Samantha was running. The city streets were racing by as she desperately tried to distance herself away from her pursuer.
"Samantha…SAMANTHA!"
Samantha pumped her legs harder, her eyes trained down the end of the street. The cab. She had to get into that cab.
She could hear the footsteps pounding the pavement behind her. So close, she had to get away from him. She felt a shocking blast of cold air. Looking down, she saw that she was stark naked.
"Samantha, STOP!"
"Auggghghhh!" she screamed, stumbling to a halt as she realized her pursuer's voice had changed in pitch and gender. Whirling around in shock, she confronted her.
"Mom!"
Samantha sat up quickly, gasping for breath. She looked wildly around realizing she was in her room, in her apartment. Putting a hand to her sweaty forehead, she tried to slow her breathing and calm her thundering heart. It was then she realized her phone was ringing. She leaned over and snatched up the receiver.
"What, hello," she gasped frantically.
"Sam?"
"Yeah…" Samantha continued to search her room, looking for signs of a potential attack.
"It's me, Danny…are you alright? What's going on?"
Samantha stilled. "Why do you ask?" she asked suspiciously.
"You sound frantic, for one."
Samantha took a silent, deep breath. "I'm sorry…I was watching a scary movie…what's up?"
"You're late, for two."
"Late for what?" she asked, confused.
Silence. "Danny? Hello, Danny?"
"Sam, you're supposed to meet me at the museum…remember, you thought I needed a little bit more culture-"
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, smacking her head. "The Metropolitan Museum! Danny, I am so sorry, I just woke up. What time is it?"
Now it was Danny's turn to be confused. "…I thought you were watching a movie? It's 3 in the afternoon."
It was then that the events of the night before flooded her brain. Slowly she lowered the receiver as flashes of her memory assaulted her. The woman with the red hair on top of her, holding her down. The man behind her, holding her throat in a tight vise. Neo standing over her, watching the crowd, surveying the show.
"Sam….Samantha? Are you there?"
A hardened look solidified her features. Calmly, she raised the receiver back to her ear. "Danny, I can't meet up with you, I am terribly sorry. There's something I have to do." She didn't hear his protests as she replaced the receiver. Not bothering to take a shower, she jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. Grabbing her badge and gun, she left the apartment.
XXXXXXX
The woman could not believe her luck. Samantha Spade was turning out to be better prey than she could ever imagine.
The woman lit a cigarette, then immediately snuffed it out. It was a nervous habit she had picked up since she decided to stop smoking. Her eyes were trained across the street at Samantha, who was pacing back and forth outside of the luxury apartment entrance. The woman wasn't sure what was going on, but after the shots she got last night, she anticipated it would be damaging.
Meanwhile across the street, Samantha paced back and forth, careful not to draw attention from the doorman. Apparently, the sex club business was booming as Samantha surveyed the lavish building. She had stopped by the office and ran Neo's name in the search engine, grabbing his address and a government-issue vehicle. Just then, Neo stepped from the revolving door and out to the street, waving hello to the doorman as he headed for a car waiting for him. Samantha intercepted him before he could get in.
"Mr. Harris, FBI," Samantha said firmly, grabbing Neo in a death grip by the arm. "Please step away from the car."
If he was surprised, he showed no signs of it as he quickly obeyed Samantha. "I'll need you to come with me."
Samantha led Neo to her car. She deposited Neo in the backseat before jumping into the front and taking off. The woman watched the exchange, stunned, before hightailing it to her car to follow.
After a few moments in the car, Neo let out a barreling laugh in the backseat. "Samantha…that was brilliant. Very daring. Where did you get the badge? It looks pretty real."
Samantha sat stone-faced in the driver seat, a cold fury overtaking her. Not trusting herself to speak she remained silent.
"Okay, I get it…is this part of the plan? I love it, I really do." He sat back to watch the scenery. After fifteen minutes, Samantha drove them into a remote lot and parked the car. She hopped out and wrenched open the back door.
"Get out…get out now!" she screamed.
"Yes, ma'am officer, can I-" he didn't have time to finish as Samantha's knee slammed into his groin right before her elbow cracked him in the face. Neo toppled to the ground, moaning. Samantha took advantage of his shock and grabbed his arm and painfully twisted it behind his back, bringing him up to his knees.
"Samantha…Samantha…what are you doing?" he gasped. He felt the pressure on his arm lessen and he gratefully grabbed his aching arm. Turning around slowly on his knees he stopped abruptly as he was confronted face to face with a gun.
"Just…slow…slow down now, Samantha," he stammered, wondering wildly if this was a part of the game or something more sinister.
"You. Drugged. Me." Samantha said slowly and precisely, each word its on statement.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Neo replied. His lie was met with a sharp crack of Samantha's gun against his face as he cried out.
"What the hell are you doing, you crazy bitch!"
"What am I doing? What am I DOING! You drugged me you miserable piece of shit, you drugged a federal officer!"
Realization dawned on Neo's blood soaked face, and for the first time he truly felt scared. "You're a cop?"
"Federal agent," she corrected, "and you slipped me a drug and that's illegal. What did you give me? What did you give me? A rufie?"
"Not quite…it's more of a sedative…with many of the same qualities as ecstasy."
Samantha slowly closed her eyes. Oh God. What if she got popped during a random drug test?
"I thought you enjoyed yourself Samantha…"
Samantha's eyes flew open. "What?" she asked incredulously. "You might as well have raped me. You took away any choice that I had."
Neo hesitated for a second. "Samantha, the drug that I gave you merely allowed you to act without feeling uninhibited, to do things you have always wanted to but were too-"
"Shut up!" Samantha screamed. Her once steady hand started to shake. Her own self-doubts plagued her and she took a step back. "You stay the hell away from me you sick bastard. Don't you ever come near me again."
Samantha jumped into the car and sped out of the parking lot, leaving Neo kneeling on the ground. The woman watched from the side of a building, wishing desperately that she could have heard the exchange.