Sky and the Woman With A Past

Fiction by Frank Knebel

Chapter Two

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you two helping me with this," said Eileen Harvey as she closed the station wagon's back door.

"How could I call myself a loyal library volunteer if I didn't help out?" said Copper. She turned the ignition key to start the engine.

"I'm just sorry we couldn't bring Sky and couple of the men to help with the lifting and hauling," said Julie, in the front passenger seat. "Copper and I are certainly willing helpers, but we may not be the strongest."

Eileen dismissively waved a hand.

"We don't have to move anything really heavy, Julie. But there are a couple of tall bookshelves for the office that would be difficult for me to manage alone. And your station wagon is much better for tall things than my car."

Copper checked the traffic at the exit of the library parking and turned into the street.

"Well you can relax, Mrs. Harvey," she said. "Julie and I can handle just about anything that might come up."

Eileen laughed.

"I'm sure you can. But I'm pretty sure that this won't be anywhere nearly as dangerous or adventurous as some of the things you've been through lately."

Julie turned back to Eileen and laughed.

"I certainly hope not."

Neither of the women could see Copper's slight frown at their remarks.

The young man at the wheel of the parked car yawned and stretched.

"Any sign of him?" he asked the older man in the seat beside him.

The other man, in his early forties, tall, broad shouldered, handsome in an ordinary way, with hair beginning to turn gray, looked at the young man and smiled slightly.

"What's the matter, Campbell? Got somewhere to go?"

The man at the wheel snorted.

"Not in this town, I don't! I can't believe that we ended up in a place like this. We can't make any kind of score here, unless you count cattle droppings and cactus, and I haven't even seen any cactus yet."

"What does a city boy from L.A. like you know about cactus?"

"They're tall and green, their arms point up, and they'll stick you if you touch 'em," said Campbell.

He was shorter than the older man, dark-haired and lean. Though his features were not unpleasant, something about his expression, his darting eyes and leanness that gave him the unappealing look of a young man too much on the make.

The older man chuckled.

"That's a Saguaro cactus, and we're at too high an elevation for them. They grow in the lower lands closer to Phoenix. All you find around here are prickly pear."

"Thanks, Mr. Scoutmaster," the young man sneered. "Well, I hope they all have gold inside 'em. I don't want to keep doin' two-bit heists like this one."

He looked closely at the older man.

"Why'd we come to this burg anyway? Were you and your pals in stir so long that you forgot how to pull jobs? You tryin' t' break in easy?"

The man looked straight ahead at the storefronts lining the street.

"A man can forget a lot in almost twelve years," he said softly. "And lose touch with a lot. Or be forgotten."

Campbell shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly.

"Sounds like a dame's in this somewhere. She didn't visit you once in all that time?"

"That wouldn't have been very smart. She was the inside man on the job where we got sent up, but we made her look innocent. The cops would've gotten suspicious if she'd been on my visitor list. And when we got out, she was gone."

Campbell shrugged.

"So what makes her so important?"

The older man continued to look straight ahead. He spoke softly.

"She's my wife."

Before Campbell could react, a man stepped out of the store they had been watching and strolled casually toward them.

"Here he comes!" said the older man.

The man walking toward them was, like Campbell, of medium height and very lean, though older. But his face was a complete contrast to the younger man. His hair was graying at the temples and he wore dark, thick rimmed glasses, giving him the nondescript look of a born bank teller or hotel desk clerk. He stopped by the car and spoke without looking at the two men inside as he straightened his necktie.

"They just made the sale," he said. "The customer paid in cash, and the man who owns the place and the two men who work there are going to deliver the furniture. The owner's wife and one female clerk are all that'll be in the store when they've gone. Watch for the truck to pull out of that alley ahead."

"Good," said the older man. "Tell March, Coates and Burton."

"Good luck, Denny," said the clerkish man.

He walked on. Campbell reached inside his jacket and pulled out a snub-nosed revolver. He broke open the cylinder and checked to be sure it was loaded. After snapping the cylinder back in place, he gave it a spin.

"Don't be too eager to use that," Denney said.

"That's easy for you to say, pops. All you have to do is keep watch out here. That's a good job for old men."

"It's a good job for someone who knows what he's doing," said Denny. "We can't leave Burton on watch because he's new like you, and we don't know him yet. We know Coates and it's not his kind of job."

"And I'm too valuable to leave behind," Campbell said.

"Wrong. If you'd see a deputy go by, you'd probably start blasting and we'd end up in the gunfight at the OK Corral. Now put that thing away before somebody sees it."

Campbell returned the pistol to his shoulder holster.

"Got your hood?" asked Denny.

"Geez, what are you? My dad?" snapped Campbell. "Yeah, I've got my hood in my pocket."

Denny picked up a dark, sack-like piece of material from the seat between them.

"What's this then?"

Campbell dug into both jacket pockets. With an irritated look he snatched the hood from Denny. Before he could say anything, a station wagon pulled to the curb a few spaces ahead of them. Three women got out. The driver was a very pretty young blonde in jeans, a checkered shirt and a flat-crowned Western hat. The front seat passenger was a very attractive woman of thirty or so in a white blouse and dark slacks. They could see little of the woman who had been in back seat as her back was to them. The style of her dress suggested that she was a bit older than the others, but it was obvious that she had retained a youthful, shapely figure. As they headed for the store, the third woman half turned to say something to her companions. Denny sat bolt upright and stared.

Just as the three women reached the store entrance, a delivery truck came out the alley ahead. There were three men in the cab. The lettering on the side of the truck read: TUTHILL OFFICE SUPPLIES.

The truck turned into the street and headed away from them. Campbell looked into the rearview mirror. Three men were coming down the sidewalk in their direction. Campbell grabbed the door handle and opened it.

"Time to go, pops," he said.

Denny did not reply. Campbell turned to him. He was staring at the backs of the three women as they entered the store.

"Denny!... Denny!" said Campbell. "Are you all right?"

Denny shook his head.

"It couldn't be," he mumbled. "It just couldn't be."

Campbell did not wait for an answer. He slid out of the car and flung the driver's door closed. He circled around the front of the car and joined the other three men walking toward the store.

"Good morning, Eileen," said Lorette Tuthill. "We're ready for you, even though you're a bit early today. And I'm glad to see that you've brought some helpers."

Lorette Tuthill was a short, pretty woman nearing fifty. Her clearly dyed brown hair was neatly styled and combed. Her figure was still very attractive, with its trim waist, fairly sizable breasts and shapely legs displayed by her knee-length skirt. Ten or twenty years ago she had probably been quite a beauty, though the trials of intervening years had turned her normal expression rather fretful and harried. The worried look disappeared in the pleasant smile she showed to the three women who had entered the store.

"Good morning, Lorette," Eileen replied. "Did you say that our order is ready?"

Lorette extended an arm toward the counter. Near the register sat three cardboard boxes, their tops folded closed but not sealed.

"There are the forms, paper, pencils, tape and other things," said Lorette. "I think the shelves are ready too." She turned to a rear door and called. "Susan! Susan, are you there?"

Susan Cullen, a pretty brunette in her late twenties, appeared at the door.

"Yes, Mrs. Tuthill?"

"Are those two shelves for the library ready, dear?"

"Yes, Mrs. Tuthill. Don and I put them together first thing this morning."

Julie turned to Copper with a smile.

"It looks like we have our work cut out for us this morning, Copper."

"Oh, this won't be too hard," Copper said brightly.

Lorette Tuthill led the three women to the counter.

"The invoice is next to the boxes, Eileen. We can check the list against packing slips if you'd like to."

"There's no need, Lorette. You're always very thorough," said Eileen. She pulled a check from her handbag. "I have the library's check for you."

Lorette took the check. Her smile returned, again chasing the worry from her face.

"Should we go get the shelves now?" asked Copper.

"Whenever you like, dear," said Lorette. "Susan will show you where they are."

Susan had remained in the doorway leading to the stockroom.

"We have a dolly if you want to use it," she said. "It's right----"

She froze in mid-sentence, staring wide-eyed at the front door.

The other women turned. Four hooded men had entered the store. The two men in front had pistols. Three of the men advanced toward them while the last stayed to turn the sign hanging on the glass door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED' and drew the shade.

"All right, ladies," said one of the men holding a gun. "You can all see what this is, so everybody just stay calm and do what you're told and nobody'll get hurt."

Lorette, still holding the library check, took a step forward.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

The man chuckled.

"I think that the masks and the guns should make it obvious what we want."

A couple of the other men chuckled. Lorette continued.

"Well, I think you'd better get out of here while---"

Julie Ryder put a hand on Lorette's arm just above the elbow.

"I think we'd better do what they say, Lorette," she said calmly.

"That's a pretty smart dame there, boss," said the tallest man.

"It's real good advice, lady," the leader said to Lorette. "Better take it."

Lorette glanced at Julie. The younger woman gave a slight nod.

"All right," said Lorette.

"Okay, boys," said the leader. "Get started."

"Okey-dokey, bass," said the tallest man.

While the leader held the women at gunpoint, the tallest man crossed the room to the stockroom doorway and prodded Susan, who had reflexively raised her hands in surrender, to join the others. The movement kept any of them from noticing Eileen's reaction to the tall man's words. Another man, fairly tall and well-built like the leader, slipped on a pair of gloves, went behind the counter and opened the cash register.

"We hit the jackpot," he said as he scooped bills out of the drawer into a bag.

The last man, the shortest and leanest of the four, sauntered up to stand by the leader.

"I think we hit the jackpot in another way," he said. "These are some pretty good-lookin' dames we've got here. Maybe we should give ourselves a bonus."

The leader looked at the women in turn. Eileen kept her face turned away.

"They sure are," he agreed. He took a step toward Lorette and put a finger under her chin. "They're not all exactly young and fresh, but very nice all the same."

Lorette's eyes grew wide.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

The lean man interrupted.

"Just about anything we want to, lady." He reached out a hand toward Copper's chest.

"Don't be fools," Julie Ryder said firmly to the leader. "Robbery is one thing. What he has in mind is something else."

The leader stuck out his left arm to stop the shorter man.

"I hate to agree, but the lady's right. You'll have to have your fun tyin' 'em up."

He took the check that Lorette still held, looked at it and laid it next to the register.

"You can keep your check, lady. But we want your cash. Purses on the counter."

Julie and Eileen placed their handbags on the counter as Susan took hers and Lorette's from the drawer where they were kept. The man who had emptied the register went through them.

The shorter man looked at Copper. "No purse for you, honey?"

"No," Copper answered sullenly. "And I'm glad I don't have it with me today."

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her closer.

"Then I'm glad I get to tie you up. We'll have a real good time. Or at least I will."

"There's no need to tie us up," said Julie, trying to sound reasonable. "You're armed, so we can't resist. If you pull out the telephone cord we won't be able to---"

"Just pipe down and let us handle this lady," the leader said. "Let's all go into the back room so we won't be interrupted."

The back room into which they herded the women was twice the size of a three car garage with metal shelving units in rows and lining the walls. Two lightweight wooden bookshelves stood in the open area near the door to the store. There was a double door on one side wall with a desk and two folding chairs near it.

"Okay, boys," said the leader. "You know what to do. Let's get started."

"Okey-dokey, boss," said the tallest man.

Eileen Harvey flinched.

Bill Denny now sat in the driver's seat of the car in which he and Campbell had waited. The auto and foot traffic was about what he had expected for a weekday in a town of this size. It was a long way from, and a lot easier than, busy post-war Los Angeles. They had been in town for more than an hour this morning without seeing a single policeman. It should be an easy job. But Denny's mind was far from easy.

First there were the three women who had entered the store before March and the others. They had counted on having only one or two women to overpower in order to do the job. Three more meant more time: more time for curious customers to wonder why the store had closed in mid-morning, and more time for some passing deputy to take an idle look through a window.

And then there was the woman he had seen, or thought that he had seen. He kept telling himself that lots of women looked alike and could be mistaken for one another. The odds against running into his wife in this town of less than eight thousand people hundreds of miles from where they had last seen each other were astronomical.

But he was almost positive that it was Eileen he had seen.

Denny snapped from his reverie as a Sheriff's patrol car passed him and pulled to the curb a half-block ahead. Two slight figures in khaki uniforms got out. The one in the passenger seat paused on the sidewalk to wait for the driver. When the waiting figure stretched, he realized that the two deputies were women, both brunettes. The stretching deputy was a willowy girl with rather short curly hair. The driver was shorter and much more curvaceous, with her longer hair tied in a bun under the rear brim of her Western hat. The two went into a door next to a lighted window sign: JEB'S CAFE.

Denny looked at his watch. It was a bit early for lunch. The deputies were probably stopping for coffee. Denny hoped that they would not be delayed too long by the usual attention and mild flirtation that attractive girls would normally receive when surrounded by mostly male diner customers. If their visit was a quick one, he hoped they would not notice the 'closed' sign on the office supply store.

Just in case they did notice, Denny checked the pistol tucked in his belt. At least, he mused, since the two deputies were good-looking women it meant that Campbell would be less likely to start shooting at them on sight.

He did not like Campbell and could not imagine why March had taken him on. He did not like that the job was taking so long. He did not like the whole situation.

Campbell, the short, lean robber, finished knotting the ropes binding Eileen Harvey's wrists behind her back. He turned to Copper.

"You're next, cutie," he said. Though his face was covered by the hood, there was a leering grin in his voice. He took another length of rope from his pocket, spun Copper around so her back was to him, took off her hat and tossed it away, and pulled her arms behind her.

"You'll never get away with this!" declared Copper as Campbell went to work. "The Sheriff and my Uncle Sky will teach you a good lesson."

March, the leader, was keeping watch at the door between the store and the stockroom. He seemed not to be listening. The man who had emptied the register had remained in the store to search for more loot. March had tied Julie Ryder's hands behind her while Tiny Coates, the tallest man, had bound Susan, the assistant clerk. An apprehensive Julie and Susan stood near the first row of shelves in the middle of the room. They watched Tiny take Lorette Tuthill by the arm and begin tying her hands.

"Copper!" Julie said quietly but urgently.

Copper turned to Julie, who shook her head.

"Don't provoke them," Julie cautioned.

"You're one smart cookie," said March without turning, continuing to keep watch. "When everybody stays calm, nobody gets hurt."

"You're hurting me!" yelled Lorette. She tried to turn to Coates. "There's no reason to tie us so tightly!" She looked daggers at March. "Big tough men! You're no better than a pack of animals!"

"Sticks and stones," March said calmly.

Coates finished binding Lorette's wrists.

"Done with their hands, boss," he reported.

March turned. He scanned the area near the door.

"Okay," he said. "We'll be really considerate. Put the two older gals in the chairs. The two brunettes can go on the floor."

"What about my little blonde friend?" asked Campbell.

He pulled a knot tight, causing Copper to grimace.

"We'll leave her to you. Tie her feet to keep her out of mischief while we deal with the others."

"Glad to."

He turned Copper to face him and put his hands under her arms. He lifted her off her feet and plopped her unceremoniously on top of the desk

"Hey!" Copper protested. "Watch it there."

"Shut up and gimme your feet."

He held her booted feet together, wrapped a few loops of rope around her ankles, fashioned a seize and tied off the line.

"Now stay put!" He put a hand on her thigh and rubbed. "I'm not done with you."

As he took his hand off her, she pulled her knees away.

"You keep your hands to yourself, you weasel!" she spat.

March was lowering Julie Ryder to the floor a few feet away. Campbell joined him.

"I love spunky blondes," he said as he helped Susan sit on the floor.

"Shut up and get to work," said March.

They worked quickly, binding Julie and Susan's legs at the knees and ankles, then looping ropes around their arms and bodies. They left two women sitting side by side while March went to help Tiny. While the tall robber worked on tying Eileen's ankles and knees, March worked on Lorette's. Campbell sauntered back to Copper.

"Now what can I do with you, Blondie?" he said musingly, one hand on his chin. He looked around and snapped his fingers. "I know just the thing!"

March looked up from winding ropes around Lorette and the back of her chair.

"You'd better gag her before you do anything more." He turned to Coates. "In fact, we'd better gag all of them."

"Okey-dokey, boss," said Coates

"It'll be a real pleasure," added Campbell, taking a wad of cloth from his other pocket. "Come on, honey."

He grabbed a handful of Copper's blond hair and pulled her head back. The girl tried to resist when he held the wad to her lips, but there was little she could do. She resignedly opened her mouth and let him jam the packing in, then tie it in place with a long band of cloth looped twice around her head and between her jaws.

"That wasn't so bad, was it, baby?" he whispered into her ear as he knotted the ties at the back of her neck. "You'll be nice and quiet for me now, won't ya?"

Copper grunted indignantly into the gag. He took her by both sides of the waist again, lifted her from the desk and placed her on her feet. As the other women watched in alarm, he lowered his shoulder into her midsection, wrapped an arm around her legs and hoisted her in a fireman's carry.

Tiny was knotting Eileen's gag tie and March was wrapping Lorette's gag packing, but Julie and Susan's mouths were still free.

"What are you going to do with her?" demanded Julie.

"Don't worry, lady," said Campbell. "I'm not going to hurt her."

He carried Copper over to the first free standing shelf and put her down with her back against the end it. Taking more rope from his pocket, he ran several loops through a space between shelves and around her body at the waist.

"I'm just keepin' her in one place," he said as he worked.

March and Coates had finished with the Lorette and Eileen. The two women were now securely bound to the folding chairs in which they sat.

"Okay," March said to Tiny. "Let's take care of the last two."

"Okey-dokey, boss," replied Coates. "But I don't have any more cloth to use for gags."

"There's gotta be somethin' around here we can use. Take a look."

As the big man searched, March took a long rope and looped Julie Ryder's arms and body several times. When those bonds were tied off, he moved to Susan. The woman appeared about to panic as March tightened the ropes around her.

"Just stay calm," Julie said soothingly. "They're not going to hurt us. We'll be found and released soon."

Susan looked questioningly at Julie. Julie smiled.

"It'll be okay. When they gag you, try to keep the wadding toward the front of your mouth. That way you won't choke on it."

"I'll remember," Susan said, trying to sound brave.

March finished his work and paused, kneeling between the two women.

"You're very good, lady," he said. "Do you wanna come with us on our next job? The women there will appreciate your tips about how to be robbed."

"No thanks," Julie said stiffly.

"I found something," Coates announced as he approached with two handfuls of rags. He gave one to March.

"Let's work fast," said March, balling up a rag and holding it to Susan's face.

Susan hesitantly opened and allowed March to push the wadded cloth in her mouth. Coates did the same to Julie. When the women's gags had been secured by cloth bands around their heads and over their mouths, Coates started to rise. March stopped him.

"We'd better hogtie 'em too."

"Okey-dokey, boss," the big man replied.

March doubled a long piece of rope and placed the lark's head in the middle of Susan's back, just above the loops of body-and-arm ties. He ran the free ends under the body loops near her right arm, up over her collarbone, around the back of her neck, down her front over the left collarbone, under her left arm and back through the lark's head. He tied a good knot. Tiny followed his method with Julie. They then lowered the women's shoulders to the tiled floor and turned them on their sides so they faced each other. March brought the free ends down toward Susan's feet. He bent her legs back, looped the ends around her ankle bonds and tied them off, Tiny again copying his moves with Julie.

"That's pretty slick, boss," said Coates. "They won't be goin' anywhere now."

The two stood up. March wiped his hands on one another.

"Yeah. But we'd better pull out the phones to be sure they don't try anything cute." He turned to Campbell. "You about done?"

Copper was now bound to the end of the metal shelf by rope wraps at the feet, legs, waist, and under her breasts. Campbell was just finishing a tight knot in these last.

"I think that Blondie here will stay put for a while." He put a hand on the heavily loaded shelf and gave a push. Nothing moved. "Unless she can carry this whole shelf with her, that is."

He laughed. Copper glared at him.

"Let's go then."

"Okey-dokey, boss," said Tiny. He headed for the door.

"Better take care of that phone---," March began.

He stopped, frozen in the act of pointing at the phone on the desk behind the bound Eileen. She had been caught unaware, looking directly at March. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at her.

Campbell was ogling Copper, stroking the left side of her face with the backs of the fingers of his right hand. He looked at March.

"What was that?"

March remained absolutely still for another moment. He roused himself and turned to Campbell.

"Take care of that phone on the desk."

With one more look at Eileen, he turned and followed Tiny.

Campbell turned his attention back to Copper.

"You weren't thinkin' of tryin' to use that phone, were ya, baby? I can think of better things for ya t'do."

He took his hand from her face and unbuttoned the top button of her checkered shirt. He shook his head.

"Nah. This'll take too long."

He grabbed her shirt at the closing, one hand on each side, and pulled. The shirt tore open, exposing her upper chest and bra. He admired the view for several seconds as buttons clattered to the floor and rolled about. He released the hold on her shirt and let his right hand play across her bare chest.

"That's nice," he whispered lasciviously. His fingers slipped down to the top of her bra. "Real nice."

"WHAT'S KEEPIN' YA IN THERE?" March demanded from the next room.

Campbell's pointer finger tarried for a moment in Copper's cleavage.

"Sorry, baby. Gotta go," he said.

He leaned his hood-covered face against Copper's cheek. She could feel him kiss her through the fabric. She mewed a protest and turned away.

He laughed. With a few quick strides, he went to the desk and tore the phone cord out of the wall. After a last look at Copper he left by the door into the store.

The women could hear the sounds of the men leaving by the front door. The bell that alerted the staff to a customer's entrance dinged cheerfully after them.

The helpless women were alone.

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