CHAPTER XXXIII
"Yes ...... Yes Karl ....... I understand ..... I'll do what I can to help......yes I expect the Fed will do more of the same ..... but it didn't seem to the Europeans much good .... ok.... we will talk again soon....ok ..bye" Bobby said as he gently placed his phone down on its cradle.
Glancing across the city skyline Bobby could see the Helman Brothers tower near the Chrylser building and could imagine Karl hanging up the phone over there in the top floor office. It sounded like pandemonium had broken out at Helman's and Karl was hoping to get a favour to steady his battered ship until the storm calmed down.
During the night as Bobby had slept and Wall Street slumbered a crack had formed in the usually glacially slow market, there had been a rupture of epic proportions and the Dollar had tumbled violently downwards. The European central bank had tried to support the dollar by buying it up but to no avail and now the DOW had been hammered on the open.
Foreign investors, their shares priced in dollars were getting pummeled and years worth of gains had been wiped out and then some in one bad morning session. Selling had become widespread as investors cashed out and of course they pulled their money back to safer shores, casting off their depreciating dollars along the way.
Bobby knew everyone's share value was down but that was trivial compared to the epic gain in value all that Yen was going to bring him if and when he could trade it back.
"Dammit, I wish Loughlan were here......" Bobby muttered. Loughlan, his dependable lieutenant knew how to fight financial fires and put them out. Now with Loughlan alienated and gone he would have to put his faith in his own strategy. Bobby paused for a moment then reached out for his phone, time to make his next move.
"Gina .... get the senior trading staff up here please ...."
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Lisa secretly watched her Asian prey as she reached her intimate climax, her eyes clenched closed, her restrained wrists between her bare legs. Lucy let out a moan as she reached the peak of her efforts, her quivering body betraying what she had achieved using her imagination and her physical touch.
Lisa had quietly returned to the apartment as Lucy was finding release and had secretly observed Lucy as she had began to work herself into her sexual frenzy. Seeing Lucy find release Lisa ducked quietly away and bit her bottom lip, eyes wide with excitement. Lucy truly was in the right frame of mind and Lisa was going to press home her advantage to the fullest.
Taking a breath Lisa looked down at the plastic bag clutched in her hand and her heart raced as she contemplated what was to come next. Lucy, the sexy spy, the royal princess hidden in plain sight was going to be temporarily knocked down a peg or two ..... maybe three. Inside the bag was new attire more befitting Lucy's imminent change in status, Lucy may well be The Broker's unseen mercenary but right now she was about to become Lisa's plaything.
Taking a deep breath Lisa reached into the bag and rummaged around the contents and pulled out what she was looking for. Putting the bag to oneside Lisa held up the item she had pulled out, the pink broad leather collar felt like it was good substantial quality. Lisa held the collar out flat and smiled as the faux diamonds sparkled at her, the little fake stones spelling out "Princess" against the pink leather.
"Perfect" Lisa mouthed quietly to herself before summonsing the courage to move in and take charge of her friend. Lisa pushed off with a step and confidently stormed into Lucy's refuge to find her curled up in a peaceful pose semi covered by the bedding, resting after her orgasm.
"Wakey wakey............" Lisa said with a slight giggle.
Lucy flinched defensively a moment before relaxing almost instantly realising it was Lisa.
"You ... you're a wicked woman .... detective Kozny" Lucy managed to say referring to her spiked drink from the night before.
Lisa planted herself on the bed and looked down at Lucy who squinted up at her, her sore head maintaining her aversion to the light. Lisa empathized with her friends suffering and gently combed the Asians hair back with her her fingers revealing more of her beautiful features. Lucy, eyes closed, seemed to almost nuzzle into Lisa's touch, until Lisa, having revealed more of Lucy's face leant forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I have something for you ......." Lisa teased.
Lucy opened her eyes to see the collar splayed out open in front of her. It took her a mere second to understand everything, the girly pink clashed with her more tomboy nature and of course "Princess" was there to mock her real status.
"I guess I deserve it ......" Lucy groaned. She knew she was paying for that night of cheeky rebellion, pretending to follow Lisa's orders while in the bathroom and again, using Lisa's own bag of tricks against her. It was lucky she trusted her captor because she really was unable to escape this time.
"I expect you want me to wear that ......" Lucy continued.
"Damn right ......... and the rest ....." Lisa said as she began to press the collar to Lucy's neck.
"The rest ?" Lucy stammered, her eyes flashing a hint of something previously unseen by Lisa, fear, nerves ..... she wasn't sure but she felt empowered by Lucy's vulnerability, a vulnerability she had brought through her hard work.
===================
Kara replayed the video of Bobby Sanderson on Kimberly's tablet one last time if only to dispel the sensation of disbelief. His video was essentially his confession, he had helped Kimberly escape, he had created these chains and had given Kimberly the insidious dust, he even knew what the green poison could do to the superheroine.
She knew of Bobby Sanderson, hot shot of Wall Street and financial muscle behind high technology. His corporation had been in the news just recently, his space program cleaning up debris in orbit had .....
"Oh my god ...... that must ......" Kara stammered. She recalled her first encounter with the dangerous rock in space many years previous, how she had shattered it to pieces before it had sent her crashing back down to Earth. Bobby had collected some of the pieces somehow, either intentionally or by chance and now......
"Got ... to ...... get out .... of here" Kara said weakly as she looked through the settings on the tablet once more. Making sure she had turned airplane mode off and turning on the Wifi she waited impatiently as the whirling progress icon spun on and on.
"Come on , come on ....." Kara whispered to herself.
"NO NETWORKS FOUND"
"Dammit ....." Kara hit the refresh button and grasping the tablet held it aloft above her head with difficulty.Kara's limbs ached, her wrists especially so, the odd sensation of the weight of the eyebolts and chains screwed into her very bones making the task even harder.
"NO NETWORKS FOUND"
Kara grunted ..... "Got to do this the hard way huh ......" as she curled her legs under herself and summonsed the strength to stand. Hitting refresh once more she stood on tiptoe and tilted the screen trying to see if the wifi managed to make a connection to anything.
"NO NETWORKS FOUND"
"COME ON you piece of ...... !" Kara growled before restraining herself, taking a deep breath. An avenue of escape wasn't coming via the tablet it seemed and so Kara wearily sat down on the metal grating and wrapped the blanket around her body. Kara looked around herself despondently at her situation and decided to see what else of amusement she could do with the tablet to pass the time.
A mistimed button press caused the photo app to appear again and the first image of Kara's tattooed flesh appeared. Swiping the image aside a second appeared, a zoomed view one of the people who was judging Kimberly from the shadows.
Kara frowned ......
"Wait ...... isn't ......that ......"
Barely visible in the dark shaded ink work, a pattern, a squiggle, a symbol ......
"Del'Tak ...that's ....... that's a Kryptonian symbol .......a family name ......but how ......" Kara's mind was whirling. Kimberly had drawn a scene from another world, it should be impossible and yet there it was right in front of her. Was Kimberly Kryptonian? But she had a brother ..... he seemed human enough .......
"What does it mean ?" Kara whispered to herself as she she swiped to the next image.
==============
Selena sat her computer, it was a new day and she browsed the news and her data feeds for any new opportunities. The array of screens in front of her cycled through the news but the big headlines were with the financial news.
B.O.J REPORT HITS DOLLAR
DOW OPENS DOWN
E.C.B ACTS DEFEND DOLLAR
FX VOLATILITY HITS HELMAN BRO'S
SANDERSON CORP ESCAPES DOLLAR TRAP
The name Sanderson caught Selena's eyes. Lucy had said something during her report on her interrogation of Mike Loughlan which seemed hollow at the time but now sent a chill through Selena's body.
"If....if you see even a hint of success for Bobby in the future...you better pray .. pray hard because out there somewhere is some poor woman suffering " Loughlan had said to Lucy.
That time was now and if what Loughlan beleived to be true was real then .......
"I hope it isn't true but ....... " Selena paused as she glanced at the little triangle of miscoloured skin on the back of her hand, a reminder of her damaged past, her time of suffering. Selena felt a wave of responsibility fall on her, if someone was out there suffering at Kimberly's hands she should at least try to locate them.
"OK Kimberly .... let's try again to find you ...."