Mary was anxious as she entered the big Southwind department store in suburban Seattle. She stopped and looked around as she reviewed what she had planned. She had never done anything like it before, but she needed the money. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then approached the counter that displayed expensive watches.
The salesclerk asked, "May I help you?"
"Yes. I'd like to see some watches. I'm looking for a gift for my father." Mary pointed at a tray under the counter that held gold watches.
The cheapest watch on the tray sold for over fifteen hundred dollars. The clerk looked her over carefully. Mary was dressed in a miniskirt and a sleeveless top. Her top was skimpy and barely contained her large breasts, but it was obviously expensive. The salesclerk nodded and put the tray of watches on the countertop.
Mary examined the watches until she found the type she was looking for. It sold for almost six thousand dollars. A man walked up to the end of the counter and started talking to the salesclerk. Mary glanced around nervously. No one seemed to be looking her way. Her hand quickly moved from the tray to the inside of her shoulder bag.
Mary turned away from the counter and walked towards the store exit. She could feel her heart pounding, and she fought an urge to run. Just before she reached the exit a hand grasped her upper arm and pulled her to an abrupt halt.
"Just a moment, Miss." The speaker was a hard-faced woman in her thirties, dressed as a Southwind salesclerk. "Store security. I want to look in your handbag."
Mary blustered, "Why do you want to look in my bag? I haven't stolen anything."
"Then there won't be any objection if I look, right?" She opened the bag before Mary could object and started rummaging through it. She held up a gold watch. "Well, well. What is this?"
"That's my watch. I bought it two weeks ago."
"And you never bothered to take the price tag off? Can it, Sweety. I've been watching you ever since you went up to the counter. You didn't buy anything."
The woman produced hinged handcuffs and locked a cuff on Mary's right wrist, spun her around, and locked the other cuff on Mary's left wrist. The move was so swift and unexpected that Mary's hands were fastened behind her back before she could object, much less struggle.
"You're under arrest for grand theft."
"You can't arrest me! You're just a store clerk."
"I'm also a reserve deputy sheriff. I certainly can arrest you." The deputy squeezed the cuffs until they were snug on Mary's wrists, and then gave them one more click so they were just too tight. She made a mental inventory of Mary's assets. Big tits. Narrow waist. Pretty face. Long, honey-blonde hair. This one was definitely a keeper.
The deputy renewed her grip on Mary's arm and pushed her towards the back of the store. "Where are you taking me?" Mary asked. Her voice trembled.
"To see the Security Director. She'll call the police and file the complaint. You do know you've committed a felony, don't you? You're going to go to prison."
Mary was frightened. She blinked back tears. It was so humiliating to be marched through the store in handcuffs. She was relieved when they entered a service elevator and went up to the store offices.
The deputy guided Mary into an office and stood her in front of a desk. "Stay there!" she commanded. She picked up a phone and punched some numbers. "I just paged the Security Director. When she gets here she'll call the police, and you'll be in jail about an hour later."
Mary started to speak, but was interrupted when the office door opened and a woman entered the room. She was dressed in a suit, with her jacket unbuttoned and open. She had a lean body and high, firm breasts, and could have been mistaken for someone in her late twenties except for the fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She gave Mary a long look and then addressed the deputy. "Well, Jackie, whom do we have here?"
"She's a thief, ma'am. I caught her with this watch. It's worth more than five thousand dollars, so it's felony grand theft."
She gave Mary's handbag to the Security Director, who opened it and took out the wallet. The Director found a driver's license and compared Mary's face and the picture on the license.
"Mary, I hope you realize that you're in a lot of trouble." She shook her head. "It's so sad to see a young woman ruin her life with one stupid action."
She looked through the rest of Mary's identification. "I see that you're a sophomore at Sacred Heart College. They're very strict, aren't they? Even if you somehow got probation and managed to stay out of prison you would be expelled. And how is your family going to feel when they learn that you're a criminal? If they're paying for you to go to college they must have hoped you would make something of your life."
Mary was crying now. "Please, can't we work something out? It would kill my parents if I went to prison."
Jackie interrupted. "Not a chance. Southwind has a strict policy of prosecuting all shoplifters. You're going to prison."
"Don't be so harsh, Jackie. It would be tragic if Mary's whole life were destroyed because of one impulsive act."
"Ma'am, we can't just let her go! That would be wrong. She's got to be punished."
"I agree, but it would be a waste if she went to prison. How about community service? Would you do that, Mary? Would you work one night a week for the rest of the semester if it meant that you wouldn't be tried for theft?"
"Oh, yes! I'll do anything if my parents don't have to find out about this." She flexed her arms. "Please, would you take the handcuffs off? They're very tight and painful."
"In a little while. You do understand that this community service will have to be arranged privately? We can't go through the courts because Southwind would insist that you be prosecuted." The Director turned to her computer and called up a document. She typed for a while and then printed the modified document. "This is a confession, Mary, and you're going to have to sign it. This will make it certain that if you don't do the community service you will go to prison. Take the handcuffs off, Jackie."
Mary's hands were dark red and numb. She had to massage them for a while before she could sign the confession.
The Director handed a card to Mary. "Be at this address at seven sharp next Wednesday evening. Wear the same clothes you have on now. And understand this: if you aren't there on Wednesday you will be in jail on Thursday."
Mary babbled thanks while Jackie escorted her to the elevator. When Jackie returned to the office the women exchanged a high five. Jackie said, "That good-cop, bad-cop routine never fails, Alice. She's a beauty. We'll make a fortune."
"I wonder what she'll say when she finds out what kind community she'll service. But who cares? She'll be trapped by then. We make a great team, Jackie."
* * *
On Wednesday Mary appeared promptly at seven. It would be usual for community service to be performed in an office or some public building, but an apartment building was located at the address Alice had given her. The number of the apartment indicated it was on the ground floor. She rang the doorbell, and was not very surprised when Jackie opened the door. Alice was waiting for her inside. She exclaimed, "You're right on time, Mary. Good girl! If you are always this obedient you'll have an easier time of it."
Mary asked, "Is this where I'll be working? And what will I have to do?"
