Holey Nightie: The Golden Tongues Affair
When the door swung open, Miss Cashnickel nearly fainted. There in the doorway, dark eyes literally glowing with confidence, was Agent 0011-1/2. He removed his light jacket with a bold flourish and tossed it a dozen feet across the room, where it landed dead center on one of the hooks of the wood and copper coat rack, settling over it perfectly, coming to rest immediately upon landing.
"Good evening, Miss Cashnickel," the tall, handsome agent said, the tone behind the words sounding more like "Would you like to go down on me, Miss Cashnickel?" to the swooning secretary.
"Mister Bondage. Um...so wonderful to see you," she stammered, her eyes saying, "Yes, yes, yes!" to the words that only her mind heard.
James walked up to her with a swagger, leaned over her desk and rubbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, staring into her eyes, smiling his sweet, disarming smile. She nearly creamed all over herself...as she nearly did EVERY time he gazed into her eyes like that.
"You here to see Number One, or are you going to finally sweep me off my feet and take me home with you?" she managed to say, surprising even herself.
James kissed the tip of her nose and winked into her pretty blue eyes. "Nonsense, Miss Cashnickel, no man could possibly deserve a treat as obviously tasty as yourself. You are above such things. For you to accept a mere mortal man, even myself, would be criminal. You deserve a true god to worship you properly...and I, Miss Cashnickel, am but a mere man. Above average, perhaps, but a man nonetheless." Again he winked. He released her chin and stood, nodding toward the large oak door to the right of her desk. "He's in, I take it?"
"Yes....he's.....in. He's...been expecting you." she sighed, her eyes glassy as she watched the incredibly good-looking man head for the door. As he opened it, he turned and winked again, blowing her a kiss. He then looked her up and down with a most obvious and evil sexual smirk on his face. Miss Cashnickel covertly reached for a box of tissues in her desk drawer, to sop up the growing moisture between her legs. When she looked back up to the door, James was gone and the door was shut.
"Ahh....Bondage....good to see you. I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances, however." The jovial looking, slightly round man held out his hand and James took it, shaking it with restrained vigor.
"A problem, Number One?" James's right eyebrow raised, his interest piqued.
"Please, sit down," Number One said, pointing toward the chair in front of his desk... a chair that James had sat in countless numbers of times over the last fifteen years. When both men were seated, he answered the younger agent's question.
"I'm afraid you've assessed the situation correctly, James. There most certainly IS a problem." Opening the center drawer of his desk, he pulled out a somewhat worn, cream colored file folder and tossed it over to James's side of the desk. "I'm sure you're aware of our ongoing problems with Holey Nightie. Most exasperating."
"Yes," James replied, flipping open the bulging folder and thumbing through its contents. "But I thought you'd finally sent someone to take care of her."
"Yes, we did," Number One said, running his hand agitatedly through his almost nonexistent hair. "But it appears she was onto us. Either she was aware of the trap we'd set for her, or we have a leak in the organization. Either way, she foiled our plan to....put an end to her constant interference in the States. As you can see from the first photo in the file..."
"Yes, yes, I see..." James sighed, sitting back in his chair looking at the eight by ten glossy. "That appears to be agent 009. And he appears a bit the worse for wear."
"Don't be coy, James. He's dead. That Holey Nightie witch killed him like she has so many of our top agents. The woman MUST be dealt with!" Beads of sweat were forming in rapid succession on Number One's forehead, a brow that had furrowed considerably in the last few moments.
James was silent. His keenly trained eyes were taking in every detail of the color glossy, disturbed at what he saw. But it was exactly the same as all the other photos in the file. Only the individual man in each photo changed. Everything else was exactly the same. It was Holey Nightie's m.o. And she never wavered from it.
"When can I see the body?" James asked, his brow now furrowing as well.
"Immediately. I want you on this case as of this very instant. The sooner this nefarious vamp is no longer a thorn in the organization's side, the better. I'll take you to the morgue myself. Come along." Obviously unnerved and in a hurry to set things right, Number One stood up quickly and strode past James out the door. James followed, deep in thought, not even bothering to tease Miss Cashnickel on his way out.
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"It's exactly the same as all the others," the rotund man said as he uncovered the body for Number One and James to examine, "and the photos just don't do the horror of it all justice. That Holey Nightie woman is the devil in disguise, I tell you. She's as cruel as they come. Look at this poor man."
"Well," James noted, "he appears to have died happy."
"Don't let that satisfied grin fool you, James. He died a horrible death. One can only imagine how he must've suffered before he died." Number One's eyes were round, red-rimmed and pupils dilated, such was his conviction in this heinous matter.
"Looks to me like he scored with every one of the Dallas Cheerleaders before he died," James blundered, realizing all too late that he'd ruffled some feathers.