There were a few thugs in town that were causing a small ruckus in the neighborhood. They were starting to interrupt business, not only for New York, but for all the big cities doing business with New York. They were interrupting trades and stealing the goods, plus getting away with the money. This group of men were also out to get any info they could on the New York crime syndicate. So in order to weed them out a few bright minds came together and thought of a plan to stop them once and for all.

They may be mafioso's, but there is a way to do business and this group was intruding on the smoothness of how things ran. Muriel was the one who came up with the idea and she was the one who was going to be the bait. Yet, being the bait can also mean things go horribly wrong for you. You never know what will happen to you while you are there almost completely helpless.

The plan was to leave Muriel unattended near where these men had supposedly been sighted, what was a good hunch to be their headquarters. Most people knew Muriel was great with numbers, she remembered everything, and because of that they hardly had to write anything down. This of course made it hard for anyone, but their own businessmen to track. She was a good target for them to get info from and so she was the bait.

Normally a lady of her class and stature would never go out at night alone. She normally had a few men with her at all times, but tonight was different. She was upset, tears falling down her eyes as she walked down the sidewalk. She had yelled at the men to leave her. This was a ripe moment for the new group to jump.

The men heard all the yelling and watched as Muriel sent the men away to leave her all alone. They looked at each other and smiled. They felt like the jackpot had just walked right into their hands. Standing up they quickly made their way down to the street. Opening the front door they pretended to just be smoking a cigarette, but when Muriel began to pass by they jumped. Cupping their hand over her mouth to prevent any screams being heard they dragged her inside.

Muriel didn't go without a fight, she punch two of the men, one in the throat and the other in the stomach. She also kicked one between the legs, which quickly dropped him to the ground. Even with the damage she tried to do they brought her in and quickly covered her eyes. The men restrained her so that no other punches or kicks would happen.

They walked into a small room, sat her down in a chair and tied her to it. Muriel as the bait worked and with all the men here that left no one to watch the outside of the building for any intruders that might be working their way in.

“You are a silly girl, Muriel. Someone like you should never be alone and especially at night. A beautiful woman like you would quickly become someone's tasty new treat.”

His voice was coarse and the tone he talked with gave Muriel the chills. Being a woman with so many men around her was a bad situation to be in. She could still not see, but she quickly felt where he was, right behind her. His hands on her legs as he leaned over breathing into her ear.

“It has been a very long time since I had a respectable and lovely lady in my arms. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I had a peak of what goods you may have?”

Muriel's body tensed and she could feel his hands sliding up to her hips, he continued his venture up her stomach and stopped right below her chest.

“Of course you know we didn't take you just because we were feeling lonely. If you don't want us then we can do a trade, information or your pride. I'm sure you wouldn't want everyone knowing that you were taken advantage of by five men.”

He turned her face to the right, she could feel his lips near hers and in response she bit down hard on his lip. She could taste blood in her mouth from the damage she had done. He cried out in pain and smacked her. Her body and the chair fell over and searing pain went through her left arm. The chair was quickly sat back up and then the man grabbed her long blonde hair. He pulled it down making her head lean backwards, her neck clearly visible and open. She still could not see, but she felt the cold sharp blade that now was held against her.

“Or I can treat you like a bitch if that is what you want. You fucking tramp.”

Holding the knife there he let I dig in a little, to bring a drop of blood out of her skin. Taking the knife away from her neck he then used it and with a few quick motions he cut off her hair. She no longer had hair down her back, her beautiful blonde hair barely reached chin length.

“If you want to be a bitch, then let me make you look like one. Unless you want to start talking, maybe I can go easy on you.”

Muriel felt a few tears falling down, her arm was throbbing and her neck stung from the cut that was now there, she also felt a bruise growing on her face from where he smacked her. The man was about to hit her again, but a single gun shot made him freeze in place. Muriel felt a smile come across her face. The man looked at her and then realized what he had done. He had led them right into their domain. There was a reason she was left all alone, not because she was a fool, but because she was going to be their downfall.

Muriel began to laugh, but she knew she wasn't out of harms way yet. She began to work on the knots that wrapped her hands together. Her hands were small and with a little bit of tugging she would be able to get them free, but her time was limited. To buy time she began to try and distract him.

“You really think I would be by myself? I hope you enjoy the small time you had, but I would suggest you start counting down the seconds that you have left to live.”

He was barking out orders and ignoring her. If he was just going to ignore the threat he had right in front of him, then she would make sure to be the death of him.

Business was only good when things flowed nice and smooth. When things got in the way it made for a bumpy ride. Money didn't move as quickly, or efficiently, when people stuck their noses in where they didn't belong. They became nothing more than obstacles to remove. Like steaming piles of shit left on the sidewalk, they stunk up New York and made it problematic for those doing business within, and beyond the city limits.

Scarfo was a regular in The Big Apple. He had business that dragged him out from Philadelphia and on more than one occasion spent some time at The Smackdown Hotel. Horse racing was a new interest and there were no better tracks. Add to that his bootlegging and drug running rackets and you had definite reasons to be concerned when thugs became intrusive to business. This thing was about stacking dough and anything that fucked with this, needed to be dealt with.

Muriel was the brains behind it all and Scarfo took a backseat to her leadership. He didn't mind a broad barking orders, but not that she barked. He enjoyed these lively mobsters in dresses getting in amongst it and showing the men what the fuck they could do. Sometimes, a dames touch was required rather than brute force. And this job required that subtle role that anything out of a dress, just wouldn't pull off.

She was now inside, working the plan. Or maybe she was the one being worked. With all the planning in the world, sometimes things just went sideways. A wrong move here, a miscalculated step there, and before you knew it you were the talk of the underworld for that fuck up that just went down. Anything was possible, and with Muriel dangling herself out there as live bait it was a dangerous plan to begin with.

Those thoughts and others stayed with Scarfo as he and four of his men along with two of Muriel's made their way toward the front of the building. It had been a slow and nervy four minutes since she went in, and time was ticking. The men were dressed in dark black suits with matching ties and fedoras, intent to blend into the shadows as they moved to the front of the building.

Scarfo pulled out a pocket watch as his group huddled around the entrance. Four minutes and thirty seconds had passed. Muriel knew numbers and wanted five minutes to pass before they made their way inside. Scarfo knew people and trusted her judgement, so he waited with his men till the hand ticked over to signal five minutes.

Scarfo slid the pocket watch into his trouser pocket then glanced at one of his men, positioned to his right. In response the man tossed a 12 gauge pump action sawed-off shotgun which Scarfo caught with his dominant right hand. An immediate pump of the .33 calibre man cutter followed, which signalled it was go time.

After a quiet opening of the unlocked door, the seven mobsters moved quickly inside. Immediately to the left was a shitty run down room with a large opening meant for two doors, that were missing. It had nothing more than a set of torn and worn couches and some old cabinets along the back wall. A single male was seated. The gun on his lap not making its way to a target; all he could do was let out an exclamation before a bullet tore into his chest.

"Oh fu...!"

One of the entering group made short work of the greasy lookout man. The sound echoed throughout the complex, which was nothing more than an old run down paper mill. Many of the machines had already been taken out; the structure was quite large. This entrance had a hallway that lead down towards a door that then lead out into the open factory area. Along the hallway were about four doors with smaller rooms than the one they just swept and another larger room with similar large missing doors toward the end.

After the first shot cleared the first room, four men piled out of one of the doors further down the hallway. Shots were traded back and fourth, and one thug that occupied the building copped a bullet to the gut, dropping, before he was struck with two; one each in the chest and face. One other of his crew rushed toward the factory entrance door at the end of the hall, firing shots back at the intruders as his other comrades scurried into the large back room to find cover.

The singled out man opened the factory door just as two bullets ended his efforts. He finally dropped and leant against the open door; his jacket collar catching onto the door handle.

Scarfo had only fired one buck shot to this point and was taking cover in the first room with his men. They were taking turns popping bullets toward their enemies, two of whom were shouting obscenities as they returned fire from the other large open room further down.

So far Muriel's accomplices hadn't lost anyone, and three of the enemy had been killed. She was still yet to surface as the gunfight raged on...

What felt like ages was only a few minutes, the rope around her hands were almost loose enough for her to get one hand out. Her hands bled from the friction between her hands and the rope, but the pain would only be temporary versus her death which was permanent. The man turned his head to glance at her and for that second she stopped. He had pulled out his gun and was firing out the door down towards the men that she was with.

She heard the yelp of one her bodyguards, from the sound of it he had got hit. Yet, at that very moment her hand slipped out of the ties, she quickly and quietly leaned forward and untied her feet. Then in one swift movement she had grabbed the chair, swung it, and hit the man who had hoped to molest her. The force from the chair knocked him out cold and Muriel took his gun. She took that time to lean over and shoot him in the head.

“Who is the bitch now? Tramp.”

The adrenaline in her body allowed her to forget the pain she was in. She had been through a lot just to get rid of these punks, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do. Now that she was loose she had to find all the info on their storehouses and if they were planning any more hits. She looked around the room she was in, it was fairly empty besides the chair and the man lying there dead. She knew things wouldn't be that easy for her, not that they were easy so far.

Peeking her head around the door she could see that his men were occupied and the men she was with were busy picking them down. She was easy to spot in her dress, so her men would know not to shoot if they saw her pass by.

The men that were with Scarfo had taken down quite a few of the opposing enemy. Muriel's bodyguard that was hit now lay on the ground to avoid another shot, he was still alive, but the bullet hit his arm he aimed with. Not being able to aim would just waste bullets that they couldn't afford to lose. So instead he gave his gun over to one of his comrades and tended to his wound. Losing too much blood would make fate go from bad to worse.

Meanwhile upstairs, quietly moving out of the room into the next, Muriel spotted only a bed and dresser. She opened the dresser and scanned it with nothing to be found. She once again moved on to the next room. The wood creaked below her making her quickly hide in the nearest shadows. She softened her breathe, but they were too focused on shooting to hear it. She let out a happy sigh of relief and reached the next door, only to find that it was locked.

“Fuck. Well, time to put this lock picking to use.”

Muriel wanted to stay quiet, she didn't need an unsuspecting stranger to creep up on her. Pulling out a pin in her hear she began her focus on the lock. Her ears listened intently until she heard the click and then turned the knob. Walking in she realized that this was the room she was looking for. She could only guess that since they kept it locked.

Her mind was fast and her eyes began to analyze the papers she went through, only taking what was important and leaving what wasn't. The only weakness that her mind had was that she could get lost in the knowledge and numbers while forgetting the world around her.

This group ticked like clockwork. She found herself fascinated by how they planned each attack. They knew who would be there and by name. The group of men knew the shipments, the amount being paid, they played both sides so well. Muriel wanted to learn from them, but they were only out to get her, not to share with her. So the information she had here would have to suffice. She had gathered almost all the information and turned to walk out the door.

“And just what do you think you're doing little lady?”

A deep voice struck Muriel where she stood as her eyes glanced over the man. He was extremely tall, with broad shoulders, a chest that stood out like a gorillas, and his glare that sent a few tingles up Muriel's spine.

Yet, without another word he pulled out a Thompson machine gun, Tommy Gun, and began to fire. Muriel hid under the desk, but it would only be able to take so much. She started to eye up her next defense position and began to pray. She wouldn't be able to fire back very easily with him firing multiple rounds.

Bullets were still flying back and forth, and at this stage there were only two men left at the end of the hall to deal with before moving forward. With that in mind, Scarfo pumped the sawed off shotty and approached the doorway, three of his men following. He held his hand up in preparation as two of their men continued to trade bullets with the two down the end. They would pop out quickly and let off shots, then duck back in behind the cover of the doorway.

When it sounded like the enemy may be reloading, Scarfo flicked his wrist to signal his men to move forward. Three of his guys rushed out whilst the two previously firing toward their enemies reloaded their handguns from a safe spot inside the room. Scarfo readied the shotgun then followed his men, directly toward the end of the hall. Bullets led the way as all three men let off fire directly toward the doorway where the enemy were hiding, and as one popped out he copped a volley of bullets ending his defensive stand.

The last man on the floor decided to back off once he saw his buddy drop. He stood back and to the side, waiting with his gun aimed at the open doorway. Just as one of Scarfo's men rushed in he caught a bullet in the stomach, dropping. Two of his other heavies rushed in seconds later and laid waste to the dirty intruder. They made sure he wasn't getting up, planting a bullet in his dome then doing the same to his partner in crime, who was most likely already dead, but they wanted to make sure.

Scarfo didn't stop, knowing his men had that room under control he paced toward a door further down, kicking it open. The two men that were further back reloading, had now joined the two still active and able that rushed with Scarfo, and followed their leader through the door. Scarfo had already made short work of someone coming down the stairs, filling his chest with shotgun pellets and clearing a path for himself and his men, who added more bullets to the mans body as they passed by.

As they neared the top of the stairs, the sound of continuous machine gun fire got louder and louder. The annihilator was in full swing, and Scarfo wasn't slowing down either. The door shot open and with it Scarfo paced through toward the racket with his men hot on his tail, shooting anything that laid in their path. Scarfo rushed through and pumped a round of buckshot into one guy as his men cleaned up two more; they cut down three men in quick succession and the adrenaline was well and truly pumping.

When they neared the open door the machine gun chatter had stopped. The man after Muriel had heard of the commotion in the hallway, and positioned himself inside the room looking directly at the doorway, the machine gun firmly in hand and aimed ready to fire the remaining rounds left in the tommy gun's magazine.

With the change in sound and the lack of people about, Scarfo slowed down and motioned his men back against the wall. They slowly moved toward the door's entrance, guns at the ready in case anything popped out. Scarfo was at the head of the line of men with his shotty ready to aggressively cut down anything hat moved. He had Muriel firmly in mind and hoped she was ok. The lack of communication from her was a little worrying, as he felt she should've been out and visible by now.

Scarfo and his men stood just outside the doorway, with the machine gun toting man just on the other side of it, ready and waiting. Scarfo looked back at his men and motioned them to cut across the room's doorway. With things so quiet, either the man was now dead or he was waiting, and there was only one way to find out...

Muriel felt a bullet graze her shoulder as it seared her flesh. She winced at the pain and felt a small tear form in her eye. Her fate was starting to look grimmer and grimmer by the moment. Any more rounds and she would be meeting her maker sooner than she had hoped. Putting her head in her knees she tried to make herself as small as possible behind the filing cabinet she now hid behind.

The man cut off the bullets for a second and chuckled. He wasn't out of this round just yet, so Muriel didn't dare to move out of her spot. She had enough protection to last a little bit longer.

"Here kitty kitty. Come out to play! I promise it will be fun."

Muriel raised her head enough just so she could speak, but not far enough for him to see her.

"Fuck you."

Then there was silence. The man grunted and turned as it was obvious the men she was with were almost to her. This was her chance to make her move. She only had a few bullets left and had to make them count. Instead of firing at his head she fired at his arm and hand. He dropped the Tommy Gun and quickly gripped his arm.

Muriel also took this moment to remove her knife from its pouch on her leg and dashed over to him. Using her legs she slammed her feet into his knees, hearing a cracking noise he cried out in agony. He fell to the ground and Muriel then used her legs to wrap around his chest, holding the knife to his throat she quietly dared him to try and move. 

She could hear the door slowly opening from outside where all the gunshots had just stopped. Everything was so quiet that Muriel could hear how loud she was breathing. When then man walked through the door Muriel held her gun up towards his face in case it was an unwelcome guest.

"Muriel?"

The voice was that of Scarfo's. Feeling a huge relief rush over her she lowered her gun while still holding the knife up to the mans neck, barely cutting into the skin. She had kept this man alive, just one, so that if there was any info they were missing they could try to remove it from him before killing him.

"Thank god it is you. Is everyone alright?"