A FRAME OF MIND
CHAPTER NINE: A TURN OF EVENTS
With Heather and Sylvia safe and secure in the basement, Drea set the trap. Once a vehicle approached, she and Anne would take up positions behind the front door, while Raelene and Jason would take up positions in the dining room, or what would have been the dining room had anybody bothered to furnish it as such, and catch anybody who came in the side entrance.
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Officer Tina Flores had a bad afternoon. The foul-up at the precinct house was one thing, but there was the aftermath to consider. She was ordered to the captain’s office “Some serious charge have been leveled at you,” he said. “That you aided in the escape of two suspects.”
“I did no such thing,” Tina said calmly. “I set off after them and collided them, that is all.”
“You never met them before?”
“No, never.”
“Do you recognize this?’ he said as he withdrew a gun from a drawer. It was bagged and marked as evidence.
“I’ve never seen that gun before.”
“Several days ago, a private detective named Jack Mac Clarey was wounded. Ballistics have matched this weapon with the bullet removed from Mister Mac Clarey.”
“I don’t see where I’m involved.”
“Oh, the gun was found in your car.”
“A plant, obviously. If I had shot this guy, I certainly wouldn’t do something stupid like leaving the weapon I used in my car.”
“Never the less, pending an investigation, you are suspended from the force.”
Furious, Tina cleaned out her locker. Something was wrong. The gun was obviously a plant, but why? Somebody, or perhaps sombodies wanted the heat of somewhere else, so the gun was planted in the car of some rookie. A rookie who just happened to create a small mishap that helped two suspects escape.
The time spent cleaning the locker helped her calm down a bit, enough for her to drive without barreling out of the parking lot in a blind fury. She drove home, where she was confronted with a van. A woman stood outside the van. She’s got some nerve, Tina thought. The woman was Lisa Sand.
“What do you want?” Tina asked.
“Merely to thank you for your help this morning,” Lisa answered.
“I didn’t help you with anything.”
“Don’t be too sure.” Lisa showed a large, brown, bulging envelop.”
Tina felt something in right kidney. Paula had the barrel of up against Tina’s back.
“Do as I say,” Lisa instructed. “Take the envelope and tuck it into the small of your back.”
Tina obeyed. Next, she was ordered into the van and to kneel down with her hands behind her back. Lisa secured Tina’s wrists and crammed a balled up piece of scrap cloth into her captive’s mouth. The cloth was held in place a long piece of terry cloth, while a wider piece was wound around Tina’s eyes.
Next, a longer piece of rope was produced, which was went around her ankles first, then was connected to the wrists. At the end, Tina was pushed to where she was face down on the floor and her feet sticking up in the air.
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Time dragged on for the quartet. Whoever actually owned the house went to a lot of trouble to maintain the semblance of living there. Newspapers were brought inside, but remained wrapped up, never read and dutifully put in the recycling bins ever week. Automatic timers were on all the lights. There was a TV set, wired for cable, but little else that would make it seem to be an inhabited dwelling. It only mattered that it resembled one from the outside.
The wait was hardest for Drea and Anne. They were constantly looking out the window for signs of Lisa and Paula. Jason seemed unfazed, and went about reading the newspapers, even those a day or two old. “How can go through yesterday’s paper?” Anne wondered.
“Easy,” he replied. “I don’t get one where I live, so I read the one at the firehouse. There’s lots of down time at a firehouse. You get a big, spectacular run maybe once a year. Besides, columns and op-ed pieces are a bit more lasting that news features. Not to mention watching the stock market.”
“Doesn’t the fire department have a pension plan?” Drea asked.
“Sure, I don’t get anything from it until I’m retired from the department and with some stocks you get dividends at the end of the year.”
More time edged by, until Drea appeared spotted a van in the driveway. She ducked down to the floor so she would not to be seen by the van’s occupants and crawled to the front door, where she hid behind it. Anne was in a position where she could remain unobserved from the outside, also behind the door. Raelene had stood in the “dining room” unobserved by outside viewers. Jason crawled to join her.
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Lisa untied Tina’s ankles and lifted the latter to her feet. “Don’t worry,” Lisa said. “You won’t be lonely and I’m sure the two of you will get along nicely. For what little time you have left.”
She took Tina by the arms and manhandled the captive into the house. “Downstairs,” Tina said as soon as they were inside.
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Raelene heard the voice and beckoned Drea and Anne to come with. They tried to creep quietly down the stairs to the basement. That ended when they heard Lisa’s exclamation, and the group stormed down the stairs. The two surprises, coming as from two directions, froze Lisa and Paula in place long enough for Anne, Jason, and Drea to tackle them and pin them to the floor.
Raelene removed Tina’s blindfold and gag. “Lieutenant Matthews,” she gasped.
“Nice to know you haven’t kicked me off the force. And the name’s Raelene.”
With Drea seated on Paula, and Anne on Lisa, Jason went to get some rope. “Get of me, bitch!” Lisa demanded.
“My what a mouth on her,” Anne quipped.
“Here.” Tina, now free, offered the terry cloth that was used as part of her gag. Anne made a large knot in the center of the cloth, stuffed the knot in Lisa’s mouth and tied the ends behind her ears. Lisa was brought to her feet, and along with Paula, taken to join their Heather and Sylavia.
“Wait, I have idea,” Drea said.
“What?” Anne wondered.
“The post.”
Smiles began to appear on the faces of the group, all of whom had been subjected to captivity by the four villainesses. “Great idea,” Raelene said.
Drea and Anne were in charge of the actual binding, while the others provided the equipment. First, Paula was gagged with a rag held in place by what had been Tina’s blindfold. Next, she was led to the post, where her back was placed against the post and her wrists bound behind her, with the post between her arms. While that was going on, Anne bound Paula’s ankles together and to the post.
Lisa was brought over to the post was made to stand with her back to Paula. A long length of rope was employed first, with one end looped between the prisoners’ arms and the post before being wound around the their upper arms and chests. Anne happened to be on the same side as Lisa and could not help but notice the other woman’s malevolent stare, as if she was taking what Anne was doing personally. When the knot was secured, Anne switched places with Drea. Paula seemed a bit more resigned to what was happening and didn’t bat an eye while ropes were secured just above her ankles and just above her knees. The fact Paula’s ankles had been bound separately, combined with Lisa’s greater height made it difficult to put the ropes securing both to the post at the same anatomical feature.
“Now that we have that out of the way, what are you doing here, Tina?” Drea wondered.
Tina gave the whole story and even produced the envelope, which remained in the small of her back during the whole time.
“Hey, one of the papers I read had a section missing,” Jason said. “I’ll bet they cut up the paper to make it look right.”
“Let’s see,” Anne said.
“No don’t!” Raelene warned. “If Internal Affairs get a hold of that and its opened, the can say we planted the paper in there.”
“Right,” Drea said. “Let’s go.”
“What about somebody bringing them in?” Jason asked.
“You mean have a repeat of what happened this morning?” Anne said. “Their friends on the force have already framed Raelene and Tina. The best we can right now is keep them out of circulation for a few hours. Their boss will want to know what happened to them, and will be here.”
“Right,” Drea said. “For now, we’ll have to be content with putting Tina in the clear.”