Elsewhere, Det. Jamie was hot on the trail of Jennifer and her kidnapper. He had gotten a lead from the audio forensics team regarding something he heard on the tape. The sound of a train whistle was heard and from the timestamp on the tape, he knew of only one train that ran at that specific time. Its route ran near an abandoned warehouse that was scheduled to be condemned that month.
“I knew that whistle sounded familiar!” Jamie screamed in his head as he grabbed his coat, sidearm and badge and ran for his unmarked cruiser. A couple of officers who knew how Jamie operated knew when he ran out like that, he was on the verge of solving a case. Without even a nod from Jamie, they followed him and got into their cruisers to aid any way they could. Knowing where to find Jennifer, Jamie drove like a madman with the two officers trailing close behind taking care that they didn’t use their lights or sirens. A dangerous kidnapper like this one had nothing to lose and had no qualms about getting rid of any witnesses.
“Just hang on… I’m coming.” His heart threatened to beat out of his chest as he drove to the rescue. In his mind he hoped that he wouldn’t arrive too late.
—
Time was quickly running out as the spike drew considerably lower and closer to Jen’s helpless bellybutton. The man watched in sadistic delight as she tried to control her struggling. Jennifer tried to be careful to not accidently lift her bellybutton up to the spike, unfortunately it was all in vain as still it lowered.
“HELP!! SOMEBODY, HELP ME! PLEASE!!” She cried out in sheer panic.
She kept moving her belly from side to side, hoping to get it away from the deadly spike that threatened her lovely deep navel, but no matter what she tried, some part of her silken belly was still in danger of being skewered. Neither she nor the kidnapper had any idea that Jamie had snuck in alone with his gun drawn and following Jen’s desperate cries for help, he was mere yards away from their location. Jamie slowly peeked around the corner to see Jen tied to a metal table and the spike so low that, even though her belly was sucked in as far as possible, the tip of it rested on the bottom of the inside of her bellybutton, causing all but a few squirms to cease. The man, with his back to the detective, watched with glee as the spike moved to permanently pierce Jennifer’s heavenly bellybutton. Jen had her eyes closed tightly and said a silent prayer, anticipating the grisly end of her.
“Come on, Jamie! THINK! There has to be something!” He shouted in his mind. His eyes scanned the room frantically until they fell on the answer to both his and Jennifer’s prayers-the lever of the machine that was lowering the spike. Jamie held his breath, took aim and fired what he hoped was a life-saving shot.
*BANG*
The bullet hit the lever enough to make the spike rise out of Jennifer’s quivering navel.
“FREEZE!” Jamie shouted. His gun was trained on the kidnapper as Jen suddenly felt the sharp pressure of the spike leaving her bellybutton. Still holding in her stomach, she opened one eye to see it up and let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed her belly. If her bellybutton wasn’t as deep as it was, she would have been a goner minutes ago.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She sighed.
“Keep your hands up where I can see them!” Jamie ordered as he held the gun on the kidnapper.
The man did as ordered and help up his hands as the spike was hoisted back into the air. But, like most devious villains, he still had one more trick up his sleeve, so to speak.
“Fine. But tell me this. What’s more important to you. Taking me in to face justice… or saving her?” The kidnapper asked with a sneer. His middle finger hits a button hidden in the sleeve of his jacket which activates a five minute timer. “When the timer hits ZERO, that spike will drop like a lead balloon right in her precious innie! Think you can save her before she ends up with a pierced bellybutton, hero?”
Jen screams again in terror distracting Jamie, giving the kidnapper an opening to rush the detective. Jen’s attention was divided among the wrestling men, the timer, and the huge spike dangling high above her precious bellybutton.
“It’s too late, hero! If I can’t have Jen and her deep bellybutton, NOBODY CAN!” The kidnapper yelled. As the men fight for control of the gun and Jen struggles to free herself to get her belly and navel away from danger, Jamie’s gun goes off; the sound making Jennifer shriek in surprise. She looks over to see both men standing frozen in time. A tear fell from Jen’s eye as she feared that her rescuer had been shot, but as the teardrop fell to the floor… so did the kidnapper. He was dead from a fatal gunshot wound to his navel. A fitting end.
“That was too close.” Jamie whispered. He had no time to breathe a sigh of relief, though.
“HELP ME, PLEASE! TIME’S ALMOST UP!” Jen screamed as she struggled.
She was right. During the fight, time had passed and now there was only a minute left on the clock and what was worse, during the struggle, the kidnapper’s button that could stop the timer was destroyed. Jamie had to act quickly so he pointed his gun at the chain holding the spike hoping a bullet would jam the gears long enough to free Jennifer.
“No! Don’t do that!” Jen shouted. “It’ll fall right in my bellybutton!”
Jamie couldn’t risk that so, thinking fast, he quickly moved to untie her. He got the ropes untied from her ankles quickly, but the knot tying her wrists together was complex and he only had forty-five seconds left. He wiped the sweat from his hands and quickly started on the rope.
“Hurry, please!” She begged.
If there was ever a time for his Eagle Scout knot-tying merit badge to come in handy, it was now!
“Come on! Come on! Just a little more…” He murmured.
Jen watched with fearful eyes as the timer counted down from five seconds. Just as it hit 00:01, Jamie got the knot untied and pulled her off the table onto the floor and they both hear the slam of the metal spike on the steel table where her navel had just been a mere second ago. Jamie was lying next to Jen while she was on her back from being pulled from certain navel doom. Both were breathing a sigh of relief as Jamie unconsciously ran a hand down Jen’s heaving stomach.
“I knew spending two weeks earning that merit badge would pay off.” Jamie sighed as he looked down at Jennifer. “Are you all right?” He stuck his finger in her deep innie to feel for anything abnormal. Jennifer subconsciously arched into it letting out a quiet gasp.
“Yeah, I-I’m fine.” Jen replied with a deep breath. “Thanks for saving me… and my bellybutton.”
Jamie smiled as he swirled his finger in deeper, although for a very different reason.
“All in a day’s work.”
Jen smiled at him and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized something… Jamie’s voice. It was the same as in her daydream. She was about to say something when she realized his finger was wiggling her bellybutton. Not that she minded.
“You sure… uhhhnnn… cut it close… mmmmm… didn’t you?”
The sounds Jen was making was enough to snap Jamie out of his actions. He reluctantly took his finger out of her bellybutton and blushed. To say the least, what he was doing wasn’t considered acceptable behavior by the force.
“Uh… yeah, sorry. Got a little carried away there. I hope that guy didn’t do any permanent damage.”
“I don’t think so.” Jen answered, looking down at her midriff. She fingered her bellybutton for a moment just to be sure. “Nope. Everything’s fine.” She said with a smile. “I don’t know how to thank you… um…” A sweet chuckle was enough to break the tension between the two. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Jamie.” He said smiling and extending his right hand.
“I’m Jen.” She replied with a smile as she shook his hand. “Well, if there is anything I can do to repay you for saving me, name it.”
Jamie blushed as he absent-mindedly looked at her deep navel. Jen followed his gaze and smiled. If his gaze didn’t give away his desires, his finger definitely did.
“Tell you what, how about we meet at my place later tonight? Then you can take your reward in whatever form you want…” She took Jamie’s hand and placed his index finger in her bellybutton while flashing a sexy grin. “Okay?”
Jamie swallowed hard and blushed again as his finger plumbed the depths of her soft, deep bellybutton. If he had his way, he’d never take it out. “Sounds great.” He gently helped Jennifer to her feet as she remembered something.
“Great. Now, I just need to get something from here.” She said as she looked around.
Jamie was taken aback.
“Here? Are you kidding?!” He asked incredulously. Never mind that this place was now a crime scene, Jamie was having a hard time trying to figure out what she could possibly want from this den of navel horror. He got his answer when he heard:
“Mew.”
Jen smiled as she went to the cardboard box that held the ONLY thing the kidnapper used on her that she liked… the tiny, orange kitten.
“Come here, sweetie.” She gently took the little feline out of the box and nuzzled it close to her face. “You wanna come home with me, little cutie? Hmm?”
The baby feline looked up and licked her nose, making her giggle.
“It’s settled, then.” Jen walked back to Jamie with the kitten curled up in her arms.
“What a cutie. Is it a boy or a girl?”
When the little cat buried its face in her cleavage, they both knew immediately.
“Boy.” They replied simultaneously and laughed. She handed the ginger kitty to Jamie and found a pencil and a scrap piece of paper lying on the ground. She quickly jotted down her address and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.
“That piece of paper has my address. Don’t be late, okay?” She asked with a wink.
“Oh, I won’t. I’ll be there with bellies… I-I mean BELLS on!”
He chuckled nervously as he grinned stupidly. He knew what was on his mind when he made the Freudian slip and so did Jen who smiled sweetly. She thought it was cute; even cuter when she saw his dimples. The kitten Jamie held shook its head as if it was thinking “This dude has ZERO GAME.” She winked at Jamie again as one of the officers drove her and her new pet home leaving Jamie stunned… but still with that silly grin on his face.
“I can’t believe I have a date… with a gorgeous woman… a bellydancer… and tonight I… I… TONIGHT! DAMN, I NEED TO GET READY!”
Finally realizing that his date was a few hours away, he bolted to his car and drove home to clean up.