THE GAME.

"If you don't mind, ma'am, we'll be setting up camp here."
Anna struggled against her restraints, making muffled sounds. She couldn't believe the bastard gagged her!
How dare they break into her house, tie her up like a common criminal and, she wept internally, drink her last good bottle of Rosé.
All on her day off!
Mike dragged a chair over, facing her, and sat.
"Well then, Miss Anna. You'll agree that the ball is in your court. Shall we begin?".
She continued making inaudible sounds.
He sighed and removed the gag. "What is it?"
"Tell your sidekick to take three giant steps away from my bottle of alcohol or I swear there'll be literal balls in my court."

Six hours earlier... 

  Anna Raymond had just settled down to a movie,  when the doorbell rang. Ignoring it, she took another bite of her microwaved popcorn, drooling over the gorgeousness that was Liam Hemsworth.
The doorbell rang again, and grumbling at the insensitiveness and sheer assholery of certain people, she went to the door.
"Who is it?!"
There was brief silence, before a voice came through.
"Miss Anna, good afternoon. I'm Mike and I represent the CTAN."
She panicked. What exactly did the Certified Teachers Association of Nigeria want with her?! She hadn't caused any problems lately- well, except that one time when a student's mom had threatened to sue her for flirting with her husband.
In her opinion, the husband should be sued for telling her his wife had been in a coma for twelve years!

Men are scum.

"Miss Anna?"
Snapping out of her reverie, she unlatched the door chain and opened it up. "Hi, Mr Mike. Please, come in."
What happened next would cause her both confusion and amusement for years to come. One minute, she was locking the door and the next, fading into darkness.
  When she came to, there was a dull throb in her head and five men in her house.
"Ah... Miss Anna, you're awake. Had us worried there for a second. I apologize for the head pain. I didn't properly estimate the weight you carry and so, was unable to prevent your collision with the floor."
  It was the suave asshole from earlier. Mark or something.
Wait...
"Did you just call me fat?!"
He just smiled. "My colleagues and I have been watching you for some time now. We work for the CTAN, you see."
She glared at him. "I believe you mentioned that already. What I wanna know is why the Teachers Association would deem it fit to do shit like this!"
  Mike scrunched his face in confusion, before realization dawned on him. "Oh, dear girl, no. It's my fault, really. I should have explained. We work for the Corporate Thieves Association of Nigeria."
Anna blanched. Then, she laughed. "You're kidding, right?" She asked, peering at each person.
"I'm afraid not. We never kid."
"But we kidnap, though." A voice piped up and they all turned to look at its owner.
"Wrong timing, Tony."
"Sorry, boss." The 'Tony' dude said, sheepishly.
"Sorry, boss." The 'Tony' dude said, sheepishly.
Mike sighed. "We are a top-secret government organization that specializes in retrieving...ahh...let's say, special items of interest."
"So, you're fancy armed robbers..."
"Now, that's just insulting."
  Anna had to think. It was clear these people weren't just gonna let her go. "What exactly do you want?"
Mike raised a perfectly arced brow. "Direct... I like it. We want the recording of the 2013 murder-fraud interview conducted on Stanley Nwoke a.k.a Evan Craft."
"Wait... Isn't he the one only being held under house arrest due to lack of hard, noncircumstantial evidence? Why the hell would you think I'm in possession of such a thing?!"
"We checked. Your ex-boyfriend was in charge of the collected evidence files, including the now-missing tape. We got hold of him, recently, and he claimed to have left it with you."
Anna fumed. That no-good, piece of shit!
"Trust me, he's a born liar. I'm not with anything!"
Mike was slowly losing his patience. "Well, I guess you're just gonna have to think hard. Gag her!"

Presently... 

"So, what now? Are you going to stab me? Maim me?"
A number of them rolled their eyes. "She does have quite the imagination, doesn't she?" One of them drawled.
"Believe me, ma'am. If we wanted to forcefully  get the truth from you, we have way civilized and technologically advanced methods we could use, other than resorting to something as primitive as a gun. Look at us... Do we look like common criminals to you?"
Anna eyed their designer suits with a mixture of disgust and envy. "No."
"Good." Mike said, smiling. "Ever heard of the Veritas serum?" He asked.
She shook her head.
"Well, trust me when I say that it's all we need to get information from you, but we've been asked to use it as a last resort as the pain caused by it is excruciating. Work with us, Anna. Help us help you."
Anna's head spun, but somewhere in the confusion, an idea occurred to her.
"I still maintain that I don't have whatever it is you're looking for, but I think I have a good idea as to who might."
Mike looked at his colleagues. There was no reason to trust her, but they also had no other valid leads. The decision was made.
"Ok, Anna. Let's play ball..."


TO BE CONTINUED... 

A VICKI-MARIS FICTION