Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Blackshaft - 2-07 - Black Night part 1 (Adults Only. Copyright@Rama. 2013) Storme Building. Penthouse. Day. Howard Storme felt safe again. The refractive glass of the windows had been repaired and replaced. The shift in the image that the glass gave to the world hade been changed. The world was dangerous place to people like him. Howard stopped at the gold-framed mirror and checked the anmgle of his tie. Perfect. No wonder people tried to kill him, he thought as he looked at the tanned tycoon that smiled back at him. Jealousy. That was all. Just plain old-fashioned jealousy. They wanted what he had. A quick check of his watch told him it was early time. Howard Storme was going to make the news again. Somewhere. She had come to some time ago. Commissioner Jane Gregg had thought the lights had gone out for a second until; she felt the sack on her head and the cloth stuffed into her mouth, then the tight plastic cutting into her wrists and ankles. She sitting, she knew that. What had happened? She got home, was about to put the key in the door when the arms grabbed her and then the hand went over her mouth. Then... That smell. Chloroform. An old-fashioned Mickey Finn. How could she have been so stupid to let her guard down? Gregg stopped and listened again, trying to find some sound that could identify where she was was. But there was nothing. Just the cold around her. A second's relaxation, she thought. So fucking stupid.... Corrine Allen's Apartment. Day. Kacey was making herself some coffee when Corrine ran out of the bedroom and grabbed her bag from the couch. "Honestly, they say men can do business? That asshole in charge of accounts is going to screw up a government deal." she told Kacey. She stopped and looked at the TV on the wall. "What's that idiot doing now?" she asked. Kacey took her coffee and moved to where she could see the TV. Corrine had put the sound up a little. "...So far the only message from Howard Storme has been that he is giving away money and mentioning a time and a place. That time is twelve o'clock and the place, the front of the Storme building." the blonde news anchor was saying. Corrine shook her head. "He doesn't give away money. He's working something." she said. "Questions about the recent attempt to kill the billionaire," the anchor continued. "And he is no billionaire either." Corrine added. "Have been brushed aside." the anchor said. "We'll have cameras there to cover the event." Corrine tossed the remote control into a chair as she turned and looked at Kacey. "How's the speech going? Tell Danielle I'll have to see her later. Can't stop. I'll see you later." Kacey just blinked as Corrine rushed out the door. That left just her in the place. Danielle Holmes, Corrine's girlfriend was doing some volunteer work for part of the day. With a speech to write about owning the biggest company in the city. The meeting was in less than a week. Taking a sip from the mug she looked out at the city. In another week her face would be all over the news. The questions would start up again about the location of Alison Beach probably. Corrine had reassured her the PR department would take care of that but Kacey knew those questions would not go away so easily. Alison Beach. Richest woman in the city. Philanthropist. Weirdo, some of the papers called her. There was worse things too. An older woman living with a younger one and keeping themselves to themselves. Never going out and staying away from the city's social scene. What would Red Princess have thought about that, Kacey wondered and knew the answer. Something not right. Something weird. And then the weirdo vanishes and the younger woman gets everything in a scrawled letter. Do the math, Princess, Kacey thought. Does it feel normal? Course not. People have secrets, what was theirs? Two women alone. Both very private. Then one `leaves', with no witnesses. And the other one gets very, very rich.... There was only one question that came out of it for Kacey's old costumed persona. "Where's the body?" Kacey asked herself. Storme Building. Penthouse. Day. Howard Storme finished up straightening his suit jacket. He had phoned down and asked how things were in front of the building. The crowd and the cameras were there already. The new business was ready to go. Crowdfunding was the thing now. The banks were society's bad guys now. Not that Storme ever had problems with them. His name alone meant that the banks would bend over backwards for anything he wanted. He knew where the fault lay. The media and it's liberal bias were undermining the way things should be. No, the new business was a simple crowdfunding exercise. People put up a proposal and other people put up money to fund it. No matter if the deal was successful he was guaranteed to get at least five percent no matter how the proposal went. A successful pitch meant he got seven percent instead. And all it would cost him was nothing the money he was giving away belonged to the company behind the new venture called FundMe. They had even paid him to front the campaign. FundMe couldn't have been a better name, making him smile. He heard the door open as he brushed the right sleeve with a soft brush. "Is it time?" he asked. "Sir, there could be a problem." the small, scared voice of one of his assitants said. Howard started brushing the left sleeve down. "Yes?" he said. "Your daughter..." "My daughter is her own person, and needs to learn her place." Howard declared and turned around. "Are we ready?" "But sir," the young man said nervously. He was carrying a tablet computer. "If you could just look at this." Howard motioned to him to come in. The assistant rushed forward and handed the tablet to him. The screen was showing one of those gossip websites. The headline said two words; `STORME COMING!!!!'The colour drained from his face as he saw the still image. A close up of a woman. Her make-up smeared, her face red with her eyes half-closed. What was happening was obvious. He was looking at a common whore. Howard shook his head, feeling the rising anger inside him. "This is just..." he started to say. "Get the lawyers to shut it down now!" "It's all over the gossip sites, sir." "Get the lawyers--" "We are doing that but the video's online." "Online?" The assistant swallowed hard. "Eh, it's been on torrent for several hours it seems." he said. "The press are asking for a comment." Howard looked back at the tablet. There was a clip to view. He tapped the screen and the room was filled with the sound of grunting and bleeps. He could see what was happening despite the site's idiotic blurring and bleeping. He saw the date on the video and felt the anger rising. It had been filmed the day after he had told her to pick herself up. His daughter, a little whore. Up till now it was only gossip but now she had crossed the line. She had done it after he had warned her. She had just trampled... No. She had just blown the good name of her family into pieces. Then it hit him. The launch for FundMe. He couldn't go down there now. He'd be a laughing stock. That little fucking whore... "Sir?" Howard looked at the convulsing bodies and only them saw how the men using her were all black. It was him. Howard looked up and saw the Lime building across the view from his window. She had spend time over there, didn't she? He had got to her and they were in this together. First the attempt to kill him and now trying to kill his name. Little fucking... The moans and groans and slaps made him look back at the tablet. The black man inside his daughter was groaning, his body jerking in short movements.... "Sir...?" the assistant said, backing up a step. "BITCH!" Howard Storme yelled and tossed the tablet across the room where it smashed against a wall. "She did this to get at me!" he said. "...uh," the young man shrugged. "We have to cancel the launch." Howard told him. "I can't go out there while my... With what she has done!" "Cancel?" Howard looked up. "CANCEL THE FUNDME SHIT!" he yelled. "Sir..." the assistant nodded, fear in his eyes and headed out the door, grateful to be getting out. Howard went to the window and looked at the Lime building. "Now we are at war." he said to it. "I am going to kick your black ass back to the fucking plantation." Howard said. Leaving the city. Day. Tiffany Storme drove with a smile on her face. The sports car was a present from her father. The same father she had royally fucked over. The Fundme bullshit had been canceled and all questions were being ignored or sent to some jackass PR guy to not answer. She had tried calling him but found the voicemail full. Tiffany didn't care about the name any more, or the business. It was all built on bullshit anyway. All she needed was a nice big, black cock to fuck and black daddy to do it. Good and hard and deep like all those black daddies had done on the tape. Her phone was already full of requests on the voicemail from the press and some were from porn companies. All of them offering big sums of money for exclusives. They could go fuck themselves. She'd have loved to have seen her father's face on seeing the coverage. "That's right, father. I got gang-banged by a group of big, bad niggers!" she said out loud, saying just what she wanted to tell him. "They fucked me every way and I LOVED it! I FUCKING LOVED IT!" She slowed the car down and turned into the drive that led to the tall heavy gates. It would be the perfect place to hide while the shit hit. As the car eased to a halt in front of the gates she put her fingers to her mouth and licked her tongue up between then at the camera. The gate suddenly started to open and Tiffany Storm eased the car forward into the ground of the St Ignatious College for Young Women. The Colmart household. Day. Six months married and was that all there was, Toni Colmart thought as she looked at the picture of her husband. She watched him running out the house, late for work after another so-called sex session. That's what he called it, anyway. They had started trying things differently. A little costume play, sex toys, role play. All the usual stuff. But there was something lacking these days. Something missing. The juices weren't quite flowing. Toni was still good looking. Blonde, good tits, nice ass. She still had it. But looking at Ray didn't do anything for her now. Her husband was just that. A husband. Toni fixed her make-up and pulled on her coat. It was time for her to leave for the shift at the store. She worked in one of the city's big clothing stores. She smiled as she thought of going in, wondering if those nice boys from stores would be there. Toni had seen them one day when she was sent down to check on stock. The day had been hot and she walked in to find herself staring at three topless black males. Three nicely toned black males. After another dull fuck with Ray that night she found those three studs in her dreams. Toni Colmart looked at the wedding ring on her finger and slowly turned it around her finger. She cleared her mind, grabbed the house keys and left for work. Fourth and Wilshire. Day. NightLord was back. He thought Smiler was going to kill him when he found him in the drugs warehouse. But Smiler had told him that as the only two `original' bad guys it was in their interests to `team-up'. That was why he was sitting in a van watching the world go by. Even a bad guy's got to eat and he took another mouthful of burger. It was hungry work going about the city, making sure that the plan was in place. It was all Smiler's plan. But he needed someone with chemistry knowledge and so he needed the infamous NightLord. The man who once made an entire police precinct grind to a halt in a drug induced nightmare. Some of them were still enduring the night terrors, a little fact that made him proud. There was still seven more packages to deliver. He finished off the burger and checked the the badly-written scrawl in the notebook. Smiler's writting was a bad as a doctor's. Not that it mattered. That grinning lunatic wouldn't be a problem for too long. As soon as he had taken the responsibility for the plan, Smiler's use would be over. He grabbed the small workman's cap and put it on then got out the van. Opening the back he opened the toolbox and removed the top tray. NightLord picked up the package with the number seven on it and put it in the toolbox, then replaced the tray and closed the box. He found the identity card then locked up the van and headed along Wilshire to the address that was next on the list. Corrine Allen's Apartment. Day. The blonde was wearing a huge black strap-on and Kacey moaned as she watched the blonde pushing the dildo into the shaved pussy of the brunette on the large screen TV. Kacey sat on the sofa, her legs crossed and a hand plunged down the front of her jeans. On the glass table in front of her the blank pad and pen lay. The speech she was meant to write for the upcoming board meeting a distant thought. Kacey watched the two young women fucking, plunging her finger into herself in time to the thrusts on screen. The blonde pushed the brunette's legs up and apart and pushed well over half of the dildo into the smooth, glistening pussy. "That feel good?" the blonde asked. "Oh, yeah," Kacey heard herself answering along with the brunette as he finger sink into herself knuckle deep. The blonde smiled. "You like my big, black cock inside you?" "Yeah..." Kacey and the brunette gasped. "Say please..." Kacey was forgetting the porn video as she ground her hand against her pussy, wanting as much as she could get inside her. "Please...!" she groaned. "You want it hard...?" the voice asked next and Kacey felt the hot breath on her neck. She turned and blinked as she saw Danielle Holmes smiling black face looking at her. "I..." Kacey gulped and felt herself going red, then remembered her hand and whipped it out from her jeans. "I was..." Danielle stepped over the back of the sofa and slid in the seat to Kacey. She leant on a hand and just looked at her, all the time smiling. "This answers so much." the black woman said. "I don't..." Danielle put a finger on Kacey's lips. "I've seen you watching us. I noticed the dvds were being `borrowed'." She stopped and saw the panic in Kacey's eyes. "Don't worry. It's our little secret." "I don't..." Kacey said quickly. "I... I'm sorry." "Sorry for what?" Danielle said simply. "You like girls. Welcome to the club." "I don't know," Kacey looked away and saw the TV. The blonde was on top of the brunette, rocking back and forth gently. She grabbed the remote and switched it off. "Don't know what?" the black woman smiled. "I..." Kacey swallowed. "I don't know if I... I have dreams." "About what?" Kacey looked at Danielle and saw the gentleness in her face. "Was it like this with Corrine?" she asked. "Pretty much. She was more like a teenager than a grown woman when we met in Lulu's." "Lulu's." Kacey nodded. "A couple of tequilas and she was alright." Danielle let her hand move closer to Kacey's leg. "Tell me about the dreams." Kacey hesitated. Then started to talk. She told Danielle about the dreams, the faceless black men that were in them, then the more recent ones where it was Danielle. The men were still there but Danielle was the main person there. It seemed to come out in flow. All the pent up tension just poured out of her. She wasn't a lesbian, she was just... "Unsure?" Danielle asked. "Yes." Kacey nodded. "I didn't mean to watch you two--" "Our little secret." Danielle smiled. "And you have never kissed a woman before?" Kacey shook her head. "Not anyone." she said quietly. "No-one?" Danielle asked. Again, Kacey shook her head. "So you don't know if you one way or the other?" "No..." Danielle pulled Kacey's face towards hers. "You want to kiss me?" she said quietly. "I..." Kacey shrugged. "A little experiment? Seem how you feel?" Kacey looked at the black woman's face. She could feel herself getting wet at the thought of kissing her. Suddenly Danielle moved forward, closing the gap between them. "Just a little try-out," Danielle breathed. "See if you like it." Kacey felt frozen to the sofa as she felt Danielle's lips brush against hers. A charge seemed to go through her. "Close your eyes..." Danielle told her and Kacey closed them, then felt the full lips on hers. The pressure got harder until she felt something wet and warm pushing through her lips. Kacey found herself pushing back with her own mouth, opening it slightly. She felt herself feeling light as a hand went to the back of her head then the lips left hers. Kacey opened her eyes and saw Danielle just smiling at her. "How did that feel?" "I..." Kacey blinked and realised her pussy was aching. "Corrine...?" "Just a kiss." Danielle told her. "Nothing more. Unless...?" "I can't." The ring of a phone interrupted them suddenly and Danielle got her phone from her pocket. She answered it without taking her warm eyes from Kacey. "Hello?" she said then snapped out of the gaze. "What?... I'll be down there in twenty minutes." "What?" Kacey blinked. "Work." Danielle told her and leapt up then stopped. She bent down and caressed Kacey's face. "I won't tell Corrine. And don't worry." With that she rushed out of the apartment leaving Kacey alone and horny as hell... Commisioner Jane Gregg's Home. Day. He got out of the back of the car. Martin Pelso marched up the front stairs and headed straight in. He stopped and looked at the first room he passed. The furniture was overturned. Drawers had been emptied. There were papers everywhere. It had to be a robbery. He moved past some detectives and headed into where the main activity was. The kitchen. In his 30-odd years of service from the street to the deputy commissioner's chair he had never thought it could really happen. Jane Gregg hadn't arrived for work. Phone calls had gone unanswered. That alone gave them the authority to force the door of the house. Officers had gone in and found that he whole house had been gone through. That was when they found the blood in the kitchen. There was a trail that led to the fridge where the contents had pulled out and scattered. Martin stopped at the doorway and saw the suited up forensic team stand up when they saw him. He saw the door to the fridge was wide open. The body had been wedged in. He wouldn't be allowed into the kitchen just yet but he got enough information just looking at the body. Male, naked, the hands and feet each tied together. The bottom of the fridge was dark with cold blood. Jane had been seeing someone lately. Just a fling she had described it as. A detective was standing behind him. "We have ID on the body, sir." the detective said and Martin snapped himself out of the shock. He turned. "A Wayne Fox. His clothes are upstairs. There some signs that he staying here." "What about the Commissioner?" Martin asked. "No sign. We're going through recent cases, perps who have been released from prison...." "Good." Martin sighed. "Keep me briefed. I'll be back at headquarters." Corrine Allen's Apartment. Day. Kacey had never felt so calm. Or confused. Was she gay? she liked the kiss, but there was those dreams and what if Danielle told... No, she thought. Danielle wouldn't tell Corrine. She had put the DVD back. And now what, she wondered. This was all so... The buzzer rang and she looked around making sure the place was looking... Innocent? The buzzer rang again. She went to the door and opened it. A man stood there. He was thin, his arm behind his back. Kacey saw the camera hanging in front of the bright day-glo shirt and the panama hat slowly rose up. She froze as she saw the face and the smile that was stretched across it. The eyes were empty of emotion. "You...." she said in shock. "Hello, princess." Smiler replied and whipped his arm from behind his back. She heard the small puffs and only saw the small pistol in Smiler's hand as felt the stabbing pains on her chest. Looking down she saw the darts sticking into her, one in the thigh and the other in her stomach. As time seemed to slow and she felt herself staggering backwards she saw the smile on his face drop. The world was going dark as she felt herself bump against the sofa then crashed backwards onto the table in front of it. She saw Smiler walking into the room towards her. Her body was refusing to work as she was screaming in her mind, fighting against the darkness that was flooding over her. "Smile..." she heard him say as he raised the camera.... Hayes Boutique. Stock Department. Day. Toni Colmart had put her hand up as fast as possible when the old hag of a floor manager had wanted someone to go to help out in stores and do a stock check. The day had so far been slow for business so orders were given to give the place quiet clean up and polish. Someone had already been in and checked the air conditioning, although no-one knew he was coming. The stores were the worst place to keep clean. But the boys were back there. Hot, fit dark boys that made Toni feel like a teenager again. She had grabbed the printed off stock list and saw the looks on the other women's faces. They were just jealous. She felt the thrill in her gut as she walked along the corridors that led to the storeroom. The thrill was spreading to between her legs and the rubbing of her thighs back and forth wasn't helping. Coming to the wide double doors, she smoothed down her pencil skirt and took a breath. Grown woman, she told herself, not a schoolgirl. Toni pushed the door open and stepped through. The store room was large, built on two floors. The clothes were sectioned into seasons then into sizes and colours and styles. It would look confusing to a customer but those who needed to knew the system. The store boys sure did. They could bring in and check off a delivery fast. Very fast. Toni listened and heard nothing. None of the usual laughter or joking you'd usually hear in the stores. There was a radio they would switch on but that seemed to be off as well, which wasn't normal. That was when she heard it. The low groans and grunts. Toni walked quietly through the rows of clothes, heading towards the origin of the sounds. Slowly she made her way around the corners then along more clothes. The groans were close now. Toni looked up, realising they were coming from the upper floor. She quickly and quietly headed for the stairs at the side of the room then bent down and made her way along the wall. The new seasons clothing range hid her from sight as she stopped and listened again. She could hear words now. "You like?" "Mmmmm..." "She likes it." Two male and one female. She recognised them. Two of the store boys but the woman's voice was familiar. Toni heard her moan again. The voices were coming from behind the makeshift wall of boxes that sealed off one end. She crept along and stopped at the cardboard wall. "Fuckin' A, man. She loves it." "I love it..." It was one of the new girls, Toni remembered. What was her name? Helga, Heidi? Something like that. She was young and blonde and good-looking enough to piss of some of the older women in the store. "Come here with that sweet mouth, baby." "Mmmmm," "That's it," "Baby, you know how to use that tongue...." "...Mmm..." "Sweet pussy, girl." "Mmmmhh!" Toni moved along the boxes towards the end. She found a gap between the boxes and pressed her face towards it, looking through the space. Just in time to see the blue overalls pushed against the young blonde's face who was lying on some boxes with her head over the edge. She saw the the blonde's hands caress the man ass before he pushed them off and slowly pulled back. Toni gasped as she saw the thick black pole slide from the wide smudged lips of the blonde's mouth. One inch, two.... She watched as inch after inch eased out. "Bitch done this before," she heard him tell the other man. "No fuckin' gagging." "Shit, she's from europe. They all sluts over there." The black man slammed forward and Toni bit her lip as the cock sank back into the blonde's mouth. The blonde reached round his ass again. Toni saw his hands on her breasts, gently squeezing them. "Nice natural titties too." "Like them better that way," the other man said. "....mmmmm...." "She sucking me, man." "She wants a fucking. This pussy is asking for it." Then give it to her, Toni thought as she felt her pussy throbbing. She felt to horny right now. She wanted to see that black cock fuck that mouth so bad. Hell, she wanted to feel that black cock in her, she admitted to herself. Toni pressed a hand to her crotch and took a breath as the pleasure seemed to radiate through her lower body. "Uuuuhhh, fuck, this bitch can hold her breath!" he said and Toni saw him sliding back again. Do it, she willed him. She smiled as he slid his cock back into the blonde's mouth again. Oh, yeah, fuck that mouth, she thought. "All those other home girls be gaggin' right now but this bitch..." "I told you, man," the other one replied. "Euro bitches are nasty." "Sweet `A', man." he said and Toni saw the pace being picked up as he began fucking her mouth. She watched as that cock plunged down into her throat. The blonde was groaning when she could and Toni saw her body shaking. "...ghhhmmmmm...." "Fuck, yeah!" the other man said. "Cum for daddy, baby! Cum for fucking daddy!" "Yeah!" the man yelled and began pounding the blonde's mouth hard. Toni almost cried out herself as she felt the orgasm rock through her whole body. She stepped back and got her breath then realised there was someone else there. She turned to her left slowly and saw the third black man of the store room just standing there. A wide grin was on his face. When the shock of being caught suddenly vanished she opened her mouth to speak but saw him put a finger to his lips. He walked to where she had been standing and looked through the gap. Not that he needed to, the room seemed to be filled with the sound of fucking coming from the other side of the makeshift wall. Toni was about to speak again when he looked round at her but this time her put his finger on her lips. he was looking her up and down, his eyes roaming over every curve of her body, undressing her where she stood. "Oh, this pussy is so fucking sweet...." she heard from the box wall. The black man suddenly grabbed the hand that had been on her crotch and pressed it against his own. Toni gasped as she felt his cock was hard in the overalls. He began rubbing himself with her hand and she felt him growing, all the time his eyes were locked on hers. Staring deep into her soul, it felt like. Suddenly she felt him unzipping himself and the growing cock was in her hand. "One horny bitch!" He was much bigger than her husband. Thicker too, it felt like. Her fingers seemed to instinctively close around the shaft. The black man simply smiled and put a hand behind her head. She felt like she was in a spell as he pulled her forward and she went to him. Deep down Toni knew what he wanted, what she wanted too. She sank to her knees and gazed on the long, thick cock in front of her face as it slowly grew upwards in front of her. "Fuck, yeah!" "Gonna cum, bitch!" The black man was smiling down at Toni and she gripped the cock with both hands. The smell of his cock filled her nostrils. The hard feeling felt so good in her hands. She opened her mouth and sank her lips around the head of the throbbing shaft, closing her eyes to enjoy the musky flavour of him on her tongue. "Yeah, baby!" she heard and recognised the sounds. She could picture them thrusting, both pushing into the young blonde body as they emptied themselves into her. A second cry told her the other man was doing the same, filling her at both ends. Toni felt so fucking jealous right now and sank her mouth down the hardening shaft even more. She was using her hands and mouth to work that glorious cock, easing his foreskin back before teasing the underside with her tongue. She looked up and looked him hard in the eye. He suddenly stepped back and pushed her away from him before bending down to look at her up close. She felt so powerless right now. "You want it, baby?" he said. "You know what to do." With that Toni watched him turn and walk around the wall where the other two greeted him. As she heard the sounds of a happy blonde begin to be face-fucked again, Toni knew what she had to do. She stood up and took a breath. The wedding ring glistened as she looked at it while she played with her blouse buttons. One popped open, then two. She knew what to do. Toni walked round the corner after them. "Hello, boys." she said.... The Pelso Household. Evening. It had been long day. Deputy Commissioner Martin Pelso turned his car into the driveway of his house. It was only for a quick change of clothes as this looked like a case when leave would have to be cancelled. There was no news as to the disappearance of Jane Gregg, and an initial report on the body in the fridge had shown that the poor bastard had been tortured before he had died. Both arms and legs had been broken. It seems he had been alive when his genital had been `removed' then shoved into the fridge. From the state of the house it seemed that whoever had done it hadn't found what they were looking for. Martin had ordered Danielle Holmes to starts a complete examination of Jane Gregg's records to see if anyone had been trying to access them. He stopped the car and got out, locking it with the remote keypad. Then he found his house keys and headed to the door. Martin opened it and stepped in. "Honey?" he called out. "I'm home." Getting no answer he quickly went upstairs, pulling off his coat. Maria was probably out at one of the neighbours. Martin stopped as he saw the spots of blood that began half-way up the stairs. "What?" he said and looked up. More blood was at the top. "Maria!" he yelled and ran up the rest of the stairs. The sight through the open door of the main bedroom, stopped him. He saw the two bodies propped up next to the bed. Dried blood smeared the fronts of the bodies of his wife and Peter, his 13-year-old son. Martion felt sick and was about to throw up when he saw the box on the bed behind them. A small green light clicked along to an amber light and a small flag popped up from top of the box. Martin could read the word on the flag. `SURPRISE!!!' Limousine. Evening. "Maybe we should have cancelled," the Mayor said again before looking at the young face of his assistant in the opposite seat in the official city limousine. "As much as I didn't like her..." "You were going to get rid of her anyway." the young man replied. "Sir." he added. "You did question the Commissioner's ability." Mayor Alan Purefoy went back to looking out at the traffic and people of the city as the car went past them. "I suppose." he said. "And if the worst has happened, she gets an honorable burial and you get someone more in line with your thinking." The Mayor looked back at the young man. "You shouldn't be so cynical for your age." The assistant just shrugged. "I like to think of myself as being realistic." "Still too young." Mayor Purefoy said as the limo turned and slowed down in front of Lee Hotel. They were holding a business dinner here where the Mayor was expected to attend every year. He saw the front of the plush hotel next to the limo and saw the doorman waiting. The usual load of bullshit with the cities movers and shakers. Smile, shake hands and say nice things. The limousine barely rocked as the brakes brought it to a stop. Then it exploded. Somewhere. Jane Gregg heard the sounds around her. Movement. One maybe two people. One definitely. She heard the click. "--is broadcast to bring you the latest from the scenes of the attacks. Again if you are just joining us. There has been two explosions. One at the City Business dinner where the Mayor's limousine was arriving when it suddenly exploded. This follows an explosion that took place fifteen minutes ago in the suburbs on Liefield Drive. We have no word as to the location of the Mayor but it is thought he was in..." Liefield Drive. That was where Martin, her deputy, lived. "MMMMMMMMMMHHHH!!!" Jane yelled. Suddenly the sack was yanked from her head. She blinked and saw the darkness around her. The television was in front of her and she saw the picture. Two pictures, two scenes of explosions. One she recognised. Martin's house was gone, just a smoking ruin. The other was chaotic as emergency vehicles and personnel were working trying to put out the flames from a burning car. Light suddenly exploded all around her and Jane saw the cave as arc lights went on. She saw the large wreckage of what had been a vehicle and blinked as she recognised the mis-bent shapes. That was, or had been, `her' car. Then she saw theunconcious figure on the ground on other side. Kacey Sutton, bound and gagged. A hand grabbed Jane by the hair and jerked her head back. She was looking at a dead man's face. "Hello, Commissioner," Smiler said. "One of you is going to tell me where her majesty is, or do more people have to die...." TO BE CONTINUED....