Sarah opened the newspaper. "Oh no, it couldn’t be!" The pain she had suffered over the last seven year came flooding back. Could she never get away from him in her thoughts?
The headlines read "Matt Stevens jumps bail. Charged with embezzling $2M from Union Water Bank."
The five miserable years of marriage to Matt came flooding back - the cheating, lying and two timing. Even now, two years after the divorce she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Embezzlement! How come that didn’t surprise her? Now he was on the run with $2M instead of the 20 years he deserved. Exhausted with anger, she went to bed.
Soon after 4am she woke with a start. Of course - she knew exactly where he would be hiding out. What’s more, Matt wouldn’t know that she knew. Years ago, she remembered Matt discussing his best friend’s lodge in the woods of Oregon. He was talking to Sam on the phone and was cagey afterwards about the topic of discussion although it was obviously about a  mountain retreat. Matt did however leave the address on a note pad for a few hours. Sarah had remembered the address because the house number was the same as the number of the house she lived in as a child. She remembered the road too - Haley Creek Road. No particular reason why she remembered this, just one of those things.
Sarah new in her heart that it wasn’t going to be as simple as phoning the police. She wanted to move on and forget about him but she needed to feel closure and making a phone call wasn’t going to be any where near good enough for that. Next day was Saturday and by the end of the day, the seeds of a plan had been formed.  First, she needed to be sure he was there, the certainty of the morning had evaporated and doubts started to set in. Persuading anyone else would be impossible unless she was certain.
It didn’t help that the lodge was 800 miles away across three states!
After phoning her boss to book two days vacation and booking a flight, she hurriedly packed an overnight bag and headed for the airport.
At 4pm the next day, she was driving slowly along Haley Creek road looking at house numbers.
Sarah’s heart was beating furiously. There it was, she drove on and parked round the corner. The lodges were very isolated and buried in the trees. It was through the trees she now crept making a large circle to get a good position at the back of the lodge.
There was a car outside but Sarah couldn’t see anyone at home. She settled down behind a tree and got comfortable - this could be a long wait. Twenty minutes later she saw a man walking past the kitchen window and sit facing her at a table. It was Matt for sure, he hadn’t changed one little bit - tall, well built, slightly receding hairline. Sarah did not dare move in case he saw her. She sat patiently for thirty minutes until he left the table before she slowly crept back to the car. It was almost dark and her flight home would leave in two hours.
Part two of the plan kicked off the next morning. Sarah phoned her school friend Alice and arranged to meet her for lunch. Alice ran a bail enforcement agency, right now Alice was just the friend she needed.
Over lunch Sarah explained what had happened. "No problem Sarah, I’ll get my best agent on the case. Matt will be in police custody in a couple of days." Sarah looked sheepishly at Alice. "Actually Alice, I’d like to bring him in, I’ve come to you for advice on how to go about it."
Alice was speechless, after a few seconds she replied slowly, "I’m going to have to think about this. Come round to my place at six tonight and we can talk some more.
But no promises
OK?" This was already better than Sarah has expected. "Great, see you at six."
Six O’clock sharp, Sarah rang on Alice’s bell and was invited up to her apartment. Alice sat Sarah down. "OK Sarah, I know I can trust you, you are the most sensible person I know, but it isn’t going to be easy and you are going to have to learn a lot. I’ve put you on the payroll and I’ve got some paperwork you need to sign to get registered with the state authorities."
Sarah smiled broadly, at last someone was taking her seriously.
Alice continued, "First of all, I’d like to hear what equipment you think you need to bring Matt back." Sarah had thought about this a little already. "I’ll need handcuffs and perhaps some leg cuffs. Is that the right answer?"
Alice looked troubled. "No not really. You see bail jumpers are desperate people. They’ll do anything to escape from custody - especially Matt, he’s got an awful lot to lose." "Let me tell you about handcuffs, did you know that most handcuffs can be opened with a standard key? and the keys are easy to get hold of?" "Handcuffs aren’t that restrictive either, within a couple of minutes, Matt could have grabbed your hair and dragged you to the floor, you’d be begging him to take the keys from you. Cuffs behind the back aren’t much better, they are not comfortable for long term wear and more importantly, a prisoner with a little dexterity can pass their arms under their legs and hey presto the arms are now cuffed in front.
Hinged cuffs a bit better and rigid cuffs better still, but the handcuff risks are still there."
Alice continued, "Leg cuffs are a good idea they can stop your prisoner from running off. You can walk from one end of a city to the other wearing handcuffs covered by a coat but you won’t get far with leg cuffs without someone noticing. Again leg cuffs use a standard key, but I’ll explain later why that won’t be much of a problem."
Sarah now looked confused, "I can see I’ve got a lot to learn, I’m curious now as to how I’m going to get him back." Alice replied, "Good, you’ve got the idea that this isn’t going to be simple. There are two parts to this, the equipment you use and the procedures you follow when using it. I’d argue that the procedures are more important than the equipment. You are a petite woman Sarah, what, 5’6? From what I remember of Max, he’s way over 6’, and was the sort of guy to work out regularly. You’ll have to do the right thing all of the time. You can’t afford to make a single mistake."
Alice went on, "The good thing is once you have him in the primary restraints, you’ll be safe and he won’t be able to do much at all. He’ll be in this condition most of the time which is good. The care needs to be taken at other times - going to the loo, showering, changing and eating."
Alice pulled a black holdall off the shelf. "Everything you need, equipment wise, is in here."
She took out a pair of handcuffs. "These cuffs are joined by a chain link which makes them comfortable to wear long term. They use a non-standard high security lock.
Put your arms out in front."
Sarah hesitated. Alice said crossly. "Look Sarah, we’ve got to get this right, over the next two days, I’ll be using you as an example and you’ll be using me as someone to practice on.
These cuffs and everything else in this bag will be going on and coming off hundreds of times until if feels as natural as talking."
Sarah conceded "I’m sorry Alice, it just feels a little scary, I’m sure I’ll get used to it."
Sarah offered her wrists.
Alice smiled and closed one cuff on her right wrist, "OK then, it’s important to close the cuff down the right amount. There should be an eighth of an inch gap between the cuff and the wrist where the wrist is widest. Too tight and it hurts, too loose and there is a danger of the cuff being removed, although that’s going to be unlikely with someone as big boned as Matt. The best thing is to apply both cuffs loosely and then tighten them, that way you can do it properly without feeling rushed."
Alice closed the other cuff on Sarah’s left wrist and pulled a key from her pocket.
"There’s a small hole at the side of the cuff and a small pin at the top of the key. Pushing the key pin into the hole like this double locks the cuff so that it can’t be tightened any further. I find that the most useful feature of the double lock is that you can safely ignore the prisoner when they complain the cuffs are too tight." Alice stood up. "I’m thirsty, how about you make me a coffee." Sarah looked bewildered and held up her cuffed hands, "But.." Alice replied, "Oh come on Sarah, it will be more difficult but can’t be that hard, you know where everything is don’t you?" Sarah found it was surprisingly easy, it just took a little getting used to. Maybe the lesson she had just learnt was that cuffs aren’t that restrictive.
Alice called Sarah back to the couch and removed the cuffs. "That wasn’t so bad was it?" Alice pulled a length of chain from the bag. "This is a waist chain and it’s a vital part for your kit. Stand up please." Alice passed the chain around Sarah’s small waist.  "This long chain link at the end threads through a normal chain link and the cuff is passed through the long link like this."
Alice took Sarah’s wrists and cuffed them, there was no hesitation this time.
Sarah went on, "I’ve left a little slack in the waist chain, but nowhere near enough for it to slip over your waist. How does that feel?" Sarah tested the bonds and replied, "It feels like I’ll be able to nothing at all!" Alice was pleased. "A waist chain makes a huge difference to a cuffed prisoner. Their arms and hands are almost totally useless. The beauty of this waist chain is that there are no other locks apart from those on the cuffs. You can get another sort where a single cuff is fitted on either side of the waist. That one does need a padlock, but even of they have the cuff key they can’t release themselves if the cuff key hole is facing their elbow. Which of course is exactly how you would apply the cuff." Alice removed one cuff, tightened the waist chain a few more links and re-applied the cuffs to the waist-chain and Sarah’s wrist. Alice said, "Now I prefer the waist chain with no slack.
If there is a bit of tension, it is difficult to rotate the chain around the waist and that removes a degree of freedom from the prisoner. That can be useful in a car where the prisoner can’t easily reach round to release the seat belt." Sure enough, Sarah felt even more helpless with the tighter waist chain.
Alice reached into the bag one more time and pulled out a pair of leg cuffs.  These she carefully fitted to Sarah’s ankles and double locked in the same way she had done with the handcuffs earlier. "Again Sarah, you need a small amount of clearance between the cuff and the leg. If the prisoner is standing, an eighth should be enough. If not, allow a little more clearance as standing fattens the ankles slightly." Alice stood and faced Sarah. "There, that’s the primary restraint system fitted. Like that, you’re quite helpless and so would Matt be if he were you now. I’m hungry, how about we go out for some supper?"
Sarah panicked, "I can’t go out like this!" Alice calmed her down, "Sure you can, we’ll take the elevator down to the parking lot and get a drive by. We won’t meet a soul."
Sure enough, they didn’t meet anyone on the way to the car. Sarah saw the funny side and was giggling all the way. At the drive by, Alice had to feed Sarah her burger.  They collapsed into laughter several times. Alice said, "The kit bag has several straws in it.  It’s much easier to offer the prisoner drinks without un-cuffing them if you’ve got a straw handy."
Sarah interrupted, "I need the bathroom." Alice replied, "Well, I haven’t got the keys here, We’ll drive back now." "OK" said Sarah, "But hurry and don’t make me laugh", at which point they both burst out laughing.
Back at the apartment, Alice removed all the restraints and Sarah rushed off to the bathroom.
On her return, Alice seemed pleased. "We’ve covered quite a bit, all we need to do now is cover the procedures for showering, eating etc, and of course the big one - how are you going to arrest Matt?" Can you come back tomorrow morning Sarah?" "Yes" said Sarah, I’ve got the next fortnight off work."
They said their goodbyes. For the first time in at least five years, Sarah felt that she was back in control of her life. It felt great.

The next morning Sarah was back at Alice’s. Sarah was excited; this was turning out to be much more fun than she had expected. "As Alice opened the door, she smiled and held up a bunch of cuffs chain and leg cuffs. "No further Sarah until I’ve got these on you." A minute later Alice led Sarah hobbling into the bedroom. "Right Sarah, we’ll do going to the bathroom first. We need to release one hand a little, but not too much and we’ve got to do it safely." Alice pulled a padlock from the kit bag and a single cuff on a 12" chain. She locked the end of the chain over Sarah’s right hip using the padlock and applied the cuff to Sarah’s right wrist.  Alice went on, "Careful not to make the key holes face each other or you’ll never be able to unlock them. You can leave the extra cuff on all the time if you like. Now follow me to the bathroom." Alice led Sarah into the bathroom and pulled two more padlocks from the kit bag. "Now if I release one hand from the pair of handcuffs it is possible for you to pull the cuffs out of the waist chain. This is where a padlock comes in."
Alice passed the padlock through the cuff chain and the waist chain. "Again, you can leave that padlock in if you want. Now the procedure, this bit is risky so I’m going to do two things to minimise the risk. Firstly I’m going to use this padlock to remove all the slack from the leg cuffs. That way you can’t walk at all and if you tried anything, I could just push you onto the floor." Alice locked the padlock onto the leg cuffs and pulled a hood from the kit bag. Sarah tried to back away. "It’s all right, I won’t put this on you - yet! When unlocking, it will be a great help if the prisoner can’t see what you are doing. If they could, they might make a grab for the keys. You slip this over their head, pull the drawstring and make a loose double knot. It needs to be tight enough that you need to pick at it a little to undo. That would give you a few seconds to react if the prisoner managed to get their hands free."
Alice released Sarah’s right hand from the pair of cuffs. It was now only restrained by the 12" chain. "Right, I’ll leave you alone for a few minutes, see if you can manage to do anything in here."
Alice left the room. Sarah found it quite easy to unbuckle her jeans.  Afterwards, it was a struggle to reach the jeans to pull them up, especially as her feet were locked so close together. Sarah managed it eventually and called for Alice. Sarah complained. "It’s so slow and hard to do anything with this lot on." Alice replied, "That’s good, don’t forget it’s Matt and not you living in these restraints. Anyway, in a few minutes you’ll be able to get your own back.
The rest of the day way spent with roles reversed. Alice looked for opportunities to overpower Sarah but Sarah was too thorough and easily coped with Alice’s attempts to reach for keys.
At the end of the day they sat on the sofa, all the restraints were back in the bag. Alice smiled at Sarah. "I think you’ve got the hang of this, I suggest you fly out to Matt’s place tomorrow.
There are just a few more details." Alice went over to a drawer and took a 4" length of chain and two small tubes of glue. "It might look like thin chain but it’s very strong. I’m going to attach all the keys you need to one end of the chain. The other end will be permanently fastened round your waist. That way, you’ll always know where the keys are and you can’t lose them."
Alice fed five small keys onto a threaded chain link together with the end of the chain. She then mixed up some glue from the tubes. "This is epoxy resin, in an hour it will be harder than steel."
She smeared the thread with the resin and used a small wrench to tighten the nut. "The three padlock keys have been colour coded with nail varnish. I’ve done the same with the padlocks so you can match them up. The other keys are for the handcuffs and the leg cuffs." You’ll have to lock the chain round your waist when you get there otherwise you won’t get past the metal detectors at the airport. There is another threaded link and resin in the kit bag."
Sarah asked, "How will I get it off?". Don’t worry, pop round when it’s all done. I’ve got some bolt cutters that will do the trick. Two more things Sarah, a can of pepper spray and a stun gun.
You’ll need these when you arrest Matt."
It was early afternoon when Sarah stepped off the plane. She felt quite alone now and her mind was racing. After she collected the kit bag from baggage collection, she went into the bathroom to fit the key chain to her waist. After mixing the resin, Sarah wondered how tight to make it.
After a few trials, she decided on close fitting but not too tight. It felt nice with the chain around her waist as she tightened the nut. The chain was against her skin under a black tee shirt and the keys and loose chain fitted neatly in her jeans pocket. With her leather jacket on, no-one would know a thing.
Sarah hired a car and sat at the wheel. Sitting down, the chain now felt a little tight, using the wrench, Sarah tried to loosen the nut but it wouldn’t budge. It was 45 minutes since she had mixed the resin and it was now too late. Oh well, she’d just have to live with it for the next few days.
Sarah drove to Matt’s lodge, parked round the corner and found the spot in the trees where she had spied before. She was dressed all in black and was quite invisible from the lodge.
After 20 minutes, Sarah was convinced there was no one at home. She walked back to the road and walked up to the path to the lodge. No one answered when she rang the bell.  The lodge had a porch and the outer door was unlocked. Although the porch door was made of glass, the porch itself was made of wood and was quite dark inside. Sarah stepped into the porch and hid behind the door.
Sarah took out a pair of rigid cuffs, leg cuffs, hood, pepper spray and stun gun from the bag.
Sarah sat patiently for an hour. A car drove up the track and parked outside the lodge. Sarah stood up, her heart was in her mouth. She heard the car door open and a single person walking on the gravel towards the lodge. Sarah’s right hand held the pepper spray and was shaking furiously.
The left hand held the rigid cuffs. She slid back into the shadows. The glass outer door opened outwards and the large tall shape of Matt walked into porch latch key in hand. Sarah moved forward and Matt, hearing a noise, turned towards her. His eyes were wide open peering into the gloom.
Sarah aimed and sprayed. A wide powerful spray hit Matt full in the face and he screamed clutching his face and fell back into the other side of the porch. Sarah closed a cuff over his right wrist and twisted the cuff forcing the arm behind his back. Matt tried to resist but the pain of working against the band of steel using just the skin and bone of a wrist was too much. Without saying a word, Sarah grabbed his left wrist and pulled it behind his back. When Matt tried to resist she pushed the right wrist high up his back and twisted. Matt screamed and relaxed his left arm. Sarah closed the other cuff and squeezed both cuffs to tighten them, she didn’t feel like taking time out to adjust them properly. Matt’s eyes were still tightly shut when she slipped the hood over his head and tied a knot in the draw string. Finally, the leg cuffs went on. On the floor was the front door key. She opened the door and dragged the stumbling Matt into the room.
Sarah emptied Matt’s pockets and tried a body search - he was clean. Matt kept completely silent during all this and she hadn’t said a word. She was sure he didn’t know it was is ex wife doing this. Boy was he in for a surprise!
Using a padlock, Sarah shortened the leg cuff chain and then fitted the chain and cuffs to Matt’s waist. She used a second padlock here to prevent the cuffs being removed if both hands weren’t cuffed. The waist chain was on quite tight. "Good" she thought, "He deserves all this." Sarah pulled Matt across the room to where a water pipe went from floor to ceiling. She unlocked one wrist from the rigid cuffs and immediately locked the open cuff to the water pipe. The last thing she wanted was both his hands free. Sarah pressed the trigger on the stun gun and there was a buzz from the electric discharge. Matt backed away. He knew what she was holding and there was no resistance when she brought his free arm to the front and closed a cuff around the wrist. Sarah removed the other wrist from the rigid cuff and immediately closed the cuff around the waist chain.
Matt was now attached to the water pipe. Sarah wasn’t taking any chances.  Again there was no resistance when Sarah attached his wrist to the waist chain cuff. Sarah carefully closed the cuffs down to a snug fit and double locked them. That was it, primary restraints fitted.
Sarah removed the hood and looked into Matt’s eyes. There was a look of surprise and relief on Matt’s face. "Thank God it’s you Sarah, I was terrified. What are you doing here?"
Sarah didn’t answer immediately. When she did, she spoke slowly. "Matt, you are under arrest. I’m taking you back home where you will held in custody for skipping bail until your case comes up.
You’ll be heavily restrained for the journey back. Any disobedience or attempt to escape will be dealt with most severely. By the way, I hate you with a vengeance and I can make the next two days hell for you if I want."
Sarah replaced the hood on Matt and wandered around the lodge, looking in drawers, reading paperwork. She then packed a bag with underwear and a change of clothes. She felt in complete control. Matt was still attached to the water pipe and unable to move his hands and feet. It was safe to leave him for a while and she left the lodge to bring the car nearer. On returning, Sarah checked over the locks and adjusted the leg cuffs as they were put on in a hurry. After double locking them, she removed the padlock, retrieved the rigid cuffs and removed the hood.
"I just can’t wait to try out the stun gun on you Matt, just give me the slightest excuse." Sarah led Matt to the car and strapped him in the front passenger seat. "You are only to speak when spoken to. Break the rule and you wear a ball gag." Sarah drove off heading South down the highway.
For half an hour Matt sat silently, carefully studying his bonds. Sarah knew him well enough to know he was deperately trying to work out an escape plan. Matt then spoke, "Sarah, these cuffs are on very tight, could you loosen them just a little?" Without saying anything, Sarah pulled over, she reached into the kit bag and retrieved the ball gag. Matt complained, "I’m sorry Sarah, it’s just that it really hurts. "Open your mouth" Sarah commanded. Matt refused and without giving him a second chance, Sarah passed the stun gun over Matt’s arm and chest. Matt screamed and while his mouth was open, Sarah pushed the ball into his mouth and behind his teeth, she brought the straps round to the back of his head and tightened the buckle. Matt grunted and Sarah was pleased with her handiwork. Calmly, she put the bag away and returned to the highway.
Two hours later it was dark and Sarah started looking for a motel. Some minutes later, she found one that met her needs. She parked the car and hooded Matt. She then applied the padlock to the leg cuffs and went on her own to book a twin room.
Sarah parked the car in front of the motel room. It was at the edge of the site as she had requested. Removing the leg cuff padlock, Sarah led Matt into the motel room and sat him on the bed.
She un cuffed one leg cuff and wrapped the chain twice around the iron bar at the foot of the bed and re-applied the cuff.
Sarah was in no hurry, after showering she went next door to McDonalds and got a couple of burgers and drinks. When she returned, Sarah removed the hood and gag. "You can talk now."
Matt spoke at once, "Look Sarah, this must be some big mistake. I haven’t done anything wrong. You must have got me confused with someone else. I really mean it too, the cuffs are on too tight."
Without looking down at them Sarah replied. "The cuffs are just fine. As for getting the wrong man, you can explain all that to the judge. Are you hungry?" Matt nodded and Sarah fed him the burger.
After the coke, Matt asked to go to the bathroom.
"OK Matt you can go, but don’t think you’ll have any chance of escape." Sarah replaced the hood and fitted the cuff and chain to the waist chain. She led him to the bathroom and shortened the leg cuff chain with a padlock. After releasing Matt’s right hand from the waist chain cuff, she removed the hood. Sarah said, "That’s the best I can do. You’ve got five minutes whether you’ve finished or not. I’m not leaving the room either." Matt struggled un-doing the fly. Sarah was sure he was deliberately making it look difficult. She remembered the practice sessions with Alice and it wasn’t that bad.
Sarah decided that she wasn’t going to let Matt shower, it was going to be too much effort and she was exhausted. Back at the bed, Sarah used the rigid cuffs on Matt’s wrists. With the hood fitted, she removed the chain link handcuffs and waist chain. Using the chain and two padlocks, Sarah applied a loose collar to Matt and chained him to the iron headboard.  She then removed the rigid cuffs. Matt was now tethered to both ends of the bed but had his arms free. "You can take the hood off if you like." said Sarah as she got undressed. She didn’t feel at all self-conscious. She stood naked as she sorted her clothes out for the following morning. The keys dangled by her knees.
Sarah looked down at her waist. The chain had dug into her skin leaving red impressions especially over her hips. Moving to the bathroom, Sarah gave Matt’s bed a wide berth.
He lay there watching her silently.
Sarah ran the shower and then crept back to the bathroom door and peeked through the crack.
She could see Matt desperately pulling at the padlock on the head-board.
Sarah remembered Alice had told her that although the padlocks were small, they were $50 each with a hardened shackle and a totally pick proof lock. She smiled and stepped into the shower.
After the shower, Sarah returned to the room. Matt was lying on the bed, she noticed his fingers were red and there might even have been a trace of blood. She figured that he had two alternatives left. Firstly to persuade her to release him and secondly to wait for an opportunity to overpower her. She figured that he knew her well enough that he wasn’t going to get very far with the first option. Sarah decided Matt was going to try the second option. As his arms were free, this would most likely be the time when he attempted it. Again, she kept well clear of Matt’s bed. Her bed was five feet from Matt’s. Far enough for him not to be able to reach over.  Sarah turned out the lights, a feeble light entered the room from outside. Sarah lay on her back for an hour, unable to fall asleep. The stun gun was on the floor beside her, not on Matt’s side of the bed! If Matt was going to try anything, she wanted to get it over and done with. It would give her an excuse to be aggressive with the restraints and would rule out Matt’s option 1 - negotiating a deal.
Silently, Sarah lowered her hand to the floor and picked up the stun gun.  Even with her eyes accustomed to the darkness, she could barely make out any features in the room. "This is it." she thought as she swung her legs over on Matt’s side of her bed and headed for the bathroom.
Subconsciously, Sarah didn’t expect anything to happen and she was taken by surprise when a strong hand grabbed the key chain around her waist and lifted her into the air onto Matt’s bed. With one hand twisting the waist chain hard and the other hand clenched in her hair, Matt was on top of her.
For a second Sarah was paralysed with fear, then she remembered the stun gun. It was still in her hand down by Matt’s crotch. She pulled the trigger and Matt seemed to jump off her. He screamed and she quickly got off the bed and turned on the lights. The collar stopped Matt from bending over double, but he was nursing his crotch with tears in his eyes. Sarah took the hood and the rigid cuffs from her bag. She held the stun gun over Matt’s ankles and shouted.  "Lie on you front NOW."
He did as he was told. "Hands behind your back NOW!" she commanded. He did so and she applied the cuffs, double locking them. She then applied the hood and went to the bathroom.
Only then did she feel the pain. She looked down, there was a dark bruise where Matt’s hand grabbed the chain, there were also bruises under the chain over her hips.
Sarah lifted the chain higher up her waist as best she could. She cursed herself for putting it on so tightly. The bastard was going to suffer for this. Sarah went back into the bedroom. She took off  the collar chain and hood and fitted the ball gag tightly, she then re-fitted the hood. The waist  chain went back on tightly around his waist and was locked on with a padlock. The free end of Matt’s waist chain amounted to two feet. She pulled down Matt’s jeans and underwear and passed the chain between Matt’s legs.
Sarah pulled the chain tight and, using the remaining padlock, she locked it to the back of the waist chain. Sarah thought, "That should stop him getting much sleep tonight."
In the morning, Sarah looked over to where Matt was lying. He was feebly trying to reduce the pressure on the crotch chain by pushing down on the waist chain. Sarah got up. Releasing the crotch chain she said, "I hope you didn’t get much sleep last night."
Sarah got dressed and then applied the waist chain and cuffs. The waist chain went on as tight as Sarah could manage. The handcuffs and leg cuffs were tightened two clicks more that the day before.
The leg cuff chain was shortened to 1ft instead of 18" using a padlock. The ball gag came off to allow Matt a drink and was re-fitted. Sarah was pleased that the hire car had tinted glass, she didn’t want people looking in.
After an hour, Sarah stopped the car and removed the ball gag. Matt looked quite depressed, obviously he didn’t rate his chances of escape now. The handcuffs bit into Matt’s wrists and Sarah started to feel sorry for him. The dull ache from her hips brought her round. In three hours she would be handing Matt over to the authorities. In order to protect herself, she had better loosen the restraints, she didn’t want to be accused of mistreatment!  Using the hood and rigid cuffs, Sarah removed the other cuffs and loosened the waist chain. The chained cuffs were looped through the waist chain and re-applied with a comfortable amount of slack. The same too with the leg cuffs.
Sarah explained to Matt, "We’ll be back home in three hours. I’ll be turning you in to detective Bradley, she will be pleased to see you."
Matt pleaded, "Look Sarah, I’m really sorry about last night, is there some way we can talk this through?" "No Matt, this is it." replied Sarah, "I need to see this through, you’ve ruined the last seven years of my life and this is my way of making you pay the price. After I hand you over, I’ll be free and I’ll be happy about that."
Matt asked, "But how come you are so good at this? I’ve been totally helpless since you jumped on me at the lodge."
Sarah smiled as she pulled the car back onto the road, "I am good at it aren’t I."
The sun was setting as Sarah pulled the car into the police department car park. Matt tried desperately to pull his hands from the cuffs, he strained and his face reddened. Sarah waited a few seconds for Matt to calm down, she had total confidence in the restraints. Sarah led Matt out of the car, he was shaking and his head was hung low. It was a slow walk to the front desk, the only sound was Matt’s chains dragging on the tarmac.  Sarah spoke to the desk sergeant, "Can you ask detective Bradley to come down, I have Matt Stevens in custody."
Detective Bradley arrived within 30 seconds. When she saw Matt she gave a broad smile. "Why, Mr Stevens, this is a pleasant surprise." Turning to Sarah she said, "And who have I got to thank for this?" Sarah shook hands, "Sarah Cooke, Bail claim Associates". "Thanks Sarah, we’ll need to confirm his prints and fill in some paperwork, if you remove the restraints, I’ll take over from here." Sarah replied, "He’s make two escape attempts while in my custody, can we do the transfer in a more secure area?", Sarah was happy with the white lie, there was only one escape attempt. She knew who was going to be believed. Bradley replied, "Sure, follow me."
Detective Bradley led Matt away. This was it, although Matt was wearing Sarah’s restraints, he wasn’t her responsibility any more and she felt a little regret. Perhaps she should have dragged the journey out longer. Bradley used her swipe cards to pass through three sets of doors. and into a large room with a desk and some holding cells. Bradley turned and said, "Remove his cuffs and waist chain, I’ll cuff him behind with my cuffs and then you can remove the leg cuffs." Sarah agreed and when it was all done, detective Bradley called out, "Tom, can you take this prisoner’s prints and put him in a holding cell, I’ll be back in an hour. Assume for the moment that he’s a class 5 security risk. Right Sarah, follow me upstairs."
Two hours later Sarah jumped back into the car and drove straight to Alice’s apartment.
Alice opened the door and screamed with delight. "Oh Sarah, did you do it, tell me all about it."
Sarah replied, "The bastard is in custody and I’m OK. I need a beer, no, first get this damn key chain off, I put the damn thing on too tight and it’s killing me." Alice came back a few moments later with the bolt cutters, she carefully found the threaded link and cut it in two places. The chain fell to the floor. "Oh, that feels wonderful, it’s two days now that I’ve been looking forward to this." Alice saw the bruises. "There is no way the chain could have made those bruises, whatever happened?" They sat on the sofa with their beers and Sarah recounted the whole story.

        © Amania 2002