 |
| Sky and the Woman With A Past |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
|
| Sky and the Woman With A Past |
| Fiction by Frank Knebel |
Copyright © 2012 by Frank Knebel
John March herded Julie Ryder toward the lighted cabin in the last row where two cars were parked. A few feet from the porch, he prodded her in the back with his pistol, causing her to stumble. When she stopped to regain her balance, March pushed his pistol into her back again.
"Go on inside, Mrs. Ryder," he said. "We don't want to keep Eileen waiting."
Julie put her hand on a support beam of the porch roof as she climbed onto the step, turning to glare at March.
"You can't get away with this, you know," she warned him.
March regarded her with an amused expression.
"Didn't one of you say the same thing to us at that office store last week?" he asked. "Was it you or the older broad? No, if I remember right, it was the little blonde, your niece. But we did get away with it, and here we are again." He gestured with his pistol. "Get moving."
Julie stopped at the door. March reached past her, turned the knob, pushed it open and used his gun to force Julie inside.
"Someone to see you, Eileen," he announced.
Eileen Harvey, bound hand and foot and gagged, was seated in one of the high-backed, armless chairs that stood near a table on one side of the room. Lee Anne was facing her, holding a long piece of clothesline with which she obviously intended to secure Eileen to the chair. Genie Willis sat on a loveseat nearby, enjoying the view. Eileen gave a muffled cry of alarm when she saw Julie.
"Well, well," said Genie, smiling broadly. "If it isn't the wife of the famous Sky Ryder! Helping the sheriff again, Honey?"
Julie looked steadily from one outlaw to the next.
"Sheriff Winchell doesn't need a lot of help to catch a gang like yours," she said. "He and the state police have already caught two of your men a few miles out of town, and it's only a matter of time before he rounds up the rest of you. You may as well give up now."
"Is that true, John?" Lee Anne asked incredulously. "How could they have gotten onto us so fast?"
Though March's expression was uncertain, he tried to dismiss Julie's claim.
"Nah," he said. "She's just bluffing."
"If it's a bluff, how do I know that some of your men were at the Northside Motel?" said Julie. "The sheriff had a dozen deputies getting ready to raid the place an hour ago. Your men are probably all in jail by now."
Genie stood up and crossed to Julie. She folded her left arm under her bust and used her left hand to hold her right elbow. She stroked her chin with her right hand as she regarded their new prisoner.
"We owe you and your meddling husband something for costing us a sweet little payday," Genie said tightly.
March circled around Julie, looking her over. He stopped behind her and brushed the ends of her hair with one hand. She pulled away from his touch only to have him raise the pistol where she could see it. He touched her hair again, then let his hand move slowly down to her neck and the collar of her front-opening blouse. When he reached the top button, he stopped and let his index finger play along the closing.
"Losing all that money is bad news for us," he said. "The bad news for you, Mrs. Ryder, is now we have you and Eileen."
"What good does that do us?" demanded Lee Anne. "We've got to pick up Jimmy and get out of here fast!"
"What about them?" asked Genie, waving at Eileen and Julie.
Lee Anne pointed at Julie.
"We'd better tie and gag her," she said. "Then we can just leave them here. They won't be able to call the sheriff until we're long gone."
March thought for a moment, looking from face to face as he did.
"You're right," he said. "Lee Anne, I want you to take your car, go get Campbell and bring him here. Genie, you'd better go move Mrs. Ryder's car. It's too easy to spot where she left it. Give me some more rope."
"What are you gonna do?" asked Genie.
"I picked the lock on the next cabin just in case we'd need it," he said. "If we put her there, there's no chance that she and Eileen can untie each other." He smiled wistfully. "It's kind of a shame to split 'em up. They're both good lookin' women, and they'd look great tied up together."
Genie cocked an eyebrow at March.
"Well I think that you ought to go hide Mrs. Ryder's car and I should take her next door and tie her up," she said. "I don't trust you around her or Eileen without a chaperone."
March glared at her for a moment.
"Okay," he said finally. He handed the pistol to her. "We'll do it your way. Get going, Lee Anne. Don't waste any time."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," said Lee Anne.
She picked up her handbag and left the cabin.
"Be sure you do a good job on her," March warned Genie.
Genie picked up several coils of pre-cut rope that Alban had prepared for the library job.
"It'll be a pleasure to entertain Mrs. Ryder." She gestured to the door with the pistol. "Shall we go, Sweetie?"
Eileen tried to protest through her gag.
"Just be patient, Eileen," said Genie. "We'll get around to you soon."
Genie pointed to the door. March opened it and led the two women out of the cabin. Eileen began working to free herself.
"That was some mighty fine work you did on the deputy, Miss Ryder," said Campbell. "Now I think we should see if one good turn deserves another."
He untied the strip of cloth securing Amy's gag, then took a long swallow of beer, draining the bottle. He looked at the empty with glassy eyes.
"Another dead soldier," he said. "But I think Eileen has a couple more in the fridge. You two wait right here." He chuckled at the two naked, thoroughly tape-bound women. "Don' go 'way. Ya won' wanna miss the fun."
He staggered from the room. Amy and Copper stretched and pulled at their bonds.
"What are we going to do, Amy?" whispered Copper.
Amy expanded her chest and tried to push her upper arms against the wraps of tape. It was no use.
"There's nothing much we can do, Copper," the beautiful deputy replied. "Tied like this and with our fingers all wrapped up, I don't think there's any way we can free ourselves. Even if we had a knife or managed to break some glass there's no way we could cut ourselves loose. We'll just have to keep playing along and hope he makes a mistake, like untying one of us."
"I don't think he's likely to do that. He likes seeing us like this and forcing us to…"
She trailed off and looked down, avoiding Amy's eyes. She saw traces of her lipstick on Amy's face and her breasts around the nipples. Copper reddened. She looked up guiltily at Amy.
"Oh, Amy, I'm so sorry about making you … I mean, that we have to …."
Amy smiled at her.
"I know, Copper, I know," she said consolingly. "You didn't have any choice." She looked toward the doorway, checking for any sign of Campbell returning. "Well, you'd better get ready. Now he's probably going to gag you and make me work on your breasts."
Copper looked down again.
"I know," she said. "And I don't know if I can help myself from getting … I mean if I can keep from …" She looked up at Amy with an agonized expression. "It's just that all tied up like this with those ropes between my legs, I'm afraid I'll …"
Amy made a shushing noise to stop her. She leaned forward and kissed Copper gently on the lips.
"We'll do whatever we have to do to stay alive, Copper. Don't worry about anything else."
She kissed her again and laid her cheek against Copper's forehead.
"Well, well, well! A very touching li'l scene, ladies!"
Campbell stood in the doorway, a fresh bottle of beer in hand. He crossed the room to the bed, put the beer on the nightstand and stood over the women for a few moments.
"I think it's time for th' deputy here t' spen' some time on Copper's boobs." He looked down at Copper. "But I'm not goin' t' gag you. I wanna hear everything!"
Campbell moved to the foot of the bed and pulled Amy lower until the deputy's face was opposite Copper's chest. Amy turned her head toward him.
"Haven't you had enough by now?" she asked. "Why don't you just gag us and get out of here while you still can?"
Campbell picked up his beer and circled back to Amy's side. He leaned over her and grinned.
"I could never get enough o' somethin' like this, Deputy. Copper did a real good job on those first-class boobs of yours. Now lessee you make her happy."
He drew the revolver from his belt and pressed the muzzle against Amy's temple.
"Get goin'," he said.
Amy put her lips to one of Copper's nipples. She traced it lightly with her tongue, then began to lick and finally to suck. The blonde girl drew in a sharp breath. After a few moments, she moaned. Campbell picked up the beer bottle, took a drink and backed toward his chair.
"Thassa real good start, girls."
"All right, Mrs. Ryder," said Genie. The blonde dropped the ropes on the table of the empty cabin. "This is far enough."
Julie turned and faced Genie. Noting that her captor appeared tired and edgy, Julie tried to work on the woman's weakness by being calm and reasonable.
"Why don't you just give it up?" asked Julie. "You know that there's no way you can get away with this. Make it easy on yourself."
"Spare me the sermons, Mrs. Ryder," Genie snapped. She raised her pistol a few inches. "For what you've cost us, I have no reason to be patient with you. Take your clothes off."
Julie stared in disbelief.
"What?"
"You heard me. John has quite an eye for the ladies and now you've got him ogling both you and Eileen. Well, I'm not going to let him play with Eileen, but you're another matter."
"What are you going to do?"
Genie smiled menacingly.
"Once you strip," she purred, "I'm going to tie you up good and tight and make him a little present of you."
"I won't do it!" Julie said defiantly.
Genie waved the pistol at her.
"Oh, I think you will. Being naked and tied up is a lot better than being shot."
Julie stared at Genie for a moment, trying to determine the earnestness of the threat. With a practiced movement of her thumb, Genie drew back the hammer of the pistol.
"Let's start with the skirt, Mrs. Ryder. Take it off."
Julie slowly unbuckled her belt.
"I knew you'd see things my way," said Genie.
"Wasn't tha' fun, Copper?" Campbell asked mockingly. "You seemed t' be havin' a real good time, at least as far as I could see."
Copper turned her head to avoid his eyes. Amy glared at him.
"You pervert!" She spat the words at him. "Now that you've had your fun with us, you'd better leave before Sky and the sheriff get here."
Campbell drained the last swallow of beer from the bottle and set it on the floor beside his chair. He belched and raised one eyebrow at his bound captives.
"I can't leave yet. I've gotta wait for my ride." He looked at them with glassy eyes. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You two were out when she left."
There was a knock at the front door. Campbell rose to his feet, weaving slightly.
"I'll bet tha's her now."
He made his way unsteadily to the front door.
"Who's there?" he called.
"It's me, Lee Anne, Jimmy. Open up!"
He barely had time to open the door before the shapely blonde hurried past him.
"Jimmy!" she said urgently. "We gotta get out of here fast!"
He chuckled, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the bedroom.
"There's somethin' I gotta show ya first. Come on. Ya gotta see this."
She allowed herself to be led along but continued talking.
"Somehow the sheriff got onto us! They caught Denny and Alban before they could get outta the state, and they've probably raided the motel and got Burton and Coates too! We've got to leave now!"
Campbell kept chuckling, seeming to be paying no attention. When they reached the bedroom door, he extended an arm toward Eileen's bed. Lee Anne gawked at the two naked, tape-bound women, then turned back to Campbell.
"What did you do to them, Jimmy?"
The tipsy Campbell was unfazed by her obvious displeasure.
"I tol' ya I was gonna tie 'em up, Baby," he said. He smirked at Amy and Copper. "An' I did."
"You didn't tell me you were going to pluck them like a couple chickens first!" said Lee Anne. "And they're both awake, too! They've seen us! What do we do with them now?"
Even in his alcoholic haze, Campbell was beginning to feel the heat of Lee Anne's anger. He waved a hand dismissively and staggered to the bed. He picked up the scarves he had used as gags.
"We'll gag 'em so they can't try to get help," he said.
"Your boyfriend didn't just tie us up," Amy began. "He made us ---"
Campbell stopped her by jamming one of the wadded cloths into her mouth then did the same to Copper when she tried to speak. He spotted the roll of duct tape on the nightstand and picked it up.
"I'd better put some o' this over th' gags t' keep 'em in," he said as he started to pull tape from the roll. "Then we better blindfold 'em too."
"Are you gonna wrap that tape around their heads?" asked Lee Anne.
Campbell looked down at the length of tape he had pulled off.
"Yeah, unless you think you can get 'em to promise not t' spit out th' scarves."
"That's really a mean thing to do," Lee Anne scolded him. "Do you know what that sticky tape will do to their hair when it's taken off? Here, let me do something first."
She went to Eileen's dresser and searched a couple of the smaller drawers until she found some nylon stockings. She shook out two of them as she crossed back to the bed.
"These'll make things a lot easier on you two," she told Amy and Copper, stretching out the stockings. She looked at Amy, who was trying to push the wad out of her mouth with her tongue. "Don't make me put that gag back in, Sweetie, or I'll let Jimmy do it his way."
When Lee Anne saw that Amy was obeying, she leaned over her, put the leg hole of the stocking over Amy's head and pulled the top below her chin.
"There!" she said. "Now you can tape away without getting that sticky stuff in their hair."
Campbell grinned at the blonde.
"Not bad, Baby!" he said as he started wrapping the tape around Amy's head to secure the gag. "Not bad at all! Do our li'l blond frien' too!"
Lee Anne repeated the procedure with the stocking on Copper. She rolled the helpless girl onto her back to check her work. Something about Copper's breasts caught her eye.
"Hey what's this on her boobs?" she asked, leaning over and rubbing a finger on some reddish-pink marks. She looked over and inspected Amy's chest as well. "What did you do to them, Jimmy?"
Campbell finished sealing Amy's gag and circled the bed to do Copper's.
"Believe me, Baby," he said. "I didn't do anything to 'em."
Lee Anne turned toward him again. She cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow.
"I think I get it," she said. "You didn't do anything to 'em, but you had 'em do plenty to each other while you sat right there" --- she pointed to the chair --- "and watched 'em. Did you make 'em do anything to you?"
"No, Honey," he said. "I just tied 'em up and kep' an eye on 'em. Tha's all."
Lee Anne shook a finger at him.
"Honestly, Jimmy, after all I do for you, I can't believe that you'd want to watch a couple of tied up girls kiss each other's boobs for fun. When you practiced tying with me, I did plenty to make you happy. What do you need with them?"
Campbell's expression began to change from defensive to impatient.
"Look, Lee Anne, don' be a nag. I just had a li'l fun watchin' 'em."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna ask the deputy if there was anything more to it. And I'd better get the right answer."
She rolled the bound brunette onto her back and leaned over so that her face was close to Amy's.
"How about it, deputy?" she demanded. "Did Jimmy make you do anything else?"
Amy looked up at the angry blonde. Before she could make any sign of reply, Lee Anne saw the helpless brunette's blue eyes grow wide behind the nylon that covered them. The gagged woman tried to squeak a warning, but it was too late. Campbell struck Lee Anne on the back of the head with his leather-covered sap. The blonde collapsed onto Amy, then tried to rise. Campbell struck her again. This time, she lay motionless. Campbell rolled her off Amy, face up on the bed. He stroked her hair gently.
"I told ya not t' nag me, Honey," he said softly. "You were usually a good listener. But now it's time t' make a change."
He turned her on her belly. The straps of the sun dress had slipped off her shoulders. He began to unbutton it.
Julie Ryder let her unbuttoned blouse fall off her left shoulder and arm. With her left hand she grabbed the cuff of her right sleeve and pulled the right side and sleeve off as well. She gathered up the blouse and tossed it onto the bed where her skirt lay. Now in just her bra and panties she faced Genie.
"John was right," Genie said dryly. "You're quite a fine looking woman." She wagged the pistol for effect. "Let's do the rest. Your bra first."
Julie slid the straps off her shoulders.
"Under the circumstances," she said meekly, turning her back to the blonde, "I guess you won't mind unhooking it for me, will you?"
"I'll be happy to help, Mrs. Ryder," Genie gloated. "Back up slowly."
Julie slipped her arms out of the shoulder straps and slowly stepped back toward Genie.
Genie took her finger from the trigger guard and pointed the revolver in her right hand to the ceiling so she could hold the eyelet side of the bra fastening, and used her left hand undo the hooks.
"There," she said. "Just let it drop. Then we'll ---"
As the bra fell, Julie quickly whirled to the right with her arm raised. She struck Genie's right arm, the impact knocking it far to the left and causing her to drop the pistol. Genie tried to push Julie away in an effort to retrieve the weapon, but Julie held onto the blonde by grabbing the sleeve of her blouse. Genie pushed again. Julie managed to hold on but staggered back a couple steps, ripping Genie's blouse at the shoulder seam. The two women grabbed each other's arms and struggled for an advantage to get possession of the gun. Genie threw herself against her topless opponent but could not free herself from Julie's hold. They both tried to use their legs and feet for more leverage, but Julie, being barefoot, had much better traction and balance than Genie in her tight skirt and high heels. Julie hooked her right leg around Genie's and managed to knock the blonde from her feet, falling on top of her when she went down. On the floor, the two women continued to grapple for the revolver only a few inches away.
Genie stretched for it with her right arm only to have Julie pull her arm back by using the torn sleeve of her blouse. Genie tried again using her left hand, but Julie was able to grab that sleeve as well. Now holding both of Genie's arms, Julie was able to get her left leg onto her opponent's back and climb astride her, pulling Genie's arms behind her back. She ripped the right sleeve of Genie's blouse off, held both of her hands in one of her own and used the sleeve to tie Genie's wrists.
"Get off of me!" Genie shouted. "You can't get away with this! A few strips of cloth can't hold me! When John comes back he'll fix you good!"
"Oh, don't worry," said Julie. "This sleeve will only have to hold you until I can get to those ropes you planned to use on me. But just in case he does come back, I'm going to need the other one."
She tore the sleeve from Genie's left arm, stretched it into a band and tied a quick overhand knot in the center. She leaned over Genie's head and slipped the cloth band down to her mouth.
"Hey, whaddaya think you're mmmph" --- Genie began.
Julie slipped the knot into Genie's mouth, pulled the band taut and began tying the ends together behind her head. With her opponent gagged and secured, Julie stopped to take a few deep breaths. She checked the cloth bindings on Genie's wrists, then scrambled to the table where the ropes lay and took a few from the pile.
Genie rolled onto her side and glared at Julie. She tried to say something through the gag.
"Now," said Julie as she measured a piece of rope. "Let's see if I can entertain you with these as well as you would have done to me." She looked at Genie in her torn blouse then at her own bare breasts.
"Hmmm. I seem to be at a disadvantage here. Maybe I should so something about that."
She rolled her prisoner a bit more on her back and took hold of the torn closings of Genie's blouse. She pulled the fabric in both directions, tearing off the remaining buttons and ripping the blouse almost in two. With a few more tugs, she removed the last of it entirely.
"If you behave yourself, you can keep your bra," she warned as she rolled Genie face down again. "Now let's see what I can do with this rope."
She looped the cords around Genie's arms just above the elbows and made a couple wraps, though she did not try to force her arms together. She tied the ends off and then freed Genie's wrists just long enough to replace the sleeve bindings with rope. As Julie surveyed her work, Genie tried to kick her in the back with her high-heeled pumps. Julie swung around, caught Genie's flailing feet and held them while she slipped off her shoes. She then wrapped ropes around Genie's ankles, fashioned a seize around the loops and tied off the ends. The brassy blonde squealed into her gag in frustration.
"No use complaining," Julie panted. "That's what you get for trying to kick me." She looked her captive over. "I'd better tie you up a bit more before I go for the sheriff, but I think I'd rather have you in a chair for that. Come on, Sister. Let's go."
She took Genie by one of her elbows and helped her to her feet. She pointed to an armless, high-backed chair next to the table.
"Maybe you can't walk, but you can hop."
Genie glared at Julie and grunted indignantly but made it to the chair in three hops. Before she could sit, Julie wrapped a doubled rope around her arms and body just above her bust. She fed the ends through the lark's head then circled her captive in the opposite direction. When she reached the lark's head again, she passed the ends through and looped them twice around Genie just below her bust. After tying the ends off in the middle of her back, Julie ran the remaining rope under one arm, up over her collar bone, behind her neck, under the opposite arm and back to the knots to be tied off again. She connected the last foot of so to the yoke behind Genie's neck.
"There," said Julie. "You won't be able to slip those ropes off now. Just one more thing before you I have you sit down."
Julie unbuttoned Genie's snug skirt, pulled it down, and let it fall to the floor. She pressed on Genie's shoulder. The blonde sat. Julie tossed the skirt away. She bound Genie's legs together both above and below the knees, tethered her ankle bonds to one of the chair legs, and secured her torso to the chair back with several loops. She took a couple steps back and surveyed the result. Genie stared daggers at her and grunted something unintelligible.
"That ought to hold you for a while," Julie said. "The gag isn't the most effective, but I can't take the time to improve it right now."
She picked up her bra from where it had fallen, then stepped back to the bed where her clothes lay. She was about to slip the bra straps over her arms when the cabin door opened.
"You don't have to worry about putting that on, Mrs. Ryder. I'm enjoying the view."
John March stood in the doorway, pointing a revolver at Julie.
Amy Cole and Copper Ryder watched helplessly through the stockings stretched over their faces as Campbell bound Lee Anne the same way he had secured them. After removing the blonde's sundress and underthings, he had laid her across the foot of the bed, crotch roped her, then taped her wrists and elbows behind her back, her arms against her body and finally her knees, ankles and thighs together. He was now wrapping her fingers and hands with the sticky duct tape.
"Not a bad job, eh girls?" he asked gleefully as he worked. "It's kind of a shame I can't stay and watch you and Lee Anne go at each other. I know for a fact that she's pretty good when she's all tied up."
He stopped and gazed at Copper for a moment.
"But I think that you might be even better, Miss Ryder. So I'm gonna take you with me when I lam outta here." He turned to Amy. "I'll leave Lee Anne to keep the deputy company."
Both women shook their heads and protested into their gags. Campbell laughed. He leered at Amy as he picked up another piece of rope.
"But just a few more improvements before I go.
Bill Denny raised his cuffed hands from the table to scratch his nose.
"That's about it on the library job, Sheriff," he said. "I can't tell you anything about the office supply store, because I was outside keeping watch, like I told you. You'll have to ask Burton about that one."
Sheriff Winchell and Sky Ryder sat on the other side of the table, across from Denny, in the interrogation room of the Sheriff's Office. Deputies Harry Tyler and Andy Rivera stood on either side of the door. A female stenographer at a smaller table was taking down Denny's statement in shorthand.
"What about the big fellow?" asked Winchell.
Denny smiled ruefully.
"Coates? Go ahead and ask him if you want to, but you probably won't get too much out of him. Even though he was there, he won't remember much of anything that happened. He's a good man, Tiny, but very simple."
Winchell nodded as he wrote a few words in his notebook.
"And you claim that Eileen didn't help you at all in the robbery at the library?" he asked.
"We forced her, Sheriff," said Denny. "March recognized her at the office store and when we got the idea about taking the rare books, he sent his girl, Genie, and some of the others to get her. They brought her to our motel and we threatened her. She had no choice."
"No choice?" asked Winchell. "She helped you with that jewel robbery in Los Angeles more than ten years ago."
"I tell you, she had no choice!" Denny repeated with heat. He slumped a bit in his chair. "I knew her back then, knew who she worked for and we used her, and then I threw her over. When Genie and Alban brought her to us at that motel here, she was tied, gagged and blindfolded. She didn't want anything to do with it."
Sky had quietly been watching Denny and sizing him up.
"And when that L. A. job was done," he said gently, "you threw her over by giving her a very valuable bracelet in case you got caught. You know, I think you're telling the truth about a lot of this. She didn't want to help you with the library robbery and was probably trying to sell that bracelet to pay off your gang to forget about stealing those books."
He leaned forward and looked searchingly at Denny.
"And I think she did that because of you. She wanted you to go straight. Were you going to stay here with her, or come back to her later?"
Denny stared silently at Sky for a moment or two. He opened and closed his mouth as though deciding not to speak. Finally he shook his head.
"There's no trying to fool you, is there Ryder?" he said. "You've got it right. Eileen and I are married, and we were married when we pulled the Powell job. Didn't those detectives know?"
Sky shook his head.
"They knew that you two knew each other then. Though they suspected it, they weren't sure that you were married."
Denny continued to shake his head as he looked ruefully at Sky.
"You know, Eileen's told me a few things about you." He cocked an eyebrow at the rancher. "Not everything, I have a feeling, but enough to know that you two were kinda close at one time. She respects you, and I can see why."
"And I respect a lot about you, Mr. Denny," said Sky. "Winch and I certainly appreciate the fact that you've avoided any violence and you seem to have done what you could to keep the others in your gang from getting out of hand."
Denny nodded.
"It's been tough, especially with Campbell."
"We'd better see about bringing him and the others in," said Winchell. "And I suppose we'd better bring in Eileen, too." He turned to Harry. "Is Amy back yet? I'd like to send her and Sue to Eileen's."
Tyler opened the door and stepped into the hall. He was back in a few seconds.
"No word from Amy or Copper since they disappeared from here a couple hours ago," he reported. He looked at Sky. "And Bonnie can't raise Julie on the radio either."
"All of them missing?" asked Winchell.
"I don't like this, Winch," said Sky.
"Me neither. Harry, have somebody take Denny to a holding cell. I want you, Andy, Sue and Charlie to go with Sky and me."
"Sure, Sheriff," said Tyler. "Where we goin'?"
Sky Ryder stood up and started for the door.
"We'd better start at Eileen's house."
Copper Ryder, now in the armchair Campbell had used to watch her forced amorous interlude with Amy, watched helplessly, struggling as best she could against her bonds as she saw what Campbell intended for Amy and Lee Anne.
He had taken a fairly long piece of rope and used it to make a yoke-style hogtie for Amy, a doubled rope that went under one arm, across the back of the neck, under the other arm and to the middle of her back where it was tied at the lark's head between her shoulder blades leaving enough rope to reach her feet. He rolled Amy on her left side on the left half of the bed, bent her legs back and roped her ankles to the yoke. Then he used another rope to tether her knees to the post at the foot of the bed. He put Lee Anne on the opposite side of the bed on her right side, facing Amy and tied her the same way. As he was knotting the rope at the foot of the bed, Lee Anne groaned and started to stir.
Campbell stood up and strolled to the nightstand, picked up the tape roll and checked the remaining tape.
"Not much left," he said wistfully. He grinned at Copper. "But I can't think of a better use for it than this."
She grunted a protest in her gag.
Lee Anne began to mumble. Campbell looked on Eileen's dresser where Lee Anne had found the nylons. There was one more there, as well as a few scarves. He picked up a stocking and a scarf and rolled the scarf into a ball.
"Jimmy?" Lee Anne called drowsily. "Jimmy, where are we? My head hurts and I can't move very well."
Campbell looked at Copper, as though for approval.
"See, Copper," he said. "I'm not such a bad guy with dames. I barely even tapped her. Jus' enough t' do the job."
Lee Anne was now almost fully awake.
"Jimmy!" she called urgently. "What're you doing? This is no time to play! Cut me loose!"
Campbell sidled over to the bed and looked down at her.
"I'm not playing, Baby. Sorry to break it to you this way, but it's the end of the line for us."
She stared at him wide-eyed.
"No, Jimmy, no!" she cried. "You can't do this to me! You can't just leave me like this for the cops! I'll be good to you, Jimmy, I promise. No more nagging. I love you, Jimmy!"
He leaned over and put one hand to her chin, turning her face more directly toward him. He held the balled scarf to her lips.
"Come on, Honey," he said softly. "Let's do this the easy way."
"No, Jimmy! Please don't gag mmmph" ---
He pushed the wad into her mouth then slipped the stocking over her head to keep it in. When it was pulled down over her chin, he wrapped tape around her head over her lips.
"Now girls, I'm going to make sure you can't do anything tricky to help each other."
He lifted and pushed the two women together so that they were touching from their breasts to their knees, then tied them together with several turns of rope around their waists and just above their knees. He then blindfolded them by taping around the stockings over their eyes. He had two more fairly short ropes.
Copper watched in horror as he doubled the ropes and fashioned two slipnooses. As he leaned over Amy, Copper cried out into her gag. When the helpless, sightless deputy felt him slip the rope around her neck, she cried out as well.
"Don't worry, girls," said Campbell. "They won't hurt you as long as you don't try to get off the bed."
He tied the free ends of the rope to the headboard. Copper was somewhat relieved to see that there was a good amount of slack in the tether. Campbell did the same to Lee Anne, who also squealed a protest into the scarf and tape gag.
Campbell nodded to himself as he looked at the two bound women.
"All right, Copper. Almost time for us t' go. You can keep me company while I finish Eileen's last beer."
He bent down and pulled Copper from the chair. She shrieked in protest as he lowered his shoulder into her midsection and lifted her in a fireman's carry.
"It's been a pleasure, ladies. See you later."
He patted Copper's bare backside and carried her from the room.
On the bed, Amy and Lee Anne writhed uselessly in their bonds.
"Harry, I hope you're on your way!" thought Amy. "Without you or somebody, there's no way out of this!"
| Copyright © 2011 by Frank Knebel |