A Premium Catch

By Boomer

The rain spattered against the van's windshield, making it difficult for the hooded man sitting behind the wheel to see across the parking lot. “Dammit, when's she coming out?” He wondered.

While inside the adjoining office building a lonely guard sat behind a maple desk, reading Track and Field, as the elevator door opened. “Another late night?” He greeted the gorgeous woman, who entered the lobby.

“Thank heavens the week is finally over, Ben.” Lois replied, and walked across to the main door.

“I think you're the last one to leave again.” The elderly man observed. “You work too hard.”

“I have to Ben, or people will think I'm getting ahead on my looks.” She replied, peering out the reinforced glass doors to see the rain . “Ugh, I don't have an umbrella.”

“Too bad, I just loaned out the last one.” Ben said regrettably, and walked over to unlock the door. “Be careful driving home.” The old guard watched the blond beauty duck her head, race down the concrete steps to disappear around the corner. “Wow, beauty and brains. Too bad I'm not 25 years younger.” He shook his head, and returned to the desk.

The man in the van saw his target round the corner of the building, and hurry towards the Mercedes with her head bowed. “She won't notice me.” The man thought, as he left the van to sneak behind the woman. His arm reached over her shoulder, while the blond executive fumbled for her keys. Then his hand clamped a chloroform soaked rag over the beautiful face.

“WHAMMMMPPHHH!!” Lois' eyes caught sight of the red object as it approached, and then it silenced her protested scream, by pressing against her seductive red lips. She dropped the keys into a puddle, and reached up to grab onto a strong hairy hand, which held a foul smelling red cloth over her face. “What's happening?” Lois panicked, as the fumes stung her nostrils, filled her lungs, and began to addle her brain.

“Just breathe deep and relax, honey. I'm not going to hurt you.” The hooded man whispered into the young woman's ear, while holding her tight against his body, and pressing the drugged cloth against her face.

Lois felt herself becoming very dizzy and disoriented. Her vision blurred, and her strength waned, making it impossible to fight the strong attacker. “Uuuhhhh.” Within minutes her deep blue eyes rolled up, and then closed, while her body went limp in the man's arms. Before unconsciousness completely enveloped her, Lois felt like she was floating in air, and then everything went black.

In reality, her limp body was lifted off the ground, carried to the silver van, and placed on the hard floor. Several minutes later the van drove onto a gravel driveway to pull into a large garage, which was attached to a two story brick house, somewhere in the Metro suburbs. Later, the hooded man entered a room lined with book shelves, with a fireplace at one end and decorative french doors at the other. “The target's been acquired, sir, and I've secured her in the basement.”

“Good. I guess there were no problems, and no one saw you?” The burly bald man sat in a soft leather chair next to the roaring fire. “Change your clothes man, you're soaked, and getting the carpet wet.” He complained, as his hand reached for the phone. “Hello, General Bull here. I have the merchandise, and it will be delivered on Sunday at the usual place.” He watched the hooded man leave, and then summoned Rhett the butler to clean the carpet.

The next morning at Foundation headquarters, the Director sat in the office with her long shapely legs propped on top of the round Mahogany desk, and leaned back in a large leather swivel chair. “Sorry to call you away from the Wagner case, but this is extremely important, so I need you to investigate.” The silver haired leader of the Foundation for Law and Order spoke to her top agent, Wonder Lady. “There have been several kidnappings of beautiful professional women lately and I have received a tip that General Bull is involved.” She took her feet from the desk top to look sternly at Wonder Lady. “He's one of the most influential men in town, so we can't just go barging in his house to search it. That's why I'm sending you there alone to scout around to see if there's anything suspicious going on.”

“When should I go.” Asked the tall statuesque brunette.”

“Tonight, after the place is quiet, and everyone has gone to bed, I want you to break in, and search the place for any sign that those women have been there.” Athena ordered. The new Director had been a field agent in the Foundation for many years, and just recently chosen to lead the group. A former CIA agent, and fashion model before that, Athena was one of the Super Heroine members with special powers, and was still a very beautiful figure of a woman. “Be extremely careful...The place is well guarded and I'm certain is also well alarmed.” She cautioned Wonder Lady.

Later that night there was a full moon lighting all the open areas around the large mansion, but also created deep dark shadows, so that someone sneaking onto the grounds could easily be hidden from view. In the darkness Wonder Lady was dressed in her signature costume consisting of a skin tight red strapless top, trimmed in gold, a gold belt, and blue thong bottom. She had easily flown over the iron fence, which surrounded the estate, using her extraordinary leaping ability. However those high heel red boots sank into the rain soaked ground, making it difficult for the Heroine to move around. “I'll check the basement door.” She thought, spying a lower entrance way into the house. Then following the alarm wires with her x-ray vision, the Amazon was able to disable the alarm to the door, and picked the lock to enter the basement. She had been concentrating so hard on gaining entrance without being detected, she didn't notice the hooded figure behind her, and was startled, when an arm grabbed her waist just as she opened the door. “OOOHHHHH!” She yelled out, but then a hand closed over her mouth stifling the scream of surprise, and replacing it with a muffled protest into a damp cold rag. She took an involuntary breath, and then realized the rag was laced with that familiar chemical sedative...”CHLOROFORM!!!”

“Gotcha...Intruder.” The hooded man whispered into Wonder Lady's ear. “Spotted you on the monitor, and wanted to see if you looked as good up close and personal as you did on the tiny screen.” He sqeezed her waist. “Won't do you no good to hold your breath.” He bragged, but then the woman spun out of his grasp. “Wha..How'd you do that?”

Wonder Lady was free from the attacker's strong grip, but staggered around the dark room, trying to shake the cobwebs from her mind. “Ohhh..took in tooo much of the drug...feel weak.” She leaned on a nearby wall in an attempt to steady herself, but the man pressed himself against body and forced the evil smelling rag over her face once more. “NNOOMMMMMMPPHH!!” The Heroine screamed into the rag, but her protest was muffled. “C,,Can't..let..himmm..capture...meeee..uuhhh..everything going black...”

The man felt his victim begin to relax. “That's it honey, just breathe deep, and it'll be over in a second.” Jeb smiled as the woman's eyes rolled back, and those long dark eyelashes covered the white, as her lids slowly closed.

Within minutes the big man wearing the hooded jacket carried the limp body dangling over his arms into the den. “Sir, I have a surprise for you.” Jeb declared.

The General leaped to his feet at the sight of this remarkable beauty, lying unconscious in his aides arms. “Who is this?” He asked as his eyes followed the tall female figure down to the floor, where she lay unmoving. “Is she dead?”

“No sir, just in a chloroform stupor.” Jeb looked down at the prize. “What should I do with her?” He asked.

The General thought for a moment. “I wonder who knows she was here?”

Back at Foundation Headquarters, Athena was worrying about Wonder Lady. “I hope she's alright.” The statuesque silver haired beauty paced her bedroom, wondering if a back-up should have been provided. However, that might have brought more attention to the operation. “If she's caught, they might just mistake her for a burglar, and call the police.” She thought, but then dismissed it. “They're bad people. They wouldn't call the police.” Athena decided to wait till morning before making a decision.

Meanwhile, the General had made inquiries and was astonished to learn the identity of his new guest. “Wonder Lady.” He pondered the possibilities. “She's not here on her own, if the Foundation for Law and Order is involved. But why is she here?” He wondered. “Do they know of my involvement with the disappearances?” He sent for Jeb. “We have to dispose of her right away. We can't take the chance of the Foundation poking around. After all they must have sent her, so they know she was here, and....” His voice trailed off.

“Leave it to me General. I'll take care of her.” Jeb offered.

“No, wait.” The General dialed the phone. “Hello, General Bull here.” He waited for the other end to acknowledge. “I have a premium package for you. Can you take delivery right away?” The General waited for the reply. “In an hour at pier 7...Very good. We'll discuss the price after you see the package.”

End of Part 1

TBC

Boomer