Sally got the message. On seeing the gun, she went silent as the man looked down on her, an angry look on his face.

"You have one more chance", he told her. "I am going to take you into the living room where I can keep a better eye on you. I do not want to harm you but, if you give me any problems, I will have to, well, I am sure you can guess", he said as he looked at the gun to give his words extra meaning.

"Are you going to kill me?" Sally asked meekly. She flinched as he bent down to her and began to untie her hands from the doors. Sally did not move to struggle, as she was still scared of what he had said about what he would do to her. The man said nothing. He completed untying her wrists and then went down to her feet.

"I am here to kill someone, but not you", he explained. "Like I told you, it was just dumb luck you came home at the wrong time. By rights, to keep my identity secret, I should kill you right now" he continued.

"But that is not fair" Sally blurted out in a mix of fear and outrage. The man just looked at her.

"No, it isn't", he replied. "I want to keep you alive because you are an innocent victim. To do that though, I need you to work with me. I need you not to give me a reason to keep you alive. You give me no trouble, you do as you are told, and you will get out of this in one piece. Only reason you would ever see me again is if you tell anyone I was here. What do you say?"

Sally didn't trust the man, but what choice did she have, she reasoned to herself. Her mind was made up.

"Yes" Sally replied, "I'll do anything you want. Tie me up again, make sure I can't escape. I'll be your prisoner, I won't give you any trouble. After all, what can I do if you have me bound and gagged helplessly?" This seemed to be agreeable to him, as he nodded his head.

"No trouble?" he asked her

"No trouble, I promise" she replied.

He led her out of the kitchen.

mmmm

In Sally's world of business and high flying deals, this situation was not what she would have ever described as a "Best case scenario". Right now, in her opinion, the term "Worst case scenario" did not even begin to describe the trouble she was in. Here was a woman, who everyday was used to being in control of assets in the millions of pounds region and ordering people around, being in control, reduced to begging for someone to tie them up and take total control of them. As Sally's hands were crossed behind her and she felt the torn sheet being wrapped around them she began to think of escaping. As the sheet was pulled tight and knotted, squeezing her wrists inescapably together, her head cleared and she realized that she was going nowhere and that this was her only chance of survival.

Sally was sat down and more of the makeshift rope was coiled around her upper body, pinning her arms to her side. In a way, Sally felt relieved that she was being tied up so tightly as it would stop her from one of her usual acts of great impetuosity that she was prone to time to time. For the first time since this whole situation had begun, she was starting to feel safe, both from him and herself.

All the way through this tying process, he talked to her soothingly, reassuring her and checking with her that nothing was pinching, causing her pain or cutting off her blood supply. Sally had been bound before by boyfriends and casual partners, but never before had she found herself tied so expertly. Sally tried to flex in her bonds, but was not surprised to find they did not budge. She realized that she would have been disappointed if she had been able to, that she could have been taken so easily by a rank amateur. It gave her confidence to know that she was dealing with a professional.

Sally tried to make conversation with him as he tied her knees together, to gain his trust, but he did not reply. She had times like this herself when she did not talk to other people, when she was working and in "the zone", and nothing mattered but her job. She decided to stay silent and not antagonise him needlessly. He took her shoes off and began to bind her ankles, explaining that her feet may swell and he did not want to cause her any more discomfort than necessary. Once he had bound her feet, he gently pushed her down onto the sofa and commanded her to stay.

mmmm

"Do you have any tape in the house? Like gaffer tape, or something like that?" he asked her. Sally thought long and hard before she answered, knowing what he was likely to use it for. Eventually she decided that it was best to be honest, although in her head, she was already imagining it sticking her lips together, silencing her.

"Yes", she replied, "it is in the kitchen cupboard above the fridge. I know what you are going to use it for, but would it do any good if I re-assured you that I was not going to cry out?" she added hopefully. Her hopes were dashed as he looked at her sympathetically and shook his head.

"None at all" he muttered almost to himself as he disappeared into the kitchen. Sally readied herself to be silenced. When he returned, Sally was sat up and ordered to close her mouth. She did as she was told and she felt the tape sticking her lips together. Sally was surprised and horrified when he began to wrap the tape around her head, sticking it to her hair. By reflex, she tried to recoil, but gave up fighting and allowed it to happen, fearing what would happen if she were to break her word. So lost was her cause now, she did not even resist when he taped her eyes, blindfolding her and making her world dark. Slowly, the man laid her down on the sofa. Now the true situation Sally was in struck her. There was really nothing she could do.

"Now," the man announced, "we wait".

mmmm

Sally did not even want to think about what it was they were waiting for. Today, someone was going to die and she could do nothing about it. Worse still, she had done nothing about it when she had the slim chance to make a difference. Even so, Sally reasoned, one person is going to die… it was her job to make sure it was not going to be two people facing that same fate. So, wait it was.

Sally spent the time by trying to zero in on where he was. It was incredibly difficult to keep a track on him, blindfolded as she was. However, when one sense is taken away, the other senses try and compensate. Sally could hear his smooth, shallow breathing from somewhere over the room. She could detect no hint of anxiety in his breathing, so in control of the situation he felt. "After all", Sally thought to herself, "he's certainly in control of things in here".

As the time wore on, Sally started to feel stiff. Being tied in such a position started to make the muscles ache and she found she had to move around. She wriggled and flexed on the sofa, trying to make it clear to her captor that she was not struggling to get free, just trying to adjust her position. Instantly, he understood.

"I know it can get a bit uncomfortable after a while" he told her soothingly "It's nearly over now, anyway" he assured her. As she moved about, she felt the tension in her muscles start to ease.

"I am surprised at how long you have lasted without a murmur to be honest. You must have iron discipline." Forgetting her situation, Sally tried to reply, but was muffled by the tape covering her mouth. Sally felt herself blush and was glad of the tape covering her face. Sally could hear the smile in his voice as he told her no to get too carried away.

After Sally had moved around on the sofa, he chatted to her, apologising to her about the situation she was in and reassuring her how she was safe.

"In fact," he said cryptically, "you will find that as an indirect consequence of my work, you will find yourself advantaged greatly. Some things just seem to end up that way. Serendipity I…….." he never finished the sentence. Sally could suddenly feel the atmosphere change.

mmmm

"Sally, turn and face the back of the sofa, show me your hands." Sally was shocked by this sudden change of demeanour and his strange demand.

"It is time for me to complete my job," he explained. "I want to check your hands and make sure you are still secure. Show me your hands, now" Sally suddenly remembered what he was here for. Quickly, she rolled over, trying to show him her bound hands, unaltered from the moment he had first tied them.

"Good girl Sally," he said quickly. "I am not going to be able to watch you for a minute or so, but you are doing so well. Don't ruin your good work now, we are nearly there," he warned her. Sally held herself as still as a statue for those few minutes. Right now, she did not care about the person who was about to meet their fate, all she cared about was it ending with her still alive.

"It's over," he suddenly told her. "One text message and his car is set to explode," he said. She felt him sit her up gently and begin to remove the tape around her eyes. Sally was horrified when he saw the gun in his hand.

"We have a new problem," he said sadly. "Your Boss was just the first part of my job here" the revelation of who had just died hit Sally like a ton of bricks. "The second part of the job was you. I am so sorry," he said as he picked up a cushion to act as a makeshift silencer. Sally felt such despair. It was not fair, she wanted to scream, but all she could manage was a muffled whine, as he pressed her onto the sofa with the cushion, the gun following closely behind.

mmm