Today had been the pits. It has just been one thing after the other going wrong and causing problems. At home, on the way to work and at work.
Tess and really thought that things had hit a new low when that nice man had smiled and then pulled a gun. He had politely requested that she gather up all the money from the tills, and for all his formal politeness the gun dictated the rules.
So she'd gone along the tills, gather all the cash for him with everyone giving her killing looks, as if it was her idea. Then, when she'd handed the money over to him, things got worse.
She was a hostage. A frigging hostage. He'd told everyone not to come out and try to chase him or she might get shot. From the look on the manager's face, he seemed to think it'd be worth it.
Tess was hustled over to a car that was parked nearby with its engine running.
"You drive," she was told. "I'll give directions."
"I can't drive," she'd told him, to be answered with a flat "Bullshit," and a wave of the gun. She'd remembered how quite quickly at that.
Now she was driving away from the scene of the crime, expecting cops to start chasing her at any moment and bullets to be whizzing past her head.
Following directions she was off the main roads and going along a number of side streets, when the robber calmly informed her, "The place with the white fence on your left. Turn in and drive into the garage."
Tess turned into the nominated place and saw that the garage doors were rolling up. She drove smartly under them and saw the robber press the remote control that lowered the doors.
He then laughed and got out of the car, indicating that she should do the same.
"The owner of this place is at work, so I thought I'd borrow his garage for a while. I'll depart in a short while and be long gone before the cops are around. I'll be back home interstate before you know it."
Tess gave him a sour look. "If I'm lucky, you'll be pulled over and the cops will see all that stolen money," she snarled at him.
"Won't happen," she was calmly told. "I've made arrangements for the money to travel separately to me. Even if stopped, the cops will have no reason to suspect me. Now, to some personal business."
Tess watched, puzzled, as he took out his wallet and extracted a small wad of notes that he fanned out for her to see. It looked like a thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills. He also pulled out a small envelope, complete with stamp, but no address. While Tess watched he tucked the thousand dollars into the envelope, sealed it and slipped it back into his pocket.
"Before I leave," the robber told her, "I'll have to tie you up and leave you here, so you can't go running and calling the cops too fast. Plenty of sharp objects around, you will notice, and with your hands tied in front of you, you should be able to get free after ten minutes or so.
You'll find that there's a couple of small shops just up around the corner, with a public phone and a post box. Once you're free, you can do one of two things.
You can head for those shops, hop on the phone and call the cops, and they'll come running.
Alternatively, you can write your name and address on this envelope," tapping his pocket where the envelope of money rested, "then head for the shops, drop the envelope in the post box and then hop on the phone, etc. etc."
The robber paused in his little speech, and smiled at Tess.
"Now, you're wondering why I would give you a thousand dollars, aren't you? And it was my own money you will have noted, taken from my own wallet. Not part of the generous donation your employer has just made to my retirement fund, so you're not aiding and abetting the robbery if you accept it.
The way it works is quite simple. I grabbed you as hostage because you were the prettiest woman there, and I get terribly horny after a little coup like this. The thousand dollar question is, will you drop your panties and bend over while I give you a farewell present before tying you up and leaving?"
Tess paled. "You mean you're going to rape me?"
