She heard the back door close, and then the front door open.  A moment later, she heard the sound of the engine, and the truck began to move.  She heard his voice, he was on his cell phone, talking to someone.

“Got the first one…piece of cake…going to get the other two now.  I’ll be there in about an hour.”

‘The other two?’ Denise gasped in shock.  ‘Be there? Where is there?’ she thought.  ‘What is this guy up to? What’s going to happen to me?’  It was all so overwhelming, she kept hoping this was just a horrible nightmare and she was going to wake up soon and everything was going to be all right…

About ten minutes later, she felt the truck come to a stop.  A few minutes after that, she heard the back door open again, and heard the muffled cries of another female as a second box was rolled into the truck.  It wasn’t very long after that, before the event repeated itself, as a third box was rolled up the ramp and secured, against the muffled protests of its female occupant.

The truck started to move again.  The only sounds Denise could hear from the other two boxes were desperate ‘mmm…mmm!’ ones.  “Do you know what’s going on?” she called out.  “Why has he taken us? Where are we going?” but the only responses were “mmm…mmm!”  ‘They’ve been gagged,’ she realized, ‘why wasn’t I?’

Denise was a dizzy mess by the time the truck came to its final stop.  She heard the whimpers of the other two, matching her own, as the straps holding each box still were removed, and each box was wheeled out of the back of the truck.

She heard the tape pulled away as the top of her box was opened.  ‘This was all a big mistake,’ she hoped, ‘and whoever is here will see that and let us go…’  She tried to kick her feet a bit, when she suddenly felt something grab her ankles, pinning them together, and she was quickly and smoothly hoisted up and out of the box.  The sudden exposure to light momentarily blinded her; when her eyes adjusted, she was able to assess her situation.

Denise was hanging upside down by her ankles, on some kind of pulley system, in what appeared to be the unloading area of a warehouse.  The other two women were hanging on either side of her, in similar fashion, with one notable exception:  they were both gagged and their arms bound behind them.  They were both well dressed as well, younger looking and skinnier than her; the one on her left had blonde hair, while the one on her right was a fiery redhead.

“Uunnhh,” she groaned, “where am I…what is this place…”  The other two could only manage a ‘mmm…mmm!’ sound as they all hung there, confused, and dizzy from hanging upside-down – particularly Denise, who had been in that position for over an hour, ever since she had slid into the box.

The man in the UPS uniform was standing there, along with another, similarly built man, who was dressed rather plainly, in a blue t-shirt and jeans.  The second man was glancing over the three women, with the detachment of someone trying to pick out a new toaster at the department store.

“Who are you…?” Denise whimpered.  “What’s going on…let me go?”  Her question got no reaction whatsoever.  “Please…what’s this all about?”

The second man paid her no heed whatsoever as he turned to the first.  “Nice work, Martin.  Three to choose from.”

“Three to choose from?” Denise gasped, looking panicked, “for what…?”

He continued to ignore her.  “Hey, Martin, did you catch the basketball game last night?”

“Sure did, boss.  It was pretty boring, up until the end of the fourth quarter.”

“Tell me about it, I almost turned it off at halftime.”

“Me too.  I’m glad I didn’t, though.”  The two men chuckled as they talked.  Denise looked amazed that they could carry on such a frivolous conversation while she just hung there!  She glanced up, and blushed, realizing her skirt was hanging down (or up?) over her waist.

“So,” Martin asked the other man, “what are you interested in buying?”

“Hmm, let’s have a look at what you brought me.”

Denise gasped again, what exactly was this place, and who was this man, who was interested in ‘buying’ them?  If she wasn’t so dizzy from hanging upside-down, she thought, maybe she could make some sense out of it…she felt humiliation for how she was being treated, and embarrassment at her condition, hanging there, her stockinged legs fully exposed, her blouse half-open.

The man walked in front of the three women, then stopped in front of Denise.  “This one looks like some sort of school teacher.”

“I am,” Denise breathed.

The man knelt down in front of her.  “Oh, is that so, honey?” he asked as he grabbed her head with both hands and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Y-yes,” Denise replied, trembling like crazy.  The man chuckled as he let her head go, and stood back up.  “So,” he casually said, “what’s the deal with this one?” he asked.  “Why isn’t she bound and gagged like the other two?”

“Well, I thought I’d try something new.  See if I could lure one into a box, without using any force or threats.  I must say, it worked far more easily than I had imagined…and after an hour of being upside-down in that box, as you can see, she’s far too weak to put up any kind of resistance.”  He chuckled as he picked a few packing peanuts off the trembling teacher’s body.  “The packing peanuts were a nice twist, very effective in keeping her packed safely inside the box, while absorbing any sound she made while in there.  I wheeled her right past a bunch of people – and none of them had a clue what was inside!  The packing peanuts were also an essential part of the ruse.”

“The ruse?”

“Oh yes, she thought she was getting a new globe delivered to her classroom.”  Denise blushed deeply as she heard this.

“Not the brightest crayon in the box, I see.  You probably did that school a favor.  So, how much do you want for all three?”

“What are you going to do with us…?” Denise whimpered softly.  There was, again, no reply.

“I’d like the usual…Five grand each.”

Denise gasped again, as did the other two through their gags.  ‘Five thousand?’ she thought, ‘my last car cost more than that…’

“That’s if they were all Grade A specimens, Martin.  I can tell you right now that they are not.  I’ll give you eleven thousand for all three.”

‘Grade A?’ Denise shuddered, ‘what does that mean?’ Her experience with grades were what she handed out for tests and research papers, this was so completely different…what grade was she? Denise couldn’t help but wonder.

“I was really hoping for more than that,” Martin responded.  “They’re all undamaged, with full outfits, and their purses are in the boxes.  How about ten thousand for two of them?”

“How about twelve for all three?” the man answered.

“Twelve thousand five.  You get one of each variety – a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.”

“Okay,” the man shrugged, “you’ve got yourself a deal.”  And without hesitation, he pulled a roll of bills from his pocket, and counted them off, handing them to Martin.  

“And you’ve got three new specimens for your collection.”

“Collection?” Denise gasped in shock.

“One more thing, before you go?”

“Sure thing, boss, what is it?”

The man tossed Martin a handkerchief and a roll of rope.  “Gag and bind this one.  Next time, make sure it’s done before they get here – I don’t want to hear a word from their mouths until I’m ready to.”

“No, please, mmm!” Denise whimpered as Martin pulled the handkerchief hard across her mouth and tied it tightly behind her head.  Then, he carefully pulled her arms up behind her and tied them together securely.  Without a word, he walked to his van and drove away.

The three women continued to hang there in complete and utter shock and disbelief, as the man calmly walked over to his desk, sat down, and checked his e-mail for any new messages.