you today?” Leocadia asked, her voice carrying a crisp English accent thanks to her Oxford education.

            “I need to get out of the city, fast,” Adrianna replied stepping up to the desk, "The country actually. Possibly even the continent just to be safe."

            "Have you tried an airport?" asked Leocadia, shrugging.

            "That's a problem I'm having, with…" began Adrianna, only to then be cut off.

            “Judging by the way you are dressed, it looks like you have a big problem; a problem with the law, it seems,” observed Leocadia, getting up from the seat and walking around her large desk, then leaning against the front of the desk and crossing her arms. “Ms. Dashkov, I don’t tangle with the police, it’s already hard enough to just stay away from them. You want me to smuggle you, a wanted criminal, out of the country? I don't see such a high risk operation being in my benefit...”

            “I really need to get out Ms. Braga. I’ll pay you whatever you want. I have a private Swiss account with millions in it,” Adrianna pleaded, desperation getting the better of her. She knew that the International Temporal Enforcement Agency would be in the country very soon once they found those cops that she had drugged to escape. Once ITEA was there it would be hard to escape them, as the agency had a reputation of catching their suspects. The local cops were becoming the least of her problems.

            “I have money Ms. Dashkov, I have lots of money," pointed out Leocadia, shrugging again. "Many millions, in fact, so even that number doesn't impress me anymore. Really it would be better off for me to just turn you in to the police straight-away and earn myself some good will, just in case down the line one of my other operations is compromised..."

            "You can't!" cried out Adrianna, actually dropping to her knees with her hands interlocked together as if in prayer. "I'll do anything! I'll give you whatever you want!"

            "Well that was easy," chuckled Leocadia, stepping around her desk and sitting down again, putting her twelve hundred dollar blue heels up on the marble top. "Get me your entire reserve of this Type-7 drug of yours and consider your request done."

            "What?" blinked Adrianna, surprised as she stood, "You want my whole supply? It’s how I was planning to start up again!"

            "Oh come now, you probably have a way to make or get more, if you try hard enough, and I'll have a way to fill the void you'll leave behind, especially if I can get someone to figure out the formula ourselves," explained Leocadia, shrugging yet again. "Plus, as you've said, you've got millions. You should just retire, while you're ahead."

            "Would you?" asked Adrianna, sharing a look with the smuggler.

            "No, but I play to win," laughed Leocadia, shaking her head. "Your supply, Ms. Dashkov, it's that or I turn you in right now."  She reached for the antique-styled phone on the corner of her desk.

            Adrianna thought for a moment, weighing her options. The Russian knew people that could probably replicate the Type-7 formula themselves, plus she knew that Stone Enterprises produced it in the United States. With her money she could start again, this time being more careful, and become Adrianna the 'Queen of the Underworld' before long. "Done," decided Adrianna, nodding.

            “Good, I’m glad you see it my way; go back upstairs and wait. Ms. Zuniga will be up shortly to assist you,” Leocadia said coolly, dropping her feet back down as Teresita opened the door of the office.

            “Thank you,” Adrianna said before leaving. She was already feeling calmer. She had made the right choice.

            “No, thank you,” Leocadia replied politely. She waited till the Russian left and her trusted assistant and number two of the syndicate closed the door behind her. “Teresita, make the proper arrangements to get Ms. Dashkov out of the country once she has taken you to her reserve. Send her to… I don’t know, Greenland?”

            “Greenland?” Teresita questioned her boss with raised eyebrow.

            “Well, Ms. Dashkov wanted out the country… she didn’t state where she wanted to go,” Leocadia replied with a smile. “Make it happen only after we have her drugs.”

            “As you wish,” Teresita replied.

* * *

Present Time

Stilton Hotel Madrid

            The Stilton Hotel of Madrid’s lobby was decorated in rich wood and classy marble. It was furnished in trendy leather furniture. Nothing about it said Spain, but it was as nice as any five-star hotel in the area. As expected, the lobby was bustling with tourists and locals moving in all directions. It looked like it was the hotel’s peak time with people checking in, checking out or just starting their afternoon out in the streets of Madrid. Scott, followed by Heather and Janet, entered the busy lobby more or less unnoticed, blending into the throng. Heather Douglas, who had been dressed as the flight attendant at the airport, was now dressed in a navy blue skirt-suit with her blond hair tied back into a business bun. Like the other Marvel themed girls, Heather was a former prostitute in Vancouver who had also been a con-woman before the Foundation abducted her. Also like the others, her real name was unknown. Scott, a seasoned former Canadian intelligence officer, scanned the crowed lobby mentally, marking exits and looking for any faces that seemed suspicious. Feeling satisfied, he looked over his shoulder and ordered, “Janet and Heather: head to the lounge and sit.” The brunette and blond nodded and did what they were told. Scott headed towards the front desk.

            “Hello, perhaps you may be of assistance?” Scott greeted and asked in a dead-on Russian accent. After spending months at the Russian embassy during his CSIS days, the accent was nearly second nature to him.

            “Of course sir, how may I help,” the concierge replied and smiled warmly at the Canadian.

            Scott looked at the man’s nametag on his dark colored blazer, “Mr. Alonzo, my name is Alexi Dashkov, and my wife Adrianna is a guest at this hotel. I was on a business trip earlier this week and just joining her now. I suppose to be joining her next week, but I am here now, I would like to surprise her. Do you think I could get her room number from you?”

            Alonzo, being a romantic himself, bought Scott’s story. He smiled, “Of course Mr. Dashkov, let see here,” he said as he typed quickly on his keyboard. “Your wife is staying in room 1314. Would you like a key card? I would just need your ID…”

            “Thank you, Mr. Alonzo but that would be fine; I’ll just head on up to see her,” Scott quickly answered not wanting to over stay his welcome at the desk. He also didn’t have anything that said he was officially Alexi Dashkov either. “Good day to you, sir.”

            Once he was away from the front desk, he moved casually not looking back. He spoke softly. Loud enough for his low-key ear bud to transmit, “Janet, Heather move towards the elevators and head up to the thirteenth floor.  Wait there.”

            Scott lingered around the lounge area, acting as if he saw something of interest in one of the magazines that were displayed on the short polished oak table. From the corner of eye he watched his two ladies do as they were told. Once they stepped on to the elevator he waited a few more minutes before heading that way himself.

* * *

Stilton Hotel Madrid, thirteenth floor

            Amelia Paz pulled her dyed red hair back into ponytail before pushing her cleaning cart down the hall. The twenty-four year old was one of the two chambermaids that were currently working the thirteenth floor. She was dressed in a conservative light blue shapeless short-sleeved one-piece knee length uniform dress with a white apron secured around her waist. A pair of knee high nude stockings and white tennis shoes completed the uniform. A ‘ding’ at the elevator lobby caught her attention. Automatically she turned to see who it was. Two women stepped off; one was brunette and the other blond. They were dressed in tailored expensive-looking business skirt suits. Once they stepped off the elevator they just stood there. Amelia couldn’t help but stare at them as they just stood like mannequins with empty expressions in their eyes.

            She wanted to see if they needed any help but her English was not very good. She could understand the language just fine but speaking it was another matter. The two women looked to be tourists, and by the way they were dressed wealthy ones. She didn’t want to embarrass herself with her broken English. Taking another look over her shoulder at the two women, who remained standing at attention staring vacantly ahead, Amelia continued to push her cart down the hall. Her partner and best friend Graciela was just working few doors down; her English was better.

            Stopping in front of door with the ‘in service’ hang-tag on the door handle, Amelia used her universal key card to unlock the door. Making sure her cart was out of way, she opened the door and slipped in. Graciela Morano was two years older than Amelia and currently stood in front of a large glass window that looked out at Madrid below. The girl was dressed more or less the same but had her black hair tied back into a loose playful bun. She held a window cleaner spray can in her gloved hand and looked up as her friend and partner entered the room. “You know they’re still using the same stuff, even after I told them all the poisons that is loaded into these things,” Graciela complained in their native tongue. “We’re ten times likely to get cancer since we’re around these chemicals all the time.”

            “They’re never going to change it, the natural stuff you want to them to use cost too much,” Amelia pointed out as she approached her friend. “Graciela, come look at this real quick,” she then said taking her friend by the arm. The dark-haired woman followed willingly, putting the can aside and peeling off her cleaning gloves.

            “Did some naked man lock himself out of his room again?” Graciela asked with a chuckle as Amelia opened the door to the room.

            “No, but there is something weird going on with these two women,” Amelia replied as she led her friend back towards the elevator lobby. They stopped a few doors away from the lobby. Sure enough, the two well dressed women still stood there, at attention with eyes looking straight ahead staring at a wall. “What’s wrong with them?” the redheaded maid asked in hush tones, thinking that the older women would know.

            Graciela looked at her friend incredulously, “I don’t know!” she replied back, not whispering which caused the younger woman to jump but the two foreigners remained in their same poses as before and did not seem to have even noticed the two chambermaids. Both maids looked at each other surprised that no reaction came from the two other women. “Did you try to talk them?”

            “No, my English isn’t that good; I was wondering if you could ask them if they are OK?” Amelia asked, her eyes locked on the two women. She was sure that something was amiss now. In the three years that she was a maid she thought she had seen everything, but this was something new.

            “How do you know they speak English?” Graciela asked; now she was whispering, feeling that there was something suspicious with the two dazed guests.

            “Everyone speaks English,” Amelia replied simply.

            “Everyone but you apparently…” Graciela mumbled as she gathered enough courage, filled by curiosity to approach the two women. Amelia followed staying behind her friend. They were only a few feet away when Graciela spoke, “Excuse me ladies, may I help you?” Her English was almost perfect there was only a slight accent to it. Graciela had spent a two years in America after graduating high school, as a present from her parents.

            The two ladies remained still as mannequins as the two maid approached. “They’re not doing anything…” Amelia whispered.

            “I can see that,” Graciela said looking back at her friend and added, “I’m right here too you know?” They were now standing right next to the two nicely dressed guests. Up close now, the maids noted that the women were very attractive and in addition to being dressed very nicely their skin and make-up was flawless. “Ladies?” Graciela asked again. After getting no response or reaction she tapped the shoulders of both ladies, only getting as gasp from her friend. Looking back annoyed at Amelia, Graciela continued her investigation. She poked the women’s cheeks and waved her hands in front of their empty eyes. The Spaniard thought for a moment before turning back to her friend with a wide-eyed expression. “You know, I think they’re hypnotized!”

            “What?” Amelia asked stepping back as if not to catch whatever the two guests had.

            Graciela chuckled and pulled her friend back, “It’s nothing bad,” she assured before explaining. “Last week me and Alfonso went to Barrios and they had this hypnotist there and he was hypnotizing people on the stage…”

            “What does it mean, hypnotize?” Amelia asked interrupting her friend.

            “It sort of like mind control…” Graciela began to explain. She quickly added, “It works on suggestions and you have to be willing to accept it for it to work,” seeing that Amelia was about to bolt as soon as she heard ‘mind control’. She continued, “So I thought it would be cool to be hypnotized and I volunteered. I was put under and turned into a mannequin  It was strange, my mind was blank and I couldn’t move a muscle. I stood there on stage just like these women,” Graciela gestured and turned her attention back to them. “I bet you could pose them…” she wondered aloud as she raised the brunette’s arms over her head, where they stayed in position. “I knew it, they’re hypnotized!”

            “Okay…they’re  hypnotized…but who did it to them and why here?” Amelia asked looking at the two women as her friend moved over to the blond and started to pose her arms. “Graciela, I don’t think you should be doing that…”

            “There’s no harm, last week that hypnotist kept me on stage for almost thirty minutes posing me, though it was fun and relaxing, I want to do it someone in return,” Graciela said as she put the blond woman’s hands on her hips.

            Just then the ‘ding’ sound of the elevator sounded, making both maids jump in surprise. They were like a deer caught in the headlights, not sure what to do. A well-dressed handsome blond man stepped off looking around. He smiled at the two maids, “Ah perfect,” he remarked. The two maids only looked at him in puzzlement.

            “Excuse me?” Graciela asked.

            “Ladies, freeze them,” The man simply ordered. Before the two maids could react, the two well-dressed women came to life, moving lighting fast. The brunette dropped her arms and pulled a small dart gun from the small of her back, firing a single shot into Amelia’s neck. The redhead’s senses went black before she even realized that something had happened. The blond woman stepped back, dropping out of her pose and in one smooth motion withdrew her dart gun from the small of her back and fired a dart, penetrating Graciela’s collar. The dark-haired maid only had time to step back and gasp in horror before her senses faded and her body stiffened.

            Scott looked at the two now-frozen maids. He was still getting over the fact how the mission was working so well in his favor so far. On top of no witnesses being out in hallway, there were two maids right before him who had the uniforms and access cards he needed to do a search unbothered. “Perfect,” he said once again, taking in the sight of the two Type-7 frozen women. The redhead stood closely to him, her name tag read ‘Amelia’ she stood with a confused frown frozen on to her face with one foot stepping back and her hands frozen raising from her waist. The other maid was dark haired, her name tag read ‘Graciela’ had a look of shock on her face and her hands held up shock. If she hadn’t been frozen, she would more than likely have screamed, judging by the look on her face, Scott noted. “Cute,” he concluded after looking both the maids over. “Let’s get these nice ladies out of their uniforms and set to work, shall we?”

            Graciela Morano stood blank-faced with her lips slightly parted. Her arms were at her sides and legs straight as she stood at attention now dressed in nothing but a white lace trimmed tank top and pair of black and pink bikini-cut panties. Her black hair hung loose and cascaded down past her shoulders to the middle of back. The maid was standing in the room that only moments ago she had been cleaning. Her friend and partner Amelia Paz stood nearby with the same blank look on her face, oblivious of the fact that two women were quickly removing her uniform. Janet worked silently as she unbuttoned the uniform dress from the faux redhead and pulled it off from her shoulders. Heather pulled Amelia’s hair out from its ponytail and moved down to untie and remove the maid’s apron. Once the dress was loose it fell down the stuck woman’s ankles. Moving as they had done with Graciela moments before, Janet and Heather leaned Amelia back and untied and removed her tennis shoes and stockings. Once the redhead was back upright she wore nothing but a tan push up bra and a white thong.

            Scott had been sitting nearby at the small mini bar helping himself to a bottle of Spanish beer as she watched his ladies work. He never got tired of watching frozen women being stripped down, and seeing the maids now only in their underwear he realized that both were pretty attractive, especially the dark haired girl Graciela. With his beer bottle in hand he walked up to the two suspended ladies, looking them over. “Change into the maid outfits,” he ordered and obediently Janet and Heather began to remove their own clothing. He watched his ladies strip for a moment before his attention turned to Graciela. He reached out and groped one of the woman’s breasts from underneath her thin top. He grinned, feeling its firmness; from his experience, they were real. The blank look on the woman’s face only made him smile as he worked the hem of the bra up the reveal breasts in their entirety. “Very nice,” he complimented looking at the naked orbs tipped with brown nipples. He left Graciela’s top up over her bust as he looked at his ladies, who were now dressed as the maids. Heather’s uniform as a little loose on her, and she looked like she barely fit the shoes, while Janet’s uniform looked a little tight on her, especially across the chest, but her shoes seemed to fit. Even though dressed as maids, they still didn’t look the part. Especially Janet, who’s given name Marvel name was Janet Van Dyne. Before she became Janet she had been a high-end call girl who also was an adult film actress. The brunette was one of Scott’s favorites, he in fact had targeted her himself back in his Foundation days. “Tie back your hair into ponytails and then fold your street clothes and stash them in the carts,” he ordered.

* * *

            Janet and Heather still didn’t look like maids, even with their hair tied back and make-up removed. The two simply were just too stunning to be commonplace chambermaids. It would have to do, Scott thought, as he followed them down the hall towards their target room. Both ladies were pushing the cleaning carts with Janet leading. He had Heather clean the room that they were in of all the evidence, making sure that their presence was never to be detected. As Heather cleaned, he and Janet had stored the maids; their Type-7 dosages would assure they be stiff as statues for the next eight hours or so. Even then, both maids were given hospital grade sleeping pills that put them out for an additional day at least after the Type-7 had worn off or an anti-drug was administered. The sleeping pills would pretty much eliminate the two ladies’ memory of the day as well. There would be no way they could even recall seeing Scott or the other two. Amelia was stood up, still dressed in her underwear, in the back of the hallway coat closet of the suite. Her friend Graciela, who Scott found to be the nicer looking one of the pair, was posed lying seductively in the bathtub. Scott felt the girl was too nice looking to be covered and stripped her naked himself before posing her. She was posed with naked legs spread wide and feet on the edge of the tub. Her right hand was over her cleanly shaven snatch while her left hand squeezed her bare right breast. Her head was thrown back and her face molded into a closed sensual expression. Scott smiled back reflected on his work as he walked down the hallway towards room 1314.

            He looked around the hallway, making sure the coast was clear as Janet used her newly obtained access card and unlocked and opened the door. The door had a ‘do not disturb’ hang-tag on the handle, showing that it was still occupied. “Move,” he ordered calmly, seeing the coast was clear. Janet pushed her cart in followed by Heather, Scott brought up the rear, closing the door behind him and leaving the hang-tag in place. Unlike the room they had come from, it was obvious that someone was still staying in this one. The suite was a mess, with clothes draped over furniture and the bed was unmade. There were a couple of room service carts with empty dishes on them. The place looked like a cluttered apartment room more than a hotel suite. Scott noted a laptop sitting on the coffee table. “Okay ladies, spread out and look for any article or paper that has addresses and names written on it,” Scott ordered, looking around the messy suite once more before moving to the laptop. His ladies began what they were ordered to do, with Janet working the left side and Heather the right. Scott was about to sit on the cluttered sofa in front of the coffee table to examine the laptop but he thought of something else instead.

            Three minutes later Scott found himself in the hotel lobby with the laptop sitting on his lap. He sat in one of the many comfortable cushioned armchairs spread about the lobby. His particular seat in particular had a perfect view of the main entrance and the front desk. Scott had figured that he could better watch his team’s back from the lobby than while actually sitting in the room. He was currently looking through laptop for any information. No one seemed to pay him any attention either, he noted as he carefully scanned the room. There were a few other people with laptops as well that helped his cover.

            Scott methodically went from file to file in the laptop, looking for documents that might be of use. For all he could see so far was that Adrianna used the laptop for personal use and there seemed to be nothing that he could use on it. Glancing at the time, he figured it was time to check in with Ryoshi. Even though they were in different time zones, he knew his wife would be expecting him to check in soon, either that or she would call him soon. Just as he reached into his jacket for his satellite phone it began to ring. He smiled, looking at the display, seeing that it was Ryoshi. He and his wife were always on the same wavelength, hence why they worked so well as a team and probably why their marriage was as strong as it was.

            “Hey lovely,” Scott greeted into the handset. “How are we doing in the states?”

            “Hey yourself, stranger,” Ryoshi greeted on the other end; currently she was sitting at her hotel bar nursing a glass of Jack and Ginger. It was a little after five in the evening and the start of happy hour. She was dressed in casual business attire to match those around her, to better fit in with the other guests. Her day in Philadelphia was coming to an end and she would leave for home the next night. “Everything is fine here. Monica is all settled in, just need to tie up some loose ends.”

            “Loose ends? I hope it’s nothing difficult?” Scott asked.

            “Just some simple hacking, details with her background, not really required; I don’t think anyone will look but I want it bullet proof. Of course also some testing too with the long-range router we have in place. How are things on your end?” She answered and then asked.

            “Moving along, I suppose, I wish it was as simple as your mission. I have a feeling things may get a little complicated before it’s all over. Nothing that I can’t handle though, in the end everything should go off without a hitch. We should have our Russian beauty back before we know it.”

            “I know you can handle it love; now, do you think you could bring me a souvenir? That country has gorgeous women…”

            Scott chuckled. He knew his wife had a thing for Spanish and Latin women. Izel and Veronica were two of her favorites. “I don’t know, I did find a maid that is currently frozen right now… but I don’t think I could take her.”

            Ryoshi pouted, “Oh you could take her, you just don’t want to…”

            “We can’t just take anyone, it’ll be reckless… but I’ll see what I can do.”

            “That’s all I ask… I’ll let you know when I get home. I should be done tomorrow night.”

            “Likewise, I should be done here soon too, good luck lovely.”

            “Ditto…” Ryoshi said, making a kissing sound before the line went dead.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Ventas West Avenue, Café Jewel

            It was only noon and yet the West Avenue was already packed with cars parked on either side of the street. “This is some police car… Interpol Spain must get some nice funds,” Ivan said, breaking the silence that he and the Spanish Interpol chief had sat in since they left the police station.

            “Yeah right!” Sonia laughed. “We get the same amount of funds as the other countries. “This is my personal vehicle and, before you ask, I don’t make that much either. I got this car from a police auction and was lucky. It used to belong to a pimp,” Sonia explained as she navigated the avenue. “It is a nice ride though, isn’t it?”

            “You bet, Angelita must love it,” Ivan agreed as he touched the fine leather dashboard in examination.

            “She likes to be taken around in it, makes her feel like some sort of princess,” Sonia snorted but grinned in pride. Angelita was her eighteen-year-old daughter who she had raised on her own. She would do anything for her; the whole reason why she was a cop was because of her. Angelita was the center of her life.

            “She’s good kid Sonia, you did a good job,” Ivan said.

            “I’ll feel much better about that when I take the queen…” Sonia said as she pulled the Italian sports sedan into a parking spot behind a black Holden Commodore. They were a few businesses down from the café that served as Leocadia’s base of operations. Unknown to the Interpol boss and ITEA team leader was the lone BMW 1 series that rode past the couple only to park in another space just up the block.

            “An Australian muscle car? I assume these are your people?” Ivan asked as he and Sonia climbed out of the Maserati, the Russian putting back on his white cowboy hat automatically before following the Interpol boss towards the black sedan.

            “Yes, my best people,” Sonia replied. As on cue the doors to the Australian-made car opened and a man and woman stepped out. The man was tall, well muscled with close-cropped brown hair. His face featured a five’ o clock shadow that gave him a look of ruggedness. He was dressed in a blue short-sleeved button shirt that was untucked and unbuttoned at the moment with a white t-shirt underneath. A pair of khaki cargo pants and hiking boots finished off the outfit. Ivan also noted an Interpol badge on chain looped around his neck and slight bulge under his shirt on his right side. The woman that emerged from the passenger seat was fair-skinned with long straight brown hair having light bangs. She wore her hair loose and it fell to the middle of her back. She was dressed in black short-sleeved blouse tucked into a black slim fitting pencil skirt with the hem sitting just at her knees. A pair black spiked heels concluded the outfit. Like the man, Ivan noted the badge that was exposed on the front of her left hip and a holstered USP on her right hip.

            “I’d like you to meet, Ian and Alexandra Blake; brother and sister, not married,” Sonia introduced and pointed out. “Ian, Alexandra, this Ivan Popov of ITEA and our reason to finally enter Leocadia’s base of operations and hopefully arrest her,” Sonia gestured to the Russian.

            “Nice to meet you mate,” Ian greeted, extending his hand. Ivan took the Aussie’s hand and quickly noticed the man’s vise-like grip.

            “Pleasure to meet you likewise,” Alexandra chimed in with a nod after her brother released Ivan’s hand. “So how is Ivan going to help us out, boss?” she then asked.

            “Well, agent Popov is chasing down a fugitive and we have a good idea that said fugitive stopped here for some help…” Sonia began to explain.

            “So that will give us probable cause to head in there and have a look; brilliant! What are we waiting for?” Ian asked.

            “Hold on now Ian, we have to plan this thing out a little more, we just can’t go in guns blazing. In fact, agent Popov here has some non-lethal weapons I would like to try out if it is alright with him?”

            After a quick tutorial on the effects of Type-7 darts and how to use the Type-7 modified Glocks, fifteen minutes later Ivan disturbed the pistols and then everyone donned some Kevlar vests. Sonia’s plan was simple; there were only two entrances in and out of the café, a front and basement rear. Ian and Alexandra were to take the main entrance while she and Ivan took the rear. Ivan and Sonia would have to cross quickly around the block to not be seen by any lookouts while the Australian siblings waited for a signal near the front doors. Before they had set off, Sonia gave Vasco a call to have some units block off the streets to so civilian traffic was minimal when they breached. 

            As they entered the alley that would lead to the rear basement door of the café, Sonia stopped and turned to Ivan. “Hey Ivan, if anything happens to me… I have a letter in my desk at work… make sure Angelita gets it.” Ivan looked at the Spaniard, shocked, and was about to protest. Sonia put her hand up to stop him. “I don’t plan on anything happening to me, but we are in a profession where we have to be prepared for the unexpected. So please just promise me you will get the letter to her.” Ivan simply nodded and Sonia smiled at him as she withdrew her cell phone to give Ian and Alexandra the ‘go’ signal. “Shall we?”

* * *

Stilton Hotel

Lobby

            Malai Kasem looked around the spacious and luxurious lobby in awe as she entered. She had visited many high-class hotels and halls since becoming an ITEA member but she still found herself in awe by the fancy architecture every time. As she looked around, Yeardley Luxby and Makeda Getachew made their way to the front desk. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she followed the two other women all the while looking at the people around her hoping on an off chance she could spot their fugitive trying to make a run for it. There was no such opportunity; if Adrianna Dashkov was in the lobby she was good at disguises as no one came close to looking like her description from what Malai could see. The amount of activity and people moving about made it hard to really look carefully as well.

            At the desk Makeda identified herself and her colleagues and then asked about Adrianna. The local woman concierge worked her keyboard for a moment before answering the ITEA agent. She then programmed a keycard for them. As this was going on, Yeardley looked around the lobby as she had been doing since they had walked in. Being in drug enforcement, she was use to identifying lookouts and other things or persons that did not belong. She noted several people sitting around the lobby had laptops.  One such man, a handsome blond, seemed to keep his attention on them as soon as they walked in. He was dressed in a sharp three-piece pricy dark pinstripe suit. He was on the older side of forty but Yeardley couldn’t help noting that he was quite handsome. His attention wasn’t on the women at the moment, he was back working on his laptop and texting on what looked like a high end CyPocket. The DEA agent dismissed him as anyone suspicious as she continued her scan, noting that no one was looking their way and no one really stood out as conspicuous.

            The others in her team walked up. “She’s in room 1314, and this card should get us in. According to the concierge, she had not seen her today but then again she just got on shift and the guy that worked the desk before her is already gone for the day,” Makeda explained as she led them towards the elevators then pressed the call button.

            “So chances are she’s not even here?” Yeardley asked as the elevator arrived.

            “Probably not, but the lady said Adrianna didn’t check out either, so she might not be here but her stuff is; let’s head up there and see what we can find and check back in with Ivan,” Makeda said as the trio stepped into the elevator.

            It took them three minutes to reach the thirteenth floor. They found the floor eerily and oddly deserted, a contrast from the bustle and noise of the lobby. Yeardley felt a nervous sensation rush over her, it was the same tense feeling that was mixed with adrenaline that she always got before drug raids. She had hundreds of urban drug raids under her belt in her time with the DEA office in Hawaii. She was currently the only female member of the DEA’s Foreign Advisory Support Team, also known as ‘FAST’. It was a tactical unit that mostly operated in Afghanistan. The DEA wanted one of their best on this observation assignment hence why she was here and not with her team. The hotel was definitely different but she still felt the same thrill, nervousness and adrenalin as she approached the suspect’s suite with the other two women. She lived for this kind of stuff, she just wished she had a weapon. Makeda and Malai both were armed and she wished she was too just so she could help if things went sour.

            Reaching suite 1314, Makeda looked at the ‘Do Not Disturb’ hang-tag before she used the access card to unlock the suite. She sensed Yeardley behind her. She could feel the American’s eager energy. Malai took up the rear and was currently scanning the hallway. Turning the door handle slowly, she pushed the suite door open. As she stepped into the suite with Yeardley close behind her, she was taken aback by the two maids that were in the room. They looked back at her as she and Yeardley looked at them. These maids looked out of place for some reason; they were both Caucasian and didn’t have the general dowdy look of maids even though they were dressed like maids. “Who are you?” Makeda demanded instantly.

            “They’re not locals…” Yeardley observed aloud, taking a step back. Her hand reached for her right hip but stopped, remembering she was not armed. “Something’s not right,” she added, eying the maids.

            Makeda took a step back as well feeling something was wrong the look in the women eyes said it all. However before another thought could process in her head both maids withdrew small dart guns and fired. Her senses quickly faded while only realizing that something about the maids was not right. The dart had hit the Ethiopian right above her collar and she froze into place with her right hand resting on the grip of her holstered Glock. Her left leg stood slightly behind her right and her left hand was held up at chest level in surprise. Her eyes were at half-staff as the drug took effect when she was in mid-blink and her lips were agape.

            Yeardley Luxby’s rigid body fell backwards onto the carpet. Being so close to Makeda she was unable to escape as the two maids fired the darts. She was hit on the left cheek. Her face held a frozen horrified expression with her blue eyes and mouth wide. Both her hands were held up defensively in front of her and even on the ground her right leg was slightly raised as she had been backing up with her left leg. She had fallen due to how quickly she was backing away and how fast the Type-7 had rendered her completely rigid.

            Malai knew it was a bad decision as soon as she made it, as a couple of darts hit empty air where she was standing moments ago. Once Makeda and Yeardley got hit, she quickly jumped and rolled out of the way as she had seen in so many action movies. Behind the cover of the sofa now with her own dart-modified Glock drawn, she realized she should have backed out of the room and took a stand from there in the hallway. The suite door remained open, beckoning her to make her escape. It was too far and too late to do it now though and she wasn’t about to leave her frozen teammates. She heard and felt darts hit the sofa. They were on to her; she could hear the maids moving, spreading out tactically in a flanking maneuver. It was time to take her stand. Leaning right around the sofa, she spotted the blond maid and fired two darts, hitting her both in the chest and shoulder. The maid only continued forward and fired two darts in return at Malai’s position, making her duck back. “What hell…” she muttered, quickly getting up and backing away from the sofa firing several more shots at both maids this time. The blond was hit two more times in the chest and the brunette took three in the arm, leg and neck. They continued their pursuit, not slowing in the least and firing off more darts as they advanced. Malai found it a miracle that their darts hit everything but her. Of course she wasn’t giving them an easy target either, weaving and ducking, using years of her Parkour training to her advantage. 

            What was wrong with my darts? She thought as she emptied the clip. The maids now looked like pincushions but were still coming at her. Out of desperation she tossed her Glock at the blond maid. The modified pistol struck the girl in the face, hard, making her fall backwards. Just then brunette’s dart gun clicked dry and Malai acted. The distance between her and the maids was not that far and she closed it lightning-quick, launching a knee strike into the girl’s chest. The brunette fell back hard, still holding the empty dart gun. She started to get back up and was breathing roughly when Malai shot another kick, nailing her in the face and spinning her back to the floor. This time the dart gun fell out of her hand. The brunette was still moving though but didn’t seem like she could get up. Switching her attention to the blond, Malai was shocked to see the girl ambling her way towards drunkenly. There was a huge purple bruise on the right side of her face and she no longer held her dart gun. She swung a left hook with amazing accuracy, considering her not so graceful movements. Malai blocked the blow with her forearm and shot a leg kick that easily dropped the girl to her knees. With the girl down, Malai capitalized by executing a perfect spinning heel kick that connected on the right side of the blonde’s face, knocking her completely to the floor. The Thai agent realized she had just saved the day when she felt blinding pain behind her head and dropped to the floor as well. She never felt the plush carpet though as her vision and senses faded before that could happen.

* * *

            The stunning elf-like blond, dressed in clothes that said private military contractor or elite police force, had first caught his attention. It was mainly her big crystal-blue eyes that awed him. The lady that blond was following however confirmed that he had run out of time as ITEA had just waltzed into the hotel lobby. Makeda Getachew had been his prisoner for a few months and he had some fun with her too, so when Scott saw her at the front desk he recognized her right away. He quickly commanded his girls to be on guard via the CyPocket as he went back to the laptop casually. He waited for Ivan Popov to come through next, but was relieved to see only a teenage-looking Asian woman following the obvious two policewomen. Scott waited till the trio boarded the elevator before he made his move. Unfortunately by the time he reached the elevator he was joined by a Japanese tour group that was also heading up. Worst of all, he had boarded the elevator first, before realizing the group was also coming in, packing themselves like sardines in a can. It took him nearly six minutes to get up to the thirteenth floor. The tour group had seemed to be roomed on multiple floors.

            When Scott reached Adrianna’s room, he found that his girls had taken down the blond and Makeda who he had thought were the biggest threats. It was another mistake on his part as the young-looking Asian woman had taken out both of his girls. Janet was lying face down and trying to get back up, looking like a glitching video game character. It was clear that her body had been rendered unconscious and her trying to get up was only the chip’s doing. Heather had just taken a kick to the knee and Scott could tell it was damaged; after falling to her knees she was kicked in the face before falling to carpet. Her body moved fitfully, like Janet’s, showing the chip was still working but the body wasn’t.

            Moving in quickly and silently, Scott got behind the Asian woman and brought up the laptop over his head and quickly down over the back of her head. He was out of practice but he hoped he used just the right amount of force to render the girl unconscious but not kill her. As soon as the laptop connected it looked like the Asian woman was a stringed puppet that someone had just cut the strings to. She crumpled to the ground in a limp heap. Putting the laptop aside, Scott knelt down and let a breath of relief out seeing the unconscious girl’s pulse was nice and strong. He pulled the girl’s face into view by her hair. Her face was slack as if she were sleeping, with her jaw hanging loosely. She was going to be out for moment or three, giving him some time. Getting back up he looked at the chaos in the room, the two frozen women, the battered maids and the multiple darts sticking from the walls. Thinking fast, he moved over to the suite door and shut it after making sure there was no one coming. Amazingly the coast was clear despite the small gun battle that had just unfolded in the suite. Satisfied he double-checked once more before shutting the door.

            His girls were in bad shape, they needed professional medical attention that he had to figure out how to get. For the time being he put both of them into sleep mode and hauled them over on to the sofa. He removed the darts from their bodies before turning his attention to the frozen women. He dragged Makeda and the statuesque blond to the bathroom after standing her up. She was a looker, tall, slim and blond. His type, he would explore her more in a bit but for now he had to figure things out. His team was down and he was technically alone. The thought of calling Izel’s team to his location crossed his mind but he needed them to keep an eye on Ivan. Moving over to the unconscious girl he picked her up easily, she was light and he carried her as if she was a child. He placed her on the lounger. She started to groan and stir. “Not so fast,” he said as he reached into his jacket pocket and produced what looked like a business card holder. He flipped open the case to reveal a set of nine chips lined up in three rows of threes on microscopic pegs. Scott removed one and leaned the Asian woman’s head forward expose the back of her neck. “It’s only fair; you took my girls out, now you're on my team.” 

* * *

Ventas West Avenue, Café Jewel

            The back door to the cafe's basement opened easily enough; Sonia used a trick she'd picked up from her time with Interpol. Ivan led the way, holding a flashlight in a tactical manner as the room was a bit dark, there only being two windows, which didn't properly lighten the room given the afternoon sun. The room seemed to be a sort of concrete and brick cellar, a big empty space with various boxes, barrels, shelves and a few other surprises.

            "Mannequins?" muttered Ivan, indicating a plastic statue to their right, a basic female form with no proper face.

            "Rumor has it they've been hollowing them out to hide contraband inside," explained Sonia, turning on her own flashlight to sweep the room for a light-switch. "I doubt anything in here is as it seems. Those wine bottles are probably filled with some nasty liquids and it wouldn't surprise me if that grandfather clock in the corner has a hidden compartment of its own."

            "Smuggling Queen indeed," remarked Ivan, shaking his head. Sonia meanwhile, finally found the light-switch, which was closer to the other side of the decently-large cellar, and flipped it on, illuminating a pair of uncovered incandescent bulbs.

            "We should hurry, if Leocadia is going to run it'll probably be–" began Sonia, only to stop when she saw, to her alarm, the doorknob of the door nearest the light-switch start to turn. Sonia and Ivan both immediately clicked off their flashlights and dove for cover as the door opened. From her position, Sonia could see three people quickly enter but held off for a moment, hearing gunfire echo through the now-open door.

            "That bitch screwed us!" exclaimed a man in his early thirties, whom Sonia recognized as Reinaldo Azorin, suspected bodyguard to the Smuggling Queen. The man's shaggy hair was spiked at the tips and he had a scruffy stubble-beard, wearing a motorcycle-style leather jacket and holding what looked like a 10mm pistol. With Reinaldo was Cirino Casas, whom Sonia knew was a low-level street thug with the Sombra de la Mano. Cirino was young, in his early twenties, and had short dark-hair while wearing what looked like a gray tie-less suit. Cirino's gun also resembled Reinaldo's, and since Sonia was fairly sure the group didn't have proper access to dart guns that could fire Type-7, those guns were lethal.

            "The light shouldn't be on," pointed out a third voice in her native Spanish. Sonia didn't need to see the person to know it was Leocadia, but when she came into view any doubt was erased all the same. Leocadia seemed calm for someone whose business was being shot up by Sonia's two best agents, coolly scanning the room with her hands inside the pockets of an expensive-looking London Fog trench coat.

            Ivan fired first, his shot going wide of Leocadia's head and imbedding itself into the now-open door. In spite of the situation Sonia almost smirked when Ivan popped up, his white hat looking humorous the way it moved with his head. Reinaldo and Cirino both opened fire on Ivan but he'd already ducked down and was most likely moving behind better cover, there being little in the room that would be guaranteed to stop a 10mm bullet. One shot from Reinaldo shattered a wine bottle, and it was then that Sonia took her own shot, just missing Cirino before diving back down and hurrying away. The grandfather clock was the next expensive item in the room to be broken by gunfire.

            "Get me out of here!" screamed Leocadia, suddenly sounding worried, a fact that pleased Sonia to no end. Knowing that Leocadia wouldn't risk heading back into the building, the trio would try to make for the back door. Luckily Sonia had moved enough to now be behind a pile of boxes within visual sight of Ivan, who was himself behind a wooden crate. Footsteps could be heard slowly advancing towards the pair, but Sonia wasn't going to risk popping out, not with lethal ammunition involved and the chance of leaving her daughter an orphan. Ivan however indicated a wine bottle that had, thanks to the earlier shooting, rolled by his feet. Sonia got the idea and indicated, using hand-gestures, that he should roll it towards her and, when it happened, the pair could move the opposite way to catch their foes in a wide-angle cross-fire. Ivan gave Sonia a thumbs-up and the pair readied themselves.

            "We just want to leave, there's no reason for you to die..." taunted Cirino and it was then that the plan was sprung. Ivan rolled the bottle with some force, causing both armed men to shoot at it. As Ivan started rolling it however Sonia and Ivan both moved, firing at the trio from where they were barely registering in their peripheral vision. Ivan had managed to impressively hit both Reinaldo and Cirino, each man having barely started to turn to face the government agents, but Sonia had hit her own personal target of Leocadia. The short-haired woman had taken a step back, her arms raised in mild alarm and her mouth open, though her eyes didn't seem to register a great deal of alarm.  For her, time had stopped as her body froze in place.

            "Gotcha," whispered Sonia in her native tongue, smiling as she and Ivan both let out sighs of relief and cautiously moved out from their hiding places.

            "Worked like a charm," remarked Ivan, adjusting his hat with his free hand while holstering his gun. "Let’s just make sure these weapons won't be a threat anymore..." Sonia followed Ivan's lead and holstered her own gun as the pair removed the guns from the hands of the now frozen Reinaldo and Cirino, putting the safeties on each weapon and then tucking the weapons into their waistbands for the moment.

            "Sonia, Ivan!" called out Ian Blake, surprising the pair, heading in through the door Leocadia and her men had emerged from. Sonia saw one of her best agents walking towards them through a very fancy room, one that appeared to be Leocadia's office. Ian was holding up his pistol, which had its slide retracted to indicate he was out of ammunition. A moment later a frozen male form tumbled through the door on the far side of the private office, Alexandra following with her own Glock, apparently empty as well.

            "Looks like you two were busy," observed Ivan. "How did you make out?"

            "We got them all," revealed Ian, then tapping his gun. "We're all out of your special ammo though."

            “That’s over fifty darts though,” Ivan pointed out.

            "Got them all?" asked Sonia, knowing how good her agents were but wanting Ivan to hear it. "You didn't miss a shot?"

            "Not one," confirmed Alex, tapping her weapon.

            "I should go up with you to check," offered Ivan, though Sonia could see from the look on Ivan's face he was more curious than anything. The café was known to be packed, so it would now be like a wax museum upstairs, something Sonia admitted to herself she'd like to see too. At the moment, however, Sonia had another task.

            "Go ahead, I need to check something," suggested Sonia, waving the others away. Nodding, Ivan followed the Blake siblings back through the passage to upstairs while Sonia returned to Leocadia, placing her hands on the frozen woman's shoulders.

            "You really must take pride in your fitness," remarked Sonia to the frozen Leocadia, then proceeding to quickly tear off the trench coat, pulling the younger woman's arms back in the process. Underneath the coat Leocadia was wearing a fine silk dress, primarily red with hints of golden yellow and fine green. The dress was low-cut at the front, making it clear the smuggler wasn't wearing a bra, and it stopped just above her knees. The back, however, wasn't that revealing, and Sonia figured she knew why.

            "Here, let me... make you more comfortable," Sonia whispered into Leocadia's ear, taking great pleasure in slowly lowering the shoulder straps of the dress. Soon the top part of the dress rested on Leocadia's hips, revealing her entire upper body. While nearly any person might want to glance at the woman's full breasts, Sonia's first thought was to look at the small of Leocadia's back. There, clear as day, was the tattoo of a black hand, marking Leocadia as the leader of the Sombra de la Mano and, as an extension, the Smuggling Queen of Madrid.

            "You're mine at last," laughed Sonia, taking a moment to now actually look at Leocadia's breasts and write her own off as being better before preparing her cell phone to take a picture of the tattoo.

* * *

Madrid Stilton Hotel

            Doctor Sarita Delgado had an easy day so far for the most part. Of course being a hotel doctor there wasn’t ever a really hard day. She made good money, the hours were good and the work was never too challenging but enough to keep life interesting. Honestly, a nurse would be more suited for the injuries and sicknesses that she mostly treated. To guests at the Stilton hotel calling a doctor sounded better than calling a nurse when they needed medical help. Of course any serious cases they would just call 112. Sarita couldn’t solve serious issues with just her medical bag, no matter how good she was. She had studied and obtained her medical degree from Duke University in the states and before Stilton hired her two years ago she had worked in a Madrid hospital ER for five years. Sarita Delgado was over-qualified for her job but she liked the hours and most importantly the pay.

            Her day had been so far a two sprained ankles, four hangovers, and a minor cut due to broken glass and stomach pains due to gas. She raised an eyebrow looking at her PDA, where the hotel call center forwarded her calls to. The message reported that two maids were injured in room 1314 but it didn’t give her any more information than that. The center forwarded the guest information; an Adrianna Dashkov was currently occupying the suite as the moment. This will be interesting, she thought to herself as she checked her watch, she had a couple hours left till her shift ended and she hoped this call didn’t take too long, as interesting as it sounded. She had a saloon appointment and a play to catch after work.

            Sarita’s last call was on the seventeenth floor; the ride down to the thirteenth took less than a minute. When she stepped off the elevator onto the floor she noted how quiet it was, spotting some guests at one end of the hall she was in but didn’t hear a sound. It was eerie, she thought. Usually each floor had two maids on duty to do general cleaning. More maids could come if needed. Oddly enough as she made her way to suite 1314, she did not see any cleaning carts around. What the heck were those maids both doing in one room and how did they get hurt? On top of all this there was a guest present? Hurt or not, those maids were going to get in trouble with their supervisor, Sarita thought approaching the suite door. She knocked twice and announced, “Hotel doctor.” 

            A moment later the door opened. “Yes?” an Asian-looking woman asked from the threshold, holding the doorknob. She stood barefoot, barely dressed, clad only in a black silk bathrobe that did little to cover her slender frame. The robe ended at mid-thigh, showing off the woman’s athletic naked legs. Her shoulder length hair was tied up in an up-do. Her face said Asian but then again Sarita figured some Russians looked like Asians. “Are you here for the maids?” the woman asked in a thick Russian accent.

            “Yes, are you Ms. Dashkov?” Sarita asked double-checking her PDA to make she had the name right. The woman only nodded and stepped aside. The doctor brushed past the bathrobe-clad woman and entered the suite before the woman closed the door behind her. The room was a mess, with clothing thrown about with a few room service carts here and there. Sarita spotted two maid’s cleaning carts, confirming that both maids were in the room. Sure enough both maids were seated on the sofa; one was blond while the other brunette. Both looked to be unconscious, which made Sarita rush to their sides. She dropped her bag on the floor next to sofa and began to look over the maids, not paying attention to the suite’s other occupant who remained behind her.

            “Are you okay?” Sarita asked both maids in her native tongue. Both girls looked out of it, completely unconscious. The blonde’s face was bruised pretty badly and was starting to swell up. Her quick look-over revealed that her left knee was swollen too, it looked like the cartilage might have been damaged. The brunette had a bruise on the side of her face that was beginning to swell also and her breathing seemed shallow and labored, signs of broken ribs. Were they fighting? Sarita thought to herself as she looked both girls over. She read their name badges; they both had Spanish names, moreover she remembered having met one of them before. The doctor recalled she had talked to Amelia Paz a few days ago when they had shared an elevator. Sarita clearly remembered the girl’s dyed crimson tresses. The woman that wore the uniform and Amelia’s name tag at the moment was blond and Caucasian. A feeling of dread suddenly washed over Sarita; she had wandered in on something. She could feel the presence of the Russian behind her, staring at her. “What’s going on here?” she asked cautiously.

            There was no answer but she heard movement so she stood and turned to face the other woman. The Russian had her back to her at the small dining room table. Sarita couldn’t see what the woman was doing. “These women have been fighting and they’re dressed as maids… I know they’re not really maids. What is going on here?!” the doctor demanded. She looked over at the closed suite door and then back at the Russian; maybe she could still get out and get help? She took a step towards the door and realized she would have to make a break for it. It was too far to sneak out. Just then the Russian turned from the table, holding a gun. “No wait please!” Sarita screamed as the gun fired and her senses faded.

* * *

            Scott knew the plan to use the hotel doctor for medical attention for his girls was risky but they needed it and if all else failed he could just freeze the doctor and chip them to have them treat his ladies. His CyPocket had four programs loaded to it, ready to be uploaded into a chip. One of those programs was a medical program and when teamed with a person with actual medical skills it was perfect. As he thought more about his plan he decided that he needed a doctor in general for Ryoshi and his ladies. Just as things turned out, his plan began to fell apart as the good doctor started suspecting things. From his hiding spot in the bathroom he heard it all and ordered Malai Kasem, his ITEA agent turned chipped slave, to freeze the doctor.

            “Well, I heard your voice and you sounded attractive. Looks like my ears didn’t deceive me,” Scott chuckled as he opened the door and stepped out from the bathroom. The doctor was a local woman in her late to mid thirties Scott gauged. She had wavy brown hair tied back into a simple ponytail. The woman was dressed in a sharp tailored fitted black pants suit with a white open collar top underneath. A pair of black heels finished the outfit. The woman stood with one leg in front of the other in stride and her hands were held up at chest level in front of her defensively. Her face bore a horrified expression with eyes and mouth wide. The dart was stuck just above her cleavage. Malai remained near the dining table, standing with the modified dart loaded Glock at her side, staring emptily at the immobilized doctor. The weapon had belonged to Makeda, who was still stashed in the bathroom.

            Scott walked up to the suspended doctor, eying her up and down. No matter how many times he had done it, the sight of a frozen attractive woman still aroused him. “This will never get old,” he chuckled to himself as he cupped the doctor’s backside, which  was clearly defined through her fitted trousers. He then groped one of her breasts as he pulled the depleted dart from her flesh. Standing close to her, he couldn’t help but to steal kiss on the good doctor’s cheek. He looked down her top, eying the white lace bra and mounded breasts, then copped a feel of her crotch before turning his attention to her medical bag. Digging in it he found what he was looking for. The woman’s wallet, opening it up, he read the name out loud found on her ID card. “Sarita Delgado, excuse me,” he cleared his throat with a smile he eyed the suspended woman, “Doctor Sarita Delgado.”

            Tucking the woman’s wallet in his jacket pocket, he moved back towards her and removed his business card case and flipped it open. He had uploaded the medical AI program on to one of his eight remaining chips as he waited for the doctor as a precaution. Scoot removed the chip from its peg and cleared some hair from the nape of Sarita’s neck. Once the chip was placed, Sarita Delgado blinked and her face went blank as she stood at attention. “Are we ready doctor?” Scott asked pulling out his CyPocket to input commands.

            “Yes master…” Sarita replied in dreamy accented voice as she looked vacantly ahead.

            “Hot,” Scott simply said with a smile and nod as he punched in some commands. Usually he would vocally order her, but vocal commands tended to have to be very direct and exact; with tasks that required precise complicated skills he preferred to use the interface. As soon as he sent the commands, the chipped doctor went to work. She moved over to her bag, picked it up and moved to kneel over his two girls. He watched her as she stared zombie-like at nothingness as she pulled on blue latex gloves and began her examination.

            Feeling that Sarita and her chip had things under control, he rubbed his palms together and turned his attention to Malai. “Well, with that being taken care of, let’s say we have some fun, agent Kasem?” Scott asked the blankly staring Thai agent as he pulled back out his CyPocket. The woman was youthful looking and slender, a little too slender for his taste. She was cute however like most Asian women were. When he chipped her and had her under his control, he had her strip to really see how this lethal woman was built. He had her stop at her undergarments, seeing that Malai’s choice in lingerie was unexpected to say the least. The girl had a on a red g-string and a see-through red strapless bra. Her body, though slender, was athletic and easy on the eyes. Scott had left her standing at attention in her revealing underwear while he thought up his next move, enjoying the view all the while. In the end he decided to dress her up in one of Adrianna’s silk robes and uploaded his tactical program to her chip. Ordering her to speak with a Russian accent, he had her call for the doctor and that was that.

            Ignoring the doctor and his injured girls, Scott took a seat on the lounger and punched some commands on to his CyPocket. Malai placed the modified Glock on the table behind her and padded over to the bathroom. She vanished from his sight for a moment before emerging dragging the other ITEA agent. Makeda was still very much frozen, as Scott didn’t think he really needed to chip her. As he was hiding her, he did give her a quick look over feeling her up and stealing a passionate kiss after seeing the diamond ring she wore, something she didn’t have the last time he had met her. The Ethiopian agent was more or less posed at attention when her colleague dragged her out of the bathroom. She still carried a sleepy expression on her face as Malai stood her up in front of Scott. Malai moved to stand next to her partner, awaiting her next command obediently. Still looking at the two women, Scott punched some orders into his CyPocket. Less than a second later Malai stripped off her robe, letting it fall to ground at her bare feet. She then proceeded to unclip her bra and push down her g-string. Scott smiled broadly as the girl stepped out of her g-string at her feet and was utterly naked. Her womanhood was neatly trimmed, while her breasts were small they were proportional to her frame and were nicely shaped with dark small nipples.

            The next set of commands that Scott inputted brought Malai in front of her partner. She then began to passionately kiss the other frozen woman on the lips as she unbuttoned and opened Makeda’s business coat. She moved to sucking the woman’s neck as she stripped the coat off, revealing the dark-colored silk bra Makeda had on underneath. Malai’s hands worked expertly, removing the bra as she licked Makeda’s neck and cheek. Once the frozen agent was topless, the Thai agent started to grope and suck the woman’s breasts before dropping to her knees. She fiddled with Makeda’s belt briefly before beginning work on the trousers and after a slight tug they sat at the woman’s ankles. Makeda had on dark pantyhose underneath, covering her black bikini-cut panties. Malai lowered the frozen woman to the carpet and removed the trousers the rest of the way, followed by the undergarments and then the woman’s heels rendering her naked. With a few more commands on the CyPocket the Thai woman had opened Makeda’s legs wide, exposing her hairy but in-control womanhood before she began to move her mouth about it.

            Scott watched as Malai worked, feeling more and more aroused as he watched. Malai worked her way up from Makeda’s sex to her stomach, then to her breasts and soon she was completely on top of her. Their naked breasts mashed up tightly as Malai kissed the frozen woman with their sexes doing the same below. Scott watched the one sided sex for another five minutes before noticing he had taken off his jacket and vest. He was fully aroused and was about to break out in sweat. He promptly paused Malai before getting up and putting the CyPocket in his pocket.

            He moved over the bathroom and stepped in. “I’m back,” he smiled as he opened his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. The blonde’s name was Yeardley Luxby according to her DEA badge and ID that he had found on her. She was thirty-one years old and was probably on an observation assignment with ITEA agents; that was logical, being she was DEA and all. Scott knew the Americans would jump into the whole Type-7 thing eventually. During his time waiting in the bathroom for the doctor to arrive, he took time to really look over the beautiful DEA agent, removing most of her clothing. She was now only dressed in a white sports bra, olive drab boxer shorts and black socks. She stood at attention with a fixed smile on her elf-like face in front of the bathtub. Her clothing lay in a pile at her feet. With her clothing removed, the DEA agent didn’t even seem like a cop as she appeared angelic-looking and slender. “I told you I was going to come back,” he said as he walked up to her, then kissed her on her frozen lips and then leaned her forward, dragging her out of the bathroom. He then lifted her up like a log to carry her stiffened body over to the bed. The act only made him feel more aroused, though, and it excited him. “Agent Luxby, I’m about to show you the time of your life… too bad you won’t remember it.”

* * *

            He had only gone two rounds at the DEA agent Luxby before Colette called him. It was enough, since it was a business trip after all. After some digging in Adrianna’s electronic traces, Colette found that the Russian had rented a storage space. It was most likely where she kept her supply of Type-7. The transaction had been very difficult to find so Scott had a good chance to get there before the ITEA tech department got word to Ivan about it. Ivan would soon be missing his people too, so it was all the better time to leave. Scott had just pulled Ivan’s tail since it was no longer needed and directed Izel’s team to the rented storage unit. They were ordered to capture Adrianna on their own if he was not able to make it there on time. But if everything went as planned, he should be fine. He only had few more things to do before he could depart for the storage space himself.

            Adjusting his tie, Scott turned around just in time to see Malai re-enter the suite. She was dressed back in her clothes, sans her underwear. Scott wanted to keep something to remember her by and she had the sexiest undergarments of the three cops. He had decided to keep her chipped to help him. Heather had taken a pretty heavy beating and at the moment could barely walk. He froze her and she stood near the door, re-dressed in the sharp outfit that she had come in. Half her face was swollen and though she still looked somewhat attractive it looked like she had just gone a couple rounds with the female equivalent of Mike Tyson. Janet was pretty hurt too, but she was the better one of the two. Her movements were slow and she was far from one hundred percent. At the moment she was re-dressed in her street outfit and was assisting Doctor Degado move the real maid Amelia Paz from a laundry bin that they had transported her in. Scott had ordered the doctor to look for a laundry bin; luckily she had found one without drawing much attention. She and Janet, when she was still dressed as a maid, then picked up the two suspended maids and brought them to suite 1314. The chipped doctor and Janet placed Amelia’s stiff form next to her partner Graciela, who was now dressed only in her underwear to match the other frozen women. Standing next to the maid was Makeda, now dressed in her black bra and white panties and next to her was Yeardley with her blond hair a mess, re-dressed in her boxers and sports bra.

            “The security tapes have all been erased,” Malai reported. Scott had sent the Thai agent along with her official ITEA ID down to the main security office to take care of the task. When Ivan’s does get here he won’t have much to go on. It’ll look like Scott and his girls were never even in the building.

            “Good, begin cleaning, clean everything,” Scott then ordered.

            “Yes master,” Malai replied as she set off with the cleaning cart to do what she was ordered.

            Pulling out his CyPocket, Scott punched in some commands and unfroze Heather. The girl leaned heavily against the wall behind her, letting out an involuntary moan. He turned to Janet and then Sarita Degado, “Help Heather to the car. Janet, avoid the cameras, Sarita, go along with them and guide them down the service route.”

            “Yes master,” both ladies said in unison as they moved over to flank Heather. A moment later they were headed out of the room. He was going to bring Sarita Degado back to Brazil with him. He needed a good doctor and she fit the bill, he just needed to work out the details on how to make her disappear without drawing suspicion. It was going to interesting. As soon as his injured ladies left and Malai was busy cleaning away evidence, Scott turned his attention to the four frozen ladies in the room. “What to do?” he thought out loud as he looked over their glassy expressions. He eyed the bed and pillows and an idea came to him. He looked at his watch, “I’ve got just about enough time to set up a little scene for Ivan,” he said with smile as he moved towards the women. 

* * *

East Sector Police Headquarters

            The evening had dragged on longer than Ivan had expected. Once the scene at the café was secured he worked with Vasco and Ian to make sure the prisoners were processed correctly. Being the only member of ITEA on the scene, he had to make sure the detox was administered correctly and that there were no side effects. For the most part there were no incidents; a couple of suspects had to go to hospital due to bad reactions to the detox but were released within a few hours. The rest of the Leocadia’s gang of smugglers was all transported back to East Sector HQ for processing. At that point Ivan was immersed in getting any type of information from the prisoners. Vasco and Ian assisted him with translation and general interrogation. He was able to learn very little beyond that Adrianna had used the group to smuggle in her Type-7 for a high price and that she mainly dealt with Teresita Zuniga, Sombra De La Mano’s second in command, who was not at the scene. He attempted to dig out more about Teresita and her whereabouts but ran into dead ends. On the brighter side of things, Ian and Vasco found critical information about safe houses and secret shipping routes that the organization used. The information wasn’t all that much to bring down the whole operation, but it was something and enough to at least slow them down.

            Feeling worn out and realizing that he had not seen or heard from Sonia and Alexandra since the raid, he set out to locate them after he had filed his status report in with the home office. The police headquarters was still packed with Vasco and his people handling the rest of the processing. Ian had left to go back Interpol’s Madrid headquarters to process some new information with their intelligence department. After some asking around he found out that Sonia and her charge were in one of the interrogation rooms. Thinking a moment he remembered that they were handling Leocadia herself and was curious of what they had found. When he reached the interrogation room he found two uniformed police women standing guard at the door. They told him the room was in use and that he could enter the observation room next door if he wished to watch. Entering the darkened room that had a wall made of a one-way mirror and was loaded with visual and audio recording equipment, he saw one person who might have the answers.

            Sonia leaned against the lone table in the observation room with her arms crossed, peering into the one-way glass, which looked out into the interrogation room. Her pea coat was draped on the table next to her, revealing the silk short-sleeve purple blouse she wore underneath. She looked over at Ivan as he entered the room closing the door behind him. “You get anything from the prisoners?” She asked, then turning her attention back to the interrogation room.

            “Well, Vasco and your people got some handy information that should slow the smuggling operations around here. As for me, not so much,” Ivan replied with a sigh, leaning on the table next to the Interpol boss. Looking through the one-way glass he saw Alexandra with her back to them. She sat at a metal plain table and across from her was Leocadia, who was now dressed in a gray prison jump suit. The smuggling queen held an annoyed look on her face and had her arms crossed over her impressive chest. From what Ivan could see, Alexandra had a note pad in front of her and was jotting down information, information that Leocadia was reluctantly giving judging by her facial expression and body language. “I take it we got something useful out of her?” Ivan then asked, gesturing towards the room through the glass. “How come she’s in prison garb?”

            Sonia smiled, “She’s the smuggling queen, and her clothing is… evidence. For all we know she could be hiding contraband in them,” Sonia simply replied. “She was under Type-7 sedation, stiff as a board, when Alexandra and I changed her so she didn’t object. Her nine hundred dollar heels are probably going to end up missing in evidence though…”

            “Nice, a little trophy for your troubles, I guess… and the information she’s giving you?”

            “She’s giving us all of her shipping routes, safe houses and some of her bigger clients,” Sonia answered, picking up a digital camera next to her anticipating the senior ITEA agent’s next question. Ivan looked at her, amazed. “I know, we basically have put them out of business and it’s all thanks to Type-7.” Sonia handed the camera to Ivan. “Type-7 is a wonderful tool, if used wisely.”

            “I know. You should meet my co-workers…” Ivan replied, taking the camera and booting it up. He scrolled through the first few pictures, smiling and shaking his head. All the pictures showed Sonia or Alexandra posing with a smiling Leocadia. Ivan knew the smuggler was under the effects of Type-7 and she even looked a little odd in some of pictures. To the untrained eye however one would think that Leocadia was their friend. In a few of the pictures Leocadia was posed in goofy positions with funny facial expressions. There were couple pictures she was in questionable poses that made her look like a less than respectable woman. “So, you basically plan to blackmail her?” Ivan asked when he finished handing the camera back to the Spanish agent.

            “Yes, essentially, I told her that if she didn’t give us what we wanted, these photos would find their way on to the Internet. There were few extreme ones that you didn’t see that I deleted on good faith when she decided to cooperate. I’m going to keep these as insurance, though, just in case her information does not check out.”

            “Extreme ones?” Ivan asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “Well, Alexandra and I had to dress her in the prison garb…” Sonia replied with a sly grin. “Those pictures alone tipped the scales for us. When Leocadia saw them she was begging like a common thief. It was great.”

            “I would imagine, good work Sonia,” Ivan complimented and looked back into the interrogation room. At that moment Leocadia looked right at the mirror directly at them and glared hatefully. “She really detests you though; better watch your back.  She has connections.”

            “Let her try to go after me, I’ll smash her like a fly,” Sonia said, not paying attention to the woman on the other side of the one-way glass as she looked through the pictures again. “Any word on your people?”

            “Not yet,” Ivan replied, looking at his watch. He sat up quickly seeing that it was way past the time for Makeda’s team to check in. Thinking back, he had forgotten through all the excitement that his team hadn’t even checked in at all.

            “What is it?” Sonia asked looking at Ivan and standing up herself.

            “Something is wrong, they never checked in.”

            “Let’s go get Vasco,” Sonia said, grabbing her coat and rushing out the room with Ivan in tow. As soon as Sonia informed Vasco on the situation the old inspector quickly organized his tactical teams and every officer he had available to make way to the Stilton. Within five minutes the small army of police officers led by Vasco, Sonia and Ivan were racing towards the hotel.

* * *

Marko Storage Town

North Sector, Madrid

            The storage facility was a four-story warehouse with massive loading dock doors that led into the building. It was after hours so the place was deserted and locked down for the most part. The only people that had access were customers who had keycards to enter the loading areas and their storage spaces. A silver Ranger Rover made its way down the deserted street, its bright High Intensity Discharge headlights floodlighting the darkened buildings on the small industrial streets. The luxury SUV came to a stop at the storage facility and backed up to one of the loading dock doors. Adrianna Dashkov, dressed in tight dark clothing, hopped out from the passenger side. She moved to the card reader next to loading dock door and swiped a keycard against it. A moment later the door lifted with a metallic creak and the SUV backed in the rest of the way. Once inside the well-lit loading area, the driver, Teresita Zuniga, dressed in a red tube top over tight leather pants and boots, exited the driver side. The Russian then lead the Spaniard deeper into the facility, leaving the dockside door open.

            Unknown to both of the occupants of the Range Rover, a black Seat Leon hatchback made its way up the same industrial road the Range Rover had. The little black car had actually been following the big UV for the better part of the day. The car parked along the curb across the street from the storage warehouse. Rosalina Vasquez opened the driver side door and stepped out, looking at the open loading dock door with a grin. Rosalina was a junior reporter with the Global News Agency. She was originally from Cuba and had been based in Madrid for nearly a year now. Her goal had been to become a senior reporter within her first six months. She had been popular back home as she was naturally good looking and charismatic on camera, with a bubbly charm that appealed to women as well as the men. She possessed naturally tanned skin and straight brown hair. She even had a beauty mark on her left cheek that she considered that would become her ‘thing’ when she finally became famous. When she signed on with Global News, however, she became sort of a small fish in a very big pond and found it difficult to be taken seriously. She was considered just another pretty face at the Madrid station and senior correspondent Martina Aguilar, who was based out of Paris but was a Madrid local, got all the major stories and airtime.

            Rosalina was determined to big soon and she would do just about anything to get there. Keeping tabs on police reports, Rosalina picked up traces of something Interpol and the East Sector were working on. Her interest spiked once she found out that they were after Sombra De La Mano and a secret international police agency had been called in. Though she wasn’t a major reporter, she did have many street contracts and she pulled out all the stops to reach out to them. Her bank account was a looking a little lean, but she had been able to find out that Teresita Zuniga was on a special mission from her boss along with a mysterious Russian woman. There wasn’t much to go on, but after hours of tracking down leads and blowing more of her money she was able to locate the elusive Ms. Zuniga and to her luck a stunning blond woman who looked to be Russian. As soon as she got the scent, she had been tailing Teresita’s Range Rover all afternoon. Finally her leads have seemed to pay off as she found herself in front of Marko Storage Town.

            She thought to herself that she should have worn something more comfortable as she jogged across the street towards the open loading dock. She had on a dark green leather coat with a brown knee-length skirt over matching knee-high heeled leather boots. Around her shoulder, suspended horizontally across her torso, was a messenger bag containing a voice recorder and her camera, which she planned to use to document whatever Teresita Zuniga and her Russian friend were up to. When she reached the opened loading area she could feel her adrenalin start pumping and tasted her big break. As insurance she reached into her bag and keyed on her cell phone the number 112, for emergency police, but did not press send. If anything happened she would send it and hopefully the police will be able to track her and come. With her phone ready, she pulled her camera out and entered the storage facility.

* * *

            The pallet of clear-plastic-wrapped Type-7 caused Teresita's mouth widen into a massive grin, as if she's just been offered a chest of gold or diamonds. Adrianna watched carefully, knowing that her stock could be replaced but nonetheless wary about the deal. When Teresita reached into her pants, Adrianna even braced herself for a moment, worried that instead of something else the Spaniard would be hiding a weapon. Much to Adrianna's relief, Teresita produced a passport, some money and a plane ticket, all three of which the Russian happily grabbed.

            "Canadian?" scoffed Adrianna, getting a good look at the passport.

            "It has you having only immigrated there a few years ago so you'll be fine," Teresita assured Adrianna, nonchalantly waving away Adrianna's remark. "Your flight leaves in two hours, so you'd best get going."

            "I will then," nodded Adrianna, shaking off her initial concern about the passport. "Thank you for all of your help, and please tell you boss the same."

            "Not so fast!" came a sudden shout from the shadows, causing Adrianna and Teresita to turn and see a new person emerge from around the corner. Adrianna looked at the woman for a moment before realizing it was Rosalina Vasquez, a GNA reporter she'd seen on television now and then while she'd been in Madrid. Adrianna could barely process the intruder’s identity however as her camera then flashed multiple times, capturing images of her with Teresita as well as the contents of her storage locker.

            "Looking to break a big story?" remarked Teresita, seeming quite calm about the whole situation. "Let me help you break a bigger one..." Adrianna felt a chill go down her spine as Teresita spoke, realizing what was going to happen before it did. Within a flash of the camera Teresita had pulled out a small pistol from the back of her waistband.

            "Wait, the police are already..." began Rosalina with a shout, only to suddenly trail off and look at Teresita with a tilted head. Adrianna was confused too, but upon seeing a dart sticking out of the Spaniard's back the reality of the situation dawned on her. Teresita stood motionless, her left hand held just above her pocket with her compact pistol raised halfway up to be even with Rosalina, a scowl frozen on the woman's face.

            "Oh no..." muttered Adrianna, glancing around.

            "What's-" began Rosalina, having lowered her camera, only to suddenly stop still as well after a dart appeared in her chest. Adrianna heard the shot that time, though it was only a slight whisper, a sub-sonic dart fired through an industrial suppressor. Adrianna then saw three figures emerging from behind the motionless reporter and, upon turning around, saw another four behind her.

            "You..." breathed Adrianna, now greatly distressed.

* * *

            Scott was pleased with Malai's marksmanship performance as a slave, having managed to easily hit both Adrianna's contact, whom Scott assumed was Teresita Zuniga given what he knew about the Sombra de la Mano organization, and the sultry reporter Rosalina Vasquez with one round each. Izel's team, which was she as well as Carol and Natalia, emerged from behind the reporter on command with dart guns drawn. Scott himself led Malai, Janet and even Sarita; though Sarita was hanging back and just kept in readiness if anyone needed medical attention. Scott wanted to beam as he looked at Adrianna, but in spite of the excitement at the knowledge that she'd soon be part of his collection he kept his face serious, a Glock at his side with a suppressor fitted snugly onto the barrel. The weapon was ITEA designed, Makeda’s weapon to be exact. He planned to reverse engineer it as he found the dart gun was very well made.

            "Scott, please..." Adrianna's voice quivered out, the Russian taking a step back towards Rosalina’s waxwork-still figure while facing her old boss. "I don't know anything about where you ran off to. I'm not a threat to you. Please, just let me go."

            "Malai, fire," was Scott's reply, the Thai agent then shot the blond Russian right in the chest, a two-round close grouping. Adrianna instantly froze with her arms raised in front of her chest, her eyes wide and her mouth open with her teeth visibly parted, seemingly about to scream as her whole body was moving backwards as she stiffened. Arianna’s body wobbled a bit before it toppled over like a fallen mannequin.

            "Three lovely women, all ripe for the picking," mused Scott, tucking his own gun away and surveying the unmoving scene, focusing first on Rosalina. "A reporter... someone will absolutely miss you. I guess I can't risk it. Your fellow statues, however..." Scott put an arm around Teresita and casually pulled her gun from her grasp. "Naughty girl, trying to shoot a reporter… That reminds me," Reaching into Rosalina's bag, which was hanging from her right elbow, Scott found her cell phone and saw that it had indeed been dialed and was currently waiting a prompt with the police station's automatic answering device. Scott hung up without hesitation, knowing the alarm had been given and he didn’t have much time.

            "Better be quick then," noted Scott, putting the phone back in Rosalina's bag after making sure to wipe off any prints. Scott then pulled out his CyPocket and began issuing orders, first for Izel and her team to load the Type-7 pallet into Teresita's vehicle while having Sarita and Janet place Rosalina and Malai into the locker after it was emptied. As handy as Malai had been, Scott couldn't keep her; he was sure ITEA would search the ends of the earth for her. He didn’t need that kind of attention. Sarita’s fate was already decided; he needed a doctor, and a Spanish one would please Ryoshi. He just had to make sure no came looking for her.

* * *

Madrid Stilton Hotel

            "Here's her suite right here," noted Ivan, leading Sonia, Vasco, Ian and Alexandra down the hall of the hotel to the suite in question. Everyone had a weapon held at the ready, Ivan leading with his Glock in one hand and his Beretta in the other. Sonia was hanging back with a Glock of her own while Ian, Alex and Vasco all carried lethal sidearms now; Ivan not having enough special Type-7 ammunition to go around. Ian stepped forward, holding a USP low to his side and, with a nod; he pulled the door open, Ivan going in first.

            "Police!" yelled Vasco as they entered, but Ivan immediately saw it didn't matter. The static scene in the hotel room was surprising, to say the least. On one bed were two women, presumably locals, posed with one sitting at the foot of the bed and the other behind her on her knees. The one at the foot of the bed, a redhead, had a girlish grin on her face with her hands in her lap while the other woman, a pretty brunette, was posed braiding her hair. On the other bed sat Makeda and Yeardley, also on their knees and facing each other, holding raised pillows while sporting bright frozen grins of their own. Yeardley even had her hair up in twin ponytails and, combined with the fact that all the women were in their underwear, showed this little diorama was clearly some kind of a joke.

            "Wasn't expecting this," remarked Sonia, lowering her gun. "Ian, Alex, sweep the rest of the suite." The Blake twins nodded and went to do so while Ivan walked over to Makeda and Luxby, Sonia right with him. Vasco's phone had just chirped so the inspector had stopped to answer it, stepping out into the hallway.

            "Hell of a way for Lux to get acquainted with Type-7," mused Ivan as he looked at her motionless figure, digging into his jacket pockets and producing a pair of special syringes that contained the Type-7 counter-agent. "I'll revive them, see what they know."

            "I'll arrange for the other two to be revived and properly debriefed, whoever they are," added Sonia with a nod. "Pardon the expression."

            "Please, when you work with freeze drugs you're used to hearing a hurricane of puns related to them every day," smirked Ivan, taking the whole situation in stride. While Adrianna had eluded them for the moment, Ivan knew his team was okay, though granted Malai wasn't in the room. Ivan was sure however that the Blake siblings would return from the rest of the suite with her having been found in the bathroom or closet or something along those lines.

            "Sweep is done, all we found were some discarded clothes," announced Alex, causing Ivan to suddenly develop a lump in the throat.

            "Then one of your people..." began Sonia, lowering her own phone from her ear while Vasco chatted away in hall just outside the open door.

            "Malai is still missing," concluded Ivan, now getting antsy. "Alex, take one of these syringes and give it to Lux. I'll deal with Makeda." The female Australian took the medical instrument from Ivan as her brother emerged from the bathroom with a pile of discarded clothing, Makeda and Luxby's amongst them.

            "If I had to guess I'd say the other two are hotel maids," commented Ian, holding up an apron from the pile of clothing he had with him. Ivan ignored Ian's words however, instead focusing on pressing the needle into Makeda’s arm and injecting her with the counter-agent. After removing the needle Ivan proceeded to remove the pillow from his fellow agent's hands just as she came around, reeling back a bit in momentary confusion before swinging around to sit with her legs stretched out.

            "I'm sorry Ivan, we weren't expecting the maids to be imposters," confessed Makeda, rubbing her head as she glanced around. "What's happened?"

            "We caught the leader of the smuggling group, but Adrianna is still missing, and now so is Malai," explained Ivan as Alex injected Yeardley next to them, also removing the pillow from her grasp. "What do you remember exactly?"

            "We came in, there were two maids who weren't Spaniards," recalled Makeda. "One of them shot me with a dart right then, but I remember seeing the gun. Adrianna must have set a trap for us.  Lux was right next to me when…"

            "What the?!" suddenly exclaimed Luxby, now moving again like Makeda. Her reflexive reactions almost made her fall off the bed before she realized things were different then when she had become a statue.  She had been clothed, then; now she felt the air swirling around her half-naked body.  Suddenly embarrassed, she sat back on the bed and covered herself as best she could.  Alex began speaking to Lux in a hushed voice while Ivan focused on Makeda.

            "Okay, lets get you dressed and find Malai right away," Ivan told his subordinate, patting her reassuringly on the shoulders. "We'll get this woman, I promise."

            "That may be easier than you think," Vasco suddenly announced, flipping his cell phone closed. "Apparently Rosalina Vasquez, that's a local reporter by the way, put in a call to 112 that was then disconnected, but not before the call was traced to Marko Storage Town. Now if I were a criminal with a supply of an illegal drug, that sounds like a decent enough place to keep it..."

            "Makeda, Lux, get yourselves dressed and get ready for some pay-back," declared Ivan, stepping away from Makeda.

            "What about these two?" asked Sonia, covering up the mouth-piece of her cell phone and indicating the two motionless posed maids, the brunette holding the redhead's hair in mid-braid.

            "They'll be fine, not likely to be going anywhere; we can have a unit watch them until we get back," Ivan assured Sonia, gesturing at Vasco while he spoke. The Spanish inspector nodded and proceeded to start speaking into his radio, calling for a couple of his men to join them in the room. He had brought nearly half of the headquarters with him. There were Spanish cops all over the building. Adrianna had eluded the group for the moment, but they were perhaps about to get lucky.

* * *

Marko Storage Town

            Besides Ivan's team and Sonia's, a dozen local police joined in to raid the storage facility. Everyone was wearing body armor and quite a few were carrying shotguns. The force may have seemed like overkill, but Ivan did not want Adrianna to get away after she'd so abused his team. The Russian ITEA agent had even removed his signature white hat, not wanting the rim to be a distraction in a possible firefight.

            "Anxious?" asked Sonia, coming up beside Ivan as he was finishing ensuring his Glock was prepared.

            "Just eager to end this," admitted Ivan, adjusting his belt holsters.

            "Now you know how I felt about Leocadia," pointed out Sonia, the two people then sharing a meaningful nod before heading up to the entrance of the building. Two of Vasco's men would lead the way, the inspector himself hanging back while Yeardley would follow the two lead officers, being the only one of the trio to have a freeze-based gun while the other two had shotguns. Vasco himself was carrying an electronic card programming device that could be used to open the electronic lock on the storage locker if necessary.

            "I've got the call's origin triangulated from the GPS locator," announced Makeda, who was next to Ivan with a CyPad in her hands. "Not too far inside. Take a left at the third junction, second-to-last locker before the next junction."

            "Everyone got that?" asked Vasco, getting nods and general responses in the affirmative. "Three... two... one... breach!" On Vasco's orders his two officers moved in, Yeardley behind them with Sonia and the Blake siblings next before Ivan and Makeda moved in, with Vasco then following with two more men while the rest of his people were covering the exits.

            "Getting close," remarked Makeda as they moved, the group's brisk pace getting them to their left turn in less than a minute. "Right here!"

            "Clear!" shouted Yeardley, scanning the area twice beforehand.

            "That locker is open," observed Ian, indicating one of the units.

            "Open it," ordered Sonia, getting a nod from Vasco and Ivan. The groups went on either side, once again the two officers with shotguns taking up primarily positions while Ian stood by to raise the shutter door open. At the right hand-signal Ian did as ordered, flashlights clicking on to scan the locker as soon as the door was open enough.

            "Hands in the air!" shouted one officer, but Ivan was behind him and quickly realized what was going on.

            "Weapons down, they're no threat!  They’ve both been frozen." yelled Ivan, scanning the scene. Standing at attention was Malai, resting atop an empty pallet, and next to her with a camera held in front of her chest was an unknown woman, but given her equipment Ivan figured it was the reporter who had made the police call in the first place.

            "Dammit," muttered Yeardley, Ivan wanting to echo her words. Ivan knew that the pair might have some valuable information, but he highly doubted they'd be able to say where Adrianna was headed next.

* * *

The Next Morning...

            "This is Martina Aguilar, reporting to you live from Marko Storage Town, where last night a joint operation between Interpol and the Madrid police led to the daring rescue of one of my fellow GNA reporters," announced a perky-looking Spanish reporter with raven-black hair, standing in front of the storage facility, holding a microphone with the GNA logo on it. "With me is Rosalina Vasquez, part of Madrid's own GNA team, whose daring journalistic instincts made this raid possible." Next to Martina, the Cuban Rosalina, who was two years Martina's senior in terms of age but nonetheless nowhere near her level in the agency, nodded at the camera, still wearing the same outfit from the night before. Global News Agency make-up teams were able to help Rosalina not show her signs of exhaustion, allowing her to deliver a special report in person.

            "After last night I must say I'm grateful just to be speaking with you Martina," commented Rosalina, flashing a somewhat phony smile.

            "What can you tell us about the events leading up to this incredible raid?" asked Martina, smiling brightly while casually brushing aside a few stray raven hairs that were blowing freely in the morning breeze.

            "While I've been asked to keep certain details under wraps until a full police report can be made public, I can tell you that a known Russian criminal, Adrianna Dashkov, was being pursued in relation to drug-smuggling," explained Rosalina, keeping her voice clear as she stared into the camera, a microphone held to her lips by Martina. "Miss Dashkov was once an employee of the now-bankrupt Paradise Foundation, with ties within Madrid organized crime syndicate. Dashkov's trail led to the arrest of several local criminals, but she herself has so far managed to stay a step ahead of the local authorities."

            "I understand you were able to find this Adrianna Dashkov and track her to this exact location?" commented Martina, pulling away the microphone for just a moment before returning it to Rosalina.

            "I was, where I was able to get photographic evidence of her turning over restricted drugs to a member of Sombra de la Mano, a local crime syndicate which has now been shut down," revealed Rosalina. "I was unfortunately captured and… detained… but rescued during the raid. Dashkov's supply of drugs was also seized, but unfortunately she was once again gone before the police arrived."

            "So to anyone watching, be on the look-out for the woman in this photo," narrated Martina, a picture of Adrianna appearing on the television screens for people watching the broadcast. She is presumed to be armed and extremely dangerous; do not approach her but contact the police immediately if you locate her.  Rosalina Vasquez, on behalf of GNA I want to thank you for your excellent work and express our gratitude to see you escaped from this ordeal unharmed."

            "Thank you Martina, I'll be filing a full profile report on Adrianna Dashkov as soon as I can," acknowledged Rosalina.

            "From Madrid, Spain, this is Martina Aguilar and Rosalina Vasquez," announced Martina, wrapping up the broadcast. "Back to you in the studio, John," with that the cameraman turned off his recording device, leaving the two reporters to breathe sighs of relief.

            "I can't believe you risked your life just to try and one-up me," muttered Martina to her rumpled companion.

            "Save it whore-biscuit, this report's going to make me huge, bigger than that nose of yours," fired back Rosalina, taking a dig at Martina's prominent nose.

            "Still won't be as big as that mole of yours," laughed Martina, walking away. Rosalina just shook her head and walked off herself, wanting to get to her car and head back to the office so she could start work on her profile report. As she walked, Rosalina noticed someone slowly coming up behind her, but since they'd just done a GNA broadcast she figured it was someone looking for a report. By Rosalina's estimates the person following her would catch up by her car, where she'd pretend to be embarrassed when asked for an autograph before obliging her new fan. Then Rosalina would put all her hate for Martina into a Pulitzer-prize-winning profile piece on the Russian criminal and show the world she was the best investigative reporter in Europe...

* * *

East Sector Police Headquarters

            “Give it eight more hours and then you could open the railways and airports back up,” Sonia said with a sigh, looking at the dispatches coming in from the various law enforcement units hunting Adrianna Dashkov and Teresita Zuniga down. So far there had been no luck, if only they were able to shut down everything sooner, but there was nearly a three hour delay to get things into play. In that delay a few dozen planes and trains were able to leave the country.

            “I don’t think we’re going to get lucky,” Vasco sighed taking the dispatches back from his Interpol counterpart. “I mean, we shut down Leocadia’s operation… we can’t win all the time.”

            “Yeah, I know that, but it would be nice though…” Sonia replied with a smile. Aside from losing their main target, she was still feeling the high of finally busting Leocadia.

            “You want to get something to eat when this wraps up maybe a drink?” Vasco asked. Vasco was a married man and really didn’t have any sexual interest in the attractive Interpol boss, but they were still good friends despite their bickering.

            “I’ll take a rain check. I’m exhausted; all I want to do is sleep for days. Plus you know how Lita is when I’m not around,” Sonia answered tiredly rubbing her shoulders.

            “No problem,” Vasco said with a chuckle. “She still can’t sleep unless you’re home?”

            Sonia smiled, “She claims she was chatting online or listening to music. Eighteen years old, yet still my little girl.”

            “She’s a good kid and your bond with her is something that is rare,” Vasco commented.

            “I know. I would do anything for her without hesitation.”

            A knock on the open door interrupted the two Spanish cops’ conversation. They had been standing in Vasco’s office. Both cops turned to see the tall American DEA agent Yeardley Luxby standing in the doorframe. She still wore her body armor from the storage facility raid and she looked just as tired as everyone else. The American smiled warily, “Sorry to interrupt, but could I have a word with you, Agent Castillo?”

            Sonia looked over at her old friend. “I’ll report these dispatches to Agent Popov,” he said holding up the reports. He gave Yeardley a nod before leaving the room.

            “Come in Lux,” Sonia gestured. Ever since the raids, the young American had been working just as hard as if she were assigned to the case and not merely an observer, Sonia was growing fond of the ambitious young woman. “What’s on your mind?”

            “I want to join ITEA,” Yeardley blurted out. Sonia gave her a raised eyebrow look but didn’t say anything, so Luxby continued. “Getting ambushed was not fun and waking up nearly naked wasn’t fun either. But that rush chasing down this dealer and this new drug – it’s really something. I can’t seem to get down from the high of it. I joined the DEA to do this, to bring drug dealers down and to take illegal drugs off the street. I’m not sure when or if my agency will ever pursue Type-7, but I want to pursue it, and so ITEA is where I want to be.” Sonia was silent, not looking at Yeardley, prompting the agent to add, “I know the ITEA doesn’t really take Americans, but if I’m good enough for the DEA I know I’m good enough for you. I’m a fast…” Luxby started to say but was cut off with Sonia raising her hand to stop her.

            “Relax Lux; I like you. You don’t have to sell yourself so hard, not to me anyways. You still have a lot to learn. You’re experienced and clearly an asset to the DEA but ITEA is a whole different cup of tea. I know their boss and know most of their senior agents. They’re really good. You can clearly see that in Ivan and his people,” Sonia pointed out. Yeardley sighed, having an idea what was coming next. “But,” the blond perked up. “I am a member of ITEA’s Oversight Committee, I think I could put a word in for you and we can just see how good you really are.”

            “Oh, thank you, agent Castillo!” Yeardley gushed and was about to reach out and hug the senior Interpol agent but stopped herself, regaining her composure before she acted too much like a giddy schoolgirl. “I mean thank you for the consideration,” she repeated, sounding more professional.

            “Don’t thank me yet; we have to see if Director Christophe wants you first, but for now get back to work,” Sonia said, hiding a smile and waving the eager DEA agent off.

            “Right away ma’am,” Yeardley nodded with a smile before exiting the room.

            As soon as the younger woman left the room, Sonia let out a long yawn, feeling her sleepiness really start to creep up on her. This case was over, despite all the work that was still going on. They had caught all the bad guys that they were going to catch this time around it was time to call it a day, rest and wake to fight another day. Fishing out her cell phone, she hit the speed dial. She smiled brightly to herself as Lita picked up the phone on the first ring. “Hey sweetie,” Sonia greeted.

* * *

            Malai Kasem sat at a computer terminal in the command center. Her tired eyes were glued to the monitor as she scanned through the hours of security video. It was no good; she knew she wouldn’t find anything that would help. Deep down though, she still hoped she could find something, especially because of the fact that it was she who had erased the security video that they could have used. Of course she had been chipped and turned into a slave by Adrianna Dashkov, who probably was the one who knocked her unconscious as well. Oddly and most embarrassingly the Russian had also stolen her underwear. That act alone, forget about her being an escaped drug dealer, really pissed Malai off and made her want the Russian fugitive in custody even more. The Thai agent jumped slightly, feeling a hand on her back. She whirled around in her seat to see Makeda’s grinning face.

            “Are you alright, Malai?” Makeda asked, taking a seat next to her teammate.

            “I’m good, just jumpy after… well you know…” Malai mumbled, going back to the monitor.

            “Yeah, I know how you feel. Look, you can stop doing that. Ivan is reporting to Tasia and Lucienne right now. He’s throwing in the towel on this one. Madrid police is demobilizing in eight hours and Lucienne wants us on the first flight to London once the airport opens.”

            “Man…” Malai sighed leaning back in her seat.

            “I know it sucks,” Makeda comforted putting a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “Keep your chin up. If we get another chance, we’ll bag her.”

            “Yeah I know, but I want to get her now… she stole my underwear…”

            “What?!”

            “Yeah… I really liked that set too…” Malai mumbled sadly.

            “Listen,” Makeda leaned in close. “Ivan and I already agreed that we keep this case between us as a lot of things didn’t go our way. I think you should be quiet about that, too. Another thing is I ran a DNA test on myself, looking for evidence…”

            “And?” Malai asked her eyes widening with eagerness.

            “Well, I only found your DNA… I think when you were chipped and I was frozen, we might have had sex…”

            “Oh no!” Malai nearly shouted, going wide-eyed before bringing up her hands to cover her mouth. She sat in silence for a moment, letting it all sink in. The underwear thing was no longer that embarrassing in comparison. Makeda was a senior agent and was married too. Chipped or not, Malai felt terrible. “Keep it between us?”

            “Let’s, along with everything else about this messed-up case,” Makeda agreed.

* * *

Utopia Flight 002

Somewhere over the Atlantic, Two days later…

            As soon as everything had been loaded and his two newest additions to his collection were secured with chips, Scott hurried off to the airport where his jet was fueled and ready to go. He quickly boarded both of his teams, the Type-7 and his two new girls. Less than an hour later the jet was airborne and heading back to Brazil, two hours ahead of when the Spanish government shut down all outgoing flights. As soon as his flight was gone, he and Sarita Delgado headed away from the airport to lay low for a while. They stayed at Sarita’s up town loft, where Scott released some sexual tension left over from his play time with the gorgeous Yeardley Luxby. The next morning, he ordered Sarita to quit her job and put up most of her property for sale. The doctor was not acting like herself by far, but he hoped those around her wouldn’t be too suspicious. Her cover was that she had gotten a better paying job at a resort in South America and was leaving as soon as the airports opened. Scott had arranged for Ryoshi to pick him up as soon as Sarita had made the arrangements, he wanted his wife to meet their new doctor in person. He kept track of Sarita’s progress on his CyPocket as he returned to Marko Storage Town to covertly watch the investigation unfold.

            While on site, Scott caught a glimpse of Martina’s report that featured Rosalina Vasquez, the woman that he had decided to part ways with the other night. He felt the woman was pretty competent in her job and had good facts to start a thorough investigation; an investigation that could lead back to him.  Unlikely, but it was still a risk. Scott waited for her to finish her interview before approaching her. He introduced himself as Jack Crandall, an American investigative reporter, when he reached Rosalina. ‘Jack’ had been tracking Adrianna since she had left the Foundation. Naturally being a curious and ambitious reporter that she was, Rosalina ate it all up. After talking to the Cuban for a few hours, Scott determined that she was indeed a threat; she was actually quite good at finding obscure things out, so she would have to be dealt with as well. Later that afternoon, Rosalina Vasquez was drugged with some Type-7 and chipped soon afterward while giving ‘Jack’ a tour of her apartment. By that evening Rosalina had sold her little black car, along with most of her possessions and turned in her notice to vacate her apartment.

            That night Scott and Rosalina showed up at Sarita’s nearly empty loft with what clothing that Scott wanted the reporter to take with her. He spent the rest of night have hot threesome sex, wishing that Ryoshi was with him. After three days away from the Japanese woman he was longing to be with her. The next morning Rosalina called her boss, her voice sounding a bit too cheery but it was the best that Scott could do on a CyPocket as they were extremely difficult to program chips on. She told the station boss that she was offered a good paying job in South America and was therefore turning in her resignation and leaving when the airport opened. Apparently her skills were not as recognized as Scott had noted, since her boss did not seem too upset with her departure. Around 1PM, Ryoshi and the second jet arrived, by 1:15PM they were airborne and finally heading back to Brazil.

            Down on the cargo deck, Adrianna Dashkov was also making the journey, but without the amenities of the luxurious main cabin.  Overdosed with some of her own Type-7 drug supply into long-duration immobility, her unclothed body had been wrapped in clear plastic sheeting and sealed into a fitted shipping crate marked simply “Fragile – Display Mannequin”. In her current condition she had easily fooled the security inspectors at departure, gaining only a glance from the agent at her beautiful unblinking eyes after he had lasciviously fondled her firm rosy-tipped breasts.  A small cylinder of medical oxygen supplied the entire sustenance she would need during the high-altitude overwater flight.

            “I like it,” Scott said as he looked over the business plan and structure of Utopia Holdings that Ryoshi had typed up on her flight over. “There are a lot of openings we need to fill though, and not with normal people either…” He sat, dressed only in a bathrobe in the plush leather seat in the forward part of the cabin. A table resting between him and Ryoshi had a platter of fruit and a bottle of white wine with two glasses.

            “Oh, it’s no big deal; I already have a plan with that, plus we acquired a lot more people when we worked with the Foundation. This should be easy,” Ryoshi replied, sitting back in her plush seat in relaxation. The Japanese woman wore nothing but a red see-through teddy. Her leather chair was propped back with the foot rest opened. At her feet, Teresita Zuniga, dressed in a revealing flight attendant’s uniform, was seated on her knees rubbing Ryoshi’s bare feet. “Oh I love Teresita, you know I would have been just fine and dandy if you brought just her home, but you brought two more! God I love you, Scott Dawson.”

            “Anything for my queen,” Scott replied with a smile, putting the CyPad he was reading down and then taking a sip of wine. “Alexis, what is our ETA?”

            Sitting the cockpit dressed as sexy pilots clad in all leather were Alexis and Veronica, who made up the bulk of the three-person crew. “Four hours sir, on the tick,” Alexis answered in her crisp British accent.

            “How much fuel do we have Veronica?” Scott then asked as he plucked a grape from the platter and ate it.

            “We have 6500 pounds sir,” the former Spanish secret service agent replied.

            Scott did some calculations in his head and then ordered, “Let’s come in from the south then, Alexis.”

            “Yes sir,” Alexis answered making the course adjustment. Veronica assisted as she was programmed to.

            “The south? That’s going to add an hour to our ETA,” Ryoshi said after doing the math in her head.

            “I know,” Scott said with a smile, standing up and extending his hand to his wife. Ryoshi took it with a smile and the two headed back towards the rear cabin where there was a bedroom. Teresita stood up with a blank face and began cleaning the table off. The couple moved the short distance to the open door of the rear cabin. Laying spread-eagled on the single king size bed was a nude Rosalina Vasquez. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was opened. The reporter’s hair was a mess and her body glistened with sweat. Before the married couple had taken their break, they had ravished the Cuban reporter for a few hours. Resting in a lounger in the corner of the room was Doctor Sarita Delgado. She was just as naked as Rosalina. She sat slumped over, head lolling over her naked breasts and hands resting on her bare thighs. “Sarita, Rosalina, wake up and stand at attention,” Scott ordered.

            Both women did as they were told and soon stood at naked attention in front of the married couple, shoulder to shoulder, with their blank brown eyes looking at nothing in particular. Scott wrapped his arms around his wife’s shoulder and kissed her on the cheek as the both eyed the naked ladies. Rosalina was stunning, to say the least; the woman could be a model. Sarita was not as model-perfect but was still a looker nevertheless. “Well, Mrs. Dawson, I had my fun with them both back in Madrid, I think it’s only fair that you have your fill of them for the remainder of the trip.”

            “That sounds fair, Mr. Dawson,” Ryoshi replied, kissing her husband. When their lips separated she asked, “What are you going to do for the next five hours?”

            “Meet Teresita more properly; I didn’t get a chance to thoroughly introduce myself when we first met,” Scott replied, gesturing over his shoulders.

            “Well then have fun…”

            “You do the same…”

THE END

CAST

* Adrianna Dashkov - Ksenia Sukhinova
* Dario Cortez - Dani Martin
* Chloe Vega - Esther Canadas
* Ivan Popov - Timothy Olyphant
* Makeda Getachew - Faune Chambers
* Malai Kasem - Pumwaree Yodkamol
* Sonia Castillo - Catherine Zeta-Jones
* Yeardley Luxby – Lauren German
* Vasco Arroyo - Javier Bardem
* Scott Dawson - Kiefer Sutherland
* Colette Landry - Laura Vandervoort
* Carol Danvers - Melyssa Ford
* Heather Douglas - Alycia Purrott
* Natalia Romanova - Kea Wong
* Izel Cortez - Roselyn Sanchez
* Janet Van Dyne - Shenae Grimes
* Teresita Zuniga - Kate Del Castillo
* Leocadia Braga - Morena Baccarin
* Amelia Paz - Dulce Maria
* Graciela Morano - Maite Perroni
* Ryoshi Dawson - Maggie Q
* Ian Blake - Alex O'Laughlin
* Alexandra Blake - Claire Van Der Boom
* Reinaldo Azorin - Eloy Azorin
* Cirino Casas - Mario Casas
* Sarita Delgado - Valerie Cruz
* Rosalina Vasquez - Eva Mendes
* Martina Aguilar - Penelope Cruz
* Alexis Sutherland - Naomi Watts
* Veronica Estes - Paula Garces