<<Shake Down, verb phrasal, to extort money or goods>>

Memphis Tennessee, one year ago:

Viv was not having a happy day. She couldn't track down the sleeze ball private detective who'd managed to take pictures of her the other day. She was pretty furious she didn't need someone running around with pictures of her. It had been a while since quite a few people had seen her likeness and she intended to keep it that way.

She went by a bar she knew that tended to be a good source of information to see what she could turn up about the private eye. Steve Windsor, two could play his little game of cat and mouse after all. Viv planned on playing with mouse poison.

Inside she swaggered up to the bar and sat. Paul was working the bar, he knew half of the city, they were either relatives, inlaws or his x-boyfriends.

"What can I get you?" he asked Viv even though he already knew.

"Water with lemon and Ice" she told him as usual. Once he gave her the drink she slid a fifty dollar bill on the table. "I need some answers, or change." she said. This was a routine thing, Viv paid for info if it was good, Paul's always was. That was good for Paul, bad info would result in some unpleasntness.

"I'll see what I can do." he said as he wiped down the bar top near her.(in other words okay, ask what you want to know)

"You know a guy named Steve Windsor?" she asks.

"I know Steve, I turned him out of the closet." Paul says.

A pleased expression crossed Viv's face. "Who's he seeing?" she asked.

Paul frowns, " I dunno if I should tell you, you're a damn homewrecker you know." he says.

Viv nods and slides a twenty onto the bar too. "I am not a homewrecker." she says softly. Paul full well knows what she does for a living.

He sighs, "Steve owe money?" he asks.

"I need to find Steve to get some pictures he took of me, He hands em over we're settled, but I can't find him, I wouldn't want to have to hurt anyone to find out where he is when I can do it the easy way." she says in a deliberately icy voice.

Paul understands the veiled threat for what it is.

"It's complicated Viv, his boyfriend isn't out, and he's married." Paul offers in explanation of his hesitation.

"All the more reason for the boyfriend to talk to me without me having to get ugly on his ass." she replies with a smirk.

Seeing her point Paul caves in and coopeerates.

It had been easy to find Ray Preston's house with Paul's directions. Viv had laid out all her tools before driving over.

She pulled in, in her station wagon and was pleased to see only Ray's car was there. It would be good if the wife and the kids never had to know anything about her visit for a number of reasons.

She picked up her big, red, metal, tool box after pulling on her toolbelt and giving her self a quick once over in the rear view mirror. She was hot, she had on tight cut-off shorts to emphasize her ass while she bent over to fix things and a tank top that left nothing about her cleavage to the imagination.

Feeling prepared she walked up to Ray's front door and knocked confidantly.

He likely spent a minute looking out the peep hole at her, which is why she'd stood well back from the door after knocking. She wanted him to be able to appreciate her and see that she was obviously here to fix something.....and indeed if he didn't tell her what she wanted to know, she would "FIX" him.

Viv's plea to Ray's intelligence had failed once she'd finished pretending to fix his leaky sink. Though in truth she had, with him staring at her ass the whole time.

When she'd finished she'd asked about Steve, explaining she really didn't want to tell his wife but she would. Suddenly he wasn't as excited by her, he was just angry then, and he'd blurted, "She already knows why do you think she's not here! Now what's this all about!" he'd demanded.

"tsk tsk.."Viv made the little noise with her best pouty face,"This will go much easier Ray, if we use my rules." she said it in a sweet voice but there was nothing sweet about the way she held that pipe wrench.

"Rule number one I ask questions, you give answers. Rule mumber two I'd better like the answer or you get punished."She'd explained and pulled out some leg shackles from within the recesses of her tool belt. She flashed an innocent look, "You had been so happy to see me....you sure you don't want to tell me about Steve so you and I can still be friends?" she made it sound so reasonable.

He shook his head angrily at her and then had given her every indication he wouldn't cooperate, which of coarse had forced Viv's hand.

That was when she'd kneed him in the groin and made him double over. "Wrong answer Ray." she told him. She'd gotten a shackle on one ankle rather quickly.

"What the hell! You can't do this!" he'd blurted.

A kick in his chest with her heavy work boot. "Still the wrong answer I'm afraid." she drug him with the shackle to a large chair in the living room.

"All I want to know is where Steve is and get my pictures out of his hands, you think you could be more cooperative." she said.

"I'm not going tot tell you where he is. I won't let you get your hands on him you psycho bitch!" Ray assured her. She respected his loyalty but still she had to break him of it.

A slap in the temple, before handcuffing a wrist to the chair with handcuffs from the toolbelt. His ankle then got shackled to the same chair opposite side.

Another slap to the head, here he slapped her back with his free hand. "You're a bad boy." she said smiling at his slap. "Do you like pain Ray?"

"Fuck you!" he yelled at her.

"So that would be a yes." she said smashing his cuffed hand with the pipe wrench.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and twisted. It earned him a hand full of hair and her cruel biting laughter after she yanked away to kick him in the chest again.

"Just tell me what I want to know Ray. And I can go away. I don't want to be here doing this, I just want to destroy those pictures and blow out of town" she tells him and shakes her head.

"Fuck you." he says with more contempt this time.

From the belt she pulls another set of hand cuffs, to cuff the free hand, "While I like pain, I'm very particular about who I play slap and tickle with Ray." she warns.

Then she takes a pair of vice grips out and applies them to one of his knuckles slowly while twisting and pulling his finger backwards. He closes his eyes and grits his teeth.

Viv sighs this will be a long session, it's good she enjoys her work.

Ray had held out past the threshold of most men. He must really love Steve.

All of his fingers were broken, both wrists, one arm the other shoulder. His ear was pulled halfway off on the left side. Both eyes were puffed and swollen from bruies. There were small burns all over him from the soldering iron, but Viv hadn't gotten him to break until she'd crunk that cordless drill right next to his ear after two hours of torture and asked if he liked his knees. Then he'd blubbered like a baby and become amazingly cooperative. The drill always "broke them" one way or another. She thanked him and walked over to his kitchen counter to call 9-1-1 for him, then she left to go clean up her tools. Tools were such an investment.

Once she tracked down Steve and traded him for photos, she left town. She got her pictures and he got the pictures she'd taken of what she'd done to Ray. She'd expected she would have to threaten Steve.....it hadn't been necessary, he'd seemed to find the pictures of her torture session with Ray a turn on.