Men at Work (M+/M+) [conclusion added 9/15/21]
Not exactly as I thought how that chapter would go. I figured something was up and that they may have been caught in the act. But now that leaves us with the fact that the store clerk will be found by the next shift, which I'm sure will be reported to the authorities. And if it comes across the rookies desk, I suspect he'll put it together and realize that Cole wasn't a clerk and he'll know what he looks like. I sense this will spell trouble in the future but for whom 
those last two chapters were amazing! Poor Mike getting dragged along for that caper! I'm glad he (and the clerk) were able to enjoy themselves. Mike is for sure for sure getting in too deep, but I can't wait for all the tie ups he'll get to be a part of!
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george_bound
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 330
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Location: Ontario, Canada
So I've finally caught back up on this story... so much amazingness to recount but here's a summary of the highlights as I read through it:
(1) I've always thought that when holding a cop hostage, his uniform should be taken as two benefits come from it... first, the cop is obviously humiliated by being stripped but also secondly you can utilize the uniform to fool unsuspecting victims, especially if it fits nicely. I'm sure you have Alex's uniform hanging nicely pressed in Cole's closet ready to be used when the time is right
(2) Love the bank heist scene as explanation of why Cole is where he is today as well as the juxtaposition of Cole and the manager's characters and fates as they lie hogtied next to each other. Also really love the set-up of an inside job whereby the one accomplice surrenders to the other and is bound freely as a rouse. For that scene, just for added security when tape is used to bind and/or gag the "poor" victims, a wrap or ten around the eyes always helps to keep them from finding scissors although I fully know you wanted the tension of the near escape, hehe
(3) Love how Mike was dragged into making spur of the moment decision about joining Cole's antics although like many of the others I thought more was going to go down at the 7-Eleven
. I hear some speculation going around about Santucci but I really really want to see him and Alex bound together in some hot perilous/humiliating predicament (and have another of his uniforms forcibly taken from him), quite possibly by Mike as a test of his loyalty to the crew over his bond with his cop friend... heck, throw Jones into the mix for a perilous piggy ménage à trois 
As always [mention]wataru14[/mention], you have such a way with the twists, character development, and of course fun bondage predicaments...keep it coming, please
(1) I've always thought that when holding a cop hostage, his uniform should be taken as two benefits come from it... first, the cop is obviously humiliated by being stripped but also secondly you can utilize the uniform to fool unsuspecting victims, especially if it fits nicely. I'm sure you have Alex's uniform hanging nicely pressed in Cole's closet ready to be used when the time is right
(2) Love the bank heist scene as explanation of why Cole is where he is today as well as the juxtaposition of Cole and the manager's characters and fates as they lie hogtied next to each other. Also really love the set-up of an inside job whereby the one accomplice surrenders to the other and is bound freely as a rouse. For that scene, just for added security when tape is used to bind and/or gag the "poor" victims, a wrap or ten around the eyes always helps to keep them from finding scissors although I fully know you wanted the tension of the near escape, hehe
(3) Love how Mike was dragged into making spur of the moment decision about joining Cole's antics although like many of the others I thought more was going to go down at the 7-Eleven
. I hear some speculation going around about Santucci but I really really want to see him and Alex bound together in some hot perilous/humiliating predicament (and have another of his uniforms forcibly taken from him), quite possibly by Mike as a test of his loyalty to the crew over his bond with his cop friend... heck, throw Jones into the mix for a perilous piggy ménage à trois As always [mention]wataru14[/mention], you have such a way with the twists, character development, and of course fun bondage predicaments...keep it coming, please
Part 12: The Net Closes
The call from the 7-Eleven morning manager came in about an hour before the end of Alejandro’s shift. Santucci had major egg on his face for being wrong about the fake clerk, but Alejandro felt completely vindicated. He knew his instincts were right. “Maybe now you’ll trust my judgement,” he said to Santucci as they barreled there at top speed.
The clerk’s story was pretty much what Alejandro expected to hear. “Two white males... I didn’t see their faces… late 20’s or so... athletic builds... didn’t use names.” The clerk seemed rather vague and forgetful, but he was pretty shaken up from the whole thing. Regular people tend to get tunnel vision and miss details when they’re scared, Santucci told him.
“Can you remember anything else about your attackers?” Alejandro asked Kyle.
“One seemed really nervous,” Kyle said. “Like he didn’t know what was going on or what he was doing. He was the one that taped me up and stayed in here with me.”
“I noticed they went all out in taping you up,” Alejandro said with his usual uncouth manner. “Any idea why?”
“No,” Kyle replied, a little taken aback. “At first he didn’t do very much. Just my hands behind the back of the chair. Then my mouth. I thought he was going to stop there, but he kept going. By the time the other guy came in I couldn’t move a muscle. The guy who did it seemed to kinda… enjoy it. He said that something like this happened to him a week ago and he knew what it felt like.”
That hit Alejandro like a punch to the face. “Mike…” he thought. “By now Santucci must realize it, too.”
“You didn’t try to free yourself when they left?” Santucci asked, now in a noticeably foul mood.
“No,” Kyle said. “They told me not to. They had a gun and… Anyway, it was too tight. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it so I just sat and waited for the opening manager to come in and find me.”
Alejandro was barely paying attention. His mind was focused on Mike. “Innocent victim, my ass. He must have been the inside man at the warehouse and they tied him up as a ruse to cover his involvement,” he thought. Kyle’s statement about what his captor had said cemented it. It was Mike. No doubt in his mind. Alejandro closed his notebook and went over to the pile of duct tape. He did a fingerprint sweep but only one set came up, like he expected. Probably just the manager’s from when he cut it off of Kyle. But the lab would check that out.
Santucci gave Kyle his card and said “We’re going to look into this. If you remember any other details, call us immediately.” Kyle nodded and then went home for the day. As the two officers left the store to get back in their squad car, Alejandro paused, noticing something.
“Weren’t there two cars out here last night?” he asked Santucci.
“Yeah, so?”
“There was only one clerk.”
---
As soon as they got back to the precinct, Alejandro jumped on his computer terminal while Santucci loomed behind. Jones came over to observe, too. Alejandro accessed the squad car’s hood camera from the night before. He fast forwarded to when they pulled up, trying to see if the two parked cars were captured on video. As it turns out, they were. He started to zoom in on them and focused on the second car, the one that was not there when they pulled up this morning. Could he get a shot of the license plate? He went frame by frame of the footage. Shadow. Shadow. Pixelated. Blurry. Bingo! He paused on a clear image of the rear license plate.
“Would you look at that!” Santucci said, patting Alejandro on the shoulder. “Let’s run that through the DMV database.” He hopped on a second terminal and entered the number. Nothing. No record. “Shit!” he said, slapping the desk. “Must be a fake plate.”
“Let me look again.” Alejandro stared intently at the image. “Wait a minute…” The third letter of the plate was “R,” but it looked a little odd. So did the “E” at the end. He told Santucci to run the number again, but change the letters to “P” and “F.” A record appeared.
The vehicle was registered to a Cole Murphy. Age 32. Santicci ran the name through the offender records and a mugshot popped up. It was the fake clerk! With 100% certainty. “Jackpot!” Santucci said as he brought up the offense records. A few misdemeanors, nothing big. But then he saw something that made everything click into place. Murphy had been involved in a bank heist a few years ago. He and the manager were attacked and bound by an extremely large robber, one who cleaned out the safe like he knew what to look for and what not to. Inside info was suspected, but nothing conclusive was ever found. Murphy was questioned, but ruled out as a suspect immediately. Wasn’t one of the warehouse robbers a giant?
“That’s him!” Alejandro cried. “I know it! He was behind that bank heist and the warehouse job, too!”
“That’s definitely our guy,” Santucci said. “What info can we pull up on him? We need to know what we’re up against before we go in.”
Alejandro searched through the public and private records in the police database. “Got a possible address,” he said. “It’s on his driver’s license but it’s a few years old. He might not live there anymore.”
“We’re still going to check it out,” Santucci said. “Does the address come up under anyone else’s name?”
Alejandro searched again. “Yes,” he said. “A Craig Swenson. Big boy. Height and weight are a match for the bruiser that was at the warehouse, too.”
“But there’s still two pieces missing,” Santucci said. “Who the other two guys in the robbery crew are – especially the boss. And how Mike fits into all this.”
“Look, Santucci,” Alejandro said. “I know he’s your friend, but he’s one of them. They use inside info for their hits and he was probably the one who gave it to them. They tied him up as a cover like Murphy did in that bank heist.”
“There has to be another explanation,” Santucci grumbled. “Maybe they’re setting him up to take the fall for them?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so,” Alejandro said. “You know he was the second guy in the 7-Eleven. From what the clerk said it just has to be him. If he was an innocent victim, why is he still hanging out with Murphy now?”
Santucci just looked at the floor and said “Fuck.”
“Maybe he’s not in too deep,” Alejandro said, trying to be reassuring. “We can still save him if we get to him in time. Convince him to testify against the others. Say he was at the 7-Eleven under duress. It could work. He might do a few months, but he won’t get the major time the others will. He’s not too far gone. We can pull him back.”
“That’s all I need to hear,” Santucci said, brightening. “Gear up. We’re going in.” Alejandro grabbed two sets of SWAT gear and gave one to Santucci. They hurried out of the precinct to their squad car and headed off.
---
I laid back in Cole’s bed smoking a cigarette and trying to process what had happened last night. After we got the tacos (which were just as good as he said they would be) Cole suggested we go back to his apartment to chill. Craig was doing some recon with the boss and would be out for the night. I said OK and we headed over. It actually wasn’t too far from my place. “So who IS your boss?” I had asked Cole as we drove. “He’s the only one of your crew I haven’t seen unmasked.”
“The boss doesn’t want you to know who he is until you’re fully one of us,” Cole said. “If you really want to know, all you have to do is say ‘I’m in.’ Betcha not knowing is just eating you up inside, huh?”
“I can live with it,” I chuckled and let it drop. Back at Cole’s place we polished off a bottle of Jack. He popped in a bootleg DVD of Brute Squad Pictures’ rare first film. Of course it was a crime drama. Man, he never let up! Good flick, though. When the movie was over Cole looked at me and the next thing I knew he was unbuttoning my shirt and hungrily rubbing my chest. In a half-drunk haze, I pulled him in and planted a heavy kiss on his stubbled face. Like I said before, I had never really considered being with a guy, but there was something special about Cole. Something I really connected with. Did I really want this? It was clear he had for quite some time. …Yes, I did.
I pulled Cole’s shirt up over his head and tossed it aside. He was still wearing his mask dangling around his neck, which made me chuckle. He reached his hand into my jeans and started groping, which felt AMAZING! After we made out and fiddled around a bit, I stopped and said, “Hey, can I ask you a favor? Can you… tie me up?”
“I knew you liked it!” Cole said with an adorable giant grin. “Wasn’t going to bring that up this early, but abso-fucking-lutely!” he said. “As long as you do me next time. You got skills for an amateur.”
I laughed as Cole led me to his room by the hand and shoved me down onto the bed flat on my back. Within minutes, my remaining clothes were ripped from my body and my hands and feet were tied spreadeagle to the for corners of the bed with silky rope. Not the rough clothesline he had tied me with last time. Firm, but oddly comfortable. I started to swell as soon as the first loop tightened around my wrist and cinched. “Easy, tiger,” Cole said, taking the bandana off his neck and tying it over my eyes. “Plenty of time for that.”
No woman I had ever been with compared to what came next. Cole was working out a week and a half of building tension and was eager to impress me. And man, did he ever! He rode me like a cowboy, bucking and gyrating, and alternating between teasing my nipples and kissing me like no one ever had before. I writhed in my bonds, every sensation amplified by the feeling of utter helplessness. We both shot together and Cole didn’t bother untying me while he cleaned me up. He crawled into bed and snuggled up next to me as we both fell asleep, the arm across my chest.
That was a few hours ago. When we both woke up, he left me tied while he went to shower, but eventually let me loose while he made some phone calls. I just laid there, smoking and basking in the joy of what happened. If we were going to pursue this, could I remain on the outside? If we became a couple, a REAL couple, I could be considered an accomplice in anything they did. Hey! Was he trying to seduce me to draw me in closer? Everything seemed genuine, but there was so much cloak & dagger going on I wasn’t sure what was real anymore.
But my thoughts were cut short as a BOOM came from the front door.
“Police!” Santucci bellowed, pounding. “Open the door or we’re kicking it in!”
“Fuck!” Cole said, racing into the room. “They found me.”
“What are we gonna do?” I said, jumping out of bed in a dead panic.
“They don’t know you’re here,” Cole whispered. “Quick! Zip out the fire escape and go to the roof and wait. I’m going to have to let them take me. Don’t worry! I’ll be OK. When they’re gone, call Craig and tell him what happened. The boss will…”
There was another insistent pounding on the door.
“There’s no time,” Cole said, sensing me about to protest. “I won’t let them get you!” He pulled me in and gave me a quick kiss, then shoved me away. “Run!” I grabbed my clothes from the floor and climbed naked out the window. He slammed it behind me. I didn’t want to leave him, but he wouldn’t hear any arguments. I watched him turn and head towards the front door. My heart beating a million miles an hour, I scurried to the roof and hurriedly dressed, ducking behind an AC unit and holding my breath.
---
“I’m coming out!” Cole said as he approached the door. As soon as he opened it, Santucci was on him. The officer slammed him to the ground face-first and sat on the small of his back as Alejandro came in behind.
“I’ll handle this one,” Santucci said. “You find the giant.”
“He isn’t here,” Cole said, squirming under Santucci’s crushing weight. He wriggled as the officer wrenched his arms behind him and started to roughly apply the handcuffs.
“Check anyway!” Santucci bellowed, and Alejandro started sweeping the rooms. Cole winced with each ratcheting clink of the cuffs. Santucci used his key to double-lock them. And that was it. Cole was caught.
“Clear!” Alejandro called out.
Santucci grabbed Cole by the hair and pulled his head back, causing his body to stretch uncomfortably under the officer’s bulk. “You’re going down, fucker,” Santucci said. “Where’s Mike and what have you gotten him into?”
“Who’s Mike?” Cole said, twisting in his handcuffs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“So that’s how you’re gonna play it?” Santucci said. “Fair enough. You’ll have plenty of time to think about it when you’re doing hard time in supermax. But know this. If Mike gets hurt on any way I will personally see to it that you suffer for it.”
From my vantage point on the roof I saw Santucci leading Cole, shirtless and barefoot like some redneck perp from COPS, out the front door of the building. His hands were cruelly cuffed behind his back and his head was down in shame. I was filled with equal parts longing and rage as I watched him give one last look in my direction before they roughly stuffed him in the back of the car. Alejandro looked up at the roof, following Cole’s gaze, but I ducked behind the AC unit before he saw me.
As they drove away, I took out my phone and dialed. I had to find a way to save Cole. But if I did, that would mean crossing Santucci. Could I really do that? The 7-Eleven was one thing. I didn’t know what was happening and had no choice. But this time I was being an active participant. If I was going to get out of this unscathed I had to play my cards exactly right.
“Craig!” I said when the phone picked up. “It’s Mike. I got some real bad news!”
Coming Soon: Part 13 – Felling the Giant
The call from the 7-Eleven morning manager came in about an hour before the end of Alejandro’s shift. Santucci had major egg on his face for being wrong about the fake clerk, but Alejandro felt completely vindicated. He knew his instincts were right. “Maybe now you’ll trust my judgement,” he said to Santucci as they barreled there at top speed.
The clerk’s story was pretty much what Alejandro expected to hear. “Two white males... I didn’t see their faces… late 20’s or so... athletic builds... didn’t use names.” The clerk seemed rather vague and forgetful, but he was pretty shaken up from the whole thing. Regular people tend to get tunnel vision and miss details when they’re scared, Santucci told him.
“Can you remember anything else about your attackers?” Alejandro asked Kyle.
“One seemed really nervous,” Kyle said. “Like he didn’t know what was going on or what he was doing. He was the one that taped me up and stayed in here with me.”
“I noticed they went all out in taping you up,” Alejandro said with his usual uncouth manner. “Any idea why?”
“No,” Kyle replied, a little taken aback. “At first he didn’t do very much. Just my hands behind the back of the chair. Then my mouth. I thought he was going to stop there, but he kept going. By the time the other guy came in I couldn’t move a muscle. The guy who did it seemed to kinda… enjoy it. He said that something like this happened to him a week ago and he knew what it felt like.”
That hit Alejandro like a punch to the face. “Mike…” he thought. “By now Santucci must realize it, too.”
“You didn’t try to free yourself when they left?” Santucci asked, now in a noticeably foul mood.
“No,” Kyle said. “They told me not to. They had a gun and… Anyway, it was too tight. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it so I just sat and waited for the opening manager to come in and find me.”
Alejandro was barely paying attention. His mind was focused on Mike. “Innocent victim, my ass. He must have been the inside man at the warehouse and they tied him up as a ruse to cover his involvement,” he thought. Kyle’s statement about what his captor had said cemented it. It was Mike. No doubt in his mind. Alejandro closed his notebook and went over to the pile of duct tape. He did a fingerprint sweep but only one set came up, like he expected. Probably just the manager’s from when he cut it off of Kyle. But the lab would check that out.
Santucci gave Kyle his card and said “We’re going to look into this. If you remember any other details, call us immediately.” Kyle nodded and then went home for the day. As the two officers left the store to get back in their squad car, Alejandro paused, noticing something.
“Weren’t there two cars out here last night?” he asked Santucci.
“Yeah, so?”
“There was only one clerk.”
---
As soon as they got back to the precinct, Alejandro jumped on his computer terminal while Santucci loomed behind. Jones came over to observe, too. Alejandro accessed the squad car’s hood camera from the night before. He fast forwarded to when they pulled up, trying to see if the two parked cars were captured on video. As it turns out, they were. He started to zoom in on them and focused on the second car, the one that was not there when they pulled up this morning. Could he get a shot of the license plate? He went frame by frame of the footage. Shadow. Shadow. Pixelated. Blurry. Bingo! He paused on a clear image of the rear license plate.
“Would you look at that!” Santucci said, patting Alejandro on the shoulder. “Let’s run that through the DMV database.” He hopped on a second terminal and entered the number. Nothing. No record. “Shit!” he said, slapping the desk. “Must be a fake plate.”
“Let me look again.” Alejandro stared intently at the image. “Wait a minute…” The third letter of the plate was “R,” but it looked a little odd. So did the “E” at the end. He told Santucci to run the number again, but change the letters to “P” and “F.” A record appeared.
The vehicle was registered to a Cole Murphy. Age 32. Santicci ran the name through the offender records and a mugshot popped up. It was the fake clerk! With 100% certainty. “Jackpot!” Santucci said as he brought up the offense records. A few misdemeanors, nothing big. But then he saw something that made everything click into place. Murphy had been involved in a bank heist a few years ago. He and the manager were attacked and bound by an extremely large robber, one who cleaned out the safe like he knew what to look for and what not to. Inside info was suspected, but nothing conclusive was ever found. Murphy was questioned, but ruled out as a suspect immediately. Wasn’t one of the warehouse robbers a giant?
“That’s him!” Alejandro cried. “I know it! He was behind that bank heist and the warehouse job, too!”
“That’s definitely our guy,” Santucci said. “What info can we pull up on him? We need to know what we’re up against before we go in.”
Alejandro searched through the public and private records in the police database. “Got a possible address,” he said. “It’s on his driver’s license but it’s a few years old. He might not live there anymore.”
“We’re still going to check it out,” Santucci said. “Does the address come up under anyone else’s name?”
Alejandro searched again. “Yes,” he said. “A Craig Swenson. Big boy. Height and weight are a match for the bruiser that was at the warehouse, too.”
“But there’s still two pieces missing,” Santucci said. “Who the other two guys in the robbery crew are – especially the boss. And how Mike fits into all this.”
“Look, Santucci,” Alejandro said. “I know he’s your friend, but he’s one of them. They use inside info for their hits and he was probably the one who gave it to them. They tied him up as a cover like Murphy did in that bank heist.”
“There has to be another explanation,” Santucci grumbled. “Maybe they’re setting him up to take the fall for them?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so,” Alejandro said. “You know he was the second guy in the 7-Eleven. From what the clerk said it just has to be him. If he was an innocent victim, why is he still hanging out with Murphy now?”
Santucci just looked at the floor and said “Fuck.”
“Maybe he’s not in too deep,” Alejandro said, trying to be reassuring. “We can still save him if we get to him in time. Convince him to testify against the others. Say he was at the 7-Eleven under duress. It could work. He might do a few months, but he won’t get the major time the others will. He’s not too far gone. We can pull him back.”
“That’s all I need to hear,” Santucci said, brightening. “Gear up. We’re going in.” Alejandro grabbed two sets of SWAT gear and gave one to Santucci. They hurried out of the precinct to their squad car and headed off.
---
I laid back in Cole’s bed smoking a cigarette and trying to process what had happened last night. After we got the tacos (which were just as good as he said they would be) Cole suggested we go back to his apartment to chill. Craig was doing some recon with the boss and would be out for the night. I said OK and we headed over. It actually wasn’t too far from my place. “So who IS your boss?” I had asked Cole as we drove. “He’s the only one of your crew I haven’t seen unmasked.”
“The boss doesn’t want you to know who he is until you’re fully one of us,” Cole said. “If you really want to know, all you have to do is say ‘I’m in.’ Betcha not knowing is just eating you up inside, huh?”
“I can live with it,” I chuckled and let it drop. Back at Cole’s place we polished off a bottle of Jack. He popped in a bootleg DVD of Brute Squad Pictures’ rare first film. Of course it was a crime drama. Man, he never let up! Good flick, though. When the movie was over Cole looked at me and the next thing I knew he was unbuttoning my shirt and hungrily rubbing my chest. In a half-drunk haze, I pulled him in and planted a heavy kiss on his stubbled face. Like I said before, I had never really considered being with a guy, but there was something special about Cole. Something I really connected with. Did I really want this? It was clear he had for quite some time. …Yes, I did.
I pulled Cole’s shirt up over his head and tossed it aside. He was still wearing his mask dangling around his neck, which made me chuckle. He reached his hand into my jeans and started groping, which felt AMAZING! After we made out and fiddled around a bit, I stopped and said, “Hey, can I ask you a favor? Can you… tie me up?”
“I knew you liked it!” Cole said with an adorable giant grin. “Wasn’t going to bring that up this early, but abso-fucking-lutely!” he said. “As long as you do me next time. You got skills for an amateur.”
I laughed as Cole led me to his room by the hand and shoved me down onto the bed flat on my back. Within minutes, my remaining clothes were ripped from my body and my hands and feet were tied spreadeagle to the for corners of the bed with silky rope. Not the rough clothesline he had tied me with last time. Firm, but oddly comfortable. I started to swell as soon as the first loop tightened around my wrist and cinched. “Easy, tiger,” Cole said, taking the bandana off his neck and tying it over my eyes. “Plenty of time for that.”
No woman I had ever been with compared to what came next. Cole was working out a week and a half of building tension and was eager to impress me. And man, did he ever! He rode me like a cowboy, bucking and gyrating, and alternating between teasing my nipples and kissing me like no one ever had before. I writhed in my bonds, every sensation amplified by the feeling of utter helplessness. We both shot together and Cole didn’t bother untying me while he cleaned me up. He crawled into bed and snuggled up next to me as we both fell asleep, the arm across my chest.
That was a few hours ago. When we both woke up, he left me tied while he went to shower, but eventually let me loose while he made some phone calls. I just laid there, smoking and basking in the joy of what happened. If we were going to pursue this, could I remain on the outside? If we became a couple, a REAL couple, I could be considered an accomplice in anything they did. Hey! Was he trying to seduce me to draw me in closer? Everything seemed genuine, but there was so much cloak & dagger going on I wasn’t sure what was real anymore.
But my thoughts were cut short as a BOOM came from the front door.
“Police!” Santucci bellowed, pounding. “Open the door or we’re kicking it in!”
“Fuck!” Cole said, racing into the room. “They found me.”
“What are we gonna do?” I said, jumping out of bed in a dead panic.
“They don’t know you’re here,” Cole whispered. “Quick! Zip out the fire escape and go to the roof and wait. I’m going to have to let them take me. Don’t worry! I’ll be OK. When they’re gone, call Craig and tell him what happened. The boss will…”
There was another insistent pounding on the door.
“There’s no time,” Cole said, sensing me about to protest. “I won’t let them get you!” He pulled me in and gave me a quick kiss, then shoved me away. “Run!” I grabbed my clothes from the floor and climbed naked out the window. He slammed it behind me. I didn’t want to leave him, but he wouldn’t hear any arguments. I watched him turn and head towards the front door. My heart beating a million miles an hour, I scurried to the roof and hurriedly dressed, ducking behind an AC unit and holding my breath.
---
“I’m coming out!” Cole said as he approached the door. As soon as he opened it, Santucci was on him. The officer slammed him to the ground face-first and sat on the small of his back as Alejandro came in behind.
“I’ll handle this one,” Santucci said. “You find the giant.”
“He isn’t here,” Cole said, squirming under Santucci’s crushing weight. He wriggled as the officer wrenched his arms behind him and started to roughly apply the handcuffs.
“Check anyway!” Santucci bellowed, and Alejandro started sweeping the rooms. Cole winced with each ratcheting clink of the cuffs. Santucci used his key to double-lock them. And that was it. Cole was caught.
“Clear!” Alejandro called out.
Santucci grabbed Cole by the hair and pulled his head back, causing his body to stretch uncomfortably under the officer’s bulk. “You’re going down, fucker,” Santucci said. “Where’s Mike and what have you gotten him into?”
“Who’s Mike?” Cole said, twisting in his handcuffs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“So that’s how you’re gonna play it?” Santucci said. “Fair enough. You’ll have plenty of time to think about it when you’re doing hard time in supermax. But know this. If Mike gets hurt on any way I will personally see to it that you suffer for it.”
From my vantage point on the roof I saw Santucci leading Cole, shirtless and barefoot like some redneck perp from COPS, out the front door of the building. His hands were cruelly cuffed behind his back and his head was down in shame. I was filled with equal parts longing and rage as I watched him give one last look in my direction before they roughly stuffed him in the back of the car. Alejandro looked up at the roof, following Cole’s gaze, but I ducked behind the AC unit before he saw me.
As they drove away, I took out my phone and dialed. I had to find a way to save Cole. But if I did, that would mean crossing Santucci. Could I really do that? The 7-Eleven was one thing. I didn’t know what was happening and had no choice. But this time I was being an active participant. If I was going to get out of this unscathed I had to play my cards exactly right.
“Craig!” I said when the phone picked up. “It’s Mike. I got some real bad news!”
Coming Soon: Part 13 – Felling the Giant
I'm so conflicted because I'm rooting for like 3 different things and I want all the characters to succeed! I want Cole and Mike to be happy and kinky together, especially after that spreadeagle experience! I really want Cole to be sincere about his feelings for Mike, and not be stringing him along or trying to set him up. I want Mike and Santucci to come out of this still friends. I want Alejandro to get a win that he's earned.
More than all of that though, I want more of your fantastic descriptions of bondage, and all these characters to spend more time restrained! Excellent work!
More than all of that though, I want more of your fantastic descriptions of bondage, and all these characters to spend more time restrained! Excellent work!
Well, everybody can't win in the end... or can they? Time will tell.
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KidnappedCowboy
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 971
- Joined: 5 years ago
- Location: USA
- Contact:
[mention]gag1195[/mention], I'm with you, but...
I hope Alejandro gets hoisted on his own petard!!
I hope Alejandro gets hoisted on his own petard!!
Precisely! Let's all hope the Boss knows just how to make all these problems go awayKidnappedCowboy wrote: ↑2 years ago [mention]gag1195[/mention], I'm with you, but...
I hope Alejandro gets hoisted on his own petard!!
Hence why I'm conflicted! lolVolobond wrote: ↑2 years agoPrecisely! Let's all hope the Boss knows just how to make all these problems go awayKidnappedCowboy wrote: ↑2 years ago @gag1195, I'm with you, but...
I hope Alejandro gets hoisted on his own petard!!
I had forgotten about the Boss in my musings however... he could definitely wrap up some of those pesky problems, couldn't he...
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george_bound
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 330
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Location: Ontario, Canada
I wholeheartedly agree with everything our mate said here... plus you had me at "Alejandro grabbed two sets of SWAT gear..."gag1195 wrote: ↑2 years ago I'm so conflicted because I'm rooting for like 3 different things and I want all the characters to succeed! I want Cole and Mike to be happy and kinky together, especially after that spreadeagle experience! I really want Cole to be sincere about his feelings for Mike, and not be stringing him along or trying to set him up. I want Mike and Santucci to come out of this still friends. I want Alejandro to get a win that he's earned.
More than all of that though, I want more of your fantastic descriptions of bondage, and all these characters to spend more time restrained! Excellent work!
Part 13: Felling the Giant
Craig sat in his car, looking down at the jewelry store from the hill nearby. It was one of those big showroom deals. Lots of high-quality merchandise. It was too soon to do another hit, but the boss always wanted to keep tabs on possible future opportunities. The boss was acquainted with one of the managers, who had a fondness for high-stakes gambling in backroom poker games. It would be an easy thing for him to get the sap to run up his debts so high that he would have no choice but to help them rob the place. That’s how things usually went. Secure inside help that had too much to lose to rat on you when the deed was done. Give them a full cut and they'd have no desire to do so, anyway. Other than Jimmy, it had worked perfectly.
The boss had Craig drop him off at home hours ago, so the big man was alone. His job just was to watch. Learn the patterns of the night employees. See how the security guards and maintenance staff moved and how many there were. This place would be a lot riskier than their other hits, Craig knew. But the reward would set them up for a long time. It was on a recon job like this that Cole had first spotted Mike.
Craig remembered Cole’s look when he first saw Mike through his binoculars. He and Jimmy had stepped out into the parking lot of the warehouse for a smoke break and were horsing around. Tossing a beat-up football back and forth. “That must be the coworker,” Cole said. “What’s his name again?”
“Mike,” Craig said, fumbling for the notes that Jimmy had given them. “Mike Lucchesi. No connection. Former wrestler in high school. From back east. Moved out here a few years ago chasing some tail that didn’t last. Been on the job four and a half years. Not a slacker but no loyalty to the company to speak of.”
“And he’ll be the one working when we hit?” Cole said.
“Yup,” Craig replied. “Jimmy will skip out early and then suit up and double back to meet us. From what he said Mike’s fairly strong, so we’ll have to be cautious taking him down. But once we have him, nothing about him says he’ll try to be a hero.” Cole didn’t respond. “You hear what I said?”
“I heard you,” Cole said, putting down the binoculars. “I was just thinking about how good he’ll look once I get my ropes on him.” Craig just chuckled and rolled his eyes. Cole always enjoyed the binding hostages part of the job, so that was generally left to him. He was by far the best at it. He seemed to get off on doing it, too. He often made raunchy comments about the guys they tied, and had amassed quite a collection of souvenir photos, but there was something about the way Cole talked about this one that seemed different. Craig thought nothing of it at the time, but now he realized how early Cole had fallen for Mike.
He was not fully on board with the idea of recruiting him, though. He usually deferred to Cole and boss’ judgment on these things, but the fact that Mike was friends with Santucci didn’t sit well with him. He had no idea how close they were, but he was worried that when the chips were down, Mike would make a decision that would land all of them behind bars. He had made his feelings known to the others, of course, but after speaking his mind he let the matter drop. He liked Mike as a person, but wasn’t sure where his ultimate loyalties lied. However, it seems like the decision was already made and he would just have to accept whatever happened.
Suddenly his phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” Craig chuckled and answered the phone.
“Craig! It’s Mike. I got some real bad news!”
“What happened?”
“Santucci and the rookie got Cole! They busted right in to the apartment!”
“What?” Craig asked. “You were there? How did you get away?”
“Cole told me to run and took the fall to stall them,” Mike said. “I tried to stop him but he shoved me out the window and… anyway, they have him!”
Craig balled his fists. That sounded just like something Cole would do. But his doubts about Mike were creeping up. He wasn’t completely sure that this wasn’t some kind of ruse, set up by the cops, to get him, too.
“Stay hidden and wait for my call,” Craig said. “The boss and I will handle this.”
“But if Cole is in trouble I want to help!”
“But nothing!” Craig said. “You’re out of your league here. If we need you, we’ll call. If you don’t hear from someone in six hours, you might want to skip town. Until then, lay low and let us deal with it.” Craig angrily hung up the phone. Cole was a surrogate brother to him and no force on earth could stop him now. He quickly dialed the boss.
“It’s me. So you know what happened, right? What are we gonna do?” Craig listened carefully as the boss relayed his plan.
---
Cole was shoved through the intake doors and whisked right into processing. Santucci wanted to get him into a cell and safely stowed before any more moves were made. Had to take a key player off the board and safely stowed away. In a whirlwind of activity, Cole was stripped, searched, photographed, fingerprinted, and issued orange scrubs. Afterwards, he was fitted with a waist chain that was connected to a pair of cuffs around his ankles. They were cinched tightly over his jail-issue knit socks and orange plastic slides. Cole’s hands were cuffed in front of him and secured to the waist chain, leaving him unable to move them more than an inch or two in any direction. Hobbling as much as the leg restraints would allow, he was marched by a triumphant Alejandro into the holding area and tossed into a cramped and dingy cell.
“We’ll let you stew in there for a while,” Alejandro said. “Once we get the rest of your crew we’ll have you all shipped out to a state facility awaiting trial. And we’ll make sure you’re separated. Sent to different prisons after the verdict. By the time any of you see each other again you’ll be on Social Security!”
All the time up to now, Cole had seemed nonplussed. But the part about being separated struck a nerve. Jail he could deal with. He had been ready for this ever since he got started. But the idea of being separated from Craig hit him hard. But even more, he wasn’t ready to lose Mike so soon after “getting” him. Alejandro picked up on that right away.
“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” he said. “Just tell me who your boss is and I’ll get you a reduced sentence. Maybe even get you and Mike put in the same facility. Depending on how well you cooperate, you can be out in five. It’s the best deal you’re going to get.”
“Other than the 7-Eleven you got nothing,” Cole said defiantly. “And that will get me, what? Two to three? That’s nothing. But I wouldn’t tell you shit even if I DID know what you were talking about.”
“Have it your way,” Alejandro said and walked away, dragging his nightstick across the bars as he went, making an ominous echoing sound.
---
Craig crouched down in the bathroom of Alejandro’s apartment. He had been there for a few hours, ever since the boss gave him the address. There was no way to get into the precinct and bust Cole out, so the plan was to do a hostage exchange. Craig would capture Alejandro when he came home from work and they would trade him for Cole. Craig had serious doubts, but the boss had never steered them wrong before. So he waited. It wasn’t easy for a man of his size to get into the place unnoticed, but he did it.
He went over his gear, sticking out of the varied pockets in his black combat pants, for the hundredth time. Several pairs of high-tensile strength cable ties. He needed to get the rookie cop bound and secured quickly. No time for rope and trying to grab Alejandro's cuffs would be too risky. Several bandanas, already folded and prepared, for a quick gag and blindfold. Unloaded gun. Lastly, at his feet was a giant-size military-grade duffel bag with a padlock on the zipper. Once he had Alejandro secured, he needed some way to disguise his catch while transporting him to the waiting getaway car. The rookie would fit nicely in the bag and no one would be the wiser. He would not be thrashing around inside to draw attention if the chloroform did its work. All set.
Craig had taken some time to listen to the police band radio in Alejandro’s bedroom when he first arrived. An APB had been put out for both him and Mike. But he expected that. Cole would never have named names, but if the cops had found him, then they had to have info on the rest of them, too. No word on the boss, though, so at least they hadn’t figured out who he was yet. He just hoped Mike was somewhere safe. Partly out of affection for the guy, but partly because he knew Mike was the weak link in the chain. He wasn't fully invested in them yet and if the cops could get to anyone and turn them, it was him.
So he waited. And waited. After hours of nothing, Craig’s senses perked up as he finally heard the front doorknob turn. He switched into action mode. Without a sound he crept into strike position behind the corner leading into the entrance hall. All the lights in the apartment were off. The darkness would disorient Alejandro, making it easier to take him down before his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. In the darkness he saw a lone figure enter the apartment. When he turned to close the door behind him, that’s when Craig struck.
He lept from the shadows like a panther and wrapped his arms around the much smaller man from behind, lifting him up off the floor and clamping a chloroform-soaked rag over his face. His victim flailed and grunted, kicking out with his legs and clawing at Craig's arms, but he couldn’t escape Craig’s powerful grip. Craig pulled him down the hall, away from the door, so his victim couldn't kick it and possibly alert a neighbor. The chloroform quickly did its work and the frenzied struggling became weaker and weaker, until Craig felt his catch go limp in his arms. The giant Carefully placed him face-first on the hallway floor and grabbed the pair of industrial-strength zipties from his back pocket. Wasting no time, he locked the unconscious man’s wrists tightly behind him. Extra tight. Mike had told Cole that Santucci had been giving the rookie escape lessons. If that was true, he needed to make double sure he didn't get loose. “This is for Cole, motherfucker,” he taunted. Then he reached down and similarly zip-tied his captive’s work-booted ankles.
Wait? Work boots? Since when do cops wear work boots on duty? Craig switched on the light and was shocked to see an unconscious Mike lying bound on the floor in front of him. As soon as the light switched on, the door flew open and Santucci and Jones stormed in, weapons aimed right at him. Craig didn’t have time to react. They had him dead to rights. He lowered his head and raised his hands as Santucci and Jones barreled into him in a coordinated strike. They smashed him face-first against the wall. Craig knew better than to resist.
Jones held Craig against the wall while Santucci checked on Mike. “He's OK. Tag ‘em and bag ‘em,” Santucci said. He grabbed his radio and signaled HQ. “Suspects two and three in custody. Rounding them up and heading home.”
Jones pressed Craig against the wall with the full force of his weight. He yanked the giant’s massive arms down and placed them over the small of his back before clacking the bracelets of the specially reinforced cuffs closed around Craig’s wrists. Normally, a man of his size would require two pairs chained together, but Jones was not being so nice. Craig’s arms felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Jones searched through Craig's pockets and found the rest of his kidnaping gear. Including the bottle of chloroform. Craig remained silent and stoic as Jones produced a pair of steel leg shackles and kicked his feet together. He placed a cuff around each ankle and double-locked them closed. There was barely two feet of chain between them. Craig wouldn’t be able to do more than barely shuffle along at a snail's pace.
When Craig was fully secured and rights were read, Santucci lifted Mike into a fireman’s carry and walked off into the hall without saying another word. Burning with resentment over his friend’s betrayal, he walked at a rapid pace. One Jones and Craig could not match as they trudged behind. When Santucci was a safe distance away, Craig whispered to Jones, “What the fuck is this? This wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Plan had to be changed,” Jones said quietly. “Mike tried to stay hidden, but he was spotted and a car was sent for him. He was going to get popped regardless, so I texted him and told him to come here to meet you.”
“But why?” Craig asked. “Now they’ve got us all!”
“Have I ever steered you wrong before?” Jones said. “There’s going to be a little jailbreak tonight and three fugitives are going to escape.”
Craig mulled over the idea. He didn't like it, but it was the only option. Especially now that they were all caught and cuffed. “It could work,” he said. “But how?”
“When we get you processed, you’re all going to be kept chained in your cells,” Jones said. “But I’ll make sure yours are loose. Cole’s already done up and Mike can’t be expected to handle this. It’s all on you.” Craig nodded. “Then when I come in to deliver your meal, wham! You grab my gun and take me hostage. Then you use my keys to get yourself and the others out.”
“And then what?” Craig asked. “Leave you cuffed up in the cell as we go?”
“That’s the best way,” Jones said. “But after that, you're on your own. This is where our partnership ends, I’m afraid. It's been a blast, but I can’t go on the lam with you. There’s too much heat now. I’m out. Cole will take over as boss and then happy trails to you all.”
“Did you have to make the cuffs so tight?” Craig grunted. “You know I’m not flexible.”
“A dude your size has to be done up extra careful,” Jones said. “If I skimped on the restraints now, Santucci would know something was up. And if you’re going to blame someone, blame Cole. His little recruitment stunt brought the whole thing crashing down on us.”
Craig didn’t reply to that. The boss was right, but nothing could be done about it now.
“But I guess some good did come out of it,” Jones said. “The rookie was getting too close. He’d have sniffed me out soon enough. I was setting up for him to have a work-related accident of the permanent nature. Probably Santucci, too. They talk quite a lot. This little chain of events saved both their lives.”
Craig was aghast. Never in their whole career had the thought of killing or injuring anyone ever crossed their minds. The fact that the boss was speaking about it so casually now sent chills up his spine. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this whole deal. He said nothing else, just looked down as Jones turned away.
“Move it, perp,” Jones said, shoving Craig along to catch up to Santucci.
Coming Soon: Part 14 – Prison Blues
Craig sat in his car, looking down at the jewelry store from the hill nearby. It was one of those big showroom deals. Lots of high-quality merchandise. It was too soon to do another hit, but the boss always wanted to keep tabs on possible future opportunities. The boss was acquainted with one of the managers, who had a fondness for high-stakes gambling in backroom poker games. It would be an easy thing for him to get the sap to run up his debts so high that he would have no choice but to help them rob the place. That’s how things usually went. Secure inside help that had too much to lose to rat on you when the deed was done. Give them a full cut and they'd have no desire to do so, anyway. Other than Jimmy, it had worked perfectly.
The boss had Craig drop him off at home hours ago, so the big man was alone. His job just was to watch. Learn the patterns of the night employees. See how the security guards and maintenance staff moved and how many there were. This place would be a lot riskier than their other hits, Craig knew. But the reward would set them up for a long time. It was on a recon job like this that Cole had first spotted Mike.
Craig remembered Cole’s look when he first saw Mike through his binoculars. He and Jimmy had stepped out into the parking lot of the warehouse for a smoke break and were horsing around. Tossing a beat-up football back and forth. “That must be the coworker,” Cole said. “What’s his name again?”
“Mike,” Craig said, fumbling for the notes that Jimmy had given them. “Mike Lucchesi. No connection. Former wrestler in high school. From back east. Moved out here a few years ago chasing some tail that didn’t last. Been on the job four and a half years. Not a slacker but no loyalty to the company to speak of.”
“And he’ll be the one working when we hit?” Cole said.
“Yup,” Craig replied. “Jimmy will skip out early and then suit up and double back to meet us. From what he said Mike’s fairly strong, so we’ll have to be cautious taking him down. But once we have him, nothing about him says he’ll try to be a hero.” Cole didn’t respond. “You hear what I said?”
“I heard you,” Cole said, putting down the binoculars. “I was just thinking about how good he’ll look once I get my ropes on him.” Craig just chuckled and rolled his eyes. Cole always enjoyed the binding hostages part of the job, so that was generally left to him. He was by far the best at it. He seemed to get off on doing it, too. He often made raunchy comments about the guys they tied, and had amassed quite a collection of souvenir photos, but there was something about the way Cole talked about this one that seemed different. Craig thought nothing of it at the time, but now he realized how early Cole had fallen for Mike.
He was not fully on board with the idea of recruiting him, though. He usually deferred to Cole and boss’ judgment on these things, but the fact that Mike was friends with Santucci didn’t sit well with him. He had no idea how close they were, but he was worried that when the chips were down, Mike would make a decision that would land all of them behind bars. He had made his feelings known to the others, of course, but after speaking his mind he let the matter drop. He liked Mike as a person, but wasn’t sure where his ultimate loyalties lied. However, it seems like the decision was already made and he would just have to accept whatever happened.
Suddenly his phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” Craig chuckled and answered the phone.
“Craig! It’s Mike. I got some real bad news!”
“What happened?”
“Santucci and the rookie got Cole! They busted right in to the apartment!”
“What?” Craig asked. “You were there? How did you get away?”
“Cole told me to run and took the fall to stall them,” Mike said. “I tried to stop him but he shoved me out the window and… anyway, they have him!”
Craig balled his fists. That sounded just like something Cole would do. But his doubts about Mike were creeping up. He wasn’t completely sure that this wasn’t some kind of ruse, set up by the cops, to get him, too.
“Stay hidden and wait for my call,” Craig said. “The boss and I will handle this.”
“But if Cole is in trouble I want to help!”
“But nothing!” Craig said. “You’re out of your league here. If we need you, we’ll call. If you don’t hear from someone in six hours, you might want to skip town. Until then, lay low and let us deal with it.” Craig angrily hung up the phone. Cole was a surrogate brother to him and no force on earth could stop him now. He quickly dialed the boss.
“It’s me. So you know what happened, right? What are we gonna do?” Craig listened carefully as the boss relayed his plan.
---
Cole was shoved through the intake doors and whisked right into processing. Santucci wanted to get him into a cell and safely stowed before any more moves were made. Had to take a key player off the board and safely stowed away. In a whirlwind of activity, Cole was stripped, searched, photographed, fingerprinted, and issued orange scrubs. Afterwards, he was fitted with a waist chain that was connected to a pair of cuffs around his ankles. They were cinched tightly over his jail-issue knit socks and orange plastic slides. Cole’s hands were cuffed in front of him and secured to the waist chain, leaving him unable to move them more than an inch or two in any direction. Hobbling as much as the leg restraints would allow, he was marched by a triumphant Alejandro into the holding area and tossed into a cramped and dingy cell.
“We’ll let you stew in there for a while,” Alejandro said. “Once we get the rest of your crew we’ll have you all shipped out to a state facility awaiting trial. And we’ll make sure you’re separated. Sent to different prisons after the verdict. By the time any of you see each other again you’ll be on Social Security!”
All the time up to now, Cole had seemed nonplussed. But the part about being separated struck a nerve. Jail he could deal with. He had been ready for this ever since he got started. But the idea of being separated from Craig hit him hard. But even more, he wasn’t ready to lose Mike so soon after “getting” him. Alejandro picked up on that right away.
“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” he said. “Just tell me who your boss is and I’ll get you a reduced sentence. Maybe even get you and Mike put in the same facility. Depending on how well you cooperate, you can be out in five. It’s the best deal you’re going to get.”
“Other than the 7-Eleven you got nothing,” Cole said defiantly. “And that will get me, what? Two to three? That’s nothing. But I wouldn’t tell you shit even if I DID know what you were talking about.”
“Have it your way,” Alejandro said and walked away, dragging his nightstick across the bars as he went, making an ominous echoing sound.
---
Craig crouched down in the bathroom of Alejandro’s apartment. He had been there for a few hours, ever since the boss gave him the address. There was no way to get into the precinct and bust Cole out, so the plan was to do a hostage exchange. Craig would capture Alejandro when he came home from work and they would trade him for Cole. Craig had serious doubts, but the boss had never steered them wrong before. So he waited. It wasn’t easy for a man of his size to get into the place unnoticed, but he did it.
He went over his gear, sticking out of the varied pockets in his black combat pants, for the hundredth time. Several pairs of high-tensile strength cable ties. He needed to get the rookie cop bound and secured quickly. No time for rope and trying to grab Alejandro's cuffs would be too risky. Several bandanas, already folded and prepared, for a quick gag and blindfold. Unloaded gun. Lastly, at his feet was a giant-size military-grade duffel bag with a padlock on the zipper. Once he had Alejandro secured, he needed some way to disguise his catch while transporting him to the waiting getaway car. The rookie would fit nicely in the bag and no one would be the wiser. He would not be thrashing around inside to draw attention if the chloroform did its work. All set.
Craig had taken some time to listen to the police band radio in Alejandro’s bedroom when he first arrived. An APB had been put out for both him and Mike. But he expected that. Cole would never have named names, but if the cops had found him, then they had to have info on the rest of them, too. No word on the boss, though, so at least they hadn’t figured out who he was yet. He just hoped Mike was somewhere safe. Partly out of affection for the guy, but partly because he knew Mike was the weak link in the chain. He wasn't fully invested in them yet and if the cops could get to anyone and turn them, it was him.
So he waited. And waited. After hours of nothing, Craig’s senses perked up as he finally heard the front doorknob turn. He switched into action mode. Without a sound he crept into strike position behind the corner leading into the entrance hall. All the lights in the apartment were off. The darkness would disorient Alejandro, making it easier to take him down before his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. In the darkness he saw a lone figure enter the apartment. When he turned to close the door behind him, that’s when Craig struck.
He lept from the shadows like a panther and wrapped his arms around the much smaller man from behind, lifting him up off the floor and clamping a chloroform-soaked rag over his face. His victim flailed and grunted, kicking out with his legs and clawing at Craig's arms, but he couldn’t escape Craig’s powerful grip. Craig pulled him down the hall, away from the door, so his victim couldn't kick it and possibly alert a neighbor. The chloroform quickly did its work and the frenzied struggling became weaker and weaker, until Craig felt his catch go limp in his arms. The giant Carefully placed him face-first on the hallway floor and grabbed the pair of industrial-strength zipties from his back pocket. Wasting no time, he locked the unconscious man’s wrists tightly behind him. Extra tight. Mike had told Cole that Santucci had been giving the rookie escape lessons. If that was true, he needed to make double sure he didn't get loose. “This is for Cole, motherfucker,” he taunted. Then he reached down and similarly zip-tied his captive’s work-booted ankles.
Wait? Work boots? Since when do cops wear work boots on duty? Craig switched on the light and was shocked to see an unconscious Mike lying bound on the floor in front of him. As soon as the light switched on, the door flew open and Santucci and Jones stormed in, weapons aimed right at him. Craig didn’t have time to react. They had him dead to rights. He lowered his head and raised his hands as Santucci and Jones barreled into him in a coordinated strike. They smashed him face-first against the wall. Craig knew better than to resist.
Jones held Craig against the wall while Santucci checked on Mike. “He's OK. Tag ‘em and bag ‘em,” Santucci said. He grabbed his radio and signaled HQ. “Suspects two and three in custody. Rounding them up and heading home.”
Jones pressed Craig against the wall with the full force of his weight. He yanked the giant’s massive arms down and placed them over the small of his back before clacking the bracelets of the specially reinforced cuffs closed around Craig’s wrists. Normally, a man of his size would require two pairs chained together, but Jones was not being so nice. Craig’s arms felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Jones searched through Craig's pockets and found the rest of his kidnaping gear. Including the bottle of chloroform. Craig remained silent and stoic as Jones produced a pair of steel leg shackles and kicked his feet together. He placed a cuff around each ankle and double-locked them closed. There was barely two feet of chain between them. Craig wouldn’t be able to do more than barely shuffle along at a snail's pace.
When Craig was fully secured and rights were read, Santucci lifted Mike into a fireman’s carry and walked off into the hall without saying another word. Burning with resentment over his friend’s betrayal, he walked at a rapid pace. One Jones and Craig could not match as they trudged behind. When Santucci was a safe distance away, Craig whispered to Jones, “What the fuck is this? This wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Plan had to be changed,” Jones said quietly. “Mike tried to stay hidden, but he was spotted and a car was sent for him. He was going to get popped regardless, so I texted him and told him to come here to meet you.”
“But why?” Craig asked. “Now they’ve got us all!”
“Have I ever steered you wrong before?” Jones said. “There’s going to be a little jailbreak tonight and three fugitives are going to escape.”
Craig mulled over the idea. He didn't like it, but it was the only option. Especially now that they were all caught and cuffed. “It could work,” he said. “But how?”
“When we get you processed, you’re all going to be kept chained in your cells,” Jones said. “But I’ll make sure yours are loose. Cole’s already done up and Mike can’t be expected to handle this. It’s all on you.” Craig nodded. “Then when I come in to deliver your meal, wham! You grab my gun and take me hostage. Then you use my keys to get yourself and the others out.”
“And then what?” Craig asked. “Leave you cuffed up in the cell as we go?”
“That’s the best way,” Jones said. “But after that, you're on your own. This is where our partnership ends, I’m afraid. It's been a blast, but I can’t go on the lam with you. There’s too much heat now. I’m out. Cole will take over as boss and then happy trails to you all.”
“Did you have to make the cuffs so tight?” Craig grunted. “You know I’m not flexible.”
“A dude your size has to be done up extra careful,” Jones said. “If I skimped on the restraints now, Santucci would know something was up. And if you’re going to blame someone, blame Cole. His little recruitment stunt brought the whole thing crashing down on us.”
Craig didn’t reply to that. The boss was right, but nothing could be done about it now.
“But I guess some good did come out of it,” Jones said. “The rookie was getting too close. He’d have sniffed me out soon enough. I was setting up for him to have a work-related accident of the permanent nature. Probably Santucci, too. They talk quite a lot. This little chain of events saved both their lives.”
Craig was aghast. Never in their whole career had the thought of killing or injuring anyone ever crossed their minds. The fact that the boss was speaking about it so casually now sent chills up his spine. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this whole deal. He said nothing else, just looked down as Jones turned away.
“Move it, perp,” Jones said, shoving Craig along to catch up to Santucci.
Coming Soon: Part 14 – Prison Blues
Another great twist! The boss always seems 2 steps ahead of everyone else! A great reveal, but I definitely don't trust his plan. Like Craig, I'm very suspicious. Interested to see how this plays out, though, and who will come out on top!
Interesting turn of events!
I had suspected a cop was involved. I honestly was leaning a bit towards Santucci though I did have some doubts it was him.
I also don't trust this plan. I could see it working but I can also see something going wrong. The boss acting like knocking someone off is no big deal, doesn't sound to good in this scenario after they've been so good about not harming anyone.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out!!
I had suspected a cop was involved. I honestly was leaning a bit towards Santucci though I did have some doubts it was him.
I also don't trust this plan. I could see it working but I can also see something going wrong. The boss acting like knocking someone off is no big deal, doesn't sound to good in this scenario after they've been so good about not harming anyone.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out!!
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george_bound
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 330
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Location: Ontario, Canada
Oh well yep Jones makes sense, hehe, and I like where the plan is going... hopefully a few more cops get "tangled" up in this evening's events as I agree with [mention]Red86[/mention] that it probably won't go as smoothly as planned (but I'm certain you have a very fun fan-pleasing plot cooked up to be served piping hot in the jailhouse this evening)...
Phew... for a second I thought Mike was in cahoots with the cop side and that made me frustrated but all is as it should be at this point, imho... just looking forward to some pig corralling in the very near future, oh did I already mention that, hehe...
Phew... for a second I thought Mike was in cahoots with the cop side and that made me frustrated but all is as it should be at this point, imho... just looking forward to some pig corralling in the very near future, oh did I already mention that, hehe...
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KidnappedCowboy
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 971
- Joined: 5 years ago
- Location: USA
- Contact:
Great turn of events and a surprise with Jones. Like [mention]Red86[/mention] I was sure that Santucci was the man on the inside!
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george_bound
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 330
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Location: Ontario, Canada
[mention]KidnappedCowboy[/mention] and [mention]Red86[/mention], I'm glad your suspicions were incorrect, I'm enjoying the tension [mention]wataru14[/mention] has started to develop between Mike's long-standing friendship with Santucci and his newly-found extracurriculars with Cole...I'm never one to go with conventional wisdom so in this case it should be "hoes over bros"... plus I'm convinced Santucci would look überhot trussed up like a spiral ham
Ahhhhhhh! I had been thinking Santucci was the Boss, but it was Jones! How will the boys work this one out?
Part 14: Prison Blues
I had a pounding headache. That much was clear, at least. My vision was still blurry, though, and I felt stiff all over. As my eyes started to refocus I saw that I was sitting in the back of a car. There was a metal grating between the front seat and the back with a small window that could only be opened from the other side. I looked down to my left to find the door handle so I could let myself out, but there wasn't one. What? What kind of car was this? As my awareness sharpened, I felt the bite of plastic cuffs around my wrists, pinning my hands behind my back, and more around my ankles. Oh fuck, this was bad! It got even worse when the hulking form of Craig was roughly shoved in next to me, his hands and feet restrained with heavy steel cuffs. I watched helplessly as a cop I didn't recognize strapped the seat belt over Craig's chest and closed the car door.
After I hung up the call with Craig on the roof of Cole's building, I had dressed and waited. I gave it a good 20 minutes after Santucci and Gonzalez drove away before I climbed back down the fire escape into the alley. I needed to find someplace to go to await a call from Craig, but where? I couldn't go to any of the places I was familiar with because I'm sure someone would be looking for me there. Keeping to the alleys, I made my way deeper into the city, trying to keep hidden. It was mostly businesses in this area, and I know I was spotted by a few people in the alleys as I moved, but that couldn't be helped. I needed to get off the street. But where?
Eventually I found a parking garage. I slipped in the pedestrian entrance and went up a few floors. There were hardly any cars here, so I figured it would be safe enough to find a secluded nook and hunker down. I spent the next few hours chainsmoking to calm my nerves and constantly checking my phone for a message from Craig. When I felt the vibration of an incoming text, I grabbed my phone and saw a number I didn't recognize.
The message said, "This is boss. Craig is in a safehouse while we plan our next move. Meet him at this address."
I texted back, "How do I know it's you and not the cops?"
Two pictures appeared in the message. One was of the basement of the house I was brought to after being taken from the warehouse. The second was a shot of me tied and gagged to the pole inside the basement while Alejandro was doing his striptease. No way a cop would send that one! I texted back "OK" and made my way there. I had to duck behind dumpsters and into alleyways on the way whenever I saw a police car drive by, but I made it there without being spotted. The text said the door would be locked, but that there would be a key stashed on the upper doorframe. I felt around and found it, then let myself in. The place was pitch black. Before my eyes could adjust, something huge grabbed me and then the lights went out. By now I realized the boss had set us up and that Craig was my attacker.
I started to panic. “Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” I muttered.
“Don’t say a damn word, Mike,” Craig said.
“Listen to the man,” Santucci said from the front seat as we drove. “You and I are going to have a long talk once we get you booked. But right now I don’t want to hear you say a goddamn thing.”
I hung his head in shame and said nothing the rest of the ride. When we finally got to the precinct, Craig was immediately whisked inside by the officer I didn't know, and I was left alone. Santucci came over and cut the zipties off my ankles before roughly grabbing me by the arm and pulling me out of the car.
“Santucci, I…” I stammered.
“Save it,” Santucci said. “I don’t want to hear a word out of you right now.” I could sense the anger in his voice and it hit me like a punch to the face. Santucci grabbed me by the shirt collar and marched me towards the building. As soon as we entered the intake room, I saw Alejandro, gloating.
“I told you I’d get you,” the rookie said smugly. “You and your crew. If you had warned me back at the warehouse, none of this would be happening to you right now. Hope you’re happy with the choice you made.” I looked away in shame as Santucci shoved me to the camera room.
I had never been more humiliated. After my mugshot was taken, Alejandro took over for Santucci, who stormed off. The rookie kept calling me “inmate” and “felon” during the whole experience and it really weighed heavily on me. I got a little relief when he moved me to an exam room and cut the zipties holding my hands behind my back, but it was short-lived.
“Now, prisoner,” Alejandro said with a sneer, “you’re going to strip. Take off each article of clothing when I tell you and place it in the tub on the table. Say one word and you’ll regret it. Shirt first. And do it nice and slow. I want to savor the goods.”
Gritting my teeth, I did as he said. I realized this was payback for the striptease Craig made him do in the basement. That had nothing to do with me, but I decided not to press that particular issue. He didn’t catcall or make a fuss (the cameras were on, after all), but it was unnerving watching his eyes bore into me, inspecting every inch of my body as I exposed it piece by piece. Shirt, shoes, socks, pants, and eventually underwear all went into the tub and I stood before him buck naked. I felt small, insignificant. Trapped. Alejandro was in hog heaven, though. Then I heard the snapping of rubber gloves.
I won’t describe what happened next, but I now have a thorough understanding of what cattle goes through at market. Gonzalez subjected me to the most humiliating and invasive search he possibly could. Probing. Feeling. Digging. When he was finally satisfied I wasn’t smuggling contraband in any place you wouldn’t mention in polite company, Gonzalez tossed a threadbare set of orange scrubs and ratty socks and underwear at my feet. I quickly dressed and stepped into my plastic slides. When the uniform went on it all began to feel real. This wasn’t just a game anymore. I was a prisoner and probably would be for a very long time.
With an evil grin, Gonzalez descended on me with a full set of chains in his hands. He cuffed my wrists in front of me and secured the black box over the chain. He made me hold my hands up at chest level as he wrapped another chain around my waist from behind and locked it tight behind my back. He lowered my hands to the level of my waist and secured them to the belly chain with a locking clasp. I couldn’t move them more than a few inches in any direction. Heavy manacles were cinched around my ankles and attached to the belly chain with a long connector. He shortened it a few links down before he locked it off, forcing me to hunch my shoulders forward and stoop in a degrading position.
“Better get used to this, felon,” he taunted. “When you’re in supermax, this is how you’re gonna be every time you’re out of your cell. Chained up like the subhuman criminal trash you are.” I steeled my jaw. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how I was internally panicking. I was going to play this cool. Stoic and strong, like Craig. If I let Gonzalez get a rise out of me, then he wins.
Taking me by the arm, Gonzalez pushed me through a nearby door and into a cold concrete hallway. My chains jangled ominously as I shuffled along as much as my manacled ankles would allow. Down the hall I saw the holding cells, but Gonzalez didn’t take me there. We stopped at a door labelled “Interrogation.” When he opened the door I saw Santucci sitting at a small table with an empty chair directly across. Gonzalez shoved me inside and sat me down before locking my belly chain to the chair with a handcuff that was attached to the rear of the frame.
“Thank you, Gonzalez,” he said with not even a hint of warmth in his voice. “I’ll take it from here.”
After Gonzalez saluted and left, Santucci just stared at me like he was looking right through me. I couldn’t bear look him in the eye, so I lowered my head.
“LOOK AT ME!” he bellowed, and I immediately complied. The sheer authority and command in his voice made my comply without thinking. We sat in silence for a few moments as I watched the feelings of disappointment and betrayal play across his face. When he sensed I couldn’t take it anymore, he just said “Why, Mike? How could you do this?”
I shifted my weight uncomfortably in my chains. There wasn’t much room for movement, but each time I tried there was a clinking and jangling that reinforced the hopelessness of my situation.
“Santucci… I…” I stammered. But I didn’t dare say any more.
“This isn’t being recorded,” he said. “We’re not looking for you to incriminate yourself or anyone else. It’s completely off the record. It’s just me trying to figure out how you could play me like this? We were friends, Mike! Bros! And all this time you were one of the bad guys. How long were you with them? How many heists did you help them with and then go drinking with me afterwards?”
“It’s not like that,” I feebly said. “I’m not one of them. I almost was, but I never agreed to any of it.”
Santucci leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Go on," he said.
“When they hit the warehouse, I had no idea what was happening,” I continued. “It was just another night at my shitty job until I heard commotion in the loading dock. When I saw what was going on I immediately ran to call the cops. Really! But they caught me before I could get out. I wasn’t in on it. The inside info came from…”
“Jimmy,” Santucci interrupted. “So he banged out of work early and then met up with the crew so he could come back and help him rob the place?”
“That’s my take on it,” I said. “But he skipped town and god knows where he is now.”
“I… believe you,” Santucci said. “I’m sure it would be an easy thing to prove that you were at work during their other heists. But that doesn’t explain the 7-Eleven. Care to tell me what the fuck that was about?”
Again, I shifted awkwardly in my chains. I was sweating now and would have killed to wipe my forehead, but the handcuffs wouldn’t let me.
“I had nothing to do with that,” I said. “It was all Cole’s idea. Didn’t know what he was doing until he sprung it.”
“I figured that out, dipshit,” Santucci said, a slight hint of his normal warmth creeping up. Recovering, he said, “What I mean is, why were you hanging out with him after the heist in the first place? I know if a bunch of dudes jumped me and tied me up I wouldn’t be going out on the town with them a few days later.” A beat. “Did they KIDNAP you?”
I immediately picked up on what Santucci was doing. He was giving me an out! All I had to do was say that Cole came to my apartment and forced me to come with him at gunpoint. I was afraid for my life and that’s why I helped him with the convenience store robbery. If I sold them out, I could beat this and go home free! But could bring myself to do that? To Craig? To COLE?
Santucci noticed my conflict. “All you gotta do is say you were forced into it and this all goes away,” he said reassuringly. “You’d have to testify against them, but after that everything can go back to the way it was. Beer at Paddy’s on Saturday nights sounds a lot better than three squares on a tray in lockup, don’t it? After all they did to you, after all the danger they put you in, do you really owe them anything?”
“I… They… Cole…” I trailed off. I just couldn’t do it. Everything in me screamed to take Santucci's offer, but I couldn't. I should have been angry at them for getting me involved in all this, but I wasn't. While I was with them I felt alive. Like I mattered. “No. I wasn’t forced. Cole came to see me at Paddy’s the night Jimmy left. It’s weird to say, but we sorta developed a bond when everything was going down. Like we understood each other. Both of us were working slobs. Nobodies. We could disappear forever and the world would keep on turning like we never existed. But at that moment we meant something to each other.”
“After I was released, he kept trying to recruit me into the gang,” I went on. “Like constantly. That’s why he did the holdup, I think. Why they wanted me to join them so badly, I don’t know. I’m not the type. But part of me wanted it. To finally have power. To have a purpose. To be able to leave my mark on the world, even if it was in a bad way. Does that make any sense? And as far as criminals go, these guys aren’t bloodthirsty. In all their heists, was anyone ever killed? Or even mildly injured? And who did they target? Are they out there mugging little old ladies or mom-and-pop shops where the owners’ life savings are tied up in the place? No. It’s all insured stuff. No one who would miss it ever lost a dime. Hell, some people even made money for their troubles. To me, they were Robin Hood. Heroes.”
“Criminals aren’t heroes, Mike.”
“Well who is, then? Gonzalez? I don’t know what bug is up his ass, but he’s one bad day away from sparking an ACAB protest. If anyone is hurting the little guy, it’s not Cole and Craig. It’s guys like him. But it’s more than just that. Cole… and I know how completely fucked up this sounds… but there’s something special there. Some kind of deep connection that I didn’t even know I was looking for. I know that hostages sometimes bond with their captors. I took Psych 101 at community college when I moved here. But this is different. I think I love him, Santucci.”
He just stared at me silently. I could see the thoughts flashing in his brain through his eyes.
“And that’s why I can’t take your offer. I know it’s the smart thing to do. And I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me. It means more to me than I can say. But if he’s going down, we’re going down together. So I won’t betray him. Just like I never betrayed you. But fuck Gonzalez. I’d betray him for free.”
Santucci froze and then burst out laughing. “I get it,” he said when he calmed down. “I don’t like it, but I get it. And in a fucked up way, I respect it. Mike, if this is what you really want, I won’t stop you. I’ll do what I can for you, but it isn’t much. Things look pretty grim for you. If you need me as a character witness at your sentencing, I’ll do it. But if you make this choice, there really isn’t anything I can do to stop what’s going to happen.”
He trailed off for a second, like he was thinking about something, but then turned back to me.
“I understand,” I said. “And Santucci, you really are a good friend. Sorry I got you in the middle of this.”
Santucci got up without saying a word and unlocked the handcuffs securing me to the chair. He pulled me up and grabbed me in a tight bro hug. “Try to keep your head up,” he said. “Things might work out OK. Stranger things have happened.”
I smiled, but Santucci looked a little sad. Then he got his game face back on and dragged me out of the room. We walked down the hall with the holding cells and I saw Craig and Cole sitting on the bunks of two of them. Both were fully chained and shackled like I was.
“If you’re not gonna talk, you can do down with them!” Santucci said, loud enough for both to hear. He shoved me into an empty cell next to Cole’s and across from Craig’s. With a rumbling clank he slammed the door shut. I heard the heavy locking mechanism engage, sealing the cell closed. Santucci turned and walked off down the hall, his heavy footsteps dying away as he went.
Coming Soon: Part 15
I had a pounding headache. That much was clear, at least. My vision was still blurry, though, and I felt stiff all over. As my eyes started to refocus I saw that I was sitting in the back of a car. There was a metal grating between the front seat and the back with a small window that could only be opened from the other side. I looked down to my left to find the door handle so I could let myself out, but there wasn't one. What? What kind of car was this? As my awareness sharpened, I felt the bite of plastic cuffs around my wrists, pinning my hands behind my back, and more around my ankles. Oh fuck, this was bad! It got even worse when the hulking form of Craig was roughly shoved in next to me, his hands and feet restrained with heavy steel cuffs. I watched helplessly as a cop I didn't recognize strapped the seat belt over Craig's chest and closed the car door.
After I hung up the call with Craig on the roof of Cole's building, I had dressed and waited. I gave it a good 20 minutes after Santucci and Gonzalez drove away before I climbed back down the fire escape into the alley. I needed to find someplace to go to await a call from Craig, but where? I couldn't go to any of the places I was familiar with because I'm sure someone would be looking for me there. Keeping to the alleys, I made my way deeper into the city, trying to keep hidden. It was mostly businesses in this area, and I know I was spotted by a few people in the alleys as I moved, but that couldn't be helped. I needed to get off the street. But where?
Eventually I found a parking garage. I slipped in the pedestrian entrance and went up a few floors. There were hardly any cars here, so I figured it would be safe enough to find a secluded nook and hunker down. I spent the next few hours chainsmoking to calm my nerves and constantly checking my phone for a message from Craig. When I felt the vibration of an incoming text, I grabbed my phone and saw a number I didn't recognize.
The message said, "This is boss. Craig is in a safehouse while we plan our next move. Meet him at this address."
I texted back, "How do I know it's you and not the cops?"
Two pictures appeared in the message. One was of the basement of the house I was brought to after being taken from the warehouse. The second was a shot of me tied and gagged to the pole inside the basement while Alejandro was doing his striptease. No way a cop would send that one! I texted back "OK" and made my way there. I had to duck behind dumpsters and into alleyways on the way whenever I saw a police car drive by, but I made it there without being spotted. The text said the door would be locked, but that there would be a key stashed on the upper doorframe. I felt around and found it, then let myself in. The place was pitch black. Before my eyes could adjust, something huge grabbed me and then the lights went out. By now I realized the boss had set us up and that Craig was my attacker.
I started to panic. “Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” I muttered.
“Don’t say a damn word, Mike,” Craig said.
“Listen to the man,” Santucci said from the front seat as we drove. “You and I are going to have a long talk once we get you booked. But right now I don’t want to hear you say a goddamn thing.”
I hung his head in shame and said nothing the rest of the ride. When we finally got to the precinct, Craig was immediately whisked inside by the officer I didn't know, and I was left alone. Santucci came over and cut the zipties off my ankles before roughly grabbing me by the arm and pulling me out of the car.
“Santucci, I…” I stammered.
“Save it,” Santucci said. “I don’t want to hear a word out of you right now.” I could sense the anger in his voice and it hit me like a punch to the face. Santucci grabbed me by the shirt collar and marched me towards the building. As soon as we entered the intake room, I saw Alejandro, gloating.
“I told you I’d get you,” the rookie said smugly. “You and your crew. If you had warned me back at the warehouse, none of this would be happening to you right now. Hope you’re happy with the choice you made.” I looked away in shame as Santucci shoved me to the camera room.
I had never been more humiliated. After my mugshot was taken, Alejandro took over for Santucci, who stormed off. The rookie kept calling me “inmate” and “felon” during the whole experience and it really weighed heavily on me. I got a little relief when he moved me to an exam room and cut the zipties holding my hands behind my back, but it was short-lived.
“Now, prisoner,” Alejandro said with a sneer, “you’re going to strip. Take off each article of clothing when I tell you and place it in the tub on the table. Say one word and you’ll regret it. Shirt first. And do it nice and slow. I want to savor the goods.”
Gritting my teeth, I did as he said. I realized this was payback for the striptease Craig made him do in the basement. That had nothing to do with me, but I decided not to press that particular issue. He didn’t catcall or make a fuss (the cameras were on, after all), but it was unnerving watching his eyes bore into me, inspecting every inch of my body as I exposed it piece by piece. Shirt, shoes, socks, pants, and eventually underwear all went into the tub and I stood before him buck naked. I felt small, insignificant. Trapped. Alejandro was in hog heaven, though. Then I heard the snapping of rubber gloves.
I won’t describe what happened next, but I now have a thorough understanding of what cattle goes through at market. Gonzalez subjected me to the most humiliating and invasive search he possibly could. Probing. Feeling. Digging. When he was finally satisfied I wasn’t smuggling contraband in any place you wouldn’t mention in polite company, Gonzalez tossed a threadbare set of orange scrubs and ratty socks and underwear at my feet. I quickly dressed and stepped into my plastic slides. When the uniform went on it all began to feel real. This wasn’t just a game anymore. I was a prisoner and probably would be for a very long time.
With an evil grin, Gonzalez descended on me with a full set of chains in his hands. He cuffed my wrists in front of me and secured the black box over the chain. He made me hold my hands up at chest level as he wrapped another chain around my waist from behind and locked it tight behind my back. He lowered my hands to the level of my waist and secured them to the belly chain with a locking clasp. I couldn’t move them more than a few inches in any direction. Heavy manacles were cinched around my ankles and attached to the belly chain with a long connector. He shortened it a few links down before he locked it off, forcing me to hunch my shoulders forward and stoop in a degrading position.
“Better get used to this, felon,” he taunted. “When you’re in supermax, this is how you’re gonna be every time you’re out of your cell. Chained up like the subhuman criminal trash you are.” I steeled my jaw. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how I was internally panicking. I was going to play this cool. Stoic and strong, like Craig. If I let Gonzalez get a rise out of me, then he wins.
Taking me by the arm, Gonzalez pushed me through a nearby door and into a cold concrete hallway. My chains jangled ominously as I shuffled along as much as my manacled ankles would allow. Down the hall I saw the holding cells, but Gonzalez didn’t take me there. We stopped at a door labelled “Interrogation.” When he opened the door I saw Santucci sitting at a small table with an empty chair directly across. Gonzalez shoved me inside and sat me down before locking my belly chain to the chair with a handcuff that was attached to the rear of the frame.
“Thank you, Gonzalez,” he said with not even a hint of warmth in his voice. “I’ll take it from here.”
After Gonzalez saluted and left, Santucci just stared at me like he was looking right through me. I couldn’t bear look him in the eye, so I lowered my head.
“LOOK AT ME!” he bellowed, and I immediately complied. The sheer authority and command in his voice made my comply without thinking. We sat in silence for a few moments as I watched the feelings of disappointment and betrayal play across his face. When he sensed I couldn’t take it anymore, he just said “Why, Mike? How could you do this?”
I shifted my weight uncomfortably in my chains. There wasn’t much room for movement, but each time I tried there was a clinking and jangling that reinforced the hopelessness of my situation.
“Santucci… I…” I stammered. But I didn’t dare say any more.
“This isn’t being recorded,” he said. “We’re not looking for you to incriminate yourself or anyone else. It’s completely off the record. It’s just me trying to figure out how you could play me like this? We were friends, Mike! Bros! And all this time you were one of the bad guys. How long were you with them? How many heists did you help them with and then go drinking with me afterwards?”
“It’s not like that,” I feebly said. “I’m not one of them. I almost was, but I never agreed to any of it.”
Santucci leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Go on," he said.
“When they hit the warehouse, I had no idea what was happening,” I continued. “It was just another night at my shitty job until I heard commotion in the loading dock. When I saw what was going on I immediately ran to call the cops. Really! But they caught me before I could get out. I wasn’t in on it. The inside info came from…”
“Jimmy,” Santucci interrupted. “So he banged out of work early and then met up with the crew so he could come back and help him rob the place?”
“That’s my take on it,” I said. “But he skipped town and god knows where he is now.”
“I… believe you,” Santucci said. “I’m sure it would be an easy thing to prove that you were at work during their other heists. But that doesn’t explain the 7-Eleven. Care to tell me what the fuck that was about?”
Again, I shifted awkwardly in my chains. I was sweating now and would have killed to wipe my forehead, but the handcuffs wouldn’t let me.
“I had nothing to do with that,” I said. “It was all Cole’s idea. Didn’t know what he was doing until he sprung it.”
“I figured that out, dipshit,” Santucci said, a slight hint of his normal warmth creeping up. Recovering, he said, “What I mean is, why were you hanging out with him after the heist in the first place? I know if a bunch of dudes jumped me and tied me up I wouldn’t be going out on the town with them a few days later.” A beat. “Did they KIDNAP you?”
I immediately picked up on what Santucci was doing. He was giving me an out! All I had to do was say that Cole came to my apartment and forced me to come with him at gunpoint. I was afraid for my life and that’s why I helped him with the convenience store robbery. If I sold them out, I could beat this and go home free! But could bring myself to do that? To Craig? To COLE?
Santucci noticed my conflict. “All you gotta do is say you were forced into it and this all goes away,” he said reassuringly. “You’d have to testify against them, but after that everything can go back to the way it was. Beer at Paddy’s on Saturday nights sounds a lot better than three squares on a tray in lockup, don’t it? After all they did to you, after all the danger they put you in, do you really owe them anything?”
“I… They… Cole…” I trailed off. I just couldn’t do it. Everything in me screamed to take Santucci's offer, but I couldn't. I should have been angry at them for getting me involved in all this, but I wasn't. While I was with them I felt alive. Like I mattered. “No. I wasn’t forced. Cole came to see me at Paddy’s the night Jimmy left. It’s weird to say, but we sorta developed a bond when everything was going down. Like we understood each other. Both of us were working slobs. Nobodies. We could disappear forever and the world would keep on turning like we never existed. But at that moment we meant something to each other.”
“After I was released, he kept trying to recruit me into the gang,” I went on. “Like constantly. That’s why he did the holdup, I think. Why they wanted me to join them so badly, I don’t know. I’m not the type. But part of me wanted it. To finally have power. To have a purpose. To be able to leave my mark on the world, even if it was in a bad way. Does that make any sense? And as far as criminals go, these guys aren’t bloodthirsty. In all their heists, was anyone ever killed? Or even mildly injured? And who did they target? Are they out there mugging little old ladies or mom-and-pop shops where the owners’ life savings are tied up in the place? No. It’s all insured stuff. No one who would miss it ever lost a dime. Hell, some people even made money for their troubles. To me, they were Robin Hood. Heroes.”
“Criminals aren’t heroes, Mike.”
“Well who is, then? Gonzalez? I don’t know what bug is up his ass, but he’s one bad day away from sparking an ACAB protest. If anyone is hurting the little guy, it’s not Cole and Craig. It’s guys like him. But it’s more than just that. Cole… and I know how completely fucked up this sounds… but there’s something special there. Some kind of deep connection that I didn’t even know I was looking for. I know that hostages sometimes bond with their captors. I took Psych 101 at community college when I moved here. But this is different. I think I love him, Santucci.”
He just stared at me silently. I could see the thoughts flashing in his brain through his eyes.
“And that’s why I can’t take your offer. I know it’s the smart thing to do. And I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me. It means more to me than I can say. But if he’s going down, we’re going down together. So I won’t betray him. Just like I never betrayed you. But fuck Gonzalez. I’d betray him for free.”
Santucci froze and then burst out laughing. “I get it,” he said when he calmed down. “I don’t like it, but I get it. And in a fucked up way, I respect it. Mike, if this is what you really want, I won’t stop you. I’ll do what I can for you, but it isn’t much. Things look pretty grim for you. If you need me as a character witness at your sentencing, I’ll do it. But if you make this choice, there really isn’t anything I can do to stop what’s going to happen.”
He trailed off for a second, like he was thinking about something, but then turned back to me.
“I understand,” I said. “And Santucci, you really are a good friend. Sorry I got you in the middle of this.”
Santucci got up without saying a word and unlocked the handcuffs securing me to the chair. He pulled me up and grabbed me in a tight bro hug. “Try to keep your head up,” he said. “Things might work out OK. Stranger things have happened.”
I smiled, but Santucci looked a little sad. Then he got his game face back on and dragged me out of the room. We walked down the hall with the holding cells and I saw Craig and Cole sitting on the bunks of two of them. Both were fully chained and shackled like I was.
“If you’re not gonna talk, you can do down with them!” Santucci said, loud enough for both to hear. He shoved me into an empty cell next to Cole’s and across from Craig’s. With a rumbling clank he slammed the door shut. I heard the heavy locking mechanism engage, sealing the cell closed. Santucci turned and walked off down the hall, his heavy footsteps dying away as he went.
Coming Soon: Part 15
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george_bound
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 330
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Location: Ontario, Canada
Hmmm...well there's the tension I'm liking! And as it should be, "hoes before bros", haha...now it's almost time to eat - pork, it's what's for dinner
Ugh, fricking Alejandro. That douche-nozzle must need another stripping and edging... perhaps several.
Interested to see how it works out. And good for Santucci for being reasonable enough.
Interested to see how it works out. And good for Santucci for being reasonable enough.
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KidnappedCowboy
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 971
- Joined: 5 years ago
- Location: USA
- Contact:
Yeah, I really like this story...its complexities, and I agree with [mention]Volobond[/mention] about Gonzalez...he's a douchebag and has the makings of a dirty cop.While I was with them I felt alive. Like I mattered.
But Mike still made a choice in that 7/11, and it was the wrong one.
I knew I got a good vibe from Santucci! This is a tough situation for everyone and I'm glad Santucci is doing his best to be supportive of Mike, and making these attempts to help his friend.
I'm on the edge of my seat for how this story will go! I agree with [mention]Volobond[/mention] and [mention]KidnappedCowboy[/mention] that Alejandro needs another dose of humility. If the prison break goes well, maybe they could take a special uniformed souvenir with them!
I'm on the edge of my seat for how this story will go! I agree with [mention]Volobond[/mention] and [mention]KidnappedCowboy[/mention] that Alejandro needs another dose of humility. If the prison break goes well, maybe they could take a special uniformed souvenir with them!
Mike is in a difficult spot. Faced with ratting on the crew and getting out of this situation or going down with them. I kind of get why Mike didn't but IRL, faced with those charges you'd be a fool not to take the out. There's alot of years on the line.
Though after Santucci's statement about Mike keeping his head up & things might workout, I wonder if he's up to something of his own. Like maybe he's still not ready for Mike to go fully down
I've read another one of [mention]wataru14[/mention] stories awhile back, so I doubt this ends with the crew going down. I am curious to see what direction this ends up going!!
Though after Santucci's statement about Mike keeping his head up & things might workout, I wonder if he's up to something of his own. Like maybe he's still not ready for Mike to go fully down
I've read another one of [mention]wataru14[/mention] stories awhile back, so I doubt this ends with the crew going down. I am curious to see what direction this ends up going!!
Part 15: Hello, Boss
“You OK?” Cole whispered from his cell. I got up from the bunk and ran to the bars.
“Yeah,” I said. “They tried to make me turn on you, but I told them to fuck themselves.”
“So it looks like you finally made your decision,” Cole said.
“Looks like it was made for me,” I admitted. “Not that it does anybody any good now. They got us all chained up and locked in cells.”
Craig gave a slight whistle that drew my attention. When I looked over at him I saw his hands were both out of his cuffs! They were hanging limply around his waist! He gave me a smile and a little wave before sliding them back through the loose bracelets. “The boss provides,” he mouthed silently.
My heart started racing. What was he planning? We he going to try to escape? If he did, would I go with them? Could I really give up my life and become a fugitive on the lam with two guys I had known for just over a week? Even if my feelings for Cole were what I thought they were, could I do that?
For the next several hours, Cole tried to reassure me as best he could from the next cell, but we didn’t talk much. In case anyone was listening. Craig did say “it’s almost chow time,” after a bit, which seemed significant. When the door to the cell area opened and we heard the rattling of the food cart, Craig’s whole posture changed. He was in action mode. I had seen that before. I saw him prep to strike as the cart wheeled closer. When it came into view, however, I saw his expression crack.
I don’t know who he was expecting, but Gonzalez came in pushing the cart. I decided I wasn’t going to eat anything he brought, worried he had spit in it. Or worse. As soon as Gonzalez entered his cell, Craig lunged. He couldn’t move far with his legs manacled, but Alejandro was not prepared for his hands to be free and wasn’t ready when Craig grabbed him. Alejandro struggled against Craig’s massive arms, but it was hopeless. The grip was just too strong. Before the cop could shout for help, Craig slapped his giant hand over his mouth and held it fast. Alejandro could only faintly grunt and mumble as Craig applied the sleeper hold. I ran to the bars of my cell and watched with rapt attention as Alejandro’s lights slowly went out and he fell limp in Craig’s arms.
Craig made the “shhhh” gesture as he fumbled for Gonzalez’s keys. When he found them, he laid the rookie on the bunk and got to work unlocking his chains. In a few seconds he was free and tossed the keys to Cole across the way. I watched Craig grab the handcuffs he had just been secured in and use them to restrain Gonzalez’ arms securely behind his back. How often had this happened to him in the past two weeks, I wondered? Must be a pro by now. Craig applied the leg manacles, too, but left the rest of the chain setup alone. As much as I would have liked to see Gonzalez shackled up like a con, there wasn't time for that. I watched Craig take off his scrubs top and began tearing the orange fabric into wide strips. He wadded one up into a thick ball and stuffed it in Gonzalez’s mouth. Then tightly wrapped another around the rookie’s jaw twice before knotting it in back, holding the stuffing in place. It wasn’t his best work, but it would do for now. I heard the frantic jangling of Cole’s chains being removed through the wall and then the rattle of his cell door unlocking.
I stared dumbfounded as Cole appeared at my cell. Looking around to make sure no one was coming, he unlocked the door and ran in. Before I could say anything he pulled me in close and planted a deep kiss on my lips. “I thought I was going to lose you,” he said as he removed the black box and unlocked my handcuffs. Within a minute, I was free. Of the chains, at least. There was still the matter of being trapped in the police station.
“Don’t get too confident yet,” Craig said from his cell. “The boss was supposed to be the one delivering the food. Not this twerp. Something is wrong. I don’t like it."
“We can’t worry about that now,” Cole said as he tossed the last of my chains onto the bunk. “Once we’re clear we’ll do damage control. We have to get out of here first.”
Alejandro started to stir. As he came to and felt the bite of cold steel around his wrists, he began to thrash and struggle, grunting like mad. Craig dove on top of him, pressing him down on the bunk and planting his hand back over Gonzalez’s already gagged mouth. “You’d better keep quiet if you know what’s good for you,” Craig said. “And settle the fuck down. We didn’t hurt you last time and we’re not going to now. We need an insurance policy in case any of your pig buddies are around. You’re coming with us.”
Craig roughly grabbed Alejandro and dragged him, struggling, to his feet. He positioned the handcuffed rookie in front of him like a shield and began slowly walking towards the door leading out of the cellblock. Alejandro’s manacled feet and constant squirming made it slow going. Cole and I fell into step behind them, hanging back a bit. As he reached the door, however, Craig looked like he got an odd feeling. He turned the knob, then sidestepped as he opened the door.
A bullet whizzed through the air. It was right in the path of where he was a second ago! If he hadn’t moved aside before opening the door it would have hit him square in the… no. It wouldn’t. It would have hit Alejandro! What was happening?!?! Craig took cover behind the doorframe while Cole and I ducked behind the food cart. It wouldn’t provide much protection, but at least it would obscure our position a little.
“What the fuck, boss?” Craig shouted.
“Sorry, Craig,” Jones said, popping up from behind the desk he had taken cover behind. Jones was the boss? Of course! It all made sense. Someone had to be running interference on the law enforcement end. Erasing evidence. Keeping the investigations off track. That’s how the crew had gotten away with their heists for so long without anyone catching them!
“Kid’s getting too close. He knows the crew has a mole in the department and was about to put two and two together. Why do you think he’s been so buddy-buddy with Santucci recently? Barking up the wrong tree, but he’d suspect me sooner or later. He can't be turned, so he needs to go. But you three can still get out of here. Let me pop him. We’ll say he was killed in the crossfire before you escaped. Tragic, but understandable. Then you three are home free.”
We looked at each other confused. Was he really suggesting this?
“No!” Craig whispered. “Not a chance. A cop dies during our escape and every law enforcement agency in 1,000 miles will be after us. And they won’t stop. It’s a suicide play.”
“Jones knows that,” I said, suddenly realizing. “He wants us to get away so the feds can take US out, too! Then he gets away scot free and keeps his own hands clean. And no one who knows his involvement will be left to tell. Besides Jimmy. And I’m sure Jones will arrange for something to happen to him, too.”
“Holy fuck, you’re right!” Cole said. Then he shouted down the hall. “Sorry, boss. No dice. Not going to fall for that little trick.”
“Suit yourself,” Jones said, and fired again at the doorway.
“So I guess the new plan is we all get shot trying to escape, is that it?” Cole shouted. “Avenging your fallen ‘brother?’”
Jones didn’t answer, but fired again in the direction of the voice. Cole ran off to the side just before the bullet struck the cart right where he had been hiding. He slipped behind Craig and started to grab for Alejandro’s service pistol, but Craig stopped him.
“Don’t touch that!” he barked. “If any of our fingerprints are on that then he gets his justification for killing us. He’ll say it was self-defense.” Cole nodded and backed down. Alejandro slowly opened his eyes.
“That first shot was aimed at Gonzalez!” I screamed so the rookie could hear. “You’d really take out another cop just to get us?”
“Weren’t you listening, dumbass?” Jones said. “Once he realized Santucci was clean, he’d start looking at me. Once he’s out of the way, I don’t even have to kill you all. If he dies heroically trying to stop your escape, you’ll all get the chair. You think a jury will believe you over me? A decorated officer with over 10 years’ service? Saves me a lot of hassle.”
Alejandro screamed through his gag. A real look of panic in his eyes. To get the rookie out of danger, Craig shoved him away into a nearby cell. I immediately ran in with him. Alejandro looked up at me in terror, grunting like mad for me to remove his gag. Outside, Jones fired some suppressing shots and moved closer. Seeing no other option, I reached down and pulled the shredded orange fabric from Gonzalez’s mouth.
“In my belt holster,” he said. “There’s a tear gas canister. Use it.”
“What?” I said, “You’re not going to tell us to surrender?”
“I heard what he said,” Gonzalez spat. “He’s out for all of us. Then he’ll probably go after Santucci. And Jimmy. He won’t stop until we’re all dead. As much as I hate you, we’re on the same side for now. Your only chance is to take him down. Use it!”
Nervously I pulled the canister from Gonzalez’ belt holster. “Hurry!” he shouted. I ran out of the cell and showed the canister to Cole and Craig. Cole immediately ripped his shirt off and tore it in half. One half he tied over his nose and mouth and gave Craig the other half to use. I did the same to mine and tied the second half over Gonzalez’s face. Craig grabbed the food cart and hurled it out the door as a distraction. While Jones’ attention was diverted, I pulled the pin and tossed the canister.
Acrid white smoke filled the room. I heard heavy coughing and then wild gunfire in our direction. I couldn’t see anything, but a second later I heard Jones say, “Nice try, boys. But I figured you’d try something like that. Brought my gas mask. But thanks for the smoke cover. It makes it easier to rationalize a stray bullet hitting Gonzalez!”
Just then I heard a thundering sound. Like the bellow of a Norse god. “You sonnofa…!” and then the sound of something slamming into the desk. The voice was unmistakable. It was Santucci. I heard Jones’ gun hit the floor and skid off into the smoke.
“Uncuff me!” Gonzalez yelled. “I can help!” I hesitated, but then ran to Craig and took the keys. He was right. If Jones was out for blood, we needed every man we could get. If Gonzalez betrayed us later, that was on me, but right now we needed his help.
Through the smoke, the sounds of scuffling were getting slower. Someone was winning. The smoke had wafted into the cellblock, causing Craig and Cole to retreat father in. It would dissipate soon, but for the moment we were trapped. I removed the cuffs and leg irons from Gonzalez right as we heard the sound of a crash outside. Someone had won the fight. We heard the sound of a heavy punch land and someone falling onto a desk. Of course I hoped it was Jones going down, but neither fighter winning was a good option. If Jones won, we’d all be dead. If Santucci won… I’d have to fight my friend for my freedom.
It was impossible to see what was going on in the hall. Too much smoke. Even the slight wisps that made it into the cell Gonzalez and I were in was making my eyes water. Outside I heard another deep bellow and a smash. Craig had decided to rush whoever was in the doorway. Even though he was far stronger than both possibilities, the gas must have been taking its toll on him. Coupled with him not being able to see, he had no chance. I heard the brief sounds of a fight, then the jangling of handcuffs. “Nice try, boys” Jones said. “One down, three to go. Now which cell is Gonzalez hiding in?”
I heard the crack of wood breaking as Cole ran out of the cell he was holed up in. “Mike, Gonzalez!” he shouted. “Run!” A broken chair leg slid past the door through the smoke. Cole must have grabbed it from the guard desk and clubbed Jones with it. That’s my boy! But it didn’t do any good. The beefy cop shrugged off the blow and quickly brought down the much-smaller Cole. Scrappy as he was, he couldn't win against a veteran trained cop. Again I heard the ratting of handcuffs. Gonzalez and I backed up against the rear wall of the cell as the looming figure of Jones emerged from the dissipating smoke. Behind him, the hallway started to clear and I saw Craig and Cole laying side-by-side, hands cuffed tightly behind their backs and struggling like mad.
“Here you are!” Jones growled. Alejandro grabbed his taser. He heard what Craig said and knew that pulling his gun would mean a death sentence for all of them. Seeing the weapon, Jones backed up slightly. Alejandro moved away from me, keeping the taser trained on Jones. He tossed a quick glance in my direction and Jones took advantage of the opening. He charged and smashed into Alejandro, ramming him into the cell wall. The taser hit the floor and skidded to my feet.
While the two cops battled, I picked it up and held it straight out. I let out a loud whistle that stopped both fighters in their tracks.
“Mike,” Jones said. “You can still get out of this. Tase Gonzalez. I’ll say you were working undercover for me the whole time. Will you really miss this prick rookie? I’ll make it real quick and painless.” There was a heavy pause as I let his words sink in. “You can go back to a normal life. No more gangstas. No more cops. All of this goes away. With your testimony added backing up mine, you’ll get off. Completely! No time.”
“What about them?” I said, indicating Craig and Cole lying face-first and cuffed in the hallway. Was I really considering this? Sacrificing Gonzalez for my own freedom?
“Fine,” Jones said. “If that’s what it takes. They both go free. They get out of the city and they’re on their own. As long as they keep their heads down and their mouths shut, they get to live long and happy lives.”
I gave a quick look at Craig and Cole, then at Alejandro. That was it, then. My decision was made. “Sorry, man,” I said. I aimed the taser and fired.
Coming Soon: Part 16 – Living With My Choices
I really hope Mike makes the right choice. As much of a prick as Alejandro is, he definitely doesn't deserve the fate Jones has in store for him!