[flex animous/HotTexasCowboy]

[PinkGinger]

It had been a year since Cleo Leduc had been with a man. After breaking up with a long tierm boyfriend Cleo had sworn off men. No one took her seriously. But the first month went by and she'd put in a conscious effort into not meeting guys. then another month went by, then another, and another. Nothing. By the seventh month she was so desperate she went right to online dating sites. Cleo tried out all the usual places. Eventually she found him. For the next few months they chatted over the internet and a few times over the phone. But he never wanted to trade pictures. That didn't bother her. He never pushed her to give him any, and only once did she send him a picture of herself, a picture of her smiling face. Being sort of ashamed of having to resort to the internet for dating she didn't dare share the relationship.

Today they were going to meet. In a public place of course, she wasn't that stupid.

Cleo spent most of the day getting ready. She shaved, waxed, plucked, buffed, and moisturized her body until it was as close to perfection has she could achieve. She she picked out a knee length, denim pencil skirt; a green, three quarter sleeve, t-shirt; and dark brown leather, flat soled boots. She curled her red hair into tight ringlets and applied a little makeup.

Feeling like a bombshell she left to meet him at a quiet bar. That evening she was full of confidence and hope for the future.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

He was going by the name Patrick, an identity he had cultivated online and could easily drop once it had served its purpose. Patrick had been created to attract a certain kind of woman. He was responsible and polite, respectful of her in all ways, wanting a long-term relationship, hoping for marriage, kids, a bit of a romantic soul. He promised her flowers and candy, candlelit dinners and rose petal covered bedspread. God, Patrick was a wuss!

From early on, he knew his target. Internet "security" was a joke, and he'd uncovered her real identity and found out all he needed to know about her. He'd followed her at times discretely, taking pictures He found her place of work and chatted up a few of her work colleagues to learn more about her past, her present, her personality. He was good at it; no one realized he was trying to get information about her, used different names and disguises so no one would see a pattern.

She had dressed nicely for him, he saw, as she entered the place of their meeting. He already had a table. He was six foot one, his hard muscled body not so obvious under his business shirt and tan sports coat, dark slacks and black shoes. His blond hair was close cropped and neat, which he had been growing for a few weeks. Normally, and shortly again, his head was cleanly shaven. For tonight, he wore a pair of plain black plastic glasses. He did not actually need them.

He rose politely as she approached, giving her the smile she would be expecting. "Miss Leduc, it is a delight to finally meet you. I would have recognized you from your picture anywhere. I can't tell you how I've been looking forward to this." He held out her chair and seated her before resuming his seat.

He asked her the bare bones of her life and family. He knew she might be missed at work, but had no boyfriends or close family to be concerned if she wasn't heard from for a while. He knew how to deal with that so that everything would seem normal to the outside world. He spun his own set of lies about his supposed career in green power design and his volunteer work for animal shelters. He proudly produced a picture of the teenager he was mentoring through the Big Brother program.

They had a light dinner and after dinner drinks. "I've had a wonderful time with you tonight, Cleo," he gushed as the evening drew to a close. "I really hope you'll want to go out again soon." He suggested a couple of arts events in the coming week or so she might enjoy with him. By the time he took care of the bill and he was escorting her to get a cab ride home, he could see she was starting to feel the effects of the drug he'd slipped into her drink.

He let her lean against him as he hailed a cab. "You look a little tired, Cleo. I think I'd better escort you home," he offered. He slipped into the cab with her, giving the driver the address that wasn't quite hers, just a couple of numbers transposed. She was quite loopy as they pulled to the curb next to the car he had waiting to take her to her real location for the next few weeks. He paid the driver and stood with his arm around her waist to keep her from collapsing as the cab pulled away. Then he pushed her into the passenger seat of his car and started driving her toward the outskirts of town.

 

[PinkGinger]

Everything was starting to feel a little fuzzy. Cleo just assumed it was the alcohol. It wasn't really a big deal... yet. When Patrick offered to ride home with her her agreement was half-hearted and groggy. God, he was charming! And Cleo already felt very comfortable with him.

In the taxi Cleo consciousness deteriorated quickly. She wasn't really out, but she was very close. She groaned disagreeably when he put her into his car.

"... er... are we still in the cab?" Cleo asked slurred quietly. She was vaguely aware that something was wrong and she was just starting to struggle against the drug. It was far to late of course, her head hung to one side and her eyes were closed.