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| Sky and the Woman With A Past |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
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| Sky and the Woman With A Past |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
Eileen Harvey descended the concrete steps of the library building and took a deep breath. It was a fine early autumn day. While it was warm, as usual for northern Arizona, the most oppressive heat of the summer was over. There was a refreshing westerly breeze. The wind and the lightweight, form-fitting belted dress she wore would keep her from becoming too uncomfortable on the walk. Before leaving her office, she had changed shoes from her high heels to a more comfortable pair. The exercise would be good for her.
As she opened her purse and took out her sunglasses, she unzipped one of the side compartments and checked the small sealed envelope she had put there before leaving for work. It was where she could get to it easily.
Eileen had often wondered why she had kept the bracelet since the robbery over ten years before. As attractive as it was, she had never openly worn it or tried to sell it, and rarely even put it on. Right after the job, it had been too hot. She had not known any fences capable of disposing of it, and the police had probably notified every honest jeweler in town to watch for anyone trying to sell it. Then came a period when she decided that she could sell it in case of a dire emergency, but one never arose. In the last few years, she had looked at it every so often only to remind herself of the life she was glad to have left behind. She had even thought about sending it back anonymously. Now she needed it. The only hope to avoid having to help March and his gang steal the rare books was to pay them off, and the only way she could pay them off was to sell the bracelet. But just having it in her purse made her uneasy.
Eileen tried to appear casual as she looked around while putting on her sunglasses. With school in session, the park across the street was quiet. An older couple seated on one of the benches was feeding bread scraps to the birds. A man in a light gray suit on the other bench was reading the Kermit Klarion.
She closed the bag, hung the strap over her shoulder and started walking toward the center of town.
At the first corner Eileen waited for a car to make a left turn across her path. The mid-thirtyish couple in the front seat waved to her as they passed and she waved back.
"I guess Don Henderson's taking Charlene Carmichael to lunch again," she said to herself. "Nice to see some not-so-young love."
Eileen crossed the street and continued toward Kermit's small business district. There were several low-rise office buildings clustered around the City Hall, the Cattlemen's Bank and the Sheriff's Office, but most of the town's businesses were single story shops devoted to ranching or farming needs plus the usual assortment of small department-type or specialty stores. Eileen headed straight for Page's Jewelry.
The stoplight changed just as Eileen reached the next corner. As she waited for the cross traffic, Eileen hoped that her continued nervousness did not show. The light turned green and Eileen started to cross. She flinched when a car horn sounded nearby. Sky, Julie and Copper Ryder waved from the Flying Coronet station wagon while passing. Eileen waved in return. The sound of another horn behind her caused her to look back, expecting to see a driver trying to make a turn annoyed by her crossing in front of him. She did not see what caused the honking, but she did notice a tall, well-built man in a light gray suit and dark hat half a block or so behind her. He was a stranger to her.
"That's funny," she said to herself. "That looks like the man I saw reading the paper on a bench in the park across from the library."
Eileen fought hard to control rising panic. Page's Jewelry was close, but she wondered if she should go in while there was any possibility that the man was following her. She paused at the front door and she looked back. The man was gone. She let out a breath of relief, reached for the door handle and went inside.
The man in the gray suit crossed from the front door of Jeb's Café to the counter. A shorter man who was seated there turned as the other approached. The man at the counter was in his late forties, graying, of medium height and stocky. He wore a dark blue suit and light blue tie. His dark hat lay on the counter beside him. He turned back to the waitress.
"Another coffee, please, miss."
The tall man removed his hat, revealing thick, well combed dark hair, and sat down beside the stocky man. He smiled politely as the waitress put a cup and saucer in front of him and poured coffee. He peered at the name badge on the left breast of her uniform.
"Thank you, Sally," he said pleasantly, the smile still on his handsome face.
She smiled back at him, nodded and went on to another customer.
"She went into Page's," said the man in gray, keeping his voice low. "She turned and saw me, I think. She might have gotten spooked."
The man in the dark suit sipped his coffee.
"I'll give her a couple minutes then go on in," he said quietly.
"You think she's back in with them?"
The man in blue shrugged.
"I don't know. It's been a long time." He looked directly at the other man. "But it was Denny coming out of her place before seven this morning. What do you think?"
The man in gray sipped his coffee.
"I think that Wesley might have told the truth. We'd better find out what she's doing in that jewelry store.""
The dark-suited man put several coins on the counter and slid from his stool. He stood and picked up his hat.
"You'd better leave by the side door, just in case she comes in here when she's finished at the jeweler's. Find someplace you can keep an eye on her."
The other man nodded.
"Good idea. I'll watch for the others, too."
The dark man put on his hat and strolled toward the front door. The man in grey lifted his cup and smiled at the waitress.
"This is really good coffee, Sally. How about another cup?"
William Page held up the bracelet and turned to get more light from the large front window of the shop.
"This is quite a fine piece, Mrs. Harvey," he said.
Mr. Page was a tall, well-built man in his forties, in a neat dark suit. His hair was dark and wavy and his voice deep and reassuring. He was a man well-fitted for the jewelry business.
Eileen said nothing. She glanced nervously around the shop and out the front window.
"From Van Dorf and Kohl's in Los Angeles, I see," Page continued. "An old and respected firm."
"Yes," Eileen replied. "I've had it for many years and hate to think of parting with it, but right now I could use the money for more than something to wear on my wrist."
Page nodded sagely.
"Yes, quite understandable," he said. "Not many of our customers are interested in an item as expensive as this, but we'd be glad to keep it here on consignment and show it. Of course, we'll consult with you before accepting any offer."
Eileen hesitated.
"You wouldn't be interested in buying it for the store then?"
Page cocked his head to one side.
"We do purchase items from time to time, of course, but this would be rather beyond our means right now. As I say, in Kermit we get very little demand for something like this."
Eileen extended her hand.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Page. I'd like to think it over. I'll let you know."
Page handed the bracelet back to her.
"Of course, Mrs. Harvey. I can also recommend some firms in Phoenix or Tucson or Flagstaff if you'd like to try them."
Eileen put the bracelet back into its envelope and then into her purse.
"That's very kind of you, Mr. Page. I'll think about it. Good day."
Page stepped quickly from behind the counter, opened the door for her and wished her good day as she left. An attractive young redheaded salesgirl passed him carrying a display of watchbands for another customer.
"Oh, Ruth," he said, stopping her. "Did you see the bracelet that Mrs. Harvey was showing me?"
The girl's eyes widened and rolled expressively.
"Did I?" Ruth exclaimed. "It about knocked my eyes out! Real diamonds, weren't they?"
"Oh, yes, quite real," he said thoughtfully. "Have you ever seen Mrs. Harvey wear it?"
The girl's expression changed to one of deep concentration.
"No, I never did. And when I was in high school, I volunteered in the library. I don't remember it at all."
The customer cleared his throat in obvious impatience. Ruth scurried away. Page walked slowly back toward the main counter. He turned when he heard the front door opening again. It was a stocky man in a dark suit and hat.
"Yes, sir," said Page, in his best greeting voice. "May I help you?"
The man removed his hat.
"I certainly hope you can."
Genie Willis took a cellophane wrapped package of rope from the shelf and examined it. When she was certain of the length, she tucked the package under her left arm and grabbed another. She put her hand on a third bundle but hesitated. At the sound of approaching high-heeled footfalls, she pulled her hand back and looked up. Lee Anne was coming toward her. The young blonde carried a shopping basket with "Vidor Hardware" printed on the side looped over one arm. Lee Anne stopped next to Genie and pretended to look at washboards on the opposite side of the aisle. She glanced at the bundles of clothesline Genie held.
"You must have a lot of clothes to hang up," she said softly.
"There are a lot of loose ends to tie up," Genie corrected. "At least four of them."
Lee Anne turned to the other side of the aisle and picked up a package of spring clothespins. Genie watched her.
"And I could think of a good use for those too," Genie continued. "But there won't be time for fun on this job."
"Fun with these? What kind of fun could you have…?" Lee Anne trailed off. Genie touched herself on the breasts. Lee Anne looked at Genie with surprise then added: "Well that's a pretty mean thing to think of. The girls who work there are just a couple years out of school. Why would you want to do something like that to them?"
"It's Eileen I'm thinking of," Genie said musingly as she looked at the clothespins. "Nobody but her. I'd just like to see her squirm. But since we won't be going in with the boys, there's no need for them."
Lee Anne shook her head as she put the clothespins back in the display. Again she looked at the packages of rope Genie was holding.
"Isn't that an awful lot of rope for one woman to buy?" asked Lee Anne.
"We ought to get more, just in case we have another skirt or two to take care of," Genie replied. She frowned. "Maybe you're right. We don't want to draw any attention."
She looked into Lee Anne's basket, then dropped the package in her hand into it.
"It's not too much rope for two women though. What else have you got in there?"
Lee Anne looked around nonchalantly, trying to be sure they were not being observed. She reached into her basket and showed Genie a roll of wide gray duct tape.
"Jimmy wanted a couple rolls of this stuff."
"What's he want that for? We're going to use adhesive on the …" She hesitated and glanced around for eavesdroppers. "… job."
Lee Anne shrugged.
"He wanted it," she said simply. "And anyway, they don't have white adhesive tape in a hardware store."
"We'll have to stop at a drug store for it. We can get some more rope there, too.'
Genie took another look around.
"I'm going to check out. You shop for another few minutes and meet me at the car."
Genie went to the register by the door. A medium-sized, balding, middle-aged man with a friendly, though somewhat bewildered, expression stood behind the register. Genie read the name 'Herb' on the badge pinned to his jacket. He took the package of rope from her.
"Only these two items today, ma'am?" he asked as he tapped the price on the keys. "I hope it isn't because you couldn't find something else you need. We aim to please in my store."
Genie smiled pleasantly.
"Just the clothesline today, thank you," she said.
Herb Vidor looked up the tax from a table taped to the side of the register, entered it on the keys and gave Genie her total. As she searched for money in her purse, Herb took a paper bag from under the counter and placed the packages inside.
"You know it's lucky for you that you're buying this rope today," he said.
Genie handed him a bill.
"Why? Is it on sale?"
Herb shook his head ruefully.
"No, sorry, it isn't. It just saves you having to talk to the Sheriff. You see, a store in town was robbed a couple days ago and the gang tied up the owner, a clerk and some women who were in the store with rope just like this."
Genie did her best to feign incredulity.
"You don't say!"
Herb nodded as he made change for her.
"We had a deputy in here asking if anyone had bought a large amount of rope in the past few days." He leaned toward her and added quietly: "I think they were checking up on anyone who did."
Genie put on a shocked expression for a moment. Then she leaned toward him and smiled.
"I hope you don't think I'm going to rob a store and tie up anyone," she said. "And I wouldn't want anyone to use this rope to tie me up and rob me."
The combination of her smile, her softly inviting voice and the view of cleavage displayed by her V-necked dress caused Herb to gulp. He recovered and grinned.
"I hope not," he said. He stood gazing at her for a moment.
Genie took the bag from his unmoving hand.
"Well, thanks for the great service, Herb," she cooed. "I hope they catch whoever it was."
She headed toward the door. The customer in line behind her was a paunchy, middle-aged man in work clothes. He dropped a new adjustable wrench on the counter. The thud failed to rouse Herb. The man shook him by the sleeve.
"Come on, Herb," the man said. "I need to get back on the job."
Herb looked at him as though startled.
"Oh, sure, Joe," he said. "Sorry about that. I was thinking of something else."
As Herb rang up the wrench, Joe watched Genie's curvaceous form as she crossed the street.
"Very nice," Joe said softly.
Eileen picked up half of her chicken salad sandwich, stared at it for a few seconds then put it down without taking a bite. She leaned her elbow on the table and put a hand to the side of her head. With her other hand she reached out and took up her glass of iced tea. As she sipped, she wondered what to do next.
"Mind if we join you?" a woman's voice called from behind.
Eileen turned. Julie and Sky Ryder were coming toward her from the front door of Jeb's Café. As they passed a table near the door occupied by a stocky man in a dark suit, Sky removed his broad-brimmed Western hat. As he swung it down, he brushed it against a dark hat the man had left at the edge of the table. It fell to the floor. Sky stopped, reached down and returned the hat to its place.
"Excuse me," Sky said.
The man smiled pleasantly.
"Think nothing of it," he replied. "Thanks."
The slight interruption gave Eileen almost enough time to hide her agitation and alarm. She did her best to sound convincing.
"Glad to have you, Julie. Take a seat."
Sky pulled the chair at Eileen's right for Julie and seated her. He took the seat to Julie's right, across from Eileen.
"We just dropped Copper at the library for her afternoon shift," said Sky.
"And we were surprised to see you going to Jeb's for lunch," added Julie. "Copper told us that you usually do a brown bag at your desk."
Eileen shifted uneasily in her chair.
"That's true," she said. "But I had a few things to do during my lunch hour, so I thought I'd treat myself to one of Jeb's sandwiches."
Julie looked at the almost untouched sandwich on Eileen's plate.
"It looks like something's spoiled your appetite," said Julie. "Maybe it was our little adventure at Tuthill's the other day."
"A thing like that can shake up person for some time," Sky added.
Eileen looked from Sky to Julie. They seemed to be watching her closely. She tried to sound casual in her reply.
"Oh, I don't think so." Eileen smiled. "I know that people think that librarians lead boring and routine lives and something like being caught up in a robbery would be upsetting. But the truth is that we have stress in our jobs, too. The work piles up sometimes, even at the library."
Sky nodded.
"Oh, yes," he said, looking directly at her. "Especially when you have a big event coming up, like the display of the Mark Twain and Bret Harte books next week. Do you have any idea of their value?"
Julie laid a hand on Sky's arm.
"Do you think that gang might try to steal those manuscripts, Sky?" she asked.
Sky shrugged.
"It's possible," he said.
Again, they both turned and looked at Eileen. For a moment, the librarian wondered if she had just witnessed genuine concern or a performance. She looked at her wristwatch.
"Oh, my," she said. "It's time for me to get back to work. Everything must have taken much longer than I thought. Sorry I have to run."
"We're sorry too, Eileen," said Julie. "We seldom get a chance to talk."
Eileen began wrapping her sandwich in a couple paper napkins. Julie stopped her by laying a hand on Eileen's arm.
"But you know that we're always around if you need to talk to us."
Eileen nodded and hastily said good-bye. She avoided their eyes as she went to the register to pay then hurried from the café.
"She's really upset about something," Sky said quietly. "I wish I knew what."
"I'd say she's almost frantic," said Julie. "And I doubt it's about being caught up in that robbery at Tuthill's and being tied up and gagged."
A slender, attractive, fortyish waitress appeared.
"Hello, Julie, Sky," she said. "What'll you folks have today?"
"Joanne, did anything unusual happen in here while Eileen was having lunch?" asked Sky.
For a moment Joanne looked at the front door Eileen had just gone out, as if that would help her remember. There was a curious look on her face when she turned back.
"You know," she said, "now that I think of it, when she walked past here about an hour ago, a man in a gray suit came in. It looked to me like he may have been following her."
"Why do you say that?" asked Julie.
"Well, after he came in he stood at the door and kept looking at her. I was waiting on a table down front and I could see him real well. I think she went into Page's jewelry store. Then he went to the counter and sat next to that other stranger who was in here, you know, the one in the dark suit who was sitting at the table next to you."
She nodded toward the now empty table.
"He left just before Eileen did," Sky said to Julie. He turned back to Joanne. "Did that man seem to be watching her too?"
Joanne cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow before shaking her head.
"I couldn't say. But I think he knew the other man, the one in the light suit. They were talking to one another. You'd have to ask Sally. She was working the counter then."
Julie looked earnestly at Sky.
"What do you think we should do, Sky?"
Sky took a menu from the middle of the table.
"First we'll have some lunch, and then stop in at Page's. What's good today, Joanne?"
Jimmy Campbell knotted the ropes around Lee Anne's wrists. He turned to Alban.
"How's that?" he asked.
Alban stepped over to the chair where Lee Anne, dressed in a tight fitting skirt and blouse, was sitting and tested the ropes. Bill Denny remained in his chair by the window.
"Plenty of loops to keep from cutting her circulation," Alban said as though running down a check list. "A good seize to take out the slack. But let's ask her. What do you think Lee Anne?"
Lee Anne worked her wrists behind her. She looked back over her shoulder.
"It feels pretty good to me," she said. "Not so tight that it's painful, but real secure."
"It's the same way I tied that little blonde in the store the other day," Campbell said with a grin. "She didn't look any too happy about it."
Alban gave the bindings another appraising look, then a tug.
"Keep trying to get loose, Lee Anne," he said. "If you haven't gotten out by the time he finishes with your feet and arms, we'll know he did a good job."
Alban sat on the motel bed and measured some clothesline from an open package beside him. He stretched out the rope between his hands five times, then cut it and began wrapping it into a coil. Several other coils lay on the bed beside him.
Campbell picked up one of the measured and cut ropes. Still grinning, he wrapped it around Lee Anne's arms and body just under her sizable bust.
"I know another way to check what kind of job it is," he said.
As he passed the doubled line around her again, he rubbed his hand across both of her breasts. Lee Anne giggled. She turned as if to kiss him, but stopped when she saw Alban and Denny.
"Not now, Jimmy," she said with another giggle.
Campbell returned to his work, quickly wrapping the rope around her.
"Much more of that lip from you, baby and I'll have to start my gagging test early."
"You should be glad you've got me to practice on," Lee Anne said good-humoredly. "I doubt that Genie would be such a good sport."
"You're right about that, Lee Anne," said Denny. "It'd cost John quite a bit to get her to do anything like this."
"Oh, I don't mind being tied up for a while." She looked up at Campbell and smiled. "Especially if Jimmy's doing the tying."
Campbell looked down and cupped her chin in one hand. He reached a hand back toward Alban. "Got some rope for her feet?"
Alban stopped work on the rope he was measuring and tossed a smaller coil to Campbell.
"This ought to take care of her ankles," the lean man said. "Let me know if that piece around her arms and body is long enough."
"Look for yourself," said Campbell. "It went around her six times."
Alban looked as Campbell knelt to tie Lee Anne's ankles.
"That oughta do it. The women who work in the library are about her size, so that length should do the job on all of them. We'll need to have five or six sets ready."
Campbell finished the knots on her ankle bonds. He picked up a wad of cloth and a roll of adhesive tape.
"Okay. Now one for her knees. Then my favorite part: the gag."
Lee Anne made a face.
"I don't know why that's one of your favorite parts." She looked up kittenishly at him. "I can think of better things to do with my mouth."
"So can I, Baby," he said. "So can I." He patted the fly of his trousers.
Lee Anne giggled.
"No, silly," she mock scolded him. "I meant kissing."
He laughed rather unpleasantly.
"Okay, Baby. Whatever you say."
He leaned over and kissed her.
Denny stood up.
"I'm going for a beer," he said. "You want to come Alban?"
The thin man shook his head as he continued his work of measuring and cutting clothesline.
"No. I want to finish getting the ropes ready. Then I think I'll go to the library and check the layout one more time. What time is it?"
Denny looked at his watch as he pulled the curtain aside to look out the window.
"A little before seven. It's starting to get dark."
He grabbed his suit coat from the back of the chair, slipped his arms into it and retrieved a set of car keys from the pocket.
"I'm taking the Ford. See you later."
Denny took another look through the window to make sure no one was near the door. Though the area was clear, he opened the door no more than necessary to get out of the room.
The early evening air was calm and still rather warm. But as Denny took a deep breath, it seemed wonderfully cool and refreshing after the closeness of the motel room. He wondered how long it would be before Campbell and Lee Anne kicked Alban out of the room so they could begin their evening romp in bed. They would probably not have to, he thought. Alban would pack all the sets of rope in the overnight bag he had bought, take them back to the room he shared with Denny, then go out to check the library. Alban was clever and thorough, but Denny found him a rather cold fish. He would rather have roomed with Burton, though he knew that would have left Alban and Tiny to be completely mismatched roommates.
Denny jingled the car keys and took another deep breath. He knew what he wanted tonight and it wasn't beer.
Copper put down her forkful of meatloaf and eagerly looked from Sky to Julie and back.
"So you two did some real detective work today!" she said excitedly. She paused and frowned. "But why did you wait until you'd already dropped me off at the library? I could have been a big help!"
Sky and Julie exchanged a glance.
"I'm sure you could have, Honey," said Julie. "But it all came up rather suddenly, you know."
"That's true, Copper," Sky added. "We weren't planning to do any investigating until after we saw Eileen on the street near Jeb's Café."
"And," Julie continued, "we might not have found out any of this unless we'd joined Eileen for lunch and noticed how nervous she seemed to be."
"Oh, how exciting!" squealed Copper. Her face and voice changed abruptly. "But I can't really believe that Mrs. Harvey would be in on anything dishonest or illegal."
"But, if there is anything illegal going on," said Sky, "we think that Eileen might be being forced into helping whoever's behind it."
Julie reached out to pat Copper's hand.
"Otherwise, she wouldn't be so distraught," she explained.
"And you're sure that you've never seen Mrs. Harvey wear a bracelet like the one Mr. Page described?" asked Sky.
"I don't remember her ever wearing any kind of bracelet," said Copper. She gave Julie a sideways glance, then cocked an eyebrow at Sky. "Of course, I didn't know Eileen as well as some people in the family, since I never dated her for almost a year."
Julie looked wide-eyed at Sky.
"I knew that you had quite a history with the women of Kermit, but I never heard about Eileen."
"Didn't you?" asked Copper with feigned surprise. "Well, Mrs. Harvey was after Carolyn Farnsworth and Anne Norman, but before Grace Ferris and Summer Smithers. And I don't know if we should count that Mexican woman that came to us about that business with the cattle."
She looked at Sky with an expression of mock innocence.
"What was her name, Sky, and should we count her?"
Sky stood and picked up some plates from the table.
"I think it's time for coffee and dessert," he said hastily.
Julie and Copper laughed as Sky hurried into the kitchen.
In the darkness Eileen nestled closer to Bill Denny. He kissed her on the forehead and patted her arm. Noticing that her shoulder and back were uncovered, he pulled the sheet over them.
"Got to keep you warm," he said softly.
She stroked her hand over his chest.
"You were doing fine even without the blankets," she purred.
He chuckled and took her chin in his hand to raise her eyes. They looked at one another and shared a long, soft kiss. She went back to playing with his chest hair.
"I hope I didn't make a big mistake in trying to sell that bracelet," she said thoughtfully.
"It would've been better if you hadn't," said Denny. "But I don't see how it could hurt us now."
Eileen thought of her meeting with Sky and Julie Ryder in the café and of the man in the light suit who may have been following her. For a moment she stopped rubbing Bill's chest. He looked down and kissed her again.
Monica Franklin yawned as she walked. Though it was another delightful day, warm enough that she had worn a just above the knee skirt and lightweight blouse, it was, after all, a Monday, and the petite, shapely brunette was never eager to start the work week. After making breakfast for her husband and herself, she had turned down his offer to drop her at the library on his way to work, hoping that the walk would awaken her. This promised to be a busy day, with the display of the Twain and Harte books and the Grey manuscripts in the foyer. She wondered how much of a crowd they would draw. There would probably not be too many people until later in the afternoon when everyone finished work. She was glad that Janie and Yvonne were working the whole day. And Copper Ryder and maybe some other volunteers were coming in the afternoon.
Monica yawned again as she turned the corner and saw the library building. Eileen's car was already parked in the lot. Monica checked her watch. It was a few minutes after eight. As she took her key from her purse and ascended the steps, she had the passing thought that it was odd that there were three cars parked at curb of the park across the street. She stopped to look and listen for signs of small children on the playground equipment. It was quiet. Though she thought it odd, she shrugged and put her key in the lock. There was work to do.
Inside the front door there was a four foot wide weather space before a set of wooden and glass double doors. These doors were never locked, and Monica pushed them open to enter the lobby. For some reason Eileen had not turned on the lobby lights, though in the adult section, up a set of six steps and to the left, the lights were on. Monica stepped over and reached for the switches.
"Eileen!" she called. "Eileen, you forgot to turn on the -----"
Monica was grabbed from behind and a man's large hand was clapped over her mouth, stifling her call. She wiggled helplessly in his grasp.
"Easy there, sister," the man whispered. "Just take it easy and you won't get hurt."
The man was nearly a foot taller than Monica and very strong. Despite her fear she knew that trying to fight him was pointless. She relaxed and tried to nod.
"Good girl," he said, easing his grip on her. "I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth. Just stay quiet."
He took his hand from over her mouth. In a moment she saw the hand return, now holding a wad of cloth.
"I know this might not be pleasant," he said, "but open up. I'll try to be gentle with this."
He put his other hand on her chin and pressed down, indicating she should open her mouth.
"You don't have to do this," she managed to gasp. "I won't scream."
He held the cloth to her lips.
"We're not going to hurt you," he said. "This'll just make sure you don't accidentally call out. If you don't fight me it'll be easier."
"Okay," Monica said.
She opened her mouth. The gag wad was not huge, but it was large enough that the man pulled her chin down slightly to pack it in.
"Is that all right?" he asked.
Monica nodded. The man used a strip of bright white cloth to secure the wadding, wrapping it twice around her head and knotting it at the back of her neck.
"Still all right?" he asked. When she nodded again, he prodded her gently in the back. "Okay, up the stairs."
The gagged librarian went up the stairs and her captor pushed open the door to the main adult section. There were four men in dark suits, their faces covered by dark hoods waiting. Three of the men were tall, one of them several inches taller than the others, and huskily built. One was considerably shorter and leaner. The short one was tugging a length of rope between his hands. He dropped one end of the rope and made a sweeping gesture toward Eileen's office.
"Come right this way," he said in a mocking tone. "Come into my parlor, please do."
The man who had captured Monica prodded her again. She turned and saw he was hooded like the others and was also a husky six-footer. As she walked past the shorter man, he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. He stroked her arm for a moment, then her back.
"There's not a lot of her," he said lasciviously. "But what there is, is prime. Come on, Honey."
He slid his hand around her arm as though to paw her breasts. Monica flinched but, before she could resist further, the man behind her put his hand on the short man's arm and pushed it aside. He took the piece of rope the short man still held.
"I'll handle this," the taller man said quietly.
The smaller man reacted angrily.
"Just who do you think you are, old man? I oughta----"
One of the other men stepped between them. He leaned his head close to the shorter one.
"Let him handle this," he said, nodding his head toward Monica's captor. "You just relax and get ready for the others."
Monica's captor touched her on the back again. Glad to be away from the little drama she had just witnessed, the librarian went into Eileen's office. What she saw made her stop and cry out into the gag.
In a chair in front of her desk sat Eileen Harvey. There was a large rectangle of white adhesive tape over her mouth and lower face. Monica could see bands of cloth leading from either side of the tape and continuing around her head. Eileen's arms were behind her, her hands obviously tied there, and loops of rope circled her arms and body, her legs just below her snug- fitting knee length skirt and her ankles.
Hearing Monica's muffled cry, Eileen shook her head. Monica interpreted this as a plea not to resist. The petite woman nodded.
"Put your hands behind your back, lady," her initial captor said softly. "We're going to tie you up but, I promise, we're not going to hurt you."
She turned and looked up at him, a silly thing to do, she thought, since the hood prevented her from seeing his face. But his soothing tone of voice and physical gentleness thus far somehow gave her confidence that he was telling the truth. She turned to face Eileen and crossed her wrists in the small of her back. He took them in his hands, uncrossed them and placed them palm to palm. She felt the ropes circle her wrists several times then tighten. He then ran several inches of rope around the horizontal loops to create a seize. The loops tightened enough to make Monica gasp.
"I'll get you a chair so you can sit down while I do the rest."
He moved a chair from the wall opposite Eileen's desk to a spot beside Eileen. Monica sat while he took a pre-cut coil of rope from several on a file cabinet.
A few minutes later Bill Denny, still hooded, emerged from the library office and closed the door behind him. Burton leaned against one of the window frames, watching the street. March was leafing through a book he had taken from a nearby shelf. Tiny stood near March. Campbell sat at a table not far away, facing the office. When Denny appeared, he jumped to his feet and crossed to him.
"Whaddaya think you're doing hornin' in on my fun?" he demanded. "You'd better stay out of my way, pops, if you know what's good for you."
Before Denny could answer, March straightened up and looked from one to the other.
"Calm down, kid," he said. "Bill's just keepin' the gals settled down. And if they're settled down, they'll be quiet and they won't be any trouble. If you start feelin' 'em up, it'll just make 'em more nervous and it'll be harder for us to do the job. So knock it off. Just tie 'em up, keep your hands to yourself and your mouth shut."
With all of their faces covered by hoods, it was impossible for any of them to read Campbell's expression, but his body sagged a bit and he dropped into his chair again. Denny sat down as well.
March returned to the book he had been skimming. He continued to turn the pages without seeing anything. His mind was on Eileen Harvey.
Eileen watched Monica struggle with her bonds. Though she seemed to be making no progress, Eileen was concerned.
"Bill's such a softie, I hope he didn't go too easy on Monica," she thought. "If she were to get herself loose and untie me I don't know what I could do to keep her from messing up the job. The girls usually come in at about 8:45. I hope they aren't late so we so we can get on to the next step."
Monica turned to her and mewed something unintelligible into her gag, then strained against the ropes. Eileen made a show of fighting her bonds for a moment. She shook her head in an effort to convey that struggling was no use. Monica groaned in frustration and continued wriggling.
Eileen looked at the clock. It was twenty past eight.
Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel
| Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel |