Robbery at the Swank Boutique
by
Brian Sands
Kelsie Chambers, one of my favourite models, from Lorelei’s Bondage for Free.
Chapter Two: The Stock Room
The Lady in Black and her henchman Douglas wore tolerant smiles as they watched Simone’s struggles and heard the faint sounds croaking coming from behind her gag.
‘We’ve come to the next phase of our caper, dear,’ said the woman, ignoring Simone’s strangled pleas and head shaking for the removal of her gag. ‘We’ll put her in one of these half filled boxes and use that trolley you found.’
‘Uh, I lef’ it at the top o’ the stairs.’
‘Silly man. Go and fetch it while I attend to our little prisoner.’
When Douglas had gone, the woman knelt and undid the knot tied at the back of Simone’s neck. Simone licked her dry lips. But she did not attempt to speak. Bound and helpless in the hands of these people, she knew the best strategy was to remain quiet, give as little trouble as possible by cooperating with her captors, and hope that some sort of opportunity would come along for her to gain her freedom. At the moment things looked pretty hopeless.
Simone’s situation now became worse. The woman drew a handful of silk scarves from the pocket of her black skirt, shook them out and bunched them into a ball. ‘I couldn’t resist this new line from your stock room, dear,’ she said. ‘Next seasons scarf fashion, the square neckerchief. A bigger one would have been more practical but these will do nicely. Open up and say ah.’
Once again Simone parted her lips and with a grimace of distaste allowed herself to be gagged. The wad of silks filled her mouth as they were pushed in behind her teeth. Like before, the knotted scarf was brought over her head and drawn in deep until it was between her teeth.
Simone fought against the gagging reflex, her chest heaving, tears jewelling in her eyes. With her tongue she tried to push the mouth-filling silk against the back of her teeth and her palate, to keep it from slipping into her throat and choking her. The fine material entangled her tongue and made breathing difficult and choking a real possibility. She found that the less she attempted to move her tongue the better.
Simone bit down on the thick knot and tried in that way to prevent it from slipping deeper. The scarf bandaged between her jaws threatened to draw them apart, and she had to fight to prevent the packing from slipping to the back of her throat. With a whimper she relaxed her body and concentrated on breathing while the woman completed tying her legs at the knees with another piece of cord.
Douglas reappeared, trundling behind him a metal trolley with wide rubber wheels.
Madam in Black straightened from her task of gagging Simone. ‘Just in time to help me with her, Dougie. Take our little captive by her shoulders. I’ll take her legs. That box will do nicely.’ She nodded in a direction Simone could not see because of the way she was being supported. But she found out soon enough. The man and woman carried her across the floor and lowered her into one of the boxes onto her side. ‘Here, cover her with some of those evening gowns. No need to pack them in too tight. We don’t want our lovely victim to suffocate.’
‘Yers Madam. The layers o’ dresses will muffle any cries she makes.’
‘That’s the idea. It’s not likely anyone will pass us on the stairs, but we have to take precautions.’
Simone lay still, cushioned between layers of silk organza, satin and tulle. As the box rocked into place on the blade of the trolley, she concentrated on breathing, tucking her chin into her chest so that the rich materials would not seal her face and stifle her. She sobbed and a shiver went through her body. What were they going to do with her next?
*
Simone soon found out the gang’s next move. The journey was short, a series of rocking sensations as the box was manhandled up stairs on the trolley. She heard distant voices but her attempts to call for help came to nothing. Then the dress fabrics were removed from above her and she was lifted out and laid on the carpeted floor of what she recognised as the stock room. Simone raised her head and watched her two captors.
Douglas was looking inquiringly at his mistress. ‘What’ll we do with her now? The shop floor’s on the other side o’ that door. If she starts to scream ...’
‘I think her present gag’s keeping her nice and quiet. But you’re right. We’ll have to take additional precautions, Dougie. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of cloth here to make our young Simone very quiet.’
Simone looked in the direction indicated by the Dark Lady and her heart sank. Storage shelves lined two walls. They creaked with the weight of the new bolts of silks and other fine stuffs that had been delivered only the day before. She mmphed through her gag and shook her head angrily as Dougie with a wicked looking clasp knife began to cut several strips from a particularly well patterned bolt of cloth.
‘No no, Dougie,’ cried Madam, reflecting Simone’s consternation. ‘Those fabrics are priceless, not to mention part of our retirement fund. Men! Don’t cut any more. Go ahead and use that stuff to secure her gag, but we’ll use the rest of it for another purpose. I’ll show you in a minute. Fix her up. I’ll take a look outside.’
The Woman in Black opened the door into the main store. A babble of customers’ voices and the electronic ring of cash registers flowed into the stock room. Simone attempted to scream but Dougie in a very quick movement had his hand over her mouth. He held a bunch of the cloth he had just cut and this muffled Simone effectively. In any case, how could she make her cries heard through the hubbub going on out there, especially when she was already tightly gagged? Then the door closed after the Lady and the stock room was in comparative silence. The sound of merchandising could still be heard distantly.
‘Righty-ho,’ said Douglas between gritted teeth. ‘That was foolish of yer. I see I’ll have t’ make yer pretty more quiet.’
The man first checked Simone’s gag. There was none of the solicitous care she had received earlier, no temporary relief from the gag and drink of water. She sensed that Dougie and his mistress were becoming more tense as they moved closer to the final getaway. Douglas untied the knot at the back of Simone’s neck only to jerk it tighter so that the cloth pressed the packing deeper into her mouth. The sounds of Simone’s next scream became on this try a faint ‘gug gug.’ When that knot was tied off, Douglas took up a long strip of the patterned silk organza and wound it twice between Simone’s jaws over the existing gag. Simone retched and tried to pull her head away.
‘Uh uh. If yer struggle, yer’ll on’y hurt y’self.’
Simone took the advice and sank back, trying to breathe slowly and very carefully through the tight unyielding cloth.
The door opened to another rush of shopping sounds and the black-clad woman re-entered. In her wake came another woman. Simone’s eyes went wide and she tried ineffectually to speak through the cloth now packing her mouth so tightly. For the woman who trailed in and stood looking down at her, her hands on her hips, was the flighty gossip who had only joined their staff a week ago.
‘Told you it’d be easy,’ said the chatterbox. ‘Oh yeah,’ she continued, addressing Simone, ‘the old inside job. You fell for it so easy!’
*
‘Next phase of the plan,’ said the woman. ‘Does anyone suspect anything out there?’
‘No, Ma’am,’ said the new employee. ‘Miss Simone here isn’t missed. They all know she works at home today and that it’s wise not to disturb her when she’s doing the - ha ha - accounting.’
Simone struggled angrily in her bonds and gugged faintly.
‘We’d better make sure our little spitfire can’t move,’ said Madam, who was observing Simone’s frantic struggles with detachment. ‘You,’ she said to the shopgirl, ‘go out and keep an eye on things. Act like it’s a normal day of trading. But try to keep the other staff away from this room, very carefully, so as not to start people asking questions. We have to crate up the merchandise in here, then wait till closing time.’
‘That won’t be difficult,’ said the girl. ‘When the doors close, and before the rest of the girls leave, they’re all used to seeing new crates on the main floor - ready for unpacking and the displays for Monday.’
‘A stroke o’ genius, boss, to do this on Friday.’
‘Yers, as you might say,’ responded the Lady.
The shop girl left.
‘Right, Dougie. Help me with this young woman. Don’t like seeing your lovely merchandise disappearing do you dearie? Put her on this bench.’
Simone was lifted and placed on a wide bench. It was used for laying out and measuring cloth and now the same was done for Simone. The bolt of silk cloth from which the addition to her gag had been cut was now tucked under her, and between them Dougie and his mistress rolled the young woman over and over within its folds until she was tightly wrapped like a mummy from feet to shoulders. More strips of cloth were tied very tightly around her at regular intervals, at ankles, mid calf, below and above the knees, around her thighs and waist and above and below her bosom. Simone lifted her head and mmphed faintly. She could now scarcely move her body at all.
Douglas took up a swatch of cloth and looped it under Simone’s head. ‘No, not yet Dougie. That can come later.’
Later? thought Simone in rising panic. I can’t move. I can hardly make a sound. What more can they do to me?
The poor girl was lifted between the two thieves and carried to one of the benches where she was stacked in with the bolts of cloth. Several were laid one upon the other until she was completely screened from view, jammed in so tightly that she was utterly unable to move. Even turning her head proved impossible. She lay with her head on one side and listened in misery to the distant sounds of the busy shop floor. Occasionally she heard dully the voices of Douglas or his mistress. Anyone entering the room would not discover her easily.
In fact someone did enter the room. Simone heard raised voices. She strained her ears, trying to make out who was speaking. The strident tones of the new store chatterbox came across clearly, berating someone for coming into the room. The replies were scarcely audible. Aha, thought Simone, it must be Judy our window display executive. She has a soft voice.
Simone tried vigorously to call for help. But it was no use. A faint ‘gg glg’ was all the noise she could make. The bolts of cloth pinning her in darkness on the storage bench damped the sound almost to inaudibility. The continued shopping hubbub from the store blurred and masked any cries that might have filtered out. Then the cacophony suddenly became a distant murmur. Simone guessed that the storeroom door was now closed.
There were long minutes of agonised waiting. The gag was insupportable. But she was forced to bear it. Simone sweated and strained uselessly in her bonds and wrappings. She found that although silk organza was a lovely fine fabric it became a rough chafing torment when it was such a tight gag between her jaws. Her lips felt every thread of the material as she bit down on the knotted silk between her teeth.
Then she felt the weights pinning her being moved, and soon she was drawing in deep threads of air through her nose. Her hair was in disarray about her face as she looked wildly at each of her three captors.
*
‘I don’t think our lovely prisoner’s enjoying this,’ said the Lady, in mock concern. Simone shook her head and mmphed faintly. ‘Still such a lot of noise. We’ll have to take her with us, Dougie.’
‘I don’ unnerstan’.’
‘Simple. Someone’s bound to find her Monday morning if we leave her here. But I happen to know that Miss Simone’s taking two flexi days. She won’t be expected back till Wednesday. And in the meantime our inside plant will make sure no-one looks too closely in this room.’
‘Okay. But how do we get her out of here?’
‘She can still make noise through that gag. So we’ll muffle her some more and pack her in one of those boxes.’ Simone shook her head and glugged frantically. Her appeals were ignored.
Dougie held her upright while his mistress bound a strip of dress material around the lower part of Simone’s face, leaving her free to breathe through her nose. The silk stretched over the packing already in the young woman’s mouth and clung over the point of her chin. It was tied incredibly tight. Simone felt that her head would burst and her temples throbbed painfully.
A box was set out in the middle of the floor. It was one of the few that were different from the sort of boxes in which the clothes were normally stored for shipment. It was long and narrow and looked more like a coffin.
As she was being lowered into the box, the Mistress in Black murmured to Simone in words that were clearly meant to reassure her, ‘Don’t worry, sweetie. You’ll be out of here as soon as we’ve made some distance from this store. Then you’ll be left in a warehouse for a few hours. The police will have an anonymous phone call and someone will come and free you. Just get use to the idea of remaining bound and gagged for a few more hours.’
Simone looked up at the woman with large frightened eyes. The Lady in Black merely shrugged and pushed the girl deeper into the narrow confines of the box. Satin dresses were packed in around her. Some covered her face. She could not turn her head aside very far and when the lid was clamped into place she struggled to draw each breath.
Minutes passed, punctuated by faint whimpering. Then Simone felt movement. The box was being carried. She heard the familiar sounds of the shop floor, muffled by the packing and the box she was in, but still very loud. My god, I’m in the middle of the store surrounded by shoppers with only a few layers of satin and the lid of a wooden box between me and a whole raft of people! She attempted to call for help, breathing deeply into her lungs through her nose, but the choking frog-like sounds that escaped seemed trapped in her own head. The thieves had done their job with complete efficiency. Had there been silence in the store, Simone’s cries might have been heard. But all the external sounds of frenetic buying and selling drowned them out.
Simone strained uselessly in her wrappings. Tears came. She felt the box move again, and this time it was the sound of traffic, car motors revving up and horns blaring. Her gagged cries could not be heard any better by the people passing by as Douglas wheeled the box towards his mistress’s limousine.
The box came to a halt. Simone thought she could hear angry voices but they were too distant and she was almost unconscious from her exertions and the stifling darkness in which she lay. Minutes passed. She could still hear the sound of street traffic. Then with a jerk the box moved again. Its passage was rougher this time. Simone was thrown about but being packed around with layers of dresses saved her from bruising against the wooden interior.
It took a while before she realised that the movement had ceased and the exterior sounds were no longer to be heard. She lifted her head and moaned hopelessly through the cloth filling her open mouth. Everything was too quiet. What had happened? She was expecting to feel movement at any moment as the limo carrying her and the thieves sped down the streets. But there was nothing, only a deathly silence. Simone felt as though she was buried alive. She turned her head to one side with difficulty and tried to breathe through any gaps between the layers of satin that covered her face.
ă Brian Sands 2002