Assumptions Can Kill You

copyright 2010 by madengineer3

Note to the reader: Grace and Isadora were first introduced in my story "Binding Contracts".

*

"It all seemed so simple and straight forward at first. My partner and I were some of the best in the business. I was an extremely good con artist, and my partner was fair at the con but not afraid to use real muscle on someone if it was needed. One way or the other we got what we were after; usually."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce us, I'm Melissa and my partner is Martin. He's not overly smart but he can be brutally efficient when it is needed."

Extortion is one of our favorite methods. We will set up a fake situation that would be extremely embarrassing to the mark and then have him pay through the nose to keep it quiet. Alternatively we will take someone near and dear to the mark and will hold them for ransom. At the moment we are about to start working on Mr. Robert Hague.

He lives in what only could be called a small mansion just outside a large mid western city. He's a filthy rich old guy who, for diversion, enjoys putting on "magic shows" for young kids and gullible adults. This guy we will be able to really clean out. Our leverage is his daughter Grace's reputation and possibly her life. As an added bonus, Grace lives with her maternal grandmother Isadora Samael. Grace really seems to adore and respect Isadora. If you ask me those feelings are sort of sappy. If needed Isadora can also be used as a pawn. The problem being that she is not a blood relative of Mr. Hague.

Grace and her grandmother tend to keep to themselves. Their house is perfect for a hermit. It is set back in a large grove of trees about a hundred yards off a small secondary road. The house is miles from the nearest neighbor. It is not exactly like the "House of Usher", but it does have a sort of old, creepy feel to it. Because of these features nobody will hear noises from the house if Grace and Isadora don't cooperate with us. I am sure we can "persuade" them if needed.

We formed a simple plan. Martin would move in and restrain both of the women while I handled the interface with Robert Hague. This was more than agreeable to Martin because Grace was an unbelievably pretty woman. He was sure he could have some fun with her while they waited for the payoff. It made no difference to me. As far as sex is concerned I can take it or leave it. In general I prefer to leave it.

Neither of the women would ever see me without a mask on.

At four a.m Martin entered the back door of Grace's house.. At that hour very few people are up and have their wits about them. Robert carried two pairs of handcuffs and a roll of tape with him. He also wore gloves and an elaborate Halloween mask so that his face would not be seen. He went to Isadora's room first. He put the tape over her mouth and rapidly handcuffed her. He met Grace as he was leaving Isadora's room.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

"Shut up lady and do what I tell you and nobody will get hurt."

"And why should I do that? Are you sure that you know what you are doing?"

Martin was taken back by this. After all he was over six feet tall and this woman had to be a good six inches shorter than he was.

Martin said, "Just do what I say and both of you will be alive when I'm done. If you make a fuss I'm going to have to hurt you."

Martin was a bit uneasy when Grace smiled and said:

"Fine, we'll try it your way for the moment. I have one request though. Please take the tape off my grandmother's mouth. She won't make any noise."

This wasn't how a captive was supposed to act. Martin wasn't sharp enough to pick up on the implications of such behavior. He would pay for that error.

He removed the tape from Isadora's mouth and was happy to see that Grace willingly let him handcuff her. He brought both women into the living room and had them sit on the couch.

"Where's your phone?"

"We don't have one."

"So, you use a cell phone then?"

"No, we don't need phones of any type. Neither do we have a television, or radio."

Martin was now sure that these two women were at least a little bit crazy. He walked into another room, took out his cell phone and dialed Melissa.

"Melissa, it's me. I have both of the women in handcuffs. They are not giving me any trouble. It appears that they don't even have a phone. You'll have to use my cell phone when you need to talk to me. I'm a bit uneasy with these two. When I told Grace that I was going to handcuff her she actually smiled. She said something like, 'we'll try it your way first'. These two must be as nutty as a fruit cake."

"Watch your step with them, Martin. Don't call me again unless there is something that is an emergency."

Martin hung up and went back into the living room to watch the women. As he sat there, with the living room lights on he realized two things. One, Grace was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and Two, their house was very strange. The floor was a beautiful parquet floor with a large pentagram in the middle. There was also a circle around that figure. This was all done in beautiful wood. The living room itself was a bit strange. Its ceilings had to be a good ten feet above the floor. Its walls were almost totally covered in book cases. There was a bit of a musty smell to the books. They looked very old. On top of that, the women sat there with smiles on their faces as if they was were the ones in charge of the situation.

Robert Hague was sitting in his study and working on his extensive stamp collection. He was startled when his butler, John, interrupted him with a phone call. John had been specifically asked to take all messages so that Robert would be uninterrupted.

"Mr. Robert, sir, I need to interrupt you."

"What is it John?"

"There is a phone call that you need to take."

"Why didn't you just taken a message?"

"Sir, it involves the safety of Grace."

Robert took the phone call.

"Mr. Hague, just listen to me. Your daughter Grace's life is on the line. We want one million dollars in non-sequential, used bills for her safe return."

Robert interrupted, "Listen, you, I don't keep that kind of money on hand. Even if I did I wouldn't be paying you without proof that Grace is under your control. Without that proof you'll wait until Hell freezes over before I will give you a cent."

"I could get her on the phone to talk with you."

"That would be very difficult since she doesn't have a phone. It would also be very dangerous for you because I keep a record of all phones that dial into my home. For example your number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Don't bother me unless you have proof that you have her."

"How about we kill Isadora and bring you one of her hands? Would that be proof enough?"

Robert was now pretty sure that they had the two women in question. This didn't make him afraid for them. It did make him curious as to how this problem was going to be resolved. He hoped that he would be there when things were taken care of.

"Tell you what. I assume that you have both of the women at my daughter's place. I will go over there. I will be unarmed. My butler will drive me. When I see that you have the two women captive we can discuss the ransom."

"I don't like it. Beside that, what if we don't have the women at their house?"

"Oh, you do! You do. And so far you haven't tried to hurt anyone. But I would suggest that you personally make sure that they remain unharmed."

Melissa was now very uneasy. This wasn't how people were to react. This Hague person knew too much without having any means to know it. A shudder went down her back.

"O.K. Don't phone anyone. Be at her house in half an hour. If we see any sight of the authorities the women are dead. Got that?"

"Indeed, I understand. I will be leaving the house in five minutes."

Melissa hated to change plans in the middle of an operation. That always left loose ends. She had a mask just like Martin had. She'd rush to the house and wait for Mr Hague. She didn't want to shoot him, but she was prepared to do so if needed.

Robert Hague carefully put his stamp collection back into his private vault. The Bentley was already warming up as he walked out his front door. John was holding the car door open for him. Moments later they were on the way.

At the same time Melissa was well on the way to Grace's house. She parked in the rear of the house and phoned Martin inside the house.

"Company is coming. Don't be startled and kill somebody by accident." He had done that a couple of times in the past and it always complicated things.

It only took John and Robert twenty minutes to get to Grace's house. Robert Hague sat in the car until exactly half an hour after the phone call he had received. He walked to the front door and rang the door bell. He didn't want to just barge in and startle anyone. He sensed the approach of Melissa. She opened the door and then kept four feet between Robert and herself.

"You need to go into the living room." was all she said.

On hearing that they were in the living room Robert smiled to himself. After he walked to the living room Melissa locked the front door.

When he entered the living room Robert stood inside the circle on the parquet floor.

"Stay right there Mr. Hague! You can see that both the women are alive, at the moment. Whether they stay that way depends upon you." Turning to the handcuffed women she said "Go over and stand next to him. I want you all close together in case we need to start shooting."

Grace spoke up: "I would suggest that you put your guns down, while you can. You have no idea of the danger you are in."

Martin broke out laughing. "You think we are in danger? That's rich!"

Isadora and Grace got up from the couch and did as the kidnappers had told them to do. They went over to stand with Mr. Hague. They walked to the center of the room and stood just inside the circle but not inside the pentagram.

Grace spoke up. "I am giving you one last chance to tell me that you will provide us the money we demanded.. If you don't you will live to regret it."

This time both Melissa and Martin laughed. At no point did they move their guns away from Robert, Isadora, and Grace.

Grace spoke up, "You still can save yourselves. Put the guns down and quietly leave."

"And what are you going to do to us?" asked Melissa.

"Oh, I'm not going to do anything to you, Aziel will do that for us."

"Who is this Aziel, where is he?"

"He's been standing in the room next to you while we have been talking. As soon as the door to our house was broken and the first step was taken inside; he was summoned."

"You're delusion........"

It was at that point that Aziel became visible. He looked taller than a professional basketball player and heavier than a football pro line backer. He was flat black except for the eyes and mouth. They showed an intense fire. The large thing's breathing sounded like a roaring furnace.

"You two need to say hello to Aziel. You are going to be with him for a long, long time. If you are wondering, he is an afreet. Also, please note that our handcuffs are now on the floor as are both of your guns. You will also notice that you can't move. You had your chance but it has passed. You see, Aziel is from another space time than we live in. He has an almost never ending life, as you will when he takes you home to be his playthings. Aziel likes to break people up for fun. Aziel likes new toys because the old ones get so broken that they won't scream like he wants. Aziel, squeeze their right hands but don't break them, yet."

Martin and Melissa screamed in pain. Aziel smiled.

Grace continued, "In the past you two have killed several people but left no clues behind. You will avoid paying for those via the normal legal system. However you now will face our justice."

Turning to Aziel, Grace said: "They are your to keep and play with. Don't ever bring them back here."

Aziel grinned in a very unfriendly way and walked over to Martin and Melissa. Then, Martin, Melissa, their guns, handcuffs, automobile and Aziel simply disappeared.

Grace turned to her father and grandmother, "Would anyone like some tea? I made scones to go with it yesterday."

Robert called John in from the car and they all sat down for a nice relaxing chat.