Rae: Daring Detective


Rae knew that today was going to be a difficult one, but she didn’t know how
difficult it would end up being. A young businesswoman by day, she had found her
employment quite boring, and was looking for more excitement in her life. A
random conversation with a friend at the police department revealed that there
was a substantial lack of private investigators in the area, and Rae had decided
that she would take the opportunity to fill this void. Today was to be her first
day, working her first assignment.

There was little doubt that Rae possessed the physical prowess to be a success
in the role. She stood about 5 foot 10, and was quite strong and athletic,
having engaged in a number of sports endeavors. Because of these athletic
pursuits, she usually kept her fingernails unpainted, but did not deprive
herself of the occasional pedicure, usually choosing a deep red polish for her
toes. She always kept her red leather shoulder bag close at grasp, containing
her Palm Centro. The phone was always within her fingertips, as she was
constantly talking or emailing from her phone for work. She had also purchased a
Swiss Army knife for some measure of protection, and it had its home in a small
side pocket of her purse.

Rae’s first assignment actually stemmed from her day job, as it was a referral
from a co-worker, Cindy Walker. It seems that a stock broker named Bud Jones had
been engaging in some questionable trading practices. The assignment was for Rae
to meet him at his office on the outskirts of town, and to try to figure out the
level of illegal activity in his firm. She was to immediately communicate her
responses to her co-worker, and they would then jointly decide whether or not to
seek prosecution. Rae had added her friend’s phone number as a speed dial, and
placed the police department as speed dial #1, just in case things got hairy.

So it was that Rae showed up at the office a little after 5 pm. It was an odd
sort of building, almost appearing like an old manufacturing plant. The bricks
on the outside were falling down, and there was nothing on the exterior of the
building to indicate that it was an investment company. Dressed in a white top,
black dress pants and black heels, Rae looked like the consummate businesswoman.
Gripping her purse tightly, she walked through the doors and prepared to go to
work.

When Rae entered through the doorway, she was immediately greeted with what
appeared to be a small waiting room. The walls were off-white, and the floor was
a plush grey carpet. The walls were almost completely bare, save for a
smattering of small pictures lined up side by side, seperated by about 5 feet
from each other, across the walls. As the door closed behind Rae, she heard it
click twice, almost as if it was locking. Before she had the chance to question
this odd sound, there came a sound from the ceiling.
“Rae, is that you? This is Mr. Jones, I’m supposed to meet with you at 5:30?”
came the voice, which was deep and slightly ominous.

“Yep, that’s me,” responded Rae, trying to sound cheerful. “Your place was kind
of hard to find, so I know I’m a bit late. Are you ready to meet?”

“Absolutely, it will just be a minute. By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know
Cindy Walker, would you?” asked Mr. Jones.

Rae took a big gulp. Did he know what she was up to? “Well…yes, that name sounds
familiar. I think she works at the same company as me. Why would you ask?”

“Oh, no reason; I’ve just heard she’s been asking around about my investment
practices, causing a little trouble where she shouldn’t,” responded Jones, this
time adding a laugh. “Anyway, it’s just you and me here, so it’s not a big deal.
Just sit tight.”

Rae was now more than a little concerned about this meeting. Did he know that
she was here to collect information? Did he feel threatened? Feeling a bit
concerned, she started to dig into her bag for her cell phone, thinking she
should at least alert Cindy that his suspicions had arisen.

Suddenly, Rae heard a hissing sound. Looking up, she saw that the picture frames
were emitting some sort of fog, almost a spray, into the room. The spray was
filling the room quickly with a pungent odor, almost like rotten eggs. Rae knew
that this was probably a bad thing for her, and she immediately stood to walk
out of the room and to the outdoors. However, this was not to be; as soon as Rae
rose, she felt her feet come out from under her, and she hit the ground with a
*thud,* her purse falling from her grasp, and the contents skittering across the
floor.

“*Cough*, what is this,” Rae asked herself as she slowly felt herself losing
consciousness. “It’s going to *cough* knock me out *cough* if I don’t do
something,” she thought, as she slowly felt the fog enter her mind.

Trying to focus on the situation, her eyes fell upon her cell phone, which had
skittered a few feet away. If she could reach it and dial the emergency number,
she could call for help. Lacking the strength to stand, she started to crawl,
clawing at the floor in front of her, towards the blue Palm Centro.

“Must…reach…my…phone…” she groaned as she crawled forward, slowly, towards the
phone. Her fingers grasped at the carpet in front of her, as she strained with
every ounce of her remaining strength. The chemicals were hitting her hard
though, and she was quickly losing her battle. Unable to crawl any more, she
stretched out both arms, her fingers spread wide and straining towards the
phone. Her fingers stretched out, straining mere inches away from the edge of
the phone. She had a determined look on her face, her eyes narrowing as she
fought off the loss of consciousness. Just a couple of inches more, her fingers
shaking from the effort, her fingernails just short…and just as her middle
fingers grazed the edge of the phone…

A foot came out of nowhere and kicked the phone away, and slowly, Rae drifted
off into sleep.

When Rae awoken, she found herself tied a bed, her wrists tied above her to the
bed posts. Her head was extremely heavy, but as the fog cleared from her mind,
the enormity of the situation overcame her. Bud had apparently tied her to this
bed in a sort of spread eagle pattern. Her clothing was gone and she realized
she was completely naked and helpless.. Her wrists and ankles were both tied
with a coarse rope that bit into her flesh, causing some discomfort. Looking
down at her exposed chest, she saw a post-it note that read the following:

“Couldn’t wait for you to wake up, so went to pick up some supplies. Get some
rest, there will be some definite fun when I return. Your new friend, Bud.”

Rae’s eyes widened, as she realized she was in some serious trouble. If this guy
thought nothing of gassing his enemy, what else would he do to her? How would
she ever get out of this?

Looking around, her eyes fell on her own red purse, which was on the floor to
her left. Bud had placed it there, obviously, and her had placed her knife and
cell phone right next to it. He also had adjusted a lamp in the room to shine
directly onto the objects, no doubt in a plan to mock her desperate situation.
But, he may have made a mistake in judgment. If Rae could get out of the ropes,
maybe either of those objects could help her.

Pulling on the ropes binding her wrists, Rae quickly realized that Bud knew what
he was doing. The knots around her wrists were quite tight, and it appeared the
knots connecting the ropes to the bedposts were equally tight. She pulled quite
a bit on them, the muscles standing out in her shoulders and arms, but all it
accomplished was making her quite sore. She quickly turned her attention to her
ankles.

While the rope binding Rae’s right ankle was just as tight, leaving a mark
around her ankle just above the arch of her foot, the rope around the left ankle
was not quite as tight. Rae grunted and groaned audibly as she pulled and pushed
at the rope, trying to break the knot. After about 5 minutes of pulling, she
felt it giving way, and after giving a great pull (and cry), she succeeded in
freeing her left foot. She had picked up objects previously with her toes; her
feet were pretty big, and her toes long, so she figured she could easily handle
her cell phone or knife.

She first turned her attention to the knife; if she could get it up to the bed,
she was flexible enough to get it to her hands and to cut through the ropes. She
stretched her leg down towards the knife and, predictably, found that it was
just barely beyond her toes. She tried to shift herself as far down the bed as
possible, but the tightness of the ropes binding her wrists and other ankle made
this difficult. Her toes were pointed, straining out, but just short of the
smooth handle of the knife. She strained out even more, slightly wiggling her
toes, when…

Her toes nudged the handle, only succeeding in knocking it farther away. Letting
out a cry, Rae realized that this was not going to work. She’d have to reach the
phone and dial for help.

She stretched out her leg again, and again the Palm Centro sat a bout 2-3 inches
beyond her outstretched toes. Fighting even harder than before, she grunted and
groaned as she tried to make up the distance between her toes and the phone. The
sweat was pouring down her brow, and she could feel the strain from her wrists
to the tips of her toes. Her quads and calves were tight with the effort, and
the veins were standing out in her foot. She could feel some pain, but fought
through it, her focus narrowed on feeling the phone beneath her talented toes.

“Must…reach…it…” she groaned to herself as she struggled.
“Trusty…cell….phone….is…my…only…hope….” Her toes quivered just short of the
phone, and they spread slightly with the effort.

Just when she thought all was lost, she made one last lunge towards the phone,
trying to throw her toes forward. Her toes, luckily, fell on top of the edge of
the phone, and curling her toes in, she was able to bring the phone forward. She
hit the speed dial for the police with her big toe, and within minutes, the
police had shown up to free the plucky amateur detective. This brush with danger
certainly scared Rae, but it did not change her mind that she would find another
assignment, another chance to be Rae – Daring Detective!