Sky and the Hijackers

Fiction by Frank Knebel

Chapter 8

The high-heeled shoes of Mary La Rocque and the two henchwomen, Lisa and Jean, echoed through the nearly empty warehouse as they strode across to Reeves and Bradford.

     “Where’d you put her?” asked Mary.

     Bradford indicated over his shoulder with his thumb. There were three small offices along the wall behind him.

     “In that little room on the end,” he said. “Just like you told Rowlands.”

     The three women went to the doorway and looked in. Two mattresses had been laid side by side, and on top of them lay Julie Ryder, nude bound, gagged and blindfolded. The beauty shop covers in which she had been wrapped had been balled up and tossed into a corner. There was little else in the eight-by-ten foot room: a small table with a deck of cards and a large, wooden office chair with armrests were the only other furnishings in the windowless room.

     “Good work,” said Mary. “You and Reeves can go now. We can handle her.”

     Bradford nodded.

     “Come on, Reeves. We’ve got work to do.”

     Hulking and dark, Reeves shot a wistful glance through the doorway at the beautiful prisoner on the floor of the little room. Bradford, fully as big and broad-shouldered as the dangerous looking Reeves, took him by the excess fabric of one sleeve and pulled him gently toward the door.

     “Let’s go. It’s best not even to think about it.”

     The women watched the two men leave, then Mary turned to the others.

     “You two know what to do?” she asked.

     They both nodded.

     “I have the first watch,” said Jean. She eyed the naked captive hungrily. Mary frowned at her. “And I remember what you said: no playing with the merchandise.”

     “Make sure you do remember.”

     “Do you need me right now?” Lisa asked. When Mary shook her head, she continued: “I think I’ll go buy a few magazines if I’m going to have to spend a couple hours with her and keep my hands off.”

     Mary looked at Lisa closely. The little brunette was certainly a bombshell in the snugly fitting dress that showed every luscious curve of her figure and was short enough to display plenty of her shapely legs.

     “Try not to make yourself any more noticeable than you already are.”

     “Huh?” said the uncomprehending Lisa.

     “Do whatever you want, but be sure you’re back in two hours. Use your watch.”

     Lisa made a face and held up her left hand to display her wristwatch before heading for the door. Mary and Jean entered the little room. Jean sat in the chair and picked up the deck of cards from the table. Mary knelt beside the bound, helpless Julie.

     “All right, Mrs. Ryder,” she said. “I just want to assure you that you’re not about to be murdered or mistreated in any way. I hear that you’re a very bright woman, so you’ve probably figured out what this is all about. We’re holding you to keep your husband from using that plane of his to protect the trucks those two sisters are sending out this afternoon. If he doesn’t interfere with us, you’ll be released tonight, unharmed though probably a little stiff and sore. You’ll be kept bound and blindfolded, though we’ll take the gag out every couple of hours and give you water.”

     She took hold of Julie’s hair and pulled just enough to make the bound woman groan slightly.

     “You’d better be good while the gag is out, or that’ll be the end of the water. Understand?”

     Julie nodded as well as she was able. Mary released her.

     “Good. Now don’t go getting any ideas about trying something clever, because they’ll be one of us girls watching you every minute. You remember my friend Jean?”

     Jean riffled the edge of the cards with her thumb then started shuffling them. Julie nodded again.

     “Is there anything you want before I go?”

     Julie nodded again. She tried to speak through the gag, but it was useless. She gave an exaggerated shiver.

     “You want to be covered up?” asked Mary. Julie nodded. “I’ll see what I can find.”

Julie heard the woman leave the room. She stirred and tested the bindings around her wrists. There was a laugh from the other woman only a few feet away.

     “Go ahead and struggle if you want to,” sneered Jean. “It won’t do you any good. We know how to tie. The Boss Lady is pretty softhearted today, but if it was up to me, I’d pack you in ice. Maybe I will if I get bored.”

     There was more shuffling then the sound of cards being laid on the table. The footfalls of the blonde returned.

     “Here. Try this.”

     A lightweight fabric cover, possibly a sheet, was spread over Julie. She made an affirmative hum into the gag and nodded once more.

     “There you go. All snug and cozy.”

     “You ruined my view!” Jean cried in mock distress. “I liked the sight of her all tied up.”

     “She was quite a sight wasn’t she?” The blonde leaned closer to her and arranged the sheet over the captive. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Mrs. Ryder. I enjoyed our little wrestling match in the beauty parlor. Too bad we won’t get a chance for a more even match. Maybe one day.”

     The hands stopped their work with the sheet. The woman must have stood up for when she spoke next the sound came from farther away.

     “I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”

     “Okay,” Jean responded.

     The blonde’s high heels clicked away in the direction of the door. A door not far away opened and closed. Then there was silence except for the sound of cards being laid or moved on the table nearby.

     Julie Ryder tested the ropes again. They still held her firmly, but Julie had achieved one victory: covered up by the sheet, she could work at her bonds with her guard unable to see any immediate progress. It was a small straw to grasp, but Julie held the thought as she worked to free herself.

Shirley Maxwell moaned in frustration at another failed attempt to free her hands and stopped to rest for a moment. A movement of Maura’s feet caused her ankle ropes to scrape across Shirley’s forehead. The beautician tried to tell the girl to concentrate on her hands, but the thoroughness of the gag turned her message into a series of unintelligible grunts. Maura moved her feet again. This time she did not bump Shirley’s head, but one of her knees poked Shirley in the breast. She mewed in alarm, and the girl lay still for a while.

     As Shirley went to work on her wrist bonds again, she wondered how May Vinson was doing. There was an occasional squeak of the chair to which she had been bound, but no sounds from the woman herself. While Shirley did not care much for her haughty customer, she had to admit that the woman had showed an admirably cool defiance to the gang of women who had invaded her shop. Shirley had heard rumors of some of the harrowing experiences the young Irons sisters had been through, and was amazed that they were still resolute about continuing to supply the university teams on their digs. Maybe their bravery was genetic, for May Vinson had at least appeared cooler than Shirley felt as the three women had held them at gunpoint then stripped and bound them.

     But now, with Julie Ryder apparently kidnapped by the gang, the immediate task was to free herself and the others and call the Sheriff. Shirley had vaguely heard the door tried as her next customers had arrived for their appointments, but the gagged cries of the three captives had evidently been inaudible outside the shop. She had to get free and raise the alarm.

     She heard someone else try the door, then there was pounding on the glass. She and Maura raised another chorus for help. There was more pounding and a woman’s voice outside seemed to be calling.

     Shirley redoubled her efforts and hoped that whoever it was would be persistent.

Deputy Sue Kendall pounded on the door of Shirley’s beauty shop again.

     “Shirley!” she called. “Shirley, it’s Deputy Kendall! Are you in there?”

     As Sue waited for an answer, Deputy Amy Cole reappeared from around the corner.

     “Anything?” Amy asked her partner.

     Sue shook her head.

     “If they haven’t answered in four chances, there’s either no one in there or they can’t answer.”

     Amy nodded.

     “There are two cars parked in the alley behind the shop and that’s Julie Ryder’s car there in front. I have a feeling something’s happened. I’m going to try the back door.”

     “Should I come with you, or do you want me to watch this door?”

     “You stay here,” Amy said, drawing her revolver. “And be ready for anything.”

     Sue drew her pistol as Amy went around the building again. The young deputy gulped and peered through the glass in the door, determined not to let her partner down.

The alley behind the beauty shop was quiet. The business next to Shirley’s on Amy’s side was a Chinese restaurant that did not open until late afternoon. The building on the other side contained a small dry cleaning business operated by a middle-aged couple whom Amy knew to be vacationing in Canada. Shirley’s car and another sat neatly parked in spaces on either side of the rear door. After another look in both directions, Amy slowly and cautiously approached the back door. She put her hand on the knob. With a quick twist, she turned the knob and pushed the door open, raising her pistol to cover the room while keeping her body protected by the doorframe. She saw nothing but the walls and curtained doorway leading to the front of the shop, but heard a familiar high-pitched mewing sound. She looked on the floor and saw Shirley and Maura bound head to foot facing one another. Taking another step into the doorway she saw May Vinson tied to a chair.

     “Don’t worry, ladies,” she announced, holstering her revolver. “It’s Deputy Cole. We’ll have you loose as quick as we can.”

     She knelt beside Shirley and carefully peeled the tape from the woman’s mouth.

     “What happened here, Shirley?”

     Shirley did not wait for removal of her blindfold or loosening of any ropes. As soon as Amy had untied the band holding the gag wad in her mouth, the blonde pushed it out and gasped.

     “Three women! They tied us up and kidnapped Mrs. Ryder!”

     “I hate to leave you like this, but wait while I’ll get Sue. We’ve got to notify the Sheriff.”

Deputy Tom Willard sat at one of the desks in the Sheriff’s office. He and Deputy Bob Falk had been forced to do a couple hours’ overtime work, writing reports on a road accident that they had handled at the end of their shift. Willard was having some trouble staying awake to finish his paperwork. There was a radio on one of the desks, so the young man ambled over to it and switched it on. Elvis Presley was in mid-chorus about his blue suede shoes. Willard strolled back to the desk with his report, happily humming along.

     Sheriff Winchell came out of his office holding a sheet of paper. He handed the paper to Al MacKeever, the deputy at the main desk, and looked suspiciously about the room. Seeing the radio, he quickly crossed to it and began turning the tuning knob. After some screeches and static he finally located another music station. Gene Krupa’s driving tom-tom solo was introducing the Goodman Band’s rendition of Sing, Sing, Sing.

     “There you go, son,” said Winchell with a friendly grin. “If you want something with a good beat, you can’t do better than that.”

     Willard smiled back wanly.

     “Is there any word from Sky?” Winchell continued.

     Before Willard or any of the other deputies could answer, the tall rancher strode purposefully through the office door. Winchell stepped forward to greet his friend.

     “Hello, Sky. Did Copper come with you?”

     “I left her at Shirley’s shop to help Amy and Sue with the women there. I didn’t want to bother them too much at a time like this, but we talked to them for a while about what happened.”

     “Come into my office.” When the two men were alone, he continued. “Same gang that’s been after the Irons sisters?”

     Sky nodded.

     “It seems to be, at least the blonde woman sounds like the same one Copper and the Irons girls described. Of course, the two other women were different, but since you have two women of the gang locked up, they may have had to get some more help.”

     “And then that phone call to you about not helping with today’s convoy makes it pretty plain, doesn’t it?”

     “Yes. And the man who made that call knew me. He knew me, and he called Julie ‘the Captain.’ If Amy was right about one of the men who ambushed her and Sue last week, that man was Rowlands.”

     “The same man who was in that gang hired by those spies last year?”

     Sky nodded again.

     “It’s hard to be sure, because I didn’t hear his voice very much then, but it all adds up.”

     “This could be bad, Sky,” said Winchell. “Even though he failed then, he knows us pretty well and has a good idea of what to expect going against us.”

     “That’s a two-way street, Winch. We also know a lot about him, too. We have to do two things now: get Julie back and protect Karen and Jill for this afternoon’s run.”

     “What do you suggest?”

     “We’ll have to meet to form a plan. We’ll need to have the Irons sisters, Amy and Sue, and Harry and some of the senior deputies. And we’ll probably need the help of the State police.”

     “Sergeant Boyer’s on his way to town now. He should be here in half an hour.”

     “Good. We’ll see if we can’t protect the convoy without using the Hummingbird.”

Laughton, his back leaning against the door of a stolen Ford sedan, watched Rowlands pull his car next to the phone booth beside him. Rowlands shut off the engine and swung the door open, keeping a wary eye on the cars leaving and stopping at the pumps of the filling station. With apparent casualness, he sauntered over to Laughton. The two men kept watching the traffic, barely looking at one another as they talked.

     “A pretty busy place,” Rowlands said. “Busier than I expected.”

     “A lot busier than when Ritchie and I checked it out the other day. Must be a lot of people headed for L. A. today.”

     “On a Tuesday? Well, it doesn’t really matter. You all set?”

     Laughton nodded.

     “How many men you taking?” Rowlands continued.

     “Ritchie and eight others, all of the new men.”

     Rowlands raised an eyebrow.

     “You’re a very cautious fellow, aren’t you?”

     Laughton looked at him coolly.

     “You’re the one who advised caution. Did you get our guest?”

     “She’s safely tucked away. One of her babysitters will give me a call here when the trucks pass. I’ll keep watch to make sure a hundred deputies aren’t following. If anything’s wrong I’ll use the hand radio to let you know.”

     “Nice safe job for you.”

     Rowlands looked at him.

     “Not much safer than ten men against two lady truck drivers and two deputies. And if the trucks are followed, my team’ll try to slow ‘em down for you.”

     “I hope this works.”

     Rowlands smiled.

     “If it doesn’t, you can work out the next plan.”

     Laughton chuckled.

     “I guess so. Watch yourself.”

     He got into his car and pulled onto the highway. The station was at the very edge of town. To the north, the direction Laughton was headed, there was nothing but sandy waste. Rowlands watched him go, then got back into his own car for shade. The phone booth was only a few steps away. Rowlands switched on the radio. Vaughn Monroe was singing a warning to cowboys to change their ways or face chasing the devil’s herd across the endless skies. Rowlands spun the knob until he found Dean Martin being hit in the eye by a big pizza pie.

“Do you think it’ll work, Sky?” asked Karen Irons.

     Sheriff Winchell looked at her with a little smile.

     “They’ve used some pretty elaborate deception on us, so the least we can do is return the favor.”

     “Since they’re concentrating so hard on keeping the Hummingbird away, we’ll let them think they’ve succeeded,” added Sky. “They told me not to fly, but didn’t rule out anything else.”

     “And they didn’t even demand that the trucks go unescorted?” asked Harry Tyler.

     Sky shook his head.

     “ ‘No plane’ was all they said. I figure that anything else is allowed.”

     State police Sergeant Boyer was tall and rangy, with an honest, lantern-jawed face that was meant to be a policeman’s.

     “The plan sounds excellent for protecting the girls and the shipment, Sky. But what happens to your wife when the gang finds out they’ve been tricked?”

     “That’s the dicey part,” the rancher said grimly. “We’re going to have to continue to look for Julie as we set things in motion. Because the call came so quickly after she was taken, I’d bet that she has to be somewhere in town.”

     Al MacKeever shook his head.

     “We can’t very well search house to house. If they see any sign we’re looking, it might be the end for her.”

     “I’ve called in four men from each of the other two shifts,” said Winchell. “With those men plus those Lieutenant Conway’s sending over, we should be able to have a good look around town in unmarked cars.”

     “And we’ll have the women from the beauty shop riding with our men,” added Sky. “They’ll try to spot the three women who did the kidnapping.”

     “It’s pretty thin, Sky,” said Harry Tyler. “I hope we can make it work.”

     “I don’t see what other choice we have,” said Sky. “We can’t leave Karen and Jill here to the tender mercies of that gang.”

     Jill Irons looked earnestly at Sky.

     “I appreciate all you’re doing for us, Mr. Ryder, but we can’t ask you to put your wife in danger like this on our account. Maybe it’s time for us to give up.”

     “We can’t give in to people like this,” said Sky. “You and Karen are just trying to make a living, and Julie was having her hair done. If we surrender to them, no one will be safe doing anything or going anywhere. We have to stand up and stand together.”

     Amy Cole’s eyes were shining as she regarded the tall rancher.

     “We’re behind you, Sky,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can.”

     Sky smiled as he glanced from face to face.

     “That’s all we can ask. Good luck to all of you.”

     The meeting broke up. Winchell and Sergeant Boyer started detailing their men to the search while the two female deputies remained with Copper, the Irons sisters and Sky. Amy Cole caught Harry Tyler by the arm. She hesitated and lowered her eyes before speaking.

     “This is going to be dangerous for you, Harry,” she said. “I want you to be careful out in front.”

     He smiled.

     “It’s no more dangerous for me than it’s been for you dozens of times. I’m just glad you didn’t lose anything more than a uniform the other day.” The smile became a grin. “Anyway, we’re kinda gettin’ used to that around here.”

     She tried to glare at him, but ended up smiling too. She put a hand on his arm.

     “Well, don’t get too used to it.”

     He laid his hand on hers.

     “It never fails to get my interest. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have to get you untied and dressed every so often, so you be careful too.”

     Andy Rivera was waiting at the door. Tyler beckoned to him then turned back to Copper.

     “You coming, Copper?”

     The girl jumped up so fast that her hat slipped back off her head.

     “Right with you, Harry.”

     “What’s that in your pocket, Copper?” asked Sky as he watched his niece hurrying to join the deputies.

     With a horrified look, Copper reached behind her and stuffed a bit of protruding white material deeper into her hip pocket. She slunk back to Sky and beckoned him closer with her index figure. The tall rancher leaned over.

     “They’re Julie’s panties, Sky,” the girl whispered. “There weren’t any panties in the bundle the gang left at the ranch, and I found these on the floor of Shirley’s shop. I meant to put them the rest of her clothes in the car, but I forgot. I didn’t think you’d want everyone to see them.”

     Sky smiled slightly.

     “That was very discreet of you, honey. But remember that most of the men in this room have seen women’s underwear. In fact, some of them have even seen women without underwear too.”

     “I guess you’re right,” said Copper. She noticed Tyler and Rivera smiling at her. The girl’s eyes widened in realization. “In fact, some of them have even seem me like that.”

     She marched back to the doorway and took both deputies by the arm to lead them away.

     “No remarks, either of you!” she warned.

     As the teams left the building, Karen Irons gave Sky a searching look.

     “Do you think they’ll find Julie, Sky?”

     The rancher said nothing for a moment. When he spoke, his face was very grave.

     “I hope so, Karen. I certainly hope so.”

Julie Ryder rolled more to her side under the sheet. In working to free her hands, she had gradually shifted her weight so that she had nearly fallen onto her back. She hoped that her guard would not notice the movement.

     “Havin’ fun over there?” Jean asked. “I’d better have a look at you since you’re gettin’ so frisky.”

     The dark-haired woman gathered in her solitaire cards and stood up. She stepped over to where Julie lay and swept back the sheet to check her prisoner’s bindings.

     “Still all secure, I see,” she noted, tugging at the ropes around Julie’s wrists. She put an arm around Julie’s shoulder and raised the gagged and blindfolded woman to a sitting position. She stroked one of the helpless captive’s breasts. “Too bad in a way. I’ve got some chloroform around here somewhere and I’d just love to have to use it on you like this.”

     Julie shook her head and tried her best to show that she was offering no resistance. Jean laughed.

     “That’s a good girl. If you don’t give me any trouble, there’s no need to use it.”

     She laid Julie back on the mattresses.

     “But watch yourself when Lisa takes over.” She tweaked a nipple again. “She’s not nearly as reasonable as I am.”

     Jean covered Julie with the sheet once more as Mary La Rocque appeared at the door.

     “How’s our little guest?” she asked.

     “On her best behavior and comfy as can be. I think she was trying to fool me for a while, trying to get her hands loose when she thought I wasn’t looking. But she hasn’t done very well.”

     Mary looked at her watch.

     “Lisa should be here to relieve you any minute.”

     “Good. I’m hungry and I could use a break, pleasant as watching our little friend is.”

     The door opened. Both women looked over to see Lisa entering the warehouse, one arm clutching two or three magazines and a bottle of soft drink in her other hand.

     “How’re things outside?” asked Mary.

     Lisa took a drink from the bottle. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

     “There were a couple Sheriff’s cars at the beauty shop, so you’d better stay away from there for a while. Other than that, there’s not much going on. Bradford and Reeves have gone to watch the trucking office and Monroe and Strothers are on the west side of town.”

     “Are there a lot of cops around?”

     Lisa shook her head.

     “I haven’t seen any except for the deputies at the beauty parlor. No State cops at all in town as far as I can see.”

     Mary nodded.

     “Okay. You take guard for a couple hours. Jean, if you want lunch, you’d better go to that little diner in the next block. Be back in an hour. I’m going to report to Rowlands.”

     “Right.” Jean picked up her purse and headed for the door.

     Mary slipped her right arm through the straps of her handbag.

     “Keep a close watch on her. I’ll get some lunch too, but I’ll try to be back before Jean.”

     Lisa settled into the chair, laid her pistol on the table and opened one of the magazines.

     “No hurry. We’ll wait right here. Won’t we Mrs. Ryder?”

     She reached out with her foot and prodded Julie’s legs lightly. The bound woman hummed indignantly into her gag. Mary started for the door.

Copper Ryder looked from side to side as she drove slowly through the streets in the area of the beauty shop. She had ridden with Deputies Tyler and Rivera for more than an hour on the same mission without any success. When the men had been called to go to prepare for their escort duty there had been no other search unit available for Copper to join. And since two of the three women involved in Julie’s abduction were strangers to her, it was not as important that she be involved in the search. But the girl was determined to be helpful, and she had continued alone in the Flying Coronet station wagon. Now she was growing weary and her stomach was beginning to remind her that it was past time for lunch.

     “I might as well stop for a bite,” she thought. “I won’t be any good searching if I’m not mentally sharp. And there’s a diner not far from here.”

     Though she preferred the food at Jeb’s, Copper headed the car for the little diner when she saw the blonde step out of the door of a warehouse ahead and walk in the same direction.

     “It’s her!” the girl thought excitedly. “The woman I saw at Geary’s Garage last week! She was the one who supervised the kidnapping of Karen and Jill, and she must be the same one who was the leader that Shirley and the others described this morning. I wonder what she was doing in that big building?”

     Copper pulled the car over. There were several large signs on the walls and windows of the warehouse indicating that it was for sale or rent. The girl was struck by an exciting thought.

     “Maybe that’s where they’re holding Julie! I’d better check it out.”

     After a careful look in both directions, Copper got out of the station wagon and walked as casually as she could toward the door from which the blonde had come. She listened closely at the door, trying to hear if there was anyone moving around inside. Very slowly she turned the knob. The door opened slightly. Copper froze, waiting to see if there would be any response. When nothing happened, the girl pushed the door open just enough to slip inside.

     Sunlight streamed through several high windows, so the interior of the place was hardly pitch dark, but Copper still waited a few moments until she was certain that her eyes had adjusted from the outside. There was no sound and no movement the girl could see. Still, she moved very cautiously. The floors of the place were bare concrete and any sound of her feet would undoubtedly echo in such a huge empty building. Stepping as softly as she was able, Copper made her way farther inside. There were three small offices along the wall to her left, all with large windows that faced the main work area. Copper peeked into each as she came to it. The first two were empty, though the door of the second stood open and it contained a small couch, a chair and a table. She was about to go on to the third when she heard the legs of a chair being pushed along the floor.

     “I need a little trip to the ladies’ room, honey,” said a female voice. “You just wait right there for me.”

     Copper stepped quickly and noiselessly through the open door of the second office. She flattened herself against the wall and held her breath as the sound of high-heeled steps came nearer. A very shapely, dark-haired woman passed the window, headed diagonally across the large open space in front of the offices and into a small restroom on the opposite wall. The door closed.

     Copper let out the breath, then realized that she had to act quickly. She padded out the door and looked inside the third office. The first thing she saw was a wriggling, sheet covered form lying across two cheap mattresses. There was also a chair and table, and on the table were some magazines, a deck of cards and a gleaming automatic pistol.

     “Julie?” she whispered.

     An answering mew came from under the sheet.

Mary La Rocque waited as the phone was answered during the second ring. Rowlands’ voice was on the other end.

     “How’re things going?”

     “Just fine,” she said. “Our visitor is right at home. Have you heard from Bradford?”

     “He just called. The girls are on the road. Any sign of them where you are?”

     “Just a minute.”

     She opened the door of the phone booth and stepped over to the big window near the door of the diner. She peered out, then stepped back to the phone.

     “I see them coming now. They’ll pass right by here.”

     “Get a good look as they go by.”

     She put her hand over the mouthpiece and waited. A few seconds later the two blue trucks, one large and one small, had passed the diner.

     “I saw them,” she said. “One sheriff’s car in front and blondes at the wheel of both trucks. No cars following and no deputies riding in the cabs with them.”

     “The best part is that there are no planes over anyone. We’ll hope that continues.”

     She smiled grimly.

     “Ryder knows what’ll happen if he flies, doesn’t he?”

     “Yeah, he knows. But watch out for a trick. I’m going to stay here for a little while and watch for anyone trailing them. You know what to do?”

     “You’ll call me here in an hour. If everything’s gone all right, I’m to free her hands and get out of here. And what do I do if Ryder tries to trick us?”

     “It won’t happen. Just stay on your toes. They’re probably searching all over town for her right now.”

     “We’ll be alert.”

     She left the phone booth. Jean was still sitting at the counter sipping coffee. A half-eaten order of beef stew sat on a plate in front of her. She turned and looked at Mary with no sign of recognition. Mary nodded very slightly, slung her purse straps over her arm again and left the diner.

“All done,” Lisa announced as she walked across the room, straightening her dress as she came. “Did you miss me, dearie?”

     She stopped at the doorway to the little office she had left not many minutes before. The figure under the sheet was rolling back and forth and writhing convulsively.

     “Hey! What are you up to under there?”

     She squatted beside the mattress and lifted the sheet from her struggling prisoner. She froze in amazement when a short, attractive young blonde dressed in a checkered shirt and jeans sat up and smiled at her.

     “Hi!” the blonde said cheerfully. “It took you long enough. Have a nice time in there?”

     Lisa recovered quickly. On hands and knees, she scrambled back to the table and groped for the pistol, scattering the cards and magazines in her search for it.

     “Looking for this, Lisa?” asked a voice in the corner.

     Lisa looked up to see Julie Ryder. Her former prisoner had been hiding on her knees a few feet from the door, and was now getting to her feet. She was now wearing a pair of white panties and completely free of any ropes. She held Lisa’s pistol in her right hand, pointing it directly at her former captor and smiling.

     “Very careless of you to leave this lying around for just anyone to find,” said Julie. She gestured toward Copper with the pistol. “I don’t believe you’ve met my husband’s niece, have you? Meet Copper Ryder, Lisa.”

     The brunette slowly stood up, her hands raised. She tried to speak.

     “But... But how did you...” Words failed her and she trailed off.

     Copper threw off the sheet. The ropes that had bound Julie lay on the floor under it.

     “Would you care to do the honors, Copper?” Julie asked.

     Copper picked up a couple short lengths of cord.

     “It would be my pleasure, Julie.”