Chapter 10

The five met the following evening at SEVEN o'clock in a private room at Ernie's Place. They were stiff and ill-at-ease, and it was not difficult to see that something other than the pursuit of pleasure had brought them together. i The first thing Tom Weathers did was to walk up and extended his hand to Jim Sayres.

"I'm sorry about that phone conversation. It was just that you caught me off-guard, kind of. I didn't know quite what to say."

"Forget it," Jim said. "We're all here. That's the main thing."

"I could use a drink," Lovell said. "You fellows want to join me?"

They all did and the drinks were ordered and brought in while they sat stiffly around and waited.

With the waiter gone, Clete Watts, who'd stayed a little apart from the rest he felt he'd outgrown them to a great extent said, "We ought to put someone in the chair. How about you, Mike?"

Mike Bevins looked around uncertainly.

"That's fine with me," Sayers seconded.

A general aye. arose and Mike moved over and stood at the head of the table.

"Okay, but there'll be nothing formal about this. We'll just talk it out and see what's to be done."

"That sounds sensible," Tom agreed. "Maybe somebody will brief me. I got a sketchy idea of what this is all about Jim on the way over. I understand Lee Windsor is on the rampage. Will somebody tell me from there?"

"I don't think there's any use wasting time by being careful with words," Mike said. "It comes down to this: several of our wives have been molested "

"Let's use the right words and leave no doubt," Jim Sayres cut in. "Raped. Criminally abused. That's what's been going on."

"Correct," Mike said. "I'll outline a few more facts and then we're open for questions and discussions. There has been a pattern to these attacks that seems to point to Lee Windsor-he doesn't have to be identified to any of you, I'm sure. This looks as like a vengeance plan in retaliation for what happened in Ludlow when we were in high school."

There was silence. Mike's eyes circled the table. "I don't think we have to discuss that incident either. We'll assume all of us remember clearly." He paused again. "If any of you have forgotten "

"Let's get on with this, Mike," Sayres demanded.

"Okay. I think we can ignore any possibility of these attacks being unassociated."

"How many have there been?" Weathers asked.

Mike said, "Will all the men whose wives have been attacked, please raise their hands?"

He put the request in the form of a plea, in case some of them objected. Three hands went up. Bevins looked around the table and slowly raised his own.

This surprised Jim Sayres. He looked a little hurt, but did not comment!

Bevins spoke wryly. "I think now we have concrete evidence of the cause we have in common."

Frank and Jim had by now turned questioning eyes on Clete Watts. They obviously hadn't expected his hand to go up. He grimly ignored them.

"At the risk of going over old ground," Mike said, "I'll bring up the obvious question. Why, if Lee Windsor committed these outrages, wasn't he recognized by the wives familiar with him from the days in Ludlow? In the face of this it seems certain that Lee did not commit the attacks personally."

What would have appeared to be the next obvious question was asked only by Tom Weathers who was still in the dark on the point. "If it wasn't Lee, where's the association?"

Bevins searched for an answer. "The pattern of the attacks," he said. "Believe me, Tom, the similarity is too marked to be ignored."

"I guess I have to accept that," he said.

"I'll expand on them for you later if you want me to," Jim Sayres told him.

Weathers raised an impatient hand. "That won't be necessary. And I can't understand why we even have to sit here and kick this thing around. Our next step is logical. Go to the police."

Cold silence hit him form every direction. Bevins said, "We've been trying to avoid that."

"Avoid it? Why for God's sake? Isn't that what the cops are for? To protect harassed citizens?"

"We've tried to avoid the police," Mike repeated stubbornly. "There are angles to this thing."

"Angles, slim angles!" Tom said angrily. "We're talking like a lot of juveniles. We need help from the law to stop this man."

"Sure," Lovell growled. "That's your point of view.'

"Why isn't it everyone's point of view?"

"The answer to that is simple," Clete said. "You can be very righteous because you haven't got anything to lose. Your wife hasn't been attacked. You won't be called on to air any gory details."

"That's a hell of a thing to say," Tom stormed. "If she'd been attacked I'd be even more eager to call the cops."

"I think you might find things a little different if you were actually faced with the situation," Jim Payne cut in.

Weathers shrugged. "Well, that's the way I feel, so I guess I'm not going to be of much help to you fellows. I've made my suggestion."

"We'll hold it in the file for the moment," Mike said. "Any other ideas?"

'I was thinking of private assistance," Jim said. "A private detective."

"Logical," Lovell offered, "but it would all end up in the same place if the private eye smoked him out. The law. A private detective would only be doing their work for them."

"Possibly," Payne said. "But maybe not. Once we find him, we could take over."

They all thought that over in silence. Finally Weathers spoke out.

"If you're talking about taking the law into your own hands, include me out. I don't go for that sort of thing."

"I see your point." Clete said. "We'd like to think the same way. But with us, that sort of thinking has become somewhat of a luxury."

"You're talking about mob rule," Weathers said hotly.

Clete looked around. "I don't think we're exactly a mob. We're five men in a highly personal form of trouble, that's true. But I don't think we're going to riot in the streets."

"The way I see it," Lovell said, "the police allowed the attacks. They proved inefficient in protecting us. Therefore we have a right to consider our own counter-measures."

Tom Weathers smiled and shook his head. "Neat, neat. Smart thinking for the opposition. But I still won't get mixed up in this if you fellows plan to move on your own."

"Then maybe you'd better leave, Tom." Bevins made the suggestion quietly and a silence followed. "Now wait a minute," Clete said. "Let's not really start acting like juveniles. Let's not break up before we get started." He turned to Weathers. "Tom, do you want out? If you do, just say so."

"It looks to me as though I'm not wanted."

"On the contrary. I think we all need each other. After all, we aren't just planning a barbecue here. All our careers are at stake. No one can say what trend this thing might take."

"I have a suggestion," Bevins said.

"Let's hear it."

"A compromise that might keep us together. We'll go ahead as it was suggested. Get some private help. This, I think is logical, because we can't do anything until we locate Lee Windsor. We'll find him first and decide on procedure at that time."

They thought this over. Clete looked at Weathers.

"How about that. Does it meet with your approval?"

Tom Weathers got up from his chair. "I don't think so. If you fellows aren't willing to go to the police now, I don't think you'll change your minds if you get your hands on Windsor. As I .see it, I'd only be putting myself in deeper by going along."

Clete shrugged. "AH right, then I guess you'd better bow out."

"One thing," Lovell said. "Are you going to the police on your own, Tom?"

"Why should I? I haven't anything to see them about. And I think I'm able to protect my wife from a degenerate."

Hostility hung in the air but no one said anything.

Weathers turned from the table. "Good night," he said "Good luck in your endeavors."

He left. They sat looking at each other. Bevins chuckled grimly. "And then there were four," he said "And now, gentlemen. Where do we go from here?"

"Let's find out if anyone has any information that would help us. Has anyone checked on Lee Windsor?"

"His sister " Lovell said.

The effect of those two words on the group was clearly marked even though subtle as the group guilt complex permeated the ether. Eyes dropped. A fist or two doubled subconsciously. Clete Watts reached jerkily for a cigarette. And they all cursed Frank for his pause; for highlighting the terrible past by sudden silence.

"She is in a mental home near town. The accident," he hastened to add. "There was brain damage when they crashed into the wall that night."

"That crash was a terrible tragedy," Sayres murmured and they cursed him in turn for not just keeping his mouth shut.

"What about Lee?" Mike asked a little harshly.

"I went there, trying to trace him down. But it was no go. The head man has no contact with him or claims he hasn't. All the money they get comes through a bank."

"Then why bring Barbara up if what you did gets us no closer to Lee?" Clete asked the question coldly and Jim Payne leaned forward.

"What bank?" Jim asked.

"The Second National, I think he said."

"Aren't you sure?"

"It was the Second National."

"I might be able to get something there. If he's on record. I'll see what I can do."

"I checked the telephone book," Bevins said. "I imagine we all know Windsor isn't listed. Has anyone access to the listing on private phone numbers?"

"You're assuming Lee Windsor has an address in the city."

"If he's behind this thing he certainly must be in the city."

"Maybe not."

Clete looked at Frank in annoyance. "Hell, man! Why do you take the negative attitude? At least it's an attempt to move in the right direction."

"Do you want a discussion, or don't you?" Frank flared.

Bevins raised his hands. "Gentlemen! Let's take it easy! Our nerves are raw, but let's try to keep things under control."

"I could use another drink," Clete said.

"A good idea. Why don't you ring for the waiter?"

They sat in silence after the signal had been given.

But when the door opened, it wasn't the waiter who appeared. It was Weathers. His face was dark with anger. His doubled fists shook as he came forward and pressed them against the table.

"Include me in, gentlemen," he said. "I want to get that guy."

"Tom "

He turned his narrowed eyes on Bevins.

"I went home after I left here. I found Alice. She's been raped!"

When Weathers left his apartment that night to go to the meeting, he hadn't noticed the dark figure standing in a doorway nearby: Lee Windsor waiting to fit the last piece into his pattern of vengeance.

He waited five minutes, then entered Tom's building, mounted the stairs to his apartment, and rang the bell.

This section of the pattern would be different. There would be nothing here but pure violence, just as Weather's part had been pure violence that night in the woods outside Ludlow.

As he waited, Lee grimly forced himself to recall the incident. They'd all finished with Barbara. She'd had about all she could take. Weathers hadn't participated, up to that point. He'd been involved in the beating administered to the twins, but that was all. Then he'd stood back and participated vicariously.

But the very last minute, when the rest were ready to release Barbara to her brothers, when she'd arisen from the last attacked and reeled drunkenly toward them, he'd sprung forward with a guttural cry Lee would always remember.

"I want my turn!"

And he'd added one more attack to her torture.

And now Lee stood rigid, waiting for the door to open. One part of him dreaded what was to come and he'd needed that memory to strengthen that part; to keep himself from embarking on this last adventure as a divided man.

He rang again. Then footsteps approached on the inside. The door opened.

"I thought you took your key "

Lee pushed the door hard and leaped into action. He saw Alice Weather's eyes widen in fear but that was all there was time for before Lee overwhelmed her.

The eyes continued to bulge out at him over the gagging hand he locked across her mouth.

He was surprised to find a practically naked woman in his arms, but that at least explained the delay. Alice had come out of the shower and dropped a skimpy, knee-length gown over her head to answer the bell she thought her husband had rung.

"Be quiet," Lee warned.

The eyes mirrored fear, but there was also returning courage in them. They seemed to ask how she could do otherwise, when his black-gloved hand was over her mouth.

He forced her back until the lounge touched her, then down upon it.

Aside from a first instinctive effort, she hadn't fought him. What he could see of her expression was now alert, waiting, and not stunned or shocked.

"If you don't fight, you won't be hurt,! ' he said.

She tried to talk under his hand. The words sounded like: "All right. I'm not fighting am I?"

He maneuvered one hand to his pocket and brought out the black cloth gag

"I'm going to put this around your mouth."

She struggled. Her mouth came partially clear of his hand. "That won't be necessary. I'm no fool. If you want to ransack the place, go ahead. I'm not going to get hurt for a few odds and ends."

"I'm not here to rob you."

Her eyes held his. "I'm still not interested in getting hurt."

Uncertain, he allowed her mouth to remain clear. "I have no intention of injuring you unless I have to."

"If I don't resist, why would that be necessary?"

Lee hadn't expected his victim to have such a self-controlled manner about her. He hadn't walked in looking for logic.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because if I yelled I could be dead before help arrived. I'd rather stay alive and pass up the help."

"Undress!" he commanded.

"You idiot! I already am undressed."

Lee had been thrown completely off-balance. He realized he was making a fool of himself. "I came here to rape you," he said, even though he realized the words made him look even more of a fool.

"I'd begun to suspect that," Alice replied. "I must say, you don't look the type, though. You look to me like a man who could get all he wanted without having to take anything by force."

He'd dropped his hands and now sat looking at her. The skimpy gown had been pushed up around her neck. At a loss for words, he drank in her loveliness. Alice Weathers had had a great deal to start with. Shed taken care of herself, and the care and attention showed.

Her figure was perfect. Her skin was flawless. Her legs were long and slim and she made no attempt to pull the gown down and take advantage of even that dubious protection.

Sure of herself now, she said, "How am I? Do you like what you see?"

He regarded her somberly. "You're very beautiful'; Somehow, everything had gone to pieces for Lee. He'd taken all the risks into consideration and had minimized them so far as possible. He'd timed himself and was reconciled to the risks involved.

The only thing he hadn't taken into consideration was the possibility of a completely willing victim.

He did not know what to do.

Alice Weathers shook her head and smiled. "You're the darndest rapist I ever met."

"Are you acquainted with quite a few?" Lee asked acidly.

"I've met all kinds in my time. And I expect to meet more. But I think I'll always remember you."

"Thank you."

He was wondering what to do. This girl had negated his whole project by her blase attitude. How do you rape a girl who doesn't make force necessary?

"If you ask me," she taunted, "I'd say your heart isn't in your work." She sprang quickly to her feet. "Come on into the bedroom."

His mental confusion got tangled with his nerves and muscles and he was slow in reacting. When he finally made his legs work, he rushed into the bedroom after her with a certain alarm. A trick, perhaps.

He almost wished there had been a trick when he saw Alice stretched naked on the bed.

"Does this help?" she asked.

When he hesitated, she extended a hand. "Come here and sit down. Let's talk."

He went silently to the bed and sat looking at her.

She smiled. "You might take off your hat and gloves before we start."

He said nothing.

"This is marvelous," she breathed. "Absolutely marvelous. In all of life I treasure my experiences most. That's about all a person gets out of life-experience." She reached out and took the hand he'd just stripped of its glove. "And if you think you're going to get away before this one is over, you're all wrong."

She let him take his other glove off. Then she took that hand and placed it at her breast. He remained motionless.

Amused now, she glanced at his hand. "You can move your fingers around if you want to. I'm not made of glass. I won't break."

In frustration, he squeezed.

"Ouch! Now take things a little easy, please! I'm not exactly fragile, but remember our agreement. No injury."

Lee refused to react to either her obvious eagerness or her mockery.

"You do know how to proceed, don't you? Your mother did tell you about women?"

He remained silent. This dampened her bantering mood and her regard turned thoughtful. "You're strange. You're real weird, but I don't think you're dangerous. I'm not the least bit afraid you'll go back on your word."

Evidently lulled into a further sense of security by his lack of reaction, she reached out and began unbuttoning his clothing. A langorous look appeared in her eyes and was reflected in the softness of her voice as she said, "Darling, this will be rape under the most ideal circumstances. The victim does all the work."

Desperately, he tried to retrieve the ground he'd lost. He'd come too far to be defeated at this stage.

"Will you tell your husband about this?"

"Are you crazy? Why should I do that?"

"He might be interested."

"You should know my husband. He certainly would."

"I do know him."

Her smile vanished. "You two are acquainted."

"I'm sure he would remember me if you gave him my name." ;

"Wait a minute," she snapped. "This isn't a scheme of his. is it?"

"What do you mean."

"He didn't hire you to . "

"To rape his wife? Hardly." Her mind was racing. "But maybe he's trying to prove something. Maybe he was damn sure I wouldn't have to be raped. Are you two in on this together."

"For what possible reason?"

"Maybe he's trying to frame me. Maybe he's got another dame somewhere around town."

It was Lee's turn to mock. "You two certainly trust each other, don't you? An ideal marriage."

"Never mind that." She was "sitting up, pushing him away. He thought her beauty was enhanced by her indignation. "Tell me what goes here."

"Not what you seem to suspect. But I do want your husband to find out about this."

"Now I know you're crazy."

Another of his victims had said that and he'd reacted violently. But now he felt otherwise. The accusation had no emotional effect on him.

"This is important to me."

She'd changed. Now she was wary. "Why don't you just get the hell out of here."

"Not until I accomplish what I came for."

"All right. Let's accomplish. Then I want you to get out."

"But I don't think that would work. I'm sure you wouldn't tell your husband you'd been molested."

"You're damned right I wouldn't, but I misled you on one little thing. I'm not afraid to scream and take my chances. Help would come pretty quick."

"Then maybe we'd better do something about that."

His indecision was gone. He'd pushed the black gag back into his pocket. It was out before Alice could blink. He forced her down on the bed, held her partially helpless while he swiftly put the gag into place. Then he sat back, holding her wrists while she struggled.

Her eyes blazed. She cursed him in blurred ragings as he held her arms rigid.

"That's better." he said grimly. "Now you're acting more like a raped wife should act."

The cord came out of the pocket as he dodged the blows from her partially freed fists. Then they were speedily bound.

Next, he anchored them to the headboard of the bed and this gave him leeway to step back and consider his next move.

Alice was all fight now. She lashed around, fought like a trapped tigress, and cursed him through the gag. Had there been destructive fire in a glare, he would have been burned beyond recognition.

"Not good enough," he murmured. "Not nearly good enough."

He corrected this by taking a pocket knife out and cutting a strand from the rope. This, he attached to Alice's left ankle.

The ankle secured, he fed the rope under the bed, caught it up on the far side, and reached for her right ankle.

Divining his purpose, she redoubled her resistance, but that did her no good. He seized the ankle, and pulled slowly but firmly against the pressure of the rope on the other ankle.

When he had Alice arranged to his satisfaction, he tied the second knot.

He stood back and surveyed his work. "That will do, I think."

She continued to rage at him.

"Your marital status is in no danger," he said. "Even if your husband had hired me, the result would be in your favor. This proves you definitely do have to be raped, that you don't treat intruders into your bedroom cordially."

He glanced at his watch. "I've played my luck to the limit," he said. "Your husband might have merely gone out for a paper."

But it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere. She stopped swearing at him and appeared to be trying to read his thoughts.

And they would have made interesting reading. He was pondering his operation, trying to convince himself that this was complete. But he could not honestly do this. The operation had been based from the beginning on what he'd seen as stark and real facts.

And one of the facts leered at him as he stood there.

Tom Weathers had raped Barbara.

He advanced toward the bed. Alice's eyes widened as he approached.

There was a strange, incredibly impersonal act that he performed next, certainly to be filed as unique among Alice's experience.

He took her with his face close to hers, their eyes locked in combat, as she did the only thing she could do-lie there and submit.

Even the moment of culminating passion was brief for him, and she appeared to experience nothing at all.

When he was finished, he withdrew to the end of the bed and looked at her and repeated as though by rote:

"I'm sorry I can't help you."

With that, he left Alice to her thoughts and her anger.

He certainly had played his luck to the very end. He missed Tom's return by a scant five minutes.

Weathers entered the apartment and found the living room empty. He called out. In the bedroom, Alice tried to answer but got no response.

Tom scowled at the emptiness and knew what had happened. He'd told her he'd be away for the whole evening and she'd made the most of it. Out at some bar. Or in some guy's apartment. He knew that the only reason he'd never tripped her up was because he hadn't tried. He didn't want to be faced with the truth.

But that had to end. A man couldn't go on forever overlooking his wife's infidelities.

He made a drink and stood by the window looking out. It was beautiful with all its lights, but it could be an awfully lonely place if you were alone in it.

Something had to be done.

He thought it over as he strolled into the bedroom. He stared. His hand opened and the drink fell to the floor.

"My God!"

He stumbled and almost fell down reaching the bed. His hands were clumsy as he clawed at the knots that held Alice's feet and hands.

Then she was in his arms, sobbing hysterically. "Oh, Tom! He was terrible! Terrible! The doorbell rang and I thought it was you coming back for something. So I opened ,it without putting the chain on and "

He held her close. "You're all right, now, baby.

You're all right. I'm here now." A long sob wracked her.

"This man forced his way in. This beast. I was horribly frightened but I tried to reason with him. That did no good. He said he was going to take me."

"Honey, honey quit torturing yourself."

"I tried to talk him out of this. I appealed to his manhood."

"He wouldn't have any manhood, baby."

"I tried to appeal to him, anyhow. I said, suppose someone did this to his daughter or his wife. How would he feel."

"Quiet, honey," Tom murmured. "That's over now. Ease down."

"I couldn't talk to him, so I tried to stall him until help came "

"Why didn't you scream?" I

"I was afraid. Then he he gagged me and I couldn't."

Tom held her close while she wept. His feelings were mixed. There was the rage.

But there was something else. His faith in Alice had been restored. A man had entered their apartment and she'd fought him! Shed tried to keep herself only for her husband. She'd actually risked her life in doing this.

Weathers acknowledged himself as a narrow, jealous husband and resolved he would be one no more. He had a good and faithful wife!

Alice quieted down. She raised her face and smiled at him, and the smile made her look so young and clean and beautiful that his heart suffered a great wrench.

"Baby, are you all right now?"

"I'm I'm better," Alice sniffled.

"I've got to go out again for a little while. It's important. I won't be long."

"That will be all right. I'll lock and bolt and chain the door and not let anyone in the apartment unless it's you."

"When I get back we'll talk this whole thing over."

"I'll be waiting," she said, holding her face up for another kiss.

After Tom left, Alice made herself a drink. She conceded that she was a pretty good actress, but her anger at that raping louse had helped. She'd been able to keep her emotions at the high pitch he'd brought them to and then reverse them for Tom.

All in all, the incident had worked out fortunately. Tom trusted her now. The past was all wiped out. And maybe she'd just settle down and be what he wanted. She'd had plenty of fun. Men were beginning to pall.

But she would never forget lying there, tied up by that weird man. Maybe sometime she'd get him in a similar position.