David's story
The peaceful afternoon of doing errands together with my wife Jenny was shattered by the sound of gunfire and broken glass. Four masked gunmen entered the small neighborhood bank where we had come to deposit our small business' daily receipts. One or both of us came to this bank everyday and nothing like this had ever happened before.
My first instinct was to try to get to my wife's side in some form of protective gesture. But she was about 20 feet away from me. I was in line at the teller before the thieves arrived, and she was sitting with Karl, our banker and our friend. Karl had gotten us our first loan to start our business. We were there for him when his wife died unexpectedly in a car accident two years ago. And he was why we felt as if this bank were as much a part of our business as our service.
That was one consolation of not being able to get to Jenny's side. I knew that Karl would take good care of her. He was a strong and handsome man whose heart had broken when his wife passed. We had all become close, so I knew that Karl would take as much care to protect Jenny as I would.
The gunmen's shouted orders were for us to lie down flat as they surveyed our prone bodies for signs of movement or hostility. All told, there were about 9 hostages, including employees of the bank and visitors. Two older women were immediately released and told to run home and keep quiet.
The robbers seemed only slightly hurried. Once they had established control of the environment, and surveyed the status of the teller cash drawers, they then ordered Jenny, Karl and two other visitors to follow them to the back of the bank. Two of the robbers watched over the rest of us. Then, we were told to go back to a different room in the back. The rooms were portioned only by a half wall and a somewhat transparent frosted window. We were ordered to strip to our underwear. The two men with me, one a teller and one a customer, were ordered to stand face to face. Then, the robbers wrapped them tightly together with duct tape, with each man forced to put his hands around the other. Then, they were laid down like mummies.
Since I was the last person, they decided to wrap me to a large office chair. They placed cloth handkerchiefs in our mouths and then put duct tape over. We were locked down tight, with only the hope that an alarm had been sounded or the women would report to give us hope of relief from our capture.
After that, the robbers left us, and turned off as many lights as they could. I did not dare move until I was sure that they had gone. I figured that I waited for 30 minutes before I began to test my bonds. The men in front of me had started to find some way to escape from each other. They were obviously uncomfortable and desperate for separation. They were trying to exert force against each other to try to break the tape, but it was too thick and too tight.
I began to realize that I had some ability to move my chair. As I tested it, I started to move closer to the half wall and window. I was desperate to see if Karl and Jenny were safe and sound. After ten minutes of strain, I was able to get close enough to the window to peer in and check on the other hostages.
I was unable to see the other two hostages, and could only assume they were bound and either in this room or another, or perhaps in the vault. I could however, see Karl and Jenny. From what I could make out, they too were stripped to underwear. Karl was in colorful boxers and Jenny was in very brief, almost thong like panties and a sheer bra. Like the men with me, they were bound face to face, and their bodies were locked together. I could tell that they were both perspiring from the stress and strain of their capture.
They had been bound longer and it appeared that had made more progress in freeing themselves. Both had been able to remove the tape and gags from their mouths, with the small strips hanging off their cheeks. It also appeared that they had been able to get a little room between them and they kept rubbing up together to try to move the tape that held them together. If it weren't for the sheer terror of our situation, the scene would have been almost erotic. Every time Jenny would move against Karl, I could see her chest strain against the bra. She continued to move up against Karl, and then down again, trying to loosen the bonds.
"Good girl," I thought. With the effort, they were getting damper and damper, which was sure to make the task of freeing themselves easier. With each passing minute, I could see them making slow but steady progress. Jenny's hands were now loose enough that she could hold them behind Karl's head. He proceeded to lie on his back with Jenny on top of him so that she could continue to slide back and forth against him. I couldn't see very clearly but their movements were becoming more steady and intentional. It was becoming clear that they would be able to free themselves and us quite soon.
I still couldn't say a word because of my gag, and the men in front of me were not making nearly as much progress. I tried to slide my chair further to see if I could get a better angle on Karl and Jenny's escape, but with one ill-fated push, the chair tipped over and there were out of site. I almost cried in frustration and helplessness. It took another 30 minutes for Jenny and Karl to escape and let us all out, longer than I thought it would based on the efforts they were making. I could hear them making noises, which got louder and louder at times as, I assumed, the neared escape.
When they finally came to free us, they looked totally exhausted and spent. I felt so sorry for them, but they released us quickly and called the police. They clung to each other as if the tape was still wrapped to them. I completely understood. They had found a way to escape and save all of us.
Jenny's story
My husband is right. We love that bank. It has helped us make many of our dreams come true. But what happened that afternoon started out terrifying and became something else. I've just read David's description of the events of the day, and everything he described is just as it happened. But I wanted to share some other things that he couldn't make out, because it helps explain some things.
First of all, Karl is a good friend. He is a terrific man and the loss of his wife was a real shock. But two years later, Karl was healing and he was obviously showing an interest in me. Of course, I was married and had no plans to endanger that, no matter how nice or attractive Karl was.
So there we were, bound together, nearly naked. I could feel his heart against mine. The crooks had taken some prurient delight in binding my legs so that they were spread around Karl's, leaving us pressed together at the waist and chest. We were terrified and tried to remain still and silent. Only our breathing was heard as we waited to see if our captors would come back or if they were truly gone. (or should the duct tape stay on, so the entire escapade is wordless?) After a time, I noticed that Karl was making progress removing the duct tape on his mouth. I tried with mine, but I couldn't seem to make any progress. Fortunately, our captors had not wrapped the tape completely around our heads, or else any efforts would have been futile. I could move my mouth and that would slide the tape, but I couldn't make it move. Karl was somehow able to push the cloth out of his mouth with his tongue and then use the tip of his tongue to move the tape away from his mouth.
"hold still," he whispered as he moved his mouth close to mine. With a delicate and precise touch, he was able to get his teeth around a corner of the duct tape and pull it off my mouth. Fresh air filled my lungs as we both began to breathe more normally.
This still left us bound together. We whispered as quietly as we could, trying to decide whether we should yell or not.
"I think we should stay quiet for now. If we make noise, we may lose the progress we've made if they come back." Karl advised. He was right. I didn't want that gag back on. But that left us side by side bound together.
"Try to rock and see if we can move the tape," Karl suggested. I nodded but there was no way to get any leverage.
"Let's try with me on my back. Can you move your arms?"