Tony pulled out the cream-colored envelope and put it on her desk. Naydra opened it, and read the glossy card inside. “You are cordially invited to a New Years Eve soiree, hosted by Seignior Tortelli at his home…”

“Well?” Tony asked.

“It’s perfect.” Naydra answered, “Finally I can get into boss Tortelli’s place and get the goods on him. How did you get this anyway?”

“Had to call in a few favors.” Tony said, “I know a guy who knows a guy who works for some one who knows Tortelli’s brother. The invitation went to him but his wife can’t stand Tortelli, so she told my friend’s friend to throw it out, and that’s how it got to you. I hear there will be more than two hundred people there. You should be able to get in without any trouble.” Tony looked at Naydra hopefully, “So I did good, huh?” Naydra smiled again, “You did good Tony.” She knew what Tony was thinking. She had told him several times that they should keep their relationship strictly professional. Then again, it was Tony’s persistence that made him so helpful.

Naydra finally broke the silence, “Well, it’s a formal affair, and I only have two days to prepare. I better go shopping.”

The dress Naydra chose for the party was a powerful black number. One could have said, “stunning” or “fabulous,” but powerful was definitely the word for this gown. Complemented with a pair of sleek, black pumps and a clearly professional hair and make-up job, Naydra was all ready to set out. Finally she would have the evidence linking boss Tortelli to the downtown rackets. All she had to do was get in, mingle for awhile, and then slip off to his private office while the rest of the crowd was getting smashed on Don Perignon. Basic PI stuff, nothing to it, nothing could go wrong, nothing.

Boss Tortelli’s mansion wasn’t hard to find, and Tony had been right about the huge number of people attending. Naydra had decided not to go in on her own (no sense in standing out). Fortunately it didn’t take long for a small group of would-be socialites to show up. She followed after them, flashing her invitation at the gorilla-faced guard at the door. He nodded, barely glancing at her face as she entered. It worked! This was going to be a snap.

Naydra had allowed herself an hour for mingling. That would be just enough to protect her cover, but not too long that she might be remembered. She accepted a drink, but only took one sip. No sense on dulling her wits after all. Everything was going perfectly.

It was about then that she glanced across the main gallery and noticed something. That waiter, the one carrying out the tray of empties, he looked familiar…

“Tony?” She whispered to herself. Somehow he must have heard, because he turned to her and winked. Naydra could feel herself tensing up. “What the hell is he doing here? Does he think he’s helping me? I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him!” She took a step towards him. “No, better not. I’ll kill him later.”

As Naydra stared daggers at Tony, he made a sidelong gesture with his head, and then hurried off into the kitchen. Naydra glanced in the direction he had motioned and noticed a dark hallway. Could that be where boss Tortelli’s office was? Naydra gradually made her way in the direction of the hallway. Then, when she was reasonably sure no one was looking, she darted into the shadows.

It was a short hallway, with only one significant feature. That was the heavy oak door at the end. Naydra slinked over to the door and gave it a gentle push. It opened; barely a shred of light came out. She slipped in and quietly shut the door behind her.

The moonlight shining in through the windows gave faint illumination to the room. Bookcases were visible, and a huge desk and a filing cabinet. “Tortelli’s private office!” Naydra thought, “Good old Tony. Maybe I’ll just maim him instead of killing him.” It took only 15 minutes of searching the filing cabinet before Naydra found what she wanted; a list of the downtown businesses that had reported being threatened by Tortelli’s goons, along with footnotes in what could only be Tortelli’s handwriting. “Gotcha!” Naydra thought as she slipped the note into her bag.

Then the door burst open. Naydra looked up to see two men entering. As the second man shut the door behind them, the first pulled out a gun. “Well, what do we have here?” He said with a sneer.

“I was just…” Naydra began, trying desperately to think of a plausible excuse to be standing in a dark office next to an opened filing cabinet. Not surprisingly, nothing came to mind.

“Save it!” The guy with the gun growled. “The boss doesn’t like snoops abusing his hospitality. Looks like we’ll have to take care of you. Rocco, get some stuff from the supply closet. We’ll fix her up now and come back for her after the party.”

Rocco came back with some rope and a few strips of white cloth. He bound Naydra’s hands behind her back while the other goon kept her covered. Then they sat her down and tied her ankles, her arms and her legs. Naydra kept her cool, but she knew she was in over her head. “Look guys,” She began, “You’d better let me go. I have friends at the party, and if I don’t come back in the next ten minutes, mmph.” Rocco stuffed a wad of cloth deep in her mouth while the other guy covered her lips with a gag and tied it in back.

“Nice try sister.” He sneered, “But we’ve heard that one before.” Then after one more check of the ropes, he turned to Rocco, “I’ll go tell the boss about our little snoop. You put an oil drum in the van and drive it around in back.” He then looked at Naydra, “And you, just stay here and keep quiet like a good little girl. Don’t want you disturbing the bosses guests, now do we?” The two goons chuckled as they left.

Naydra tested the ropes around her wrists. Tight, really tight, if she had a few hours she might be able to loosen them a little. But did she have a few hours? She glanced over at the desk, there had been a phone…no, they took it. A letter opener? No, they took that too. Now what?

Naydra twisted her arms and rubbed her legs together. Twist, pull, squirm, one arm, then the other, then both…nothing, the knots just wouldn’t give. She tried rubbing the gag off, no dice. It was tied as tightly as the ropes.

Then she heard something outside. Slowly she stood up, and carefully hopped over to one of the windows, just in time to see a van drive by towards the rear of the house. Tine was running out. Naydra carefully dropped to her knees and lay down on her back. Perhaps she could shake the ropes off more easily in this position. She tried twisting her arms again, this way, that way, this way, that way…no…it wasn’t working! She looked over at the desk; maybe if she rubbed the ropes around her wrists against the corner of the desk she could break them.

Then she heard the door open. Naydra froze…were they coming so soon? Then a familiar voice called out softly, “Naydra?” Tony!

“Hmmph!” Naydra moaned frantically, “Tny, hmp mmm, Uhm uvr hrrr!”

“Huh? Tony muttered. God, he could be slow sometimes. Naydra struggled to her feet and hopped over to him. “Tny, hmp mmm, drr cmmng bggg!”

“Naydra!” Seeing her in distress snapped Tony into action. He slipped into the room and quickly pulled the gag down around her neck. “What happened?”

“Don’t ask me questions!” She answered, “Just get me out of this.” Tony went around behind her and took out a knife. By the time he had freed her wrists, Naydra remembered that she was angry at him. “What are you doing here anyway?” She demanded. As Tony began loosening the ropes around her arms, he chuckled, “I just thought you might need some help.” Naydra’s anger faded quickly. “Good thinking.” She said. “Listen, I’ve got the evidence we need. All we have to do is slip out, and we can put Tortelli away for good.”

“Great,” Tony said as the finished untying her ankles, “then afterwards, I have a bottle of chardonnay chilling at my apartment…” Naydra sighed, “Tony, I really appreciate this, but, mmph!” Tony cut off her protests by pulling the gag back over her mouth.

“We’ll talk about it later.” He chided, “Now let’s get out of here.”