Most Dangerous Honeys

Triple Vision

Her clothes were soaked and a trail of water created a path down the hallway for the guards to follow. She stripped down to her undergarments as soon as she found an alcove. She was nearly naked, but dripped less. Shouting came from the pool area as Križ's men arrived on the scene. Honey needed to distance herself. She kept a running pace as she worked her way through the keep's labyrinth, looking for any way out to the island. She found a set of stairs down to the lower levels and descended.

          Without any sort of blueprint, Honey kept trying doors, hoping to find a garage or back exit. It so happened then, upon opening the umpteenth door, she looked into the room and found herself. Two more herselfs, to be truthful.

          They were chained to a wall, and neither looked particularly in top form. The tattered remains of the same outfit Honey had only just discarded hung loosely over their battered shapes. She squirmed, like seeing into a horrible future.

          The realization Honey knew one of them hit her even harder.

          "Miss Francis? Anne?" Honey asked.

          Ragged, a young lady with almost identical features slowly lifted her head up and focused on the recent arrival. "Honey? Oh, god. He got you, too?"

          Grabbing a set of keys that hung on the wall, Honey ran to her. The actress collapsed into her arms as soon as the manacles came free.

          "Miss Francis, what happened?"

          "Please, it's Anne." Her words came in ragged breaths.

         As previously suggested, Honey explored many money making ventures. Some had included selling rights to her life in novel, comic and television mediums. Miss Francis had played Honey in a short lived television series. They'd met several times on the set. Despite Anne's wonderful job portraying her, American audiences just weren't ready for a woman detective. The series ended after only one season.

           Honey steadied Miss Francis and then went to unlock the other Honey lookalike.

           Anne identified her. "That's Sharon. She's my stunt double. This man, Križ, he's obsessed with you. He offered the studio a fortune to make a Honey West movie. Flew us all out here. You were supposed to be with us, but no one could get a hold of you."

           Honey remembered a letter from ABC, but she's just returned from a case and set it aside with plans to read it later.

           "Oops."

           Sharon flopped to the cement unconscious. Honey tried to wake her. Anne knelt nearby, concerned.

          "After Križ's men killed the producers, Sharon tried to escape. When she was captured, they gave her..."

           Honey looked up. Anne let slip the tears Honey wouldn't. Sharon wasn't going anywhere so Honey moved to Miss Francis's side.

           "...to his guards."

          Honey could feel anger rise in her throat. Fortunately, it kept the tears from coming. She needed to get those women off the island, and fury would give her more strength than being fear did.

           "That bastard!"

           "She said it was nothing worse than she'd dealt with in Hollywood. Casting couches are softer, though. The guards have been looking at me, in that same way. Drooling. Like I'm next. " Anne crossed her arms and shivered, despite the room being near a hundred degrees.

          Honey didn't need to be a detective to see the writing on the wall. With the real article there, would Križ need the look-alike actress anymore?

          "Why? Why all this trouble for me?"

          "He has this idea of you. You took a case once where you attended a party he was also at. Apparently, seeing you in action stuck with him, made you his obsession." Anne walked over to a water bucket. She filled a cup and brought it to Sharon in an attempt to make her drink. "He took us, but we weren't enough. He was furious when you weren't with us. Took it out on everyone. He wanted me to walk, talk and act just like he imagined you would." She brushed platinum strands of hair away from her face, showing Honey a dark bruise covering most of the right side of her cheek. "Only, I wasn't good enough."

            Honey touched the cheek with adoration and respect.

            "Let's get out of here."

             Luckily, Sharon's Honey-esque size worked to their advantage. The detective slung the unconscious girl up onto her shoulders, locking legs under her arms. They moved quietly through the passageways. Honey guessed, based on where the road came into the palace, where the garage might be. When she found it, they both breathed a sigh of relief. A golf cart sat waiting for their use.

            Anne found rope to secure Sharon to the back seat while Honey looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. She grabbed a couple of screwdrivers, hammers and fishing knives. It wouldn't stop an army, but it could help them out in the wild. She also found a couple canteens and filled them from a facet nearby. Lastly, she grabbed a pair of work overalls to cover her near nudity.

           "I figure it's about ten miles to the docks. They'll be on our tails as soon as we leave this place," Honey predicted.

          "Oh." Anne's head sunk to her chest.

          Honey climbed into the cart next to her. She held Anne's chin in her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "It's okay. We're going to do this. I mean, with two Honeys, how could we fail?"

           Anne laughed, and Honey saw the first sparkle she'd seen in the young actresses eyes since coming across her.

           The cart slogged out of the garage at a snail's pace, but Honey managed to weave it back and forth, dodging bullets fired from the sentries on the wall. Guards would be in pursuit within moments. Honey pushed the pedal down as hard as she could, willing the cart to go faster, but golf carts weren't made for high speed chases. Still, they gained distance from the keep and that brought a grin to Honey's mouth.

           Until the cart slowed down even more, and eventually stopped.