Debbie's Narrow Squeak

 

 

 

 “LET US HELP YOU TO MAKE THIS A VERY SPECIAL NIGHT!!

 

CALL VALENTINE’S ANGELS ON 0-800-LOVE!!”

 

“Debs, of all your hair-brained business ideas this has to be right up there!”

 

Polishing the lens of his glasses before he placed them back on his thin nose, Herbert looked up at the red haired beauty sat on the bed in front of him.  He passed back to her the flyer and looked at her as she smiled in return.

 

“Oh come on, Herbert – it’s a bit of fun, and if we make some money so much the better.  I have Honey on hand to help the gentlemen callers, and you and Stan can take care of the ladies.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s for one night only – do you expect we’ll be able to take care of everyone?”

 

Debbie Drummond smiled again as she passed her hand through the russet locks that fell down across her shoulders.  “We’ll be fine – we do business for the week beforehand and only deal with very special calls on the night.  Can we trust on your help?”

 

Herbert shrugged his shoulders.  “Of course you can – I only have one question?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“What are you going to do when things go wrong?”

 

Debbie stood up and looked at him.  “Herbert – unlike almost every other enterprise I have ever run, this is guaranteed attack and robber proof.  After all, who wants to steal anything on Valentine’s Day?”

 

“Apart from hearts?”  Herbert made a swift exit, dodging the pillow that was thrown at him as he closed the door on his friend.

 

February 14th was cold, and as night descended the air was crisp and clear.  As the blonde haired woman pulled up outside the office block in her open top car, she cursed the fact the roof wasn’t fixed.  Drawing a light brown fur coat around her, she walked quickly in through the front door, only to be stopped by a tall, muscular lad in a dinner jacket with his red bow tie clearly visible.

 

“Well, well, well – and how did someone as handsome as you end up in a dump like this?”

 

“A very good evening to you as well, Honey,” the man said as he took her fur coat and hung it in a closet.  Honoria Hudson, Honey to those who knew her well, was very rich, very forward and a good friend to Debbie – most of the time.  She was adorned in a gold lame sheath dress, which covered her large breasts and came down to the floor.  A long slit went from the hem to above her waist, and as she walked across the room a pair of gold strappy sandals could be seen on her feet.

 

“So when are you and Herbert going to next, Stan?” she asked in her Southern drawl as she took a seat behind a desk.  Stan smiled as Herbert, also adorned in a dinner jacket with a black bow tie over his stiff shirt front, came back into the room.

 

“We have flowers and chocolates to take to a sorority across town, then a special telegram to deliver, after which I think we’re done for the night.  Ready, Herbert?”

 

“Van’s loaded and ready to go, Stan,” the smaller man said as he picked up his coat.  “Hi, Honey – Debbie will be with you in  a minute.  She’s just got a late request that she’s getting the details of.”

 

“No problem, boys – have fun,” she said as she watched the two of them walk out.  As that door closed, another opened in the far side and Debbie walked in.  She was wearing a red silk blouse and leather skirt, with knee length dark red suede boots and a scarf in her hair tied to resemble a rose.

 

“Hey,” she said as she sat opposite her friend.  “How did the Samson job go?”

 

“No problem – I got his place looking just right for his date.  What’s next on the list?”

 

Debbie looked down at the pad she had brought in with her.  “I just got a call from the McLaren place.  Maggie McLaren needs some help to set up her house for a late meal with Johnny, and asked if we would come over to help.”

 

“What does she want us to do?”  Honey knew Maggie well – they shared the same fitness instructor – and was keen to help her if at all possible.  Debbie looked at her scribbled notes.

 

“She has some caterers coming in, so it’s decoration, flowers, music – that sort of thing.   Do me a favour will you – go in the back and see how many roses we’ve got left.”

 

“Roses are so last year – you do know orchids are the new flower?” Honey said as she stood up and walked towards the door that led to the stockroom.

 

“GO!” Debbie said as she watched Honey go into the room, closing the door behind her.  She looked down on her pad, making some notes as she did so, when her attention was taken by a thumping noise from the room.

 

“Honey, are you all right in there?” Debbie said, but there was no reply from behind the door.  Shrugging her shoulders, and thinking that Honey was up to her usual tricks, she went back to studying the pad.  As she heard the door open and close, she looked up to ask “What’s happening?”  Instead, she gasped at the sweet smelling cloth that was clamped over her mouth and nose, struggling for a moment before sleep took over from fear.

 

 

 

 

 

“Dbby?  DBBY!!”

 

Debbie slowly opened her eyes to the sight of Honey standing opposite her, trying to speak through what looked like a gold band over her mouth.  As her eyes came into focus, she realised it wasn’t a gold band, but  a gold silk scarf that had been pulled into her mouth, a knot in the centre filling it and acting as an effective gag.

 

“Honey?  Oh dear God – who is it this time?” she said as she saw the yellow ropes that were holding her friend securely to the post supporting the ceiling of the room, passing around her chest and legs and holding her firmly in place.  She was struggling, but to Debbie it seemed as if she had turned into a giant banana that had string tied around it.

 

“What the hell was on that cloth?” Debbie thought as she tried to stand up, then realised that Honey wasn’t the only one immobilised.  Looking down, she saw in the dim light that there were coils of red nylon rope tied tightly around her ankles and legs.  Her arms were pinned behind her back, and from the feeling in her fingers, she could tell that her wrists were held together with similar rope as well.  She also realised that someone was tying her arms to her side as she sat there.

 

“All right – once again I’m tied up on a job,” Debbie cried out in frustration.  “The only thing that would make this complete is to find out two certain women are behind it.”

 

“You called,” a female voice said to one side, and as Debbie slowly turned her head she saw a young brunette sitting in a chair, dressed in a black sweater and leggings with knee length black leather boots.

 

“Lori, so help me if you don’t get the two of us untied right now...”

 

“Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” another female said from behind her, and Honey groaned through her gag as another young girl, slightly taller and with curled brown hair, walked and stood beside Lori.  She was wearing a brown leather jacket and skirt, with knee length patchwork suede boots., and smiled as she looked at the tow captives.

 

“I should have guessed,” Debbie said in a  resigned tone, “where Lori as Cheryl can’t be far behind.”

 

“Oh, don’t feel so bad about it,” Lori said as she stood up and checked the knots holding Honey in place.  “We heard about Maggie’s plans, and we just had to be the ones to go and help out.”

 

“Besides, we haven’t seen this Johnny yet – how can we turn down this opportunity?”  Cheryl knelt down and looked directly into Debbie’s eyes.  “You don’t mind if we take this job, do you?”

 

“Do we have a choice in the matter?” Debbie said as she tried to free her arms.  “More to the point, are you going to leave us like this?  You only had to ask if you wanted to help.”

 

“Yeah,” Lori said as she opened a bag by her side, “but where would be the fun in that?  Now then – open wide.”

 

“Whmmph,” Debbie said as a thick red scarf was pulled into her mouth, silencing her as Lori passed the ends around her head and neck and tied them together in front of her throat.  “Don’t worry – I’m sure the boys will be back soon, and by then we’ll have all the gossip from Maggie.”

 

“Toodles,” Cheryl said as the two women left the store room, turning off the light behind them and leaving the room bathed in the streetlight from outside.  Honey screamed in frustration, wriggling round to try and find a way to loosen the tight ropes that held her in place, while Debbie sat still and tried to figure another way to get free.

 

 

 

“You don’t think we were a bit cruel to them?”

 

Cheryl was asking the question as she and Lori drove the van towards the McLaren house.  It was located in the smarter part of town, set behind walls in a large area of garden, but the two girls knew that they would be expected.

 

“Nah – they’d do the same to us given half a chance,” Lori said as they turned through the open gates and made their way up the driveway.  “Besides, I know Maggie’s parents are at some swanky event tonight, so she’ll be on her own.  We’ll help her decorate, get the gossip, and who knows – maybe even get a glimpse of the man himself.”

 

The van pulled up beside a white transit, from the back  of which Lori could see a number of trays arranged on platters.  “The caterers must have arrived early,” she said as she climbed out, “Come on – we’ll find Maggie inside.”

 

The two girls walked in through the open door to the lobby of the house, and called out “Maggie?  Debbie sent us – where are you?”  A door opened and, instead of the strawberry blonde Maggie, a tall thin man in his early twenties came out.

 

“Oh hello,” he said a she walked towards them with outstretched hands, “I’m Johnny.  You are?”

 

“I’m Lori and this is Cheryl,” Lori said as she shook his hand.  “We came at Maggie’s request to help her prepare for tonight, but it was meant to be a surprise.  What happened?”

 

“Oh, I got my surprise in first,” Johnny said as he shook Cheryl’s hand.  “Look, why don’t you come and say Hi – I’m sure she will be delighted to see you.”

 

The two girls walked with Johnny, eager to see what his surprise had been to out-trump Maggie, before he stopped and opened the door.  “She’s in here,” he said with a smile as he held the door open, “Just go in and say hi.”

 

“Hi, Maggie,” Cheryl said as she walked in, only for her to turn and look at both Lori and Johnny with a look of fear.  That only increased as she saw Johnny take a firm grip on Lori’s arm, still smiling as he pushed the two girls into the room over the muffled calls that were coming from inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ths nothr fn ms uv gt m nt,” Honey mumbled as she stared at her friend sitting there on the floor.  She had been standing there for ninety minutes now, listening to nothing except the moans of herself and her friend and the occasional rustle, the source of which she did not particularly want to know about.  The yellow ropes were rubbing against the material of her dress, causing her skin to itch, and she had dreadful cramp in her jaw and lower legs.

 

As for Debbie, she had something else on her mind.  She hadn’t been able to get any give in the ropes around her, and her mouth was aching from the way the thick cloth filled and stretched her jaws.  Despite that, she looked up and glared at her so-called friend, saying “Lts c u d ny bttr.”

 

Honey actually seemed to laugh at that, as she looked round to see if there was anything she could use to loosen her ropes.  All she could find, however, was a slightly melted bar of Hershey chocolate, and a furry something that brushed against her hands as she moved them around.

 

The nylon rope was digging into her wrists, and she grunted in frustration – which turned to fear as she saw a small brown rodent scuttle over towards the boxes set next to her.  “Mice – great,” she thought as she looked up at Honey, and then back to the small animal, then the chocolate bar.

 

“MICE!!”  The though exploded into her head, and she grunted towards Honey as she started to shuffle over the floor towards the brown chocolate bar.  Her friend looked on, thinking her friend had lost her mind as she picked up the bar in her fingers and started to rub it against the red ropes around her wrists.  This was swiftly followed by a muffled gasp as she saw a number of small, brown mice run across the floor and over her feet.

 

Relaxing as much as she could, Debbie leaned forward and held her wrists out, hoping the tales she had heard about mice preferring chocolate to cheese were true...

 

 

 

 

 

“Well, now – isn’t this a nice surprise?  I didn’t know you were expecting visitors, but I’m glad they were able to join you.  I’d hate to feel you were going to be left alone when we go.”

 

Maggie McLaren glared at Johnny as he stood next to her, smiling as he watched his two colleagues secure Lori and Cheryl to each other as they sat back to back on the woollen rug.  Their wrists had been tied together in front of them with white rope, and then secured to the coils that held their legs together above and below their knees.  Further coils were wrapped around their crossed ankles, passing between their legs and over the soles of their boots to hold them tightly together.

 

“We have got to stop doing things like this,” Lori said over her shoulder to her friend as their chests were pulled together with coils of rope.  “Maggie – are you all right?”

 

Their friend was not exactly able to answer them at that point, owing to the small problem of the strips of silver duct tape that covered the lower half of her face, holding whatever was causing her cheeks to puff out in place.  She had indeed been surprised to see her boyfriend standing at the door when she answered it, the towel wrapped round her wet hair and the pink dressing gown wrapped tightly around her body.  She been even more surprised to see two men in white jackets and dark trousers standing behind him.

 

The real surprise, however, had been the guns in their hands as Johnny had forced his way in, brought her into the study and taped her wrists and ankles to the heavy wooden chair she was now sitting in.  When Cheryl walked in, and saw her sitting there while the two men were emptying the cabinets behind her of the gold and silver plates, she had no time to warn her before Johnny had pushed them both back in and started to tie them up.

 

“Well, it’s been a blast, and you’re a sweet kid,” Johnny said as the other man came back in with a small holdall, “but I think we have everything we need.  One more thing before we go.”

 

“What’s that,” Cheryl said as he knelt beside her.

 

“Shh,” was his response as he smoothed several layers of tape over her mouth, and then Lori as she sat there.  The three girls watched as the men walked out, carrying their bags and turning the lights off as they closed the door.  Cheryl and Lori started to squirm round, the leather of their clothes and boots squeaking against the ropes and the hard floor, but it was mute frustration that was in their eyes as they looked at their friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“NGGH!”

 

Debbie grunted as the rope around her wrists finally parted and she was able to wriggle her arms round to the front.  As she reached up and started to pull the wet cloth out of her mouth, she heard Stan call from the outside office “Debbie?  Where are you?”

 

“In here.”  Her voice was croaky, but she managed to call out loud enough for someone to hear.  The door opened and she saw both Stan and Herbert standing in the doorway, their bodies blacked out in the room light.

 

“Oh god, not again,” Herbert said as he came over and helped Debbie to free herself, while Stan unravelled the ropes around Honey.  As she rubbed her wrists while waiting for the gag to be taken out of her mouth, he said “Let me guess – Lori and Cheryl?”

 

“Got it in two,” Debbie said as Herbert helped her to her feet.  She brushed the chocolate crumbs off the seat of her skirt and looked over to Honey.  “Are you all right?”

 

“I’ll be fine – and even better when I get my own back on those two.  What say we head out to Maggie’s place and pay them a visit?”

 

“Nah – they’re probably having too much fun,” Debbie said as she stumbled out of the room.  “How about we get these two handsome young men to take us out to dinner?”

 

“Our pleasure,” Stan said as he helped Honey put her coat on.  Herbert held the door open as the four of them set off, closing the door just as the phone in the office started to ring....

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