Caught with Consequences Ch. 01

Adele was about to try a civil case involving a plaintiff who was military but had been seconded to a Defense contractor who was being paid millions of dollars to develop military hardware. The plaintiff claimed one of the CEOs of the company had sexually harassed her and had forced her to have sex with him.

Adele had been hoping for a quick settlement. She had a good client, good witnesses and good forensic evidence but the defence was dug in like a tick and had no interest in settling the case. The kidnapping of her daughter couldn't have come at a worse time.

Celia did the same with Michelle DeLong who was her second chair on the Brindle Coal and Power case.

Steven Baker was ushered into Adele's office and when he arrived they left instructions with the firm's receptionist that they were not to be disturbed under any circumstances.

Steven Baker was shocked when Adele told him about the abduction of Kimberly Edwards and Alisha Common and even more so when he was told that the kidnappers were using cyber technology to maintain contact. Adele had allowed Kimberly to work as a paralegal at the firm while she was studying law at UCLA and Steven and Kimberly had worked together recently preparing evidence for Adele's current case. Steven opened his briefcase and took out a valise that held a number of flash drives and other data storage devices. He plugged a USB drive into a port on Adele's computer and a blue-screen with white computer code text appeared.

Steven tapped away on the keyboard muttering to himself. Celia and Adele sat down in the lounge area of the office and played the 'what if' game over and over. They were both close to breaking down.

"Ok Adele I've got good news and I've got bad news," Steven sucked on his thumbnail.

Adele and Celia came over and looked at the computer screens.

"The good news is that I found the dropbox that the abductors have planted in your computer. It's super smart with incredible encryption. They are sending you real-time video and data feeds that are scrubbed from the dropbox instantaneously, almost as soon as they appear on your screen," Steven pointed to a bunch of software code that made no sense to either Adele or Celia.

"They are bouncing from IP address to IP address across the globe in milliseconds and the feed is so intelligently encrypted that I doubt anyone could trace it," Steven appeared to be impressed by the brilliance of Adele's daughter's kidnappers.

"So what's the good news?" Celia asked.

"No Celia. That was the good news. The bad news is that even if I could remove the dropbox, which I'm not sure I can without frying your computer and possibly our whole network, you will have effectively lost your means of communication with your daughter's abductors. And pissing them off right now might not be the best thing to do," Steven said sagely.

"I'd like all of your devices and smartphones so I can check them for malware too please. You'll have them back by close of business," Steven said confidently.

Adele and Celia handed Steven their personal devices and felt almost naked without them but being incommunicado for the rest of the day might be a good thing for them. They would have no distractions while they contemplated their next course of action.

"I'm certain that they are monitoring the activity on your workstation. Assume that they can see everything you do on it, and I'll check but I bet they are monitoring your cell too. Here is a laptop that is clean and not connected to our network; I have it connected to the internet via a secure VPN," Steve set up the laptop on the coffee table for Adele and Celia to use.

"I'm going down to the server room to work on our network and check these devices," Steven said and left the room.

Adele worked the laptop and after a while she found what she was looking for.

"I've never used these guys but they come highly recommended," Adele said, pointing to a webpage she had brought up on her computer screen.

"Peter Duffy has used them before and he recommended them to me should I need any work done that might flirt with the legitimacies of the law. They are very discreet; in fact I had difficulty finding them. They work in the shadows and they blur the line when it comes to legalities but they might be just what we need," Adele said.

The webpage was plain and read: Executive Solutions.

The webpage was dark blue with black font; there was an email link and a phone number, nothing else. Evidently if you didn't know what Executive Solutions had to offer you had no right being on their webpage.

"What do you think?" Celia looked at Adele; the concern on her face was almost heartbreaking.

"We don't want to anger the abductors but I feel helpless doing nothing. It can't hurt to enquire," Adele replied.

Adele and Celia went out, ostensibly for coffee, and while they were out they bought two prepaid 'burner phones'. Adele made the call to Executive Solutions and identified herself and requested to meet with someone senior in the firm regarding a sensitive matter that required immediate attention.

Adele and Celia were on their second cup of coffee when Adele's burner phone rang and a woman who identified herself as Cassandra Rivers spoke briefly to Adele whose responses were minimal. Cassandra wanted nothing of consequence to be said over the cellular network.

"So?" Celia asked expectantly when Adele hung up.

"We have a meeting. These guys are secretive; all I have so far is a place to meet."

"Then let's go," Celia said.

"I gave this Cassandra woman an outline of what has happened and she too is worried about us being traced so she's given me some instructions that we need to follow exactly," Adele explained.

"Fuck the instructions! I want my daughter back unharmed," Celia cried.

Adele drove her BMW to LA International Airport and parked in the short-term parking lot. A black SUV with tinted windows pulled up beside them and the rear doors opened.

"Here we go I guess," Adele locked her car and they climbed into the back seat of the SUV.

The front seats were occupied by two strapping men wearing black suits and Raybans. They said nothing to Adele and Celia but one of them spoke into a mobile phone. He talked briefly and then turned to face the two women.

"Given the information you have provided to Cassie she wants to take the utmost precautions. This cell is encrypted and can't be traced. Please confirm the only devices you have with you are the prepaid disposable phones you recently purchased?" the man held up his own smart phone.

"That's right. Our personal phones and other devices are with our firm's IT technician who is examining them to see if they are infected," Adele replied.

The man just grunted and nodded to his partner who put the SUV in gear and began to drive.

After taking a circuitous route which involved doubling back a number of times and entering and leaving three parking garages by different entrances and exits the SUV arrived outside a converted warehouse, the façade of which had been restored to its original rusticity but the pedestrian entrance and the windows were modern and stark; all brushed aluminium and black glass.

The SUV turned into a driveway which led to down to an underground garage. The security door opened when the driver activated a clicker. The car pulled up next to an elevator and the man in the passenger seat got out of the vehicle and punched a code into a keypad and the elevator doors opened.

Adele and Celia alighted from the vehicle and entered the elevator and the man pushed the button for the first floor and left Adele and Celia alone. The elevator doors opened onto the first floor to an opulent foyer where a handsome, hard-boiled security guard stood erect looking very observant. Sitting behind a sleek blonde-wood-panelled desk was an attractive and impeccably dressed receptionist.

Adele and Celia were greeted by a tall, long-legged woman wearing a black pencil skirt with a kick-pleat, a pristine white satin blouse, nearly-nude fifteen denier hosiery and patent-leather black high heels. Her shoulder-length hair was professionally cut and styled, coloured black with subtle ruby highlights. Her makeup was heavy but perfect and both Adele and Cassie would have been smitten with her in other circumstances.

"Hello I'm Cassandra Rivers but please call me Cassie," she put out her hand and shook with Adele and Celia.

She led them to a small conference room and offered them coffee which they both declined.

"Let's get to it ladies, time is always critical in KFR cases," Cassie said when they were seated.

"This place is as secure as Langley, tell me everything," Cassie smoothed her skirt under her and sat beside Adele.

Adele told Cassie everything.

"Ok. I get it. These guys are smart. They obviously had your daughter and her friend under observation for some time because the abduction was slick; we've contacted all of our law enforcement sources and there has been no reports of a girl or girls being abducted in the greater LA area. No law enforcement agencies have been alerted," Cassie had opened a laptop and was reading from the screen.

"What exactly do you want us to do?" Cassie asked.

"What can you do?" Celia asked.

"We can try to trace your daughter to her current location. Find out how she was abducted and where she was taken and possibly find out who is holding her," Cassie replied.

"We could also act as intermediary with the kidnappers, arrange for the delivery of a ransom if that's what you want."

"Or... we could attempt a recovery, if it's possible, but that carries a lot of risk, but risk management is our business."

"There are many variables but they come at a cost; our services do not come cheap."

"We have our own guy trying to trace the kidnappers using information technology but he's not confident he will have any luck and he's worried about pissing them off if they find out what we are doing, although the kidnappers taunted me telling me that they fully expected us to do so. Hiring you guys is different. We were specifically warned us not to go to the authorities," Adele said.

"We are not the authorities; far from it in fact," Cassie countered.

"Executive Solutions has an excellent success rate but trying to retrieve kidnap victims always carries risk. May I suggest we proceed gradually? We can find out all we can about your daughter's abduction and try to locate her and her friend while you continue to negotiate with the kidnappers," Cassie suggested.

"Gradually! Fucking gradually! Those fuckers have my daughter and Christ knows what they're doing to her and you propose we proceed gradually!" Celia was almost screaming.

Adele tried her best to calm her wife and eventually Celia settled down.

"I'm sorry Ms Rivers but you can understand the pressure we are under," Adele said.

"Don't apologise for me Adele!" Celia snapped.

"I do understand. Look, when we work with couples in situations like this we find it's best if we work with just one of them as the primary. That person makes decisions for both parties and becomes the sole point of contact," Cassie explained.

"You're cutting me out?" Celia looked heartbroken.

"No. Not at all. I just need simple lines of communication. I'll be blunt. I can't have my people standing in danger waiting for a 'go' or 'no-go' while two parents argue about whether or not it's the right thing to do. Kidnappings can be drawn out affairs but there will be times when an immediate critical decision has to be made and there is no time for dicking around. The customer is paying for the service so they get to say yes or no but we don't have time for a family conference," Cassie explained.

"The kidnappers contacted Adele initially and we know that they have set up a dropbox on her work computer; it follows that they have made the decision for us. They have made Adele their primary point of contact, therefore I suggest we do the same," Cassie said.

She did not add that Adele appeared to the most stable out of the two women at the moment.

"It makes sense Celia. You have that huge Brindle case to deal with; my case is ready to proceed, I begin trial tomorrow and it's pretty much open and shut. You've got to travel to Missionville to see your clients so you're going to be out of town," Adele took Celia's hand.

"Fuck my clients and fuck Brindle! I want my daughter back!" Celia said coldly.

"If I may Ms Edwards," Cassie interjected.

"I'm going to talk to you both truthfully. In their demands the kidnappers threatened to rape the girls and dispose of them unless you do exactly what they tell you to do. They have stated that they want a large sum of money but have not yet stipulated how much," Cassie laid out what they knew.

"The only demand they have made so far is that you and Celia need to go about business as usual. They stated that it is imperative that you both keep working your cases; that it is essential and you will find out why later. I can only surmise that one or both of the cases you are working is somehow tied to their demands," Cassie explained.

"The Brindle case could pay upward of a billion dollars. If we win the case or settle our firm will make a tidy profit but that's months away. We are still in discovery and taking depositions," Celia quipped.

"My case is simpler. I'm asking for a five million dollar settlement of which I'd take a third. Our firm will likely clear a million after taxes but my adversary is refusing to settle. We might get more in court, my client is sympathetic," Adele added.

"And how much could you both bring to the table if we receive a ransom demand sometime soon?" Cassie asked.

Adele and Celia talked amongst themselves a little.

"We could likely rustle up close to two million dollars cash at short notice. If we had time to liquidate some assets and access our offshore accounts we could get considerably more, but like I said that would take time," Adele explained.

"Our daughter Kimberly has three million dollars in a trust fund account we set up for her after her mother settled with Brindle Coal and Power some years ago. She's accessing some of it while she's at college but she doesn't get the bulk until she turns thirty. It's untouchable, we locked it down when we set up the trust," Adele extrapolated.

"Ok, well Executive Solutions is going to need a one hundred thousand dollar retainer to start with so factor that into your finances and let me know how you wish to proceed," Cassie stood up.

"I'll give you the room for a while to talk," she checked her watch.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes," Cassie left the room and despite the dire situation Adele couldn't help watching Cassie's tight ass in that pencil skirt as she departed.

Adele and Celia had a heated discussion. Celia did not want to leave LA whilst their daughter was in the hands of the kidnappers but Adele reminded Celia that the kidnappers had demanded that they work their cases as usual and not attract undue attention.

"You have to go to your client conference and depose those witnesses with Michelle; I'll hold the fort here and try my case," Adele reasoned.

After much bickering, crying and hugging it was agreed. Adele would take the lead and be the point of contact for both the kidnappers and Executive Solutions. Celia would head east to Kentucky for ten days for her client conference and witness depositions and also meet with the Brindle Coal and Power lawyers to try to get the discovery moved along and see if a settlement was possible. She would also need to meet with clerk of the court in Missionville and try to get a hearing before the judge.

Cassie came back into the room carrying a tray with a coffee pot, cups, cream and sugar. Adele told her what had been decided.

"Ok we're good then. You need to keep my firm's involvement secret; you tell no one, not even your IT guy. The less people who know about it the less chance of the kidnappers or law enforcement finding out," Cassie poured coffee for each of them.

"Adele, you never come back here again and only contact me if it's essential using your burner. Let's assume that your devices are being tracked by the kidnappers. I am taking the lead on this case personally because it involves young women and because both of Kimberly's parents are women; men have their uses but they can sometimes be obtuse," Cassie smiled and Adele and Celia smiled back at her.

It was the first time they had smiled since this morning.

"Let's get the paperwork out of the way. This is our standard contract," Cassie placed a document on the table and walked Adele and Celia through the formalities while they drank coffee.

"I'll have you dropped back at your car and then you go about business as usual. I'll be in touch." Cassie said when they had finished with the paperwork.

She walked them to the parking garage and surprised Adele and Celia when she kissed them both on the cheek.

Back at the offices of Edwards and Bettany, Adele and Celia called in on Steven Baker.

"Your tablets and laptops are fine from what I can make out but both of you can be tracked by your cell phones. That technology is readily available to anyone. You could change your numbers but that is only likely to piss off the kidnappers. Also they might want to contact you on your phones," Steven handed the women back their phones.

They did not tell Steven about the burners they had purchased.

"It's unlikely that they can actually listen in your conversations but let's assume that they can read your text messages and intercept incoming and outgoing telephone numbers," Steven said.

"I'll keep trying to trace the origin of the dropbox feed; that's all I can do for now until they contact either of you again," Steven explained.

The women took their devices back to their offices and tried to work on their respective cases for the rest of the day.

When they got home to their apartment they fell into each other's arms and sobbed until they had cried it all out. They kissed and the kisses became more passionate as they both craved the touch of a warm body.

They undressed as far as taking off their skirts blouses before Adele pushed Celia down on the couch and lay between her legs. Celia groaned when Adele pulled aside the gusset of Celia's panties and slid her rampant penis inside her all the way.

Adele crushed Celia's lips with hers as Celia wrapped her black-stockinged legs around Adele's waist and held her close. Adele had simply freed her cock from where it was tucked between her legs and pulled down her pantyhose and panties before she had shoved the throbbing appendage into her wife.

Adele didn't move, she just let the throbbing of her cock and her pubis pressing against Celia's sex stimulate her lover. They clung to each other kissing and caressing, extracting the essence and soul from each other; comforting each other with their bodies.

Adele began to move imperceptibly, moving her cock inside Celia's tight slick cunt. They made love softly and slowly for what seemed like an eternity and then Adele began to quicken the pace. Celia encouraged her, raking her heels on Adele's flanks. Adele responded and drove her cock deep inside Celia's vagina with such force that Celia would be bruised the next day.

"Give it to me you bitch! Fuck me! Fuck me hard!" Celia moaned writhing on the couch where Adele had her pinned, slamming her cock in out of Celia's sodden vagina.

Celia grasped Adele's bottom and scoured her fingernails along Adele's tight buttocks, tearing her flimsy nylon panties and ripping open her pantyhose so she could feel Adele's bare flesh. Adele lifted Celia's legs over her shoulders so she could drive her cock as far into Celia's velvety cunt as she could. She plunged her throbbing cock inside Celia and ground against her; she bit Celia's lip and grazed her fingernails along Celia's thighs, laddering her stockings.