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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 |
Monica Franklin, bound and gagged in her chair, watched apprehensively as one of the huskier hooded men finished untying Eileen's ankles. Another man stood in front of them pointing a revolver at Eileen.
"All right lady," said March, the man with the pistol. "On your feet and no tricks. We're going to untie you for a while, but don't get too used to it."
Eileen rose and stood quietly while Denny, the other man, freed her arms and hands. He dropped the ropes into her chair while she rubbed her wrists.
"You can take out the gag, lady," said March. "It wouldn't look natural for you to wear it while you're letting in the other girls."
Eileen slowly peeled the adhesive tape from her lower face and untied the knotted cloth at the back of her neck. She pulled the wet cloth packing from her mouth and placed it and the cloth strip on the chair next to the ropes.
"What're you going to do with us?" Eileen demanded. "I won't do anything to help you if you're going to hurt Janie or Yvonne."
"Nobody's going to get hurt, lady," said the man who had untied her.
"Nobody gets hurt as long as we get what we want," corrected the man with the gun.
Burton appeared at door to the office.
"Hurry it up," he said. "They're coming."
March gestured toward the doorway with his pistol.
"Let's go, lady."
Eileen gave Monica a worried glance.
"She'll be all right," said March. "If you do what we tell you."
Eileen looked from one man to another then back at Monica.
"We have to go along with them, Monica," she said. "It'll be all right."
March waved the pistol again. Eileen led him from the office. Denny followed them. Just outside the doorway, Denny gestured to Tiny Coates and pointed to the office.
"Watch her." He ordered.
Tiny nodded.
"Okey-dokey," he said as he went inside.
Burton and Campbell were waiting in the lobby. Both men held the cloth and tape needed to make gags. Eileen glanced at them.
"Remember, John," Eileen said softly. "You promised. No rough stuff."
March took her by the elbow to urge her forward.
"If you do what we planned there won't be any need for rough stuff," he said.
March and Campbell concealed themselves on one side of the inner double doors while Denny and Burton took the other side. Eileen waited for the girls to ring. She looked at Denny, who nodded to her. She hoped that nothing would go wrong.
Janie Stanley crossed the street and headed for the front doors of the library. The honk of a horn close behind startled her. She turned. The car, almost twenty years old and obviously souped-up by a home mechanic, pulled to the curb. Yvonne Cramer got out and stood smiling invitingly at the open door.
"Thanks for the lift, Chad," she called to the driver over the considerable engine noise.
"Anytime for you, Yvonne," said the young man at the wheel.
"Call me tonight," she said.
Yvonne slammed the door and waved as he pulled away. She turned to Janie and smiled condescendingly.
"Hi, Janie!" she said. "Ready for another day in the salt mines?"
Janie made a face.
"Gee, I wish I had guys drop everything to give me a ride to work. I probably wouldn't think of this place as a salt mine if I did."
"Oh, come on," said Yvonne. "Your brother's given you plenty of rides to work."
Janie's face remained glum.
"Yeah, but today Gary started at the gas station at seven. So it was either walk or get a ride and sit on a park bench for an hour."
Yvonne looked over Janie from head to foot.
"Either way was a nice opportunity to show off that new outfit!"
Janie wore a close fitting dark blue blouse that buttoned in front, a loose gray skirt that did not quite reach her knees, and new black high-heels. Her shoulder-strap handbag matched the shoes.
"Oh, do you like it?" she asked as she did a pirouette to show front and back to Yvonne.
"Very cute!" said Yvonne. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the shoes again. "Do you think you can do eight hours with your feet in those?"
Janie smiled knowingly and patted her bag.
"Got the flats in here for when I work the check-out desk or the children's section."
She looked Yvonne over.
"You look nice, too," she said with a touch of envy. "That's a good look for you."
"What? This old thing?" Yvonne asked with overdone incredulity. "I guess I do like it, but it's a long way from new."
Yvonne liked to show off her stunningly shapely figure by wearing tight skirts and blouses that just barely fit. The white pullover top and dark skirt combination she wore today was an old favorite. Though Janie was nearly the same measurements, it did not appear that way.
"Come on," said Yvonne, taking Janie by the arm. "We have to be ready to meet that shipment of rare books, even if we open late today."
Janie giggled.
"And we'll both look good for any guys that come in to see the books," she said.
"Are you kidding?" asked Yvonne. "Men will be coming from all over just to see us!"
The girls both laughed as they went up the walk and climbed the step to the door. Janie rang the service bell. They waited patiently, hearing the inner doors open before someone turned the bolt and opened the big door. Eileen Harvey, looking a bit pale and apprehensive, appeared.
"Good morning, girls," she said.
"Hi, Mrs. Harvey," Janie said cheerfully.
"We're all ready for the big day," added Yvonne, pushing the door open wider.
"Oh, yes," Eileen said distractedly. "Come right in."
The two younger girls swung the inner doors open and started eagerly for the stairs. They both turned when they saw Eileen holding the outside door open. She slowly closed it. Janie took a step back.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Harvey?" she began. "You look like you've seen a ----"
Hooded men grabbed both girls from behind. Before Janie or Yvonne could to cry out, they were ruthlessly stopped. Campbell held Yvonne's arms while March forced a wad of cloth into her partially open mouth. Burton held Janie as Denny gagged her. Eileen hurried to comfort her employees.
"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you, girls," she said. "These men broke in here earlier and captured Mrs. Franklin and me. They're only here to steal the valuable books we're getting. They won't harm anyone if we don't resist."
The men had finished securing the gag wads of both girls by passing long strips of cloth over their mouths and securing the ends at the backs of their necks. Janie was struggling energetically but uselessly in Burton's grasp, while Yvonne was wide-eyed but unresisting in Campbell's. The two young women looked at one another, then at Eileen.
"Please," Eileen pleaded. "Don't try to fight them. I promise you, it'll be all right."
Janie stopped struggling. She nodded to Eileen. Yvonne also nodded.
"You're being real smart girls," said March. He gestured toward the stairs. "Get going. Up the stairs."
The gagged girls looked at Eileen again. Janie made a questioning noise.
Denny took her by the elbow.
"Don't worry," he said in his soothing voice. "We're not going to hurt you, but we have to keep you out of the way for a while."
"Yeah," added Campbell as he gave Yvonne a little push. "It won't hurt a bit. You may even like it a little."
Denny now took Eileen by the arm, giving Janie to Burton. Together with Campbell and Yvonne, they all mounted the stairs to the main room. March followed. He paused for a moment to look at the table in the foyer that had been prepared to display the rare editions and manuscripts. He chuckled before continuing.
"Take them into the little room in the back," ordered March. "I'll stay with the boss lady."
Denny led the way toward a door the rear of the building. As the girls passed the doorway of the office they both mewed in alarm at the sight of Monica Franklin, sitting in a chair bound and gagged, being guarded by a huge hooded man.
"Mrs. Franklin is all right, girls," said Eileen. "Apparently, we're going to be tied and gagged, but that's all. Just go into the reference room with them and do what they say and we'll all be all right. "
Denny gestured to the open door.
"Come on, you two," he said. "We'll try to make it as easy on you as we can."
Yvonne hesitated. Janie put her arm halfway around her friend to coax her inside. The room was not large. There were two small tables between the shelves that lined the walls. Two low-backed chairs had been pulled from the tables and turned to face the door. On the tables behind them lay several different sized coils of very white, new-looking clothesline. Yvonne gave a little squeak of apprehension at the sight of the rope and grabbed Janie by the sleeve.
"All right, girls," said Denny. "Put your hands behind your backs."
Yvonne wavered for a moment. Janie gently moved Yvonne's hand from her arm and nodded. She turned her back to Denny and slowly placed her hands behind her. Denny picked up a piece of rope and ran a doubled loop around her wrists. Yvonne glanced anxiously over her shoulder at the hooded face of Campbell and reluctantly put her hands back.
"Hold still, Honey," Campbell said suavely. "I won't be too rough."
Yvonne's eyes grew wider as Campbell looped her wrists. Denny finished tying Janie's hands and picked up a longer rope. He doubled it and ran it around her arms and body just above her bust, threaded the free ends through the half-loop in the middle, then passed the rope around her again in the opposite direction. He made two turns around her both above and below her breasts and tied the ends off behind her at the lark's head.
Burton handed Denny another rope. March appeared at the door.
"I need you," he said, pointing at Denny.
Denny handed the rope to Burton.
"Take over," he said. He stopped after one step and looked back at Burton. "Watch him," he added, nodding in Campbell's direction.
"Okay," Burton replied as he passed a new rope around Janie's arms and body just above the waist.
Denny went back into the main room. Campbell looped a long rope around Yvonne, managing to run his hands over her breasts as he did.
"I think this is gonna be fun," he said.
"Watch your hands, kid," Burton said flatly. "Just get her tied."
"Sure thing." He leaned his head over Yvonne's shoulder so his lips were next to her ear. His voice was oily and insincere. "No offense, Baby."
Denny reported to March, who held Eileen by one arm.
"You ready for the other one?" Denny asked.
"Yeah. The truck should be here with the goods anytime. I want both of them to be seen."
Denny nodded and continued into the office. He knelt in front of Monica and began untying her ankles as Tiny watched.
Eileen looked up into March's hooded face.
"So help me, John," she whispered with heat, "if anything happens to any of these girls, I'll see you rot in jail, no matter what happens to me!"
March let go of her arm. He slid his hand around behind her and rubbed her back. When she made a move to push him away, he grabbed her arm with his other hand. The hand continued to stroke her back.
"You know," he said softly, "there are better ways to get me to do things your way. You just have to know the right way to handle me." He let go of her arm. He reached up and let his index finger rest on the open collar of her blouse just above her cleavage. "I can be handled."
Eileen stared open-mouthed at the covered face. Was Bill right about March's roving eye for her? Years before, she had suspected that March stepped out on Genie, but had thought that being a bad boy about sex was part of the bravado of all criminals. She thought that this might be just a knee-jerk pass, something that came out, as it had with Mara Powell, when he had a woman in his power. She hoped that was the case. The situation they were in now demanded too much of her attention for it to be anything else.
March's hand dropped away from her back. Denny had released Monica's feet and legs and was helping her to her feet.
"Give me a hand," he told Coates.
"Okey-dokey," he said, stepping over to help.
The two men freed Monica's arms and hands. She reached up to remove the gag but stopped when she saw March looking at her.
"It's okay, lady," he said. "You can take it off. But don't get any ideas."
He emphasized his point by again drawing a pistol from inside his jacket.
Monica nodded and peeled the tape from her mouth. Denny undid the knot behind her head, and she pulled off the tie and took the wad from he mouth. Denny put the gagging material back on her chair, while Tiny nudged her toward the doorway. Eileen extended her arms and Monica hurried to her.
"Eileen!" Monica said tearfully. "Who are these men? And what do they want?"
Eileen embraced her petite coworker.
"I don't know who they are, Monica," Eileen said, looking from March to Denny to Coates with what she hoped could pass for a fearful expression. "I think they want the first editions and manuscripts that're being delivered here. We have no choice but to cooperate."
"You're right about that, lady," said March. "When the goods get here, you two are going to sign 'em in and act like everything's just fine. And if you need anything more to persuade you to go along just take a look."
He gestured toward the reference room with his pistol. The two women went haltingly to the doorway and looked in. Janie and Yvonne sat in chairs facing the door. The girls were securely tied to the heavy, low-backed chairs with loops around their bodies and over their laps. Their knees were also tied and Burton was finishing work on Janie's ankle bonds, Campbell on Yvonne's. Burton tied a last knot, stood up and drew a pistol from inside his jacket. He pointed it first at Janie's head, then at Yvonne's. The terrified girls mewed into their gags.
"This man," said March, pointing to Burton, "is going to stay with these two sweet young things while you two are getting the goods. If anything goes wrong, something real bad will happen to them."
Monica cringed. Eileen held her closer.
"Nothing will go wrong," said Eileen. "We won't try anything."
"Make sure you don't," said March.
He directed Eileen and Monica back to the office. Campbell followed them. Denny beckoned Burton just outside the door.
"You made sure about the gun?" he asked in a whisper.
Burton hefted his pistol.
"It's not loaded," Burton replied. "No accidents possible."
Denny patted him on the shoulder.
"Good man. Keep an eye on 'em. I doubt they'll give you any trouble."
"I'll tie 'em a little more to be sure."
Denny returned to the library main room. Monica and Eileen were sitting at one of the tables holding hands. Eileen was comforting her assistant. Coates and March, still holding his revolver, stood nearby. Campbell was near the window watching the front of the library. He stepped to the side to conceal himself.
"The armored car's here," he said.
March gestured upward with the barrel of his pistol.
"Okay, girls," he said. "It's time to get ready."
The two rose and started for the door into the lobby.
"There are two guards with a box," Campbell announced.
March looked at Eileen.
"You know what to do?"
The service bell rang. Eileen swallowed hard and nodded.
"Remember, no tricks," the man added. "We can hear every word you say."
Taking Monica by the arm, she led the way into the foyer.
Deputy Andy Rivera stopped the patrol car at a red light at the library corner. He pointed at the armored car.
"Hey, Harry," he said. "The books must be here."
Deputy Harry Tyler looked at his wristwatch.
"They're a few minutes early," he noted. "We'd better get back to the office so we can switch partners."
"Are you really in such a hurry to get rid of me?" asked Rivera.
"You're my partner, amigo," said Tyler. "But, if you were me, wouldn't you rather spend a shift with Amy instead of you? And taking the rest of your shift with Sue won't be so terrible, will it? You told Estelita, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I told her. Estelita's okay with it, and I like Sue. I don't know if I really understand why we're doing it, though."
"Community relations, Andy. The Sheriff thought that we should provide some security for the exhibit, but that having a man and woman deputy doing the guarding would be a little friendlier than two men like us frowning at everyone." Rivera chuckled as Tyler gave a dreamy sigh. "And Amy has a nice smile."
Rivera laughed again.
"Better than yours, compadre, that's for sure." The light turned green. Rivera checked for traffic and pressed the accelerator. "Better call in to be sure she's ready."
Tyler reached for the radio handset.
Copper Ryder looked at her wristwatch. She turned to Sky in the driver's seat of the Flying Coronet station wagon.
"Well, we made our stop at the hardware store," she said. "Can you drop me at the library now?"
Sky checked his own watch.
"It's barely a quarter past nine," he said with some surprise. "I thought that you weren't going in until after lunch."
"Well, I'm sure that Eileen can use my help getting things ready to open the exhibit," Copper said. "There's an awful lot to do, you know."
Sky cocked an eyebrow at his niece.
"And who knows?" he said. "You just might have a chance to look at the books before anyone else in town does."
Copper laughed and slapped him softly on the shoulder.
"Come on, now, Sky. It is kind of an exciting thing, isn't it?"
He smiled at her.
"Well no matter how much you want to see everything and get in the middle of it, we have to pick up Julie from the hairdresser first. She should be done, so I'll swing by there now."
"After the adventures Julie's had there, Shirley should be glad that she's still a customer."
"After all the adventures Shirley's had because of us, we should be glad she'll have you two as customers," said Sky.
He pressed the turn signal lever and headed for the hairdresser's shop.
Eileen closed and locked the outside door, turned and came back through the inner doors and up the stairs. The heavy box containing the books and manuscripts lay open on the display table. Monica leaned on the table with both hands, as though she were trying to avoid collapsing. March, Denny and Coates came from the main room. Campbell went to the window again.
"The truck's leaving," he reported. "I don't think they suspect anything."
"Well done, ladies," said March. "You two are born actresses."
"What happens now?" Eileen asked.
March began rummaging through the books and papers.
"After we check out the goods, we'll wrap you two up again and be on our way."
March paused in his searching to take Monica by the arm and pass her to Tiny.
"Take her back to the office," he said. He looked at Denny and gestured to Eileen. "You take her. Get 'em tied, and make it fast. But do a good job."
"Let's go, ladies," said Denny.
Monica stood for a moment as though frozen to the spot. Eileen put an arm around her and comforted her with soft words as she guided her back into the main room. Denny directed the two women into the office, but stopped Tiny from following. Denny led him a few steps away so that the women could not hear.
"Tiny, go get Burton," he said softly. "He'll help me with these two. You can stay in the other room and watch the two girls in there."
"The two that are already tied up?" asked Coates.
"Yeah," said Denny. "They won't be any trouble."
Tiny nodded.
"Not the way you guys tied 'em up, they won't," he said, a little too loudly.
Denny nodded and patted the big man on the back to send him on his way. Campbell sauntered over to Denny.
"You leavin' Tiny with the two girls in there?" he asked, inclining his head toward the reference room.
"Yeah. He's good with some things, but he'll work too slow getting the older women tied. I need Burton for that."
"Why not me?" Campbell asked.
"Because we need you watching at that window. Let us know if you see anybody coming."
Burton emerged from the reference room. Denny motioned to him to follow. The two men disappeared into the office. Campbell could see them pick up ropes from the chairs and begin tying Eileen's and Monica's wrists behind their backs. He watched for a moment, then walked quickly to the open reference room door.
Coates was inside dutifully watching Janie and Yvonne. Burton had connected the ankle bonds of both girls to the stretchers directly under the chair seats. He had also covered their mouths with six-inch strips of two-inch-wide, white adhesive tape and used more to blindfold them. Coates turned to look at Campbell for a moment but said nothing. He turned back to the bound girls. Campbell thought for a moment then drew the big man's attention.
"Hey," he whispered urgently, waving him over. "Come here for a minute."
Tiny plodded to the doorway.
"Why don't you take the watch at the window?" said Campbell. "I can take over for you here."
Tiny slowly waved an arm at Janie and Yvonne.
"I'm supposed to watch them," he replied simply.
"Well, watching for the cops at the window is a much more important job," said Campbell. "And you've got a lot more experience that I do, so why don't you do the tough job? I can probably guard two girls as long as they're all tied up."
Coates pondered the proposal for several seconds. He nodded slowly.
"Okey-dokey," he said finally. "But watch out for tricks."
Campbell grabbed one of Tiny's thick arms in apparent gratitude.
"You can count on me," he said fervently. "I'll watch those tricky girls like a hawk. And if I need you, I'll call."
"You can count on me, too," said Tiny.
The huge man ambled over to the window. Campbell looked inside the reference room. Under his hood, he licked his chops.
Janie Stanley had decided that she had been right when she pondered the question a few days ago: being bound and gagged and in danger was much more exciting in a story or a daydream than in reality. Being tied up was extremely uncomfortable. Enough blood was reaching her tied hands to keep them from falling completely asleep, but her fingers felt swollen and tingly. Even when the gang left them alone, Janie doubted that she would be able to move them effectively enough to free herself. She wondered if she could move closer to Yvonne so they could help one another. She tried to move. It was futile. She was too securely tied to the heavy chair and her bound feet had been pulled back almost directly under the seat. The tips of her new shoes could barely touch the floor. For a moment, the girl considered slipping them off. But she realized that her own toes would probably not reach as far as the ends of her shoes.
Since she had heard the man guarding them step out of the room, Janie tried to communicate with Yvonne, saying her name as best she could into the cloth and tape gag. Yvonne responded into her own gag. After several tries, Janie knew that this, too, was useless. Whatever they tried to say to one another was completely unintelligible. They would have to wait until the gang left the library.
But would they just leave them? The men, one of them in particular, had told them very reassuringly that none of the staff would be harmed. Could she believe that? Five desperate men had them in their power and that could mean any number of horrors that Janie was beginning to imagine.
Oddly enough, one thing about real captivity was the same for her as reading about Polly Booth in the hands of the villains: Janie's skin was tingling all over and her nipples were rock hard. Polly always was rescued or escaped. Janie hoped that would be true in real life too. She heard the guard come back.
Campbell sauntered into the reference room, closed the door behind him and surveyed the two prisoners. Beneath the hood, he smiled at the sight of the two shapely and utterly helpless young library assistants. While tying Yvonne, he had added some extra ropes to her arms just above her elbows. The loops were not very tight, but the added pull on her arms caused her to push her chest forward, making her look especially voluptuous in her tight top. The rope that pulled her bound feet back under the chair made her legs bend attractively in the tight skirt she was wearing.
Burton had been more functional in binding the blonde, but Campbell could appreciate her as well. Her looser fitting skit and front-buttoning blouse did not show her figure as well, but he could tell that she was also quite shapely. After the office supply store robbery, he had blondes on the brain, and Janie was quite an alluring one.
He was glad that Burton had put tape over their eyes. He might want to lift his hood to get a taste of them.
He crossed to them so slowly that he barely made a sound. When he was a step away, a board creaked under his feet. The blonde became alert and mewed into her gag.
"Curious, Baby?" he whispered. "Well, I'm curious about you, too."
As she protested into her gag, he slowly unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse. Her protests grew louder with each button, but not enough to be heard in the office. She wore a frilly white bra. He put his hands on her breasts and began to rub. She wailed into the packing and tape.
"Really nice, Baby," he breathed. "Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit."
He slipped his right hand inside her bra and played with her nipple. She tried to lean away from him, but the ropes held her firmly. After a minute's play, he withdrew his hand.
"Now for your friend."
Having heard Janie's cries, Yvonne whimpered into her gag as he approached. He put his hands on her breasts.
"These are real beauties, Honey," he said as he rubbed. "I bet all the boys in town are after you."
He massaged her bust for a few moments. She shook her head and continued to protest.
"Let's see the real things," he said.
Her blouse had come untucked at the waist. Campbell had to kneel and work around the ropes, bur he managed to grab the bottom hem and roll it up her torso and over her breasts. He was surprised to find that the bra she wore was rather skimpy. After putting his hand inside and caressing her breasts for a half a minute, he started to pull the cups down.
The door opened.
"What do you think you're doing?" Denny shouted.
"Just makin' nice with the girls," he simpered.
Denny took a couple swift steps into the room, grabbed Campbell by the lapels of his jacket and flung him toward the door. Burton caught him.
"Get him outta my sight," Denny snarled.
Burton took Campbell by the back of his coat and began to drag him out.
"Come on, sonny boy," growled Burton.
"You two are really tryin' to spoil my fun," howled Campbell. "I oughta----"
He raised a hand as though to strike Burton. The husky man let him go, inviting him to strike.
"Go ahead, kid," he said softly. "Try it."
Campbell hesitated, looking from Burton to Denny, who had moved closer. He lowered his hand. With a grunt, he went back into the main room.
Denny looked at the two frightened assistants.
"Sorry about that, girls" he said lamely.
He pulled Yvonne's top back down to cover her breasts, then made a move to rebutton Janie's blouse. He thought better of trying.
"Sorry," he said again.
He motioned to Burton. The two of them went to join the others.
With the aid of her compact mirror, Deputy Amy Cole applied a little lipstick, then pressed and rubbed her lips together to smooth it. Satisfied with the result, she snapped the compact shut, twisted the exposed lipstick back into the tube and put the cap on. She turned to Deputy Sue Kendall.
"How do I look?" she asked. "Good enough to meet the public?"
Deputy Lew Hansen, who was leaning into Sue's open driver's side window, broke in before Sue could answer.
"You look good enough for a screen test in Hollywood, Amy!" he said, grinning broadly.
"Hey!" objected Sue, slapping him gently on the arm.
Hansen looked at Sue with an even bigger grin.
"It's quite a treat to work on a force with three of the world's most beautiful deputies," he added.
Sue made a face.
"Andy's a very good-looking guy," she said. "But since he's working with me this afternoon you'd better be careful calling him beautiful."
Amy and Hansen laughed.
"I meant Bonnie inside," said Lew, wagging his head toward the Sheriff's office door a few feet away.
"So it's fair then," said Sue with feigned irritation. "As long as you get to work alongside a pretty girl like her, I should get to work with a handsome guy like Andy."
"Why didn't you swap duty with Andy, Lew?" asked Amy. "I'm sure that you'd have enjoyed doing a few hours' patrol and answering calls with Sue."
"He'll have to wait until tomorrow when we have security duty at the library," said Sue.
"Yeah," said Hansen. "I think that the Sheriff would rather have me working the desk. Andy doesn't like it there anyway. Al MacKeeever's going to man the desk tomorrow and Andy'll ride with Ben Norris so you and Harry can be a team again."
Sue ran a finger up and down Hansen's arm and gazed dreamily up at him.
"Romantic, isn't it?" she sighed.
"Don't get too cozy," Lew said. "Here comes Harry."
Andy Rivera had to wait for Hansen to move from between parking spaces to pull his patrol car beside Amy and Sue's car. Sue and Harry exchanged places, Harry holding and closing the door for Sue as they did.
Hansen waved to both cars.
"Be careful, everybody," he called. "And be sure to take care of those rookies."
Amy waved back.
"Oh, we will, Lew," she said. "They'll be fine with Sue and me."
Harry Tyler grinned at Amy then at Hansen.
"Even working with Amy, this'll probably be a pretty dull day."
He started the car and waited for Rivera to back out first.
Denny and Burton joined March, Tiny and Campbell outside the library office. March removed his hood. Denny glanced into the office. Eileen and Monica were again bound to their chairs and gagged. Denny and Burton had also covered the women's eyes with tape. The other gang members removed their hoods as well.
"Okay," said March. "We've got the goods in two suitcases now. I'll take one, Burton'll take the other. We go down to the basement and out that back door. Burton, you're first. Take Campbell and go."
"Right," the husky man replied. He grabbed Campbell by the arm to pull him along, but Campbell jerked his arm from Burton's grasp.
"I know what to do," he snapped.
The two men went down the stairs and out the door to the basement.
Denny looked at March.
"You and Tiny go next," said Denny. "I want to check the women to make sure they're all right."
March looked at him warily.
"All right. But don't be too long. Come on, Tiny."
"Okey-dokey, boss," answered Tiny.
The two followed the same route Burton and Campbell had taken but waited for thirty seconds or so at the basement door before leaving the building.
Denny checked Janie and Yvonne in the reference room. They appeared to be all right. He went back into the library office. Monica Franklin stopped her struggles when she heard him enter. She mewed in alarm, fearing what he might do.
"It's all right," he said soothingly.
He checked her bonds, stopping to tighten a knot, then went to Eileen.
"Got to check you too, boss lady," he said.
Instead of checking or tightening her bonds, he bent and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. She turned toward him and mewed into her gag.
"Thanks, Baby," he whispered into her ear before kissing her tape gagged lips.
He walked to the door and turned back.
"Don't worry, ladies. It won't be long until you're found."
Bill Denny hurried out of the main room, down the stairs and through the basement door.
The stocky man in the blue suit seated on a park bench across the street turned a page of the newspaper he held in front of him. Casually, he lowered the paper slightly so he could look over and around it at the man crossing from the library to a car at the curb. A dark-haired, slender young man sat behind the wheel and there was a huskier man in his thirties behind him in the back seat. The man crossing the street moved smartly, but without evident haste, to the passenger side, opened the door and got in. The driver started the engine, and the car pulled away from the curb.
The blue-suited man folded his paper, rose and walked quickly to the curb where a car was pulling up. It stopped. A tall, handsome man in a gray suit leaned over to the open passenger window.
"What do you think's going on, Frank?" he asked.
The man in blue shook his head.
"I don't know but I don't like it, whatever it is," he answered. He tapped his leg with the folded newspaper several times as he thought. "You follow them and see what happens. I'll stay and see what the Harvey woman does."
The dark-suited man gave the other man an intent look.
"Radio me when you know something. If you can't reach me on the radio, leave a phone message at the motel. And don't be shy about calling the Sheriff if you think you need to. This is a nasty bunch."
"Right," the man in gray replied.
He pulled away from the curb and headed after the car with the three men. The man in blue watched him for a moment then gazed back at the library building. He bounced the newspaper off his leg a few more times.
Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel
| Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel |