CHAPTER 9
“…So I say to her, ‘Well, it isn’t my fault that a couple of the girls didn’t come in today, so don’t take it out on me.’ I mean, really, we should have an office boy or somethin’ to go after supplies. Could I help it if Mr. Bell wanted to dictate three letters plus have me get the refreshments for the Department Heads meeting? I mean, I got my own work to do too. I can’t just run off to the supply room every two seconds because she decides she needs more staples, can I?”
The cute young secretary had been giving an earful to the maintenance man as he slowly walked down the hall listening to the strange sounds of the air conditioning. She was petite and blonde. He was in his mid-fifties, dressed in matching gray workshirt and pants. The name patch above the right breast pocket of his shirt read ‘Bert.’ In one hand he held a red metal toolbox. Though he seemed to be paying no attention as the girl rambled on, when she finally stopped for breath he asked mildly:
“So that’s what you’re going for now?”
“Yeah. Can you believe it? At the top of my class in secretarial school, and I have to go fetch staples and typewriter ribbons.”
Bert took a few more slow steps and leaned toward the wall where the sounds could be heard. He listened so intently that the girl forgot her outrage and listened too.
“How many in your class?” asked Bert.
“Well, only five, but I still think that –“
She looked at him. He glanced back, a little twinkle in his eyes. She smiled and slapped him gently on the elbow. Another sound was heard.
“What’s that, Bert?” the girl asked, wrinkling her brows.
“I don’t rightly know. But it’s not coming from the air conditioning vent. I wonder if a cat somehow got himself shut in the storeroom.”
He tried the knob, but the door was locked.
“Strange,” he said, setting down his tools.
He took a big ring of keys from his belt and opened the door. The girl grabbed him by the arm apprehensively and followed him in. When he flicked on the light, she screamed. A slip-clad Patty Brennan sat tied into an office chair on wheels. Her dark eyes were wide over the tape gag that covered her mouth. She moaned a plea to them.
“The ambulance is on its way, Sheriff,” said Deputy Ben Norris as Winchell and Deputy Barnes walked up to the wreck of John Wilberforce’s car two hundred or so yards from Highway 93. Sky Ryder and Deputy MacKeever stood outside the open door of the car watching as a pudgy, shirt-sleeved man with a black bag treated Wilberforce.
“We were lucky that Doctor Barton happened to be passing, Winch,” said Sky.
“How is he, Doc?” asked Winchell.
The Doctor looked back at Winchell, squinting in the autumn sunlight as he held a gauze pad to the gash on Wilberforce’s forehead.
“Oh, I don’t think he’s hurt too bad,” he replied. “Those bruises and cuts will cause some pretty good aches and pains. Also got a nasty knock on the head. He seemed a little delirious when I first got here, laughing and crying and yelling about somebody named Marie.” He turned to MacKeever. “Would you hold this, Deputy?” he asked, indicating the gauze.
As MacKeever held the pad and the doctor reached into his bag, Sky motioned with his head to Winchell. The two stepped a few yards away.
“Look at these, Winch.”
Sky held up his hand. Opening it, the flyer revealed a fifty-dollar bill and several newspaper cuttings. Winchell took one of the pieces of newspaper and compared it to the note.
“Cut to be the same size as money.” He looked around. There were perhaps a hundred pieces scattered about. “He thought he had quite a haul didn’t he?”
Sky nodded.
“And that means that someone double-crossed him and took the real money. If I were a betting man I’d say it was---“
Winchell was now nodding. He finished:
“--his secretary, Marie.”
The two men returned to the car.
“Is he well enough to talk, Doc?” asked the Sheriff.
Doctor Barton was dabbing antiseptic on the banker’s cut.
“As long as you don’t use a rubber hose on him,” he replied laconically.
Sky Ryder took the lead.
“Look, Wilberforce, we know that it was you who was behind the embezzlement at the bank. We need to know where Marie is.”
The banker grimaced as the doctor applied antiseptic on a long cotton-tipped swab to his wound.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said lamely.
“You might as well come clean, Wilberforce,” said Winchell sternly. “She’s double-crossed you, and you know it. Why cover for her any longer?”
Wilberforce gave a short, mirthless laugh.
“Marie!” he spat. “That witch! Full of big plans and dreams. All we needed was a little money to make them come true! You can have her for all I care. But I don’t know where she is.”
Sky Ryder made a move as though to grab the injured man by his lapels, but he restrained himself.
“Look, we don’t have time for all that. Wherever she is, she’s got my niece!”
The banker looked up quickly.
“I’m sorry about that, Ryder,” he said earnestly. “But I really don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her since yesterday at Jeb’s Café. You were there too. I talked to her on the phone later, warning her that Sherry was out and looking for her. But I never saw her after lunch.”
The man was obviously telling the truth. Sky relaxed from his threatening posture and thought for a moment.
“But you two must have had some place you’d use for a hideout if you needed it.”
“Well, sure. The Saddle Tramp Motel, a little way southeast of town. We used to meet there, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” said Winchell. “We know what you mean.”
“One thing I am sorry for is letting Marie talk me into framing Sherry Johnson. She’s a nice girl. I never should have done it. You’ll be able to get the conviction overturned if I talk, won’t you?”
Sky nodded. He turned to Winchell.
“I’m on my way, Winch. Get there as fast as you can with everybody you can.”
“I already sent Tyler and Rivera back when the accident happened.” He turned to MacKeever. “You and Ben stay here and wait for the ambulance. One of you will have to ride to the hospital with Wilberforce.”
Back to Sky he said: “Charlie and I will be along as fast as we can make it.”
Sky looked at Winchell. The Sheriff was not a young man anymore, and he was showing the signs of strain. Barnes had put on a clean, pressed uniform this morning but looked badly in need of starch himself. The rancher knew that he would have to carry much of the load.
Wilberforce looked at Sky again.
“One more thing, Ryder. If it is Marie who has your niece, nothing will happen to her. Marie’s greedy, but she’s not a killer.
“I hope you’re right,” Sky said grimly.
He ran to the Hummingbird.
“Move, girl!”
Dora Wilberforce used her left hand and arm to push Copper into a grove of trees just off the road. The paper shopping bag was tucked under Dora’s right arm, the menacing gun in her right hand.
“Mrs. Wilberforce,” pleaded Copper, “I haven’t done anything. What’re you going to do?”
“I’m going to fix you up good, like your friend did to me last night. Then we’re going to find Marie. I’ve got a little score to settle with her. Maybe the Johnson girl’s found her already. That would make it a lot easier for me.”
“Sherry wants to send her to jail. They’ll put her away for a long time.”
Dora’s face twisted with rage.
“Jail! What good is that to me? She’s taken my husband and made him ruin his life, everything he ever worked for, and me too. What satisfaction do I get from seeing her go to jail?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“And I’ve got another score to settle with your little friend Sherry too. She’s the cause of all of this. If it hadn’t been for her none of this would have happened.”
“Oh, but it’s not Sherry’s fault. Your husband—“
Dora cut her off with a slap across the face.
“Don’t tell me it’s mine!” the woman shrieked. “That’s what every woman in town is going to say! Dora Wilberforce couldn’t keep her man! If only she’d made him happy! Well, they’re not going to get that chance.”
Copper would have disagreed with her, but she realized that the woman was not rational at present. She would only get another slap.
“Okay, Miss Ryder. Take off your clothes. And be quick about it.”
The crazed light in the woman’s eyes told Copper that she had no choice. As she peeled off the low cut top, Dora took one coil of the standard size rope and the shears from the bag. She dropped bag and the rest of its contents on the ground, and used the blade of the scissors like a knife to cut three pieces from the rope. Copper had removed the skirt and had just slid her fingers into the waistband of her panties when Dora stopped her.
“You can leave the underpants on.”
Copper stood and waited crossing her arms over her breasts as Dora finished cutting.
“Turn around and put your hands behind you.” she ordered.
The young blonde did as commanded.
“Look, Mrs. Wilberforce, I spent all last night bound and gagged by Marie. I’m not ---“
“Then it won’t bother you so much to be tied up again today, will it?” snapped Dora. “If you try anything funny I’ll have this gun close enough to shoot you right through the heart.”
Copper stood helplessly as Dora lashed her wrists tightly behind her back. The woman used a long rope to loop her arms and body several times, pinning her arms. One of the brand-new washcloths was stuffed into the girl’s mouth and sealed inside with several strips of the wide adhesive tape.
“There,” said Dora. “Almost like Sherry had me last night. But I hope that rope is a lot less comfortable than the stockings she used on me. Now let’s get back to the car.”
She picked up the bag and the two unused shorter lengths of rope and prodded the helpless girl back toward the road. While Copper waited at the rear of the car, Dora took the keys from the ignition. She opened the trunk and pointed to the bumper.
“Sit.”
Uneasily, Copper sat on the edge of the trunk. She had a sinking feeling about what was next. Dora used the two remaining pieces of rope to bind the girl’s legs at the ankles and just above the knees. Smiling grimly, the woman put a few more strips of tape over Copper’s eyes.
“You know what happens now don’t you, Miss Ryder?” the woman sneered.
The almost nude, bound blonde nodded unhappily. Dora helped lower her into the trunk and slammed the lid.
“I hope you have a nice ride, dear.”
Copper tested her bonds. Dora had taken gleeful pleasure in making them cruelly tight. Weakened by hunger, fatigue, and soreness from her ordeal of yesterday, there was no way Copper could free herself from this.
The car started. She hoped that Sky was out there looking for her.
Marie watched with amusement as Deputy Cole helped the handcuffed, gagged, and pants-less and shoeless Sherry Johnson hop into the motel room.
“Sit her on the bed,” ordered Marie, scooping up some of the ropes lying there with her free hand. When the young deputy had obeyed, Marie continued. “That’s better. I want everybody to be comfortable. And seeing as it’s just us girls here, go ahead and strip, deputy.”
Amy looked at the pistol in Marie’s hand, and the two tucked into the waistband of her tight skirt and briefly contemplated trying to talk Marie into surrendering now before the crime escalated. Her hunch was that any talk was useless, so she unhooked her gun belt and dropped it to the floor then reached for the top button of her uniform shirt.
“You know that you can’t get away with this,” she could not help but warn. “Every deputy in the county and Sky Ryder are out looking for Sherry.”
“So when they see me they won’t do a thing,” Marie said flatly. “They’ll just keep looking for her, and you later on when they find you’re missing. And the two of you’ll eventually be found right here, fit as fiddles but tied up and gagged. No, Honey, no one’s looking for me right now, and by the time that they do, I’ll be long gone.”
Amy had removed her shirt. She tossed it on the desk/dresser.
“Now the pants, deputy. Shoes and socks too.” A thin smile crept over her face. “And also the bra.”
With a defiant look at her tormentor, Amy unbuckled her pants and dropped them, then slipped off shoes and socks. She reached behind her for the hooks of her bra.
“How generous!” she said sarcastically. “I get to keep my panties.”
“I’m taking all the other clothes with me.” She waved the pistol in Sherry’s direction. “Hers too. Old Artie down at the motel office may not be Jack the Ripper, but if I were you I wouldn’t hop out there bound and gagged with my boobs flopping around. Just some friendly advice.”
Amy tossed her bra with her other clothes. To keep from giving Marie any satisfaction in her near nakedness, she tried to look defiant and made no attempt to cover her breasts. Marie gave her a good look.
“Proud of them, eh?” the thief noted. “They’re standing tall and looking good, ought to be in Hollywood. Okay. Face down on the bed, hands behind you.”
Slowly, Amy did as Marie had ordered, crossing her wrists. The blonde took a piece of rope and began tying the deputy’s hands.
“If this is your first time, I’ll try to be gentle,” she said with mock concern.
“I’ve been tied up before,” the deputy retorted. “And by women who could eat you for breakfast.”
Marie made a seize in the bonds and tied a good, tight knot.
“What an interesting choice of words, deputy. Is that an invitation?”
She patted Amy’s fanny and took up another rope.
Sky Ryder was having trouble reaching Deputy Tyler’s car by radio, but he finally got through.
“We’ll be back in town in ten minutes or so Mr. Ryder,” the stocky Deputy reported. “What do you want us to do? Over.”
“There’s a motel east of town called the Saddle Tramp. Marie Sanders is probably there. She may have the missing money and my niece as a prisoner with her. I think I’ll probably get there first, but go slow and easy, Harry. No sirens or anything to cause a panic. Over.”
“Right, Mr. Ryder. We’re on our way. See you there. Car Five out.”
Tyler looked at Andy Ramirez behind the wheel. The young deputy bore a strong resemblance to a youthful, sleep-deprived Cesar Romero.
“You better keep talkin’ to me, amigo,” said Rivera. “Otherwise I’m gonna fall asleep and probably drive right up a tree.”
“Hang in there, Andy. We gotta stay awake long enough to find out what this is all about.”
Marie used most of the rope that had bound Copper to secure Deputy Amy Cole. The beautiful brunette was now quite helpless, bound hands, feet, arms, and legs. Marie had torn up a towel from the motel bathroom to make a gag wadding. She was now securing the gag with another strip of towel passed between the woman’s teeth and tied behind her head. When this was done, she surveyed her two prisoners.
“This ought to do it,” she declared. “I suppose I ought to hogtie both of you, but I’m feeling generous today. Even if you could crawl or hop, neither of you’ll go very far without clothes in daylight. The deputy here must have a police car around somewhere. You’ll be able to get to it sooner or later, but I’ll be in Mexico by then.”
There were three pistols on the desk/dresser. Marie loaded all of them into her purse, opening it wide enough that Sherry was able to see the money packet. The girl protested unintelligibly into her gag.
“I know, Sherry. It isn’t fair, is it? But look on the bright side: you’ve got more clothes on than the deputy here.” Marie looked at her as she pondered her own remark. “Yeah, that’s not fair either.”
She reached down, unbuttoned the light blue blouse Copper had given her, and pulled it back off her shoulders. Then she pulled the shoulder straps of her bra down her arms and peeled down the cups. Sherry shrieked into her gag as her firm and generous breasts were bared. Marie then used a last long rope to wrap her arms and body right under the girl’s prominent bust.
“There. Now you’re more even. Yeah, about the same size too.”
The curvaceous blonde gathered up Amy’s uniform and Sherry’s pants. She backed toward the door, took the knob in her hand and twisted. The door opened a bit, and the beautiful embezzler turned back for a last farewell.
“Well, this is where I leave you two ladies. It’s been fun, but I really must be—“
The door was swung open very hard, striking Marie in the left shoulder and back, sending her sprawling on the bed beside her two captives. The purse fell off her shoulder and dropped to the floor. Marie rolled over and looked back in astonishment as the figure in the doorway stepped into the room and closed the door by leaning her back on it. It was Dora Wilberforce. The banker’s wife had a revolver leveled at Marie.
“Well, this is much better than I expected,” Dora said with quiet glee. “Both of my friends waiting in the same place with one of you already fixed up for me.” She looked at Marie. “Going somewhere, Marie? Maybe my husband wants you to take some letters or do some filing or sharpen his pencil. Is this the place you used?”
Marie held up a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture.
“All right, Mrs. Wilberforce, you got me. The money’s in my bag.”
While watching Marie closely, Dora picked up the bag and opened it. She laid the pistols one at a time on the dresser and took out the paper wrapped parcel. When she saw the bills inside she breathed in sharply. Sherry and Deputy Cole began making sounds through their gags to her.
Marie started to get up. “You want me to untie the deputy?”
Dora dropped the money packet on the dresser and pointed the pistol at Marie’s ample chest, pulling back the hammer as she did. He voice was soft and tight.
“Why no, dear, that won’t be necessary. I just need you to take off your clothes.”
The blonde was dumbfounded.
“Take off of my clothes?”
“Yes, Marie. I’m here to give some lessons in humility. That will be your first. Get started.”
The mention of ‘lessons in humility’ had brought a look of alarm to Sherry’s eyes. She looked at Dora and shook her head.
“Yes, Sherry. I learned my lesson. Now we’ll see if you can learn yours.”