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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 |
Bill Denny bent over and put his hands on his knees to look at the car's right front tire. It was flat. He shook his head and looked at the rear tire on the passenger side. Before he took two steps toward it, he could see that it was obviously flat as well.
Alban was circling the front of the car from the driver's side.
"How do they look, Bill?" he asked.
"Flat," Denny said simply. "I told you to look out for that thing in the road."
"Both tires?" Alban cried. "What could do something like that?"
Denny shrugged.
"It looked like one of those triangular steel fence posts they use for barbed wire. It did quite a job on us."
Alban looked in alarm from wheel to wheel.
"What're we gonna do now?" he asked helplessly.
Denny shrugged again.
"We'll put the spare on the front so you can steer and drive with the back flat. We'll have to go slow, but it's the only way."
"How far can we go like that?" asked Alban.
Denny looked ahead. There was a sign not far away. He shaded his eyes with one hand and walked a few steps toward it, Alban following.
"It looks like there's a place called 'Geary's Garage' in Oatesville, five miles ahead," said Denny. "We can make it there. Let's hope we can get a tire."
"And if we can't?" the thin man asked.
"We'll have a long walk," Denny said philosophically. "Bring me the keys so I can get the spare from the trunk."
Alban went back to the driver's side and opened the door. As Denny waited at the rear of the car, he shaded his eyes again and looked back in the direction they had come. Alban came around the car with the trunk key.
"Do you see a car back there?" Denny asked.
Alban put a hand to his forehead and peered at the road behind them. He shook his head.
"It's pretty hard to see with all this glare, but I don't think so."
"Yeah," he replied. "There's not much traffic out here in the heat of the day."
He put the key in the lock and opened the trunk.
The dark-haired, good-looking man at the wheel of the car behind them reached over to the passenger seat and picked up a pair of binoculars from on top of his gray suit jacket. He raised them to his eyes and adjusted the focusing drive for a long, careful look.
"That's tough luck, boys," he murmured to himself. "Two flat tires. It's a good thing I saw you run over it in enough time that I could steer around it."
He laid the binoculars back on the seat and searched under his jacket. Next to his shoulder holster and revolver was a paper map of the area. He unfolded and scanned it.
"Looks like it's only a few miles to Oatesville," he said musingly. "There may be a garage there. It's your best bet, anyway. I'd better call this in."
He put down the map and took up the handset to his radio.
Faulkner took a bite of his ham and cheese sandwich then laid it on its white paper wrapper on the passenger seat beside him. He brushed a few breadcrumbs from his blue suit. The day was a warm enough that he considered removing his suit jacket. He reached for the coffee cup on the dash, and glanced at his wristwatch as he sipped. There was no activity at Eileen Harvey's house. In addition to thinking about taking off his jacket, the stocky detective was pondering what to do next when there was a call on his radio.
"Hello, Faulkner, this is Gilbert. Do you read me Faulkner?"
The set was quiet for the few seconds it took Faulkner to pick up the microphone. He waited a few more before pressing the transmit switch.
"Gilbert, this is Faulkner. I read you loud and clear. Remember to say 'over' when you're finished talking so I know when to start. Over."
"Sorry," said Gilbert. "I forget what sticklers you old Army guys are. Over."
"Skip the apologies, Ralph," said Faulkner. "What's going on with you? Over."
"I'm trailing Denny and Alban; he's the thin one, right? They left the others at their motel and drove west out of town, headed for California I'd guess. They ran over something in the road and lost two tires. It looks like they're going to try to limp into Oatesville. I think there's a garage there." There was a pause before he remembered. "Over."
"There was a big to do at the library after you left," said Faulkner. "I mingled with the crowd and found out that the place was robbed. March and his gang tied up the Harvey woman and three others working there and took some valuable books and papers worth fifty thousand or more. I'll bet that Denny and his skinny friend are taking the goods to a buyer. Over."
"Sounds reasonable. How should we play it? Oatesville's a one burro town, maybe a hundred and fifty people. There won't be much of a police force there if you want to try to stop them. "
Again Gilbert forgot his 'over,' but Faulkner could tell he was done.
"Yeah, but we have to stop them somehow." Faulkner thought for several seconds. "Look, we've got to get the law in on this. I'll notify the sheriff here. He can get the state police to Oatesville before those two can get there car fixed. You just keep an eye on 'em. Over."
"Okay, Frank, anything you say. Over and out."
"Watch yourself, Ralph. I don't want to go all Miles Archer on me and get killed. Out."
Faulkner hung up his handset, took one more bite from his sandwich and started the car.
"I watched the place for a while after Ryder's wife and niece picked him up," Burton reported. "She hasn't gone anywhere and nobody's come to see her."
March nodded. He looked about the motel room as though searching for an idea. Tiny sat in a chair by the door looking blank and rather bored. Lee Anne, wearing a low cut sun dress, and Genie were playing gin on one of the beds. Campbell sat next to Lee Anne. His hand was under her skirt visibly stroking her leg.
"Oh, one other thing," Burton continued. "Ryder's wife and niece were two of the women at the office store we knocked off last week. His wife is the classy brunette who kept everybody calm and his niece was the little blonde that Campbell" ----
He stopped as Lee Anne looked up sharply. Campbell stopped rubbing her leg.
"--- tied to the end of the bookshelf," Burton finished.
March was considering the news.
"So she's a friend of Ryder's, Ryder helps out the sheriff, and his wife and niece were in the middle of that robbery," he said slowly to no one in particular.
"I figure he'll be out to get us," said Burton.
"Well, that's a real stroke of genius on your part, Burton," snapped March. "The question is, what are we gonna do about it?"
"I think we'd better have somebody stay with Eileen," said Genie as she studied her cards. "We can't take a chance she'll go soft and call Ryder or the sheriff."
She picked up a card and put it in her hand. She discarded. Lee Anne picked it up.
"Gin," said the younger blonde.
"I'd better send you two," March said, gesturing to Lee Anne and Campbell. "Otherwise, Lee Anne'll keep the rest of us playing gin until she's won every cent we have."
Lee Anne and Campbell rose and moved toward the door. March took Campbell aside.
"Look, kid," he said. "If anything goes wrong or you even think anything's gonna go wrong, get Eileen outta there and bring her to me."
"You want me to bring her here?"
"I'm going to look for another motel. They may be on to this place. I'll let Genie know."
Before Campbell could go, March laid a hand on his arm. His voice dropped even lower.
"And if you need to keep her quiet, here's somethin' you can use."
He took a little vial of clear liquid from his coat pocket.
"Two or three drops in a cup of coffee will put her out for a couple hours."
Deputies Al MacKeever and Ben Norris entered the main room of the library, closing the doors behind them. MacKeever nodded to Winchell. The Sheriff rapped his pencil on a table.
"All right, people, let's have some quiet here," he said.
Winchell rarely raised his voice. In fact, when addressing his deputies on anything important, his habit was to speak more quietly than he normally did. His audiences usually became instantly silent. The trick worked perfectly again.
Seated at several of the tables near the office were Deputies Tyler, Rivera, Cole, Kendall, and Hansen. The civilians who had been present earlier, including the library staff, Doctor Barton, the nurses and Mayor Holmes, had gone. Sky, Julie and Copper Ryder were the only ones not in uniform. MacKeever and Norris removed their hats and quietly took seats as well. The deputies readied their notebooks and pencils.
"We've got our work cut out for us on this case," Winchell continued. "But we do have a few leads to go on. There seem to have been six men involved. They arrived here this morning in two cars that they parked separately across the street. Some of the neighbors gave us descriptions of the cars and even one license plate number. The car belonged to a woman named Lee Anne Landon of Los Angeles. What did we find out about her, Harry?"
Harry Tyler looked at his notebook.
"She's the girlfriend of a known small time hood named James Campbell," Tyler reported. "He has several arrests and one conviction for robbery on his rap sheet. He seems to have left the L.A. area in violation of his parole some time ago, and she hasn't been seen in town for several weeks."
Winchell nodded at him then continued.
"Apparently, one of the men stayed outside to keep watch. He's described as about forty, thin faced and wearing a dark suit. Since he sat in his car we can't be more specific about his height or dress. After the library staff were made prisoners and the armored car delivered the books, the other five men left the building, being careful to not be seen as a group. Three of the men were tall and husky, one was considerably taller and one was shorter and more slender."
"The L.A. police describe Campbell as five foot eight and a hundred forty to a hundred fifty pounds," added Tyler.
"The general description of these men could fit the gang that held up Tuthill's store last week," said Winchell. "Unfortunately, we didn't get any fingerprints or other physical evidence to link the crimes."
"I don't get it, Sheriff," said Al MacKeever. "Both gangs were armed and they certainly aren't shy about tying up women, but what does the cash register in an office supply store have in common with rare books in a library?"
"Only one thing, Al," Winchell answered. "Mrs. Harvey, our head librarian, was present at both places that were robbed."
"Is there any reason to think that was anything but bad luck?" asked Lew Hansen.
"We have some more information on that, Lew," said the sheriff. "And since Sky's uncovered this angle, I thought I'd let him fill you in. Sky."
The tall rancher rose, went to the front of the room where he stood next to Winchell.
"We've all known Eileen Harvey for a long time," said Sky. "Julie and I learned a couple days before today's robbery that Eileen tried to sell a very valuable bracelet at Bill Page's jewelry store, a bracelet that no one remembers her ever wearing. Right after she tried to sell it, a private detective from L.A. named Faulkner showed Mr. Page a picture of an apparently identical bracelet, one that had been stolen there twelve years ago."
"And you think that this bracelet has some kind of tie in with the two robberies here?" asked MacKeever.
Before Sky could answer, Amy Cole broke in.
"That would certainly explain Julie's idea that the leader of the gang seemed to recognize Eileen. They might have worked together before."
"And they might be working together again on the robbery at the library!" said Sue.
Sky shrugged.
"It's a possibility, Sue," he said. "We can't be sure if she's a willing or an unwilling accomplice. We won't know that until we know who these men are and how they're connected to her."
"We've asked the L.A. police for more information on the old jewel robbery," said Winchell. "It should be coming by teletype any time now. Bonnie'll bring it over when it arrives. I want you all to get descriptions of Campbell, the Landon girl, her car and the others seen outside from Harry. Then we'll----"
The sheriff stopped as all heads in the room had turned to a distraction in the hall. Deputy Barnes and a stocky man in a blue suit stood just outside the doors. Barnes swung the door open and took a step inside.
"Sheriff," he said. "There's a man out here I think you should talk to."
The man did not wait for Winchell to answer. He stepped past Barnes, but removed his hat as he entered. He drew a wallet sized case from his pocket and displayed his identification.
"Sorry to barge in, Sheriff," he said. "But my name's Faulkner. I'm a private detective and I think I can help with some of the answers you need. And we'll have to hurry."
"Come right in, Mr. Faulkner," said Winchell.
Eileen Harvey awoke with a start. Confused and disoriented, she looked around. She was lying on her bed but fully dressed. Had she slept the entire day? A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was nearly two o'clock. Though her bedroom windows faced north, there was plenty of sunlight coming into the room. It was afternoon. She had slept only an hour or so.
"I never sleep during the day," she said to herself. "It must be the stress of what's happening."
Eileen swung her legs off the bed and put her feet on the floor. For a moment she sat there, holding her head and wondering if she really had a headache or was just feeling guilty."
"What I need is a cup of tea," she said.
When she stood up, she was relieved to find that there was no real pain in her head. Still, the tea seemed a good idea. For some reason, guilt she supposed, she had closed the bedroom door before napping. She opened it and made her way to the kitchen. The swinging door to the kitchen was closed. Since it tended to catch on a small rug just inside, Eileen had her eyes on the floor as she pushed it open.
No sooner had she stepped onto the linoleum than a man's arm circled her at the waist and a hand was clapped over her mouth. She struggled in his grasp and tried to cry out, but failed to free herself or make a sound. She stopped in amazement. An attractive young blond woman wearing a sundress was sitting at her table, calmly watching the little drama taking place before her. It took Eileen a moment to recognize her as Lee Anne, Campbell's girlfriend.
"Hi, Eileen," Campbell whispered into the librarian's ear. "Remember us? Now if you promise you'll be a good girl and won't scream, I'll take my hand off your mouth."
Eileen nodded and mumbled something affirmative into his hand. He slowly removed it.
"What are you doing here?" Eileen asked. "What do you want now?"
Campbell made an exaggerated frown.
"Ain't she suspicious, Lee Anne? She thinks we want somethin.' We just thought you might be a little lonely in this big house all by yourself. I hope you like company, because we'll be right here for a while."
"Nice kitchen ya got, Sweetie," said Lee Anne. She looked innocently around the room. "Real homey."
Campbell still held Eileen pressed against his chest with one arm around her. She tried to push his arm away, but he hung on.
"I'd like to make myself a cup of tea," she said. "If you can let me go for a few minutes."
"Sure thing, Eileen. Sure," he said. He released her and held up his hands in a theatrical display. "Why don't you make us a cup, too?"
"Yeah, I like tea!" added Lee Anne.
"Ya have any cookies, Eileen?" Campbell asked. He took a seat at the table. "We can have ourselves a nice little party."
As Eileen filled her tea kettle at the sink, Campbell reached into his coat pocket and fingered the little bottle March had given him.
Denny stepped out the door of the Oatesville Diner onto the sidewalk. He put his change into his pocket, checked the sun, which was not yet halfway to the horizon, then looked at his wristwatch. In a moment Alban, a toothpick sticking from the corner of his mouth, joined him.
"Not much exactly the Ritz was it?" said Alban.
Denny chuckled.
"In a town this size, just be glad you didn't have to eat something we found dead on the road," Denny replied.
Alban chuckled too. It was the first time Denny could recall Alban smiling. It made him look a bit more human.
"I guess you're right," said Alban. "Let's see if the car's done. Good thing it's not a long walk."
"There's no such thing as a long walk in this town," said Denny.
The two men headed for a sign over a drive through door that read GEARY'S GARAGE. Since the office door was on the other side, they walked through the large door into the shop. There were several cars inside but no one was working on any of them. The unnatural quiet put Denny on the alert.
"Mr. Geary?" he called. "Mr. Geary, are you here?"
The two men went further into the shop. Denny looked through the door from the shop to the office.
"Mr. Geary?" he called again.
A tall man in a wide-brimmed Western hat and a khaki uniform with a silver star pinned to his shirt stepped from the office.
"What can we do for you, boys?" he asked.
Denny was surprised but recovered quickly.
"Oh, hello Sheriff. I didn't know that this town was big enough to even have a sheriff."
"Oh, I'm not the sheriff here," the man said genially. "I'm Sheriff Winchell from Kermit."
"Kermit?" said Denny. "We spent last night in Kermit. Just left there this morning."
"What can we do for you, Sheriff?" asked Alban, looking uneasy.
"We had a pretty big robbery there this morning," said Winchell. "Some rare books and papers worth about seventy-five thousand dollars were stolen from our library. We wanted to ask you some questions about it."
Alban stiffened noticeably but Denny retained his outward calm.
"We'd like to help you. Sheriff," he said. "But I'm afraid we don't know anything that'll help you."
"And since you're from Kermit and we're in Oatesville, I don't think you have jurisdiction here," Alban added, trying but failing to sound bold and assertive.
Three men stepped from the office to stand behind the sheriff. One was a stocky, fair-haired deputy. The other two were in civilian clothes. The taller and more athletic man wore a Western suit with a star pinned on the left chest of his waist-length jacket and a gunbelt. His short, plump companion also wore a gunbelt and had a star on the lapel of his off the rack suit.
Alban turned, as though intending to run for the door they had just come in. Three men in uniform now blocked the way.
"Well now, boys," said Winchell, "this is still my county. But just in case I brought along the local constable" --- He gestured to the short man in the suit--- "and Sergeant Boyer of the state police and a couple of his men. Between us, I'm sure that somebody has jurisdiction."
The sheriff pulled a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket.
"And this warrant from the District Court gave us the right to search your car," he continued. "Show 'em what we found, Sky."
The tall man picked up a large case, placed it on a workbench and opened it. It contained two venerable-looking volumes and a large quantity of papers.
Alban looked around desperately. He started to reach inside his coat. The deputies and troopers easily beat him to the draw. Denny grabbed Alban's arm.
"Don't be stupid, Alban," he said. He looked at Winchell. "Allow me, Sheriff."
Winchell nodded. Denny reached inside Alban's jacket and, with his fingertips, slowly withdrew a revolver. He held it up for them to see then tossed it gently at the sheriff's feet.
"I left my gun in the car," said Denny.
"I know," said Deputy Tyler, patting a pistol tucked into his belt. "We found it."
"You might as well come into the office and have a seat," said Winchell. "We'll have a bit of a wait for the cars to take you back to Kermit."
"How'd you get here?" asked Denny.
"Time was short. We had Mr. Ryder here fly us in his plane.
Denny looked ruefully at Sky.
"You must be Sky Ryder, then," he said. "I've heard about you, at least a few things about you." He raised an eyebrow. "How'd you get onto us so fast?"
"We had a little help, Mr. Denny," said Sky nodding toward the drive in door.
A tall, handsome man in a gray suit was now standing beside the state policemen.
"And with the help of Mr. Gilbert there," said Sheriff Winchell, "we'll soon have your friends in custody as well."
As Tyler and the state troopers took charge of the prisoners, Winchell drew Sky aside.
"Sky," he said, "I'll have Harry and Sergeant Boyer hold onto these hombres until Rivera and Barnes get here with the cars to bring them back to Kermit. I'd like you to fly me back right away. We'll radio ahead to Al. He can get Bob Falk and some of the men from the other shifts for a raid on the motel where the rest of the gang is holed up." He looked outside. The sun was still well up in the sky but getting lower. "I want to get this done before dark."
Sky grinned at him.
"Sure thing, Winch. You can count on the Hummingbird and me."
Copper Ryder paced impatiently behind the big desk at the Sheriff's office. For a while she had enjoyed chatting with Julie, Amy, Sue and Bonnie as they waited for word of events in Oatesville, but now the girl was getting anxious.
"Ma goodness, Coppuh!" said Bonnie Johnson. "I sweauh, ya'll are goin' t' weauh a path on the floauh if'n yuh don't stop pacin' like that!"
The other women laughed.
"Putting miles on your boots won't help get things done any sooner," said Julie. She patted the chair Copper had been sitting in. "Why don't you just have a seat and try to relax?"
"Sky and the Sheriff'll let us know when they've got those men," added Sue Kendall.
"Oh, I know they will," Copper said. "I'd just like them to hurry things up."
The women returned to their conversation. Copper stood watching them for a few moments, biting her lip thoughtfully. Struck by a sudden idea, the girl excused herself and headed for the ladies' washroom in the back of the office. Once she was out of sight, she slipped out the side door and walked quickly to where the station wagon was parked. She reached into the right hand pocket of her jeans and groaned.
"I saw that look in your eye," a female voice said from behind her. "Going somewhere?"
She turned. Amy Cole, her arms folded across her chest, under her generous breasts, was regarding her with her head tilted to one side and an eyebrow raised.
"No," said the deflated Copper. "I was going to go over to Eileen's and see if I'd have better luck getting information from her than Sky did. But I forgot that Julie has the car keys!"
Amy laughed.
"Then let's take a patrol car," she said.
Copper grinned at her.
"You mean it?"
Amy nodded.
"We can't let the men do everything on this case," said Amy. "Let's go."
Eileen held the cup to her lips and sipped. She did not know how much longer she could bear the strain. Lee Anne was munching shortbread cookies and drinking tea as she prattled on about baking, cooking, cleaning and any number of other domestic issues. Eileen had tried to be nice to her, but was unnerved every time she looked at Campbell, who appeared to be leering at her over his cup. Eileen thought she was nearing the breaking point.
The doorbell rang. Campbell shushed Lee Anne. He stood up and grabbed Eileen by the wrist, pulling her up after him. He shoved her to the kitchen door and drew his revolver.
"All right, Eileen," he hissed. "Let's see who's at the door."
He motioned to Lee Anne to stay in the kitchen as he herded Eileen into the living room. He did not go to the door, but went to a front window. He peeked from behind the curtain.
"Well, well, well," he said softly. "What have we got here? Ryder's pretty blond niece and a very cute little deputy. What a nice surprise."
"I just won't answer the door," whispered Eileen. "They'll think I'm not home and they'll go."
"Ya can't do that, Eileen. Your car's in the street. They gotta know you're home. You wait until I'm in the kitchen then let 'em in."
Eileen's eyes grew wide.
"What're you going to do?"
Campbell smiled.
"I'm not gonna do anything." He took out the little vial and held it up. "You're just gonna make 'em a cup of tea."
"What's in that bottle?" she demanded.
He made a face.
"Nothin' that'll hurt 'em," he said dismissively. "It'll just make 'em sleep for a couple hours. By then, we'll be long gone."
Eileen looked doubtfully at him. The doorbell rang again.
"All right," she said desperately. "Get out of sight while I open the door."
"Remember, Eileen." He lifted the pistol menacingly. "We'll be right here."
He went back into the kitchen as Eileen held the door handle and tried to compose herself. She turned the knob and opened the door.
"Why Copper! Amy!" she said with what she hoped looked like a smile. "What a nice surprise! Come in, won't you?"
"I hope we're not disturbing you, Eileen," said Amy.
"I was just lying down for a bit. It's been a very trying day."
"We know," said Copper. "We just thought you might like some company."
"Company that wasn't here to tie you up and rob you!" Amy said with a laugh.
Copper laughed as well. Eileen managed a wan smile.
"It's very nice of you," she said. "I was just making some tea. Would you care for some?"
"Why don't you let me make it for you?" offered Amy, taking a step toward the kitchen.
"Oh, no!" Eileen said hastily. She recovered. "Please let me do it. Doing something simple like making tea will help me feel a bit more normal, if you know what I mean.
"Of course," Amy replied. She took a seat on the couch. "We'll just wait here then."
Deputy Al MacKeever looked over the desk at Deputies Steve Cooley and Bill Harrison. The bespectacled Harrison held a clipboard with their shift report.
"Sorry, boys," said MacKeever, "but you can't check out yet. We need everybody for a couple hours' special duty."
"Something big, Al?" asked Harrison, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.
"It's big, all right." MacKeever turned to Dispatcher Bonnie Johnson seated at the radio. "Bonnie, call Ames, Barlow, Michaelson and Davis back from patrol. Then get on the phone and call in Falk, Willard, Blake and Keller."
The hulking Cooley pushed his hat back off his forehead and whistled.
"That's an army, Al!" he said. "This must be big. What's going on?"
"I don't know exactly," MacKeever admitted. "None of us'll know for sure until the Sheriff gets here. Sky's flying him back from Oatesville now."
The veteran deputy looked around the room. His eyes fell on Sue Kendall and Julie.
"Sue, I'd like you and Amy to drive out to the airport and bring them in when they get here." His eyes searched the room again. "Where is Amy anyway?"
Sue shrugged.
"She was here talking to Julie, Bonnie and me a while ago. Copper went to the washroom and Amy followed her."
Julie stood up.
"I'll go check the ladies' room."
MacKeever shook his head.
"A fine time for her to disappear."
Lee Anne picked up Amy Cole's limp arm and held it for a moment. When she let go, it fell onto the couch beside the unconscious deputy.
"Well, they're both out," Lee Anne announced. "What do we do now?"
Eileen broke in urgently.
"There's no reason to hurt them. They know that I have a bracelet from a robbery Bill and March pulled years ago, and they may suspect that I helped you rob the library. Don't you see? They're after me. They haven't seen you. You can just leave them here and clear out. By the time they wake up you can be miles away."
Campbell studied the two sleeping women.
"Maybe you're right, but we'd better play it safe," he said. He turned to Lee Anne. "Move the car up next to the house and bring me the brown case I left in the back seat."
"What are you going to do?" Eileen asked in alarm.
"Take it easy, Eileen," replied Campbell. "In that bag there's some rope we didn't need at the library. We'll just tie 'em up in case they wake up sooner than we'd like."
Eileen glanced uneasily from Campbell to Copper and Amy.
"All right," she said. "But no rough stuff."
Campbell nodded to Lee Anne,
"Go ahead, Baby."
Lee Anne also looked from Campbell to the unconscious women on the couch with an expression that showed nearly as much concern as Eileen's. Whatever she was thinking, she said nothing but merely nodded and left by the side door that led to the driveway and garage.
Campbell stepped over to the couch. He unbuckled and removed Amy's gunbelt, taking her service revolver from its holster and her handcuffs from their case. He searched her pockets and found her money and keys. He tucked her pistol into his belt and hefted her cuffs.
"These might come in real handy," he said, slipping them into his jacket pocket.
He had just finished going through Copper's pockets when Lee Anne returned with the overnight bag. She placed it on the coffee table, opened it and shook out a coil of rope.
"Here it is, Jimmy," she said. "Which one do you want to start with?"
"There's something we gotta do before we get to them," he said.
He took a pistol from under his jacket and pointed it at Eileen.
"We gotta take care of her," he said with a smile.
"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Eileen.
"Yeah, Jimmy," asked Lee Anne, obviously perplexed. "What's up?"
"March's orders," Campbell answered. "He said that if anything went wrong, we should bring her back so we could take her when we leave town. She'll make a great hostage."
"Hostage?" asked the still confounded Lee Anne. "Her? What for?"
"Her friends Ryder and the sheriff won't be so quick to start shooting if we have the town's beloved librarian with us." He gestured toward the rope Lee Anne held. "It'll make things look more convincing to the cops if we tie her up. Besides, we can't trust her. Get busy, Baby."
Lee Anne placed Eileen's hands behind her back and looped the rope around her wrists.
"Whatever you say, Jimmy."
Eileen glared at Campbell.
Same old double-crossing March," she said. "He always seems to find the right kind of guys to follow his orders: small-timers with no brains who enjoy shooting people and pushing around women."
Campbell smiled thinly at Eileen.
"Make it good and tight, Lee Anne," he said.
Eileen gasped as Lee Anne pulled a knot tight.
"How's that?" she asked as she continued to work.
"You really enjoy this part of the job, don't you, Campbell?" Eileen said defiantly. "Are you going to feel me up again like you did the other night? Or like you did to the girls at the library this morning?"
Lee Anne finished and stepped around Eileen.
"All done," she reported. "What's she talking about?"
Campbell took a step forward, put a hand on Eileen's chin and regarded her with a dangerous expression.
"Nothing," he said. "Go into the bedroom and find something we can use to gag her."
Lee Anne frowned at him but obeyed. When she had gone, he tucked the pistol into his belt and put his arm around Eileen, pulling her against his chest.
"Tryin' t' make Lee Anne jealous, Baby?" he whispered. "Well for that, I'm really goin' t' enjoy shuttin' you up. And who knows what else before we're done?"
After a quick glance at the bedroom door, he pressed his lips over her. She mewed in protest and struggled in his grasp, but he held the kiss a few seconds. When he finally broke it, he leered at her.
"Yeah," he whispered softly, running a hand over her breasts. "I'd really like doin' some other things with you."
Eileen was truly afraid for the first time. Campbell could see it in her face. He laughed unpleasantly and used the arm he had around her to spin her so she faced away from him. He moved his free hand over her mouth. Lee Anne returned with two good-sized scarves.
"Here ya go," she said.
"Nice work. Wad one into a ball and stuff it in her mouth."
"Sorry, Sweetie," Lee Anne said to Eileen, "but it's gotta be done."
Lee Anne held the balled scarf to Eileen's mouth. Despite her struggles and protests they forced the wad into her mouth. Campbell clapped his hand back over her lips to hold it in while Lee Anne stretched the other scarf into a long band. She threw the middle of the band over Eileen's head to the back of her neck then pulled the ends around to the front. One at a time, she drew the ends between Eileen's upper and lower teeth to secure the gag and passed then ends back to Campbell. He tied them with a secure knot at the back of her neck.
"Did you park the car close to the door?" he asked, inclining his head toward the side door.
"Yeah. It's in the driveway. Are we gonna take her to the new motel?"
Campbell glanced back at Copper and Amy still asleep on the couch.
"You're gonna take her," he said, "while I take care of those two. You'll have to come back for me after you've delivered her."
Lee Anne looked at Amy and Copper. She bit her lip thoughtfully.
"Don't you think that you should take Eileen?" she asked. "She might make trouble, and I don't know if I can handle her and drive at the same time."
Campbell put several more pieces of rope from the open case into his jacket pocket.
"Don't worry. We'll put her in the back seat and tie her so she can't be seen." He looked at the door. "Now go check and see that there's nobody outside."
Lee Anne led the way to the door. Campbell followed, dragging the protesting Eileen with him. Lee Anne stepped out onto the small stoop and looked around.
"All clear," she said.
"Okay. You go ahead. Open the back door and get in so you can pull her in fast when I get her out there."
As Lee Anne opened the door and climbed in the back seat, Campbell forced Eileen's face close to his and grinned at her.
"Let's go, Eileen. We don't want to keep March waiting."
He pushed Eileen ahead of him onto the step, forced her to bend low and pushed her into the back seat as Lee Anne pulled her. Lee Anne held her down while Campbell grabbed rope from his pocket. He quickly wrapped her ankles four times, tied the ends and fashioned a seize around the loops between her feet. Then he doubled a longer length and had Lee Anne pass the lark's head under Eileen's right arm, over her right shoulder, across the back of her neck, over her left shoulder and back under her left arm. When the blonde gave the loop back to Campbell, he ran the free ends through it, knotted them and brought them back to Eileen's ankles. After forcing Eileen's legs to bend enough that her bound feet were over her butt, he wrapped the ends over her ankle ropes and tied them off. The woman was quite securely hogtied.
"There," Campbell said with satisfaction. "That oughta keep her outta mischief." He looked up at Lee Anne. "She can't get up high enough to attract attention or try anything with you. You'd better get a blanket or something to cover her in case you get beside a truck."
"Right away, Jimmy," she said.
Lee Anne got out of the passenger door and circled the car to go into the house. Campbell rolled Eileen onto her side. He stroked her face with one hand.
"See what a nice guy I am, Eileen?" he said softly and mockingly. With his other hand he gave the hogtie rope a sharp tug. "I could've run this rope around something else." He moved the hand that was caressing her face to her throat. "But I don't know how fast Lee Anne'll be able to drive, and I want you alive and well in case we need you."
He lowered his hand from her throat under the neckline of her blouse and inside her bra then let go of the hogtie connection and slid his other hand between her legs and teased her with a finger. She cried out in muffled alarm into her gag.
"I could've put some ropes here, too. But I might want to put something else there later. March and Burton might want a turn too. Maybe even Tiny."
Eileen wailed into her gag and thrashed uselessly. Campbell chuckled. He quickly removed his hands when he heard Lee Anne returning. The blonde carried one of the throws from Eileen's couch.
"How's this?" she asked.
"Perfect! Let's get her on the floor and cover her."
With Lee Anne taking Eileen's shoulder and Campbell her legs, they lowered the helpless woman to the floor of the back seat and spread the blanket over her.
"She won't be any trouble for you now," he said. "Get goin.' Drive so you don't attract any attention: not too fast and not to slow."
They closed the car's back door. Lee Anne took her place at the wheel.
"I'll be back for you in an hour," she said, and started the engine.
Campbell watched as Lee Anne backed out of the driveway into the street. She waved before changing gears. He waved in return.
"An hour ought to be enough time," he said to himself.
He went back inside and stood over the two sleeping women on the couch.
"Two hours would be better though," he said wistfully.
He lifted Copper from the couch, hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her into the bedroom. After placing her gently on the bed, he returned for Amy then made one more trip to retrieve the overnight case.
"Now we've got everything we need, ladies," he said as he removed his suit jacket. "So let's get started."
He leaned over and began unbuttoning Copper's shirt.
Copyright © 2012 by Frank Knebel
| Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel |