-----
Artemis awoke to find himself tied up, breathing in the strong scent of some sort of perfume. He coughed.
"Awake, are you?" sneered a perfect British accent.
"No." Artemis may have been humiliated, but he would still manage sarcasm.
"Cocky are we?" The girl emerged from the shandows, and to Artemis' carefully hidden surprise his newly cleared eyes informed him she couldn't possibly be older than he was.
"Who are you and where am I?" Artemis demanded.
"My name is April, and you, dear Artemis, are at my Manor, whose full name I won't reveal." With a snap she turned on a brilliat chandelier which illuminated the delicate gilded walls of his prison.
"Where's Butler? Holly? Root?"
"Well, you are full of questions. They aren't harmed; I simply knocked them out while I...'kidnapped'...you."
"Are you holding me hostage for the stone?"
"No, I just randomly snatch European geniuses."
"And would you yourself fall into the category of 'Eurpean geniuses'?"
"You don't worry your inhumanly intelligent head over that."
There was a tense silence as Artemis' level gaze met April's fiery violet one.
"As long as you keep me here you're not getting the Stone. Agressive negotiations don't work in this kind of case."
"...Unless I torture you."
"Right...so can we negotiate in a more passive manner?"
"Nego--"
"Fifteen million."
"Outrageous."
"Fourteen."
"Ten."
"Thirteen."
"Twelve."
"Twelve and a half."
"Done."
"Wait...how about if I only bind you to one chip? Six million. Every bit as powerful as the whole thing, but If you try to kill me or something I can stop you. I feel uncomfortable giving someone I don't entirely trust the whole stone."
April considered this for a moment, but consented.
"You're staying here tonight." She rang a bell, causing a manservant to appear at the door. "Gerald will show you to your room."
***
Kitty tried playing the tape backwards and forwards, plus many different ways that most people wouldn't know tapes could be played. She finally was so frustrated that she smashed the tape, causing a small piece of paper to pop out.
Surprised, she cautiously unfolded it.
Well, aren't we clever? I'm guessing that you were so frustrated that you smashed the tape--Kitty scowled--and managed to extract this note. Well, how very useful. In any case, if you think I cheated you you're sorely incorrect because I never said I was going to put the Stone inside the steel mill. Tsk, tsk, you Americans are too trusting. Well, when I reach my hideout I'll contact you. In the meantime, Ciao!
Kitty frowned. Artemis was like a cat (A/N: For my personal friends, yes, this is ironic! Heh my cat's named Artemis. ^_^) in that he enjoyed playing with his prey. As much as she hated to admit it, she did indeed feel like prey. And it wasn't like him to spontaneously get sick of an amusing game. So, there must be some sort of clue in this note...well, she decided to send it to Firensics and see what they could figure out...
She got up and was blown back by immense force.
Another piece of paper drifted down onto the surprised and hurting Kitty.
Oh, and did I mention that the last note was rigged with a pressure sensitive miniature bomb? You won't find it again.
Kitty immediately dropped that note too because it became very hot and burned to shreds. She stamped out the small blaze and gazed around her office with dismay, wondering how she would explain it to Colonel Stokes.