[douglas]

Actually, I would expect the evil party's mission to depend entirely on how much Damsel A was willing to offer to hire them compared to how much Damsel B and/or people and organizations opposed to Damsel A were willing to pay. Of course, with an evil party there's always the possibility of trying to swindle both sides...

I can just imagine the party taking a down payment from Damsel A, cornering Damsel B, taking whatever she's willing to give them, coming back to kidnap her anyway, returning to Damsel A's hideout, killing her, stealing her ritual books, and performing the ritual themselves.