Chapter Eight: Cat and Mouse
Gus reached downtown and for the past hour he had been trying to loose his tail. Nighttime has fallen over the town as he glanced again at the side view mirror of the pick-up truck he 'borrowed'. He told himself for the umpteenth time. The brown colored pick-up truck has been following him and took another turn and glanced at the rearview mirror, the truck wasn't following him now. He drove to couple more streets before stopping in front a laundry mat. He alighted from the vehicle and went across the street. There was a phone booth and he immediately tabbed the numbers he needed to call. Despite the seeming difficulty of hiding the binds from onlookers, he managed to place a call and waited to be patch through the concerned party on the end of the line. Placing the hand set properly to his ear, he felt something else was inside his shirt pocket. He groped for it with his fingers and finally caught it between his forefinger and thumb. It was small box-like instrument that had a steady light blinking on its front face.
"A trace!" he muttered under his breath and dropped the bug to the ground and stomped it with his heel. A satisfying crunch was heard. He glanced up and down the street looking for that brown pick-up truck. There was a click in the phone line and a voice came a second later. "Sorry for not responding quickly," a male voice said on the other line.
"Sam, its Gus. Davenport had me holed for almost a day. He changed his security lay out of his study." Gus reported.
"Are you all right?" Sam Douglas asked in concern with his friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've managed to escape from the warehouse and I'm in downtown, though I'm not out in the woods yet." He breathed.
"We'll picked you up…" Sam told him but he was cut short.
"No, Sam, there's no time. I also have found some files from Davenport's safe indicating he's connected with the baby marketing operations. One of it, probably." Gus said.
"We'll add that to the other charges when we get him tonight at midnight." Sam told him assuredly.
"Sam, about the meeting place," he rushed off with the information. " They'll be at Delago's warehouse instead."
"Are you sure?" Sam wasn't about to pull out the operation and relocate almost a dozen men to a new location unless Gus was correct with his gathered data.
"I'm not thinking it as a suggestion, Sam. I believe that's his new meeting place all right." Gus answered him.
"But how did he know the previous set up was covered?" Sam wondered out loud. Gus was about to reply when Sam remarked.
"No, don't answer that. He must have some ears here as well."
"Who could it be?" Gus asked.
"I don't know. But we'll fish him out. I'll let Greene know about it. Gus, you told me about the baby marketing files. Any names?" Sam was interested to know.
"Bill Hicks, is indeed his connection and Davenport has still the babies' files with him. By the way, remember Julie Davenport, his adopted child?" Gus waited for a response.
"Yes, what about her?"
"Well, it seems that Julie was a product of that scam, unfortunately." He voice was quiet. He had grown to love Julie and hated the idea that she was caught in the crossfire of this sordid business. He vowed that he'd help find her true parents.
"There were other baby files but I can only remember four names." He added.
"Where you able to get Julie's real name?" Sam asked.
"Yes." Gus paused as he tried to recall the name. "Her real name was Janine Douglas. Maybe we can track her parents down or her surviving relatives." Gus suggested but stopped when he noticed that there was only empty air at the other end of the line.
"Sam?"
Sam Douglas felt numbed that he almost dropped the phone in his hand. He sank on the chair and closed his eyes. He opened them again and looked at the handset, dazed from hearing his lost daughter's name. Outside the room, Sam saw the other agents preparing for tonight's operation, unaware of what just happened to him.
"Sam?" a voice called from behind him. "You, okay." Greene said as he approached his now seated friend and was close enough to hear the insistent voice on the phone.
"Are you going to answer that?" Greene asked pointing at the handset that Sam was holding.
FBI agent Sam Douglas blinked and he felt his breath went a little ragged. He tried to keep his emotions in check. Agent's Greene's face seemed to loom in front of him.
"We might have some change of plans." He faintly said. Greene looked at him and glanced at the phone.
"Sam, are you still there?" Gus frantically asked.
"Yeah, I'm here." He blinked again. " Gus," he began. "Did I hear you right? Did you just say Janine Douglas?" Sam clarified.
Agent Greene's brows went up in surprise as he hears the name. He was curious and waited for Sam to end his conversation with the other man.
"That's right, Sam." Confirmed Gus. "I was shocked. I loved Julie like a niece and never have thought, she was taken away from a family she rightly belongs too." The man added and then he became puzzled. "Why, Sam? Have you come across a Janine Douglas before?"
"Gus," Sam slowly said, holding his breath. "Janine's my long lost daughter. She was taken from the hospital at three days after she was born. We haven't found any traces of her being alive till now." He expelled his breath slowly as he let the words sink in. Now, it was Gus who went silent. Minutes passed and finally he spoke up.
"I'll go back to the main house and get her out. Probably tell her an excuse, so you can finish this with Davenport." Gus suggested.
Sam agreed to the plan. It would be best to get her to safety before things get too ugly. Soon a million things erupted in his mind. His thoughts were crowding each other. He couldn't believed the girl he had met two days ago was/is his daughter Janine! He took a deep breath. It would not do him any good if he were getting emotional. He has a job to do and now is a crucial time to get going.
"After all this time," Sam's voice was low. "I'll make him see to it that he'll pay for the pain and sufferings he had caused to the families he had robbed babies from." He said with a taint of anger in his tone. The buried anger and frustration he had kept inside, revived.
Sam glanced at his friend Greene who grasped his shoulders. "We'd better talk." Greene quietly said and moved away. Sam acknowledged by giving him a nod.
"He'll get his due, Sam." Gus remarked hoping to calm his friend.
Sam breathed deeply and looked at his wristwatch. "We can pull this change of location. We still have four hours before midnight." Sam told him.
"Okay, later then."
"Wait, Gus. Do you think you can get hold of those files?" asked Sam. He wanted to see the files himself.
"I'll see what I can do, Sam." There was uncertainty in his voice, which Sam noted. He knew that without the files, the FBI wont be able to pin the baby marketing operation on Davenport and Julie with the rest of those four names will not be reunited any time sooner to their proper families.
******
"Well? Where did he go?" Ellis demanded as he turned to his partner, Thornton who was behind the wheel. They were aimlessly driving around town, as Ellis put it and it was making Ellis dizzy.
"Quite, whining and pay attention to the monitor." Thornton grumbled and pointed at the instrument on the dashboard.
"He's not on the monitor, Henry." Ellis pointed out to him and glanced at the junction ahead. "I knew it was a bad idea hung back when we should have been closing the gap between him and us."
"Hey! I didn't hear you telling me a thing back then." Thornton barked. He slowed the truck and along with his partner, they searched for the truck or Gus himself on the streets. They turned into another street and another intersection when they saw him crossing the street away from the phone booths.
Henry laughed. " Now, we got you." He gunned the engine and the truck lurched forward with the sudden burst of energy from its engine. The vehicle gobbled up the remaining meters in seconds and with a screeching halt despite throwing its occupants forward, they immediately regained their bearings and ran towards Gus.
Gus turned to his right when he heard a screeching sound of brakes squealing from a sudden stop. He couldn't clearly see who were inside the truck but he had a bad feeling about the approaching men. It was Davenport's men after they stepped out from the glare of the lights. He jumped into the truck but decided to against using the vehicle because he was wedged close by to other vehicles He saw from the rearview mirror. He opened the passenger door just when one of Davenport's men reached the door and was trying to open it. With a hard push, the other man fell to the ground, the wind taken away from him when he hit the ground. Gus jumped out of the truck and headed to one of the alleys. Henry looked down at his companion. He was clearly annoyed.
"Come on!" He urged Ellis to his feet by grabbing him by the arm. Soon the two ran after Gus.
The chase let them to a lot of alleyways. Gus tried his best to out ran them and out-figure them too. He threw trashcans, crates, boxes or whatever anything he could throw at their path. But the men still came after him.
Gus began to feel the tightening of his chest. He knew the pain was either the result of the beating he endured or it came from the strain of running for so long. His breathing came in short gaps. He better think of something fast. I don't think Davenport will give me another chance to escape. He said to himself.
He grimaces when his left leg started to cramp. His eyes frantically darted from side to side, searching for a hiding place, there were now suitable places for cover. He rounded up a corner and pushed his legs even further. He zigzagged it the crowd hoping it would confuse his pursuers. After a full five-minute maneuver, he quickly ducks inside a boutique store. Gus panted as he tried to catch his breath. He later noticed a startled lady looking at him. He glanced around the boutique, there were no one else. He started to walk towards her but stopped.
"Wait," Gus said still heaving. He raised his bound hands in the air. The manner made the woman moved back another step.
"Please, I'm not going to harm you. I need only your help." Heaving another breath. His gaze strayed back to the front of the boutique. Davenport's man just went inside the store that was sitting across from where he is. If they're thinking of going through from one store to another, he's in trouble. He went to the entrance and saw the second guy just coming out of the store before this one. He quickly turned away from the window and saw the lady wasn't by the counter anymore. Oh…oh…oh…
He dashed here and there, looking for a place to hide. He ducked just when the door chimes jangle that a 'customer' came in. Gus began to crawl on the floor still hoping to find a place to hide. Where…Where? His mind repeatedly asked. The path to the dressing rooms was too obvious from where Davenport's man was standing. He momentarily stopped as he listened at the angry outbursts from the fellow. He found himself looking up at group of mannequins.
If you think you can't hide sometimes the place to hide is in the open. Julie once told him that. When she was only ten years old.
Suddenly it hit him, the mannequins. Quickly, he took a pair of dark shades from a nearby display. He used a gel that was lying in another display near the mannequins and slicked his hair back. He found it extremely difficult with the binds on. Lastly, he wore a mannequin's cap and struck a pose at the business section of the store.
A few minutes ago, Ellis came barging into the boutique store when some guy he was positive that it was Gus looking out from the glass door. Now, that he was inside, no one seems to be tending it. It looked suspicious.
"HEY! ANYBODY HOME?" he smirked at his own joke while making his inspection.
From her hiding place by the fitting room, the woman drew back the heavy curtain and was in time to see the first man slicking his hair with a gel tube and posed as one of the mannequins in the display. She had just finished a call to the police when another guy abruptly came to her store, shouting and banging the counter. Summoning all her nerves to calm down, she straightened her dress and calmly walked out from the fitting room carrying clothes. The man gave a cold stare and suspiciously glances at the fitting rooms.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked in a most unaffected tone when she reached him and placed the clothes to a nearby basket. She forced herself not to glance at the direction of the mannequins.
"Took a long time for you come out, lady. Is that how you treat your customers? You want them to wait for you." Ellis remarked in a gruff manner.
The woman raised her brow and disdainfully looked at him. "Not to most customers, no." She replied in a solid tone and looked straight at him.
The man moved away from the counter and was going towards the fitting rooms and began inspecting them.
"I'm sorry but what business do you have with this boutique that you think you own this place and walk in here whenever it pleases you." Came the biting tirade from the woman. "Leave this store now!" She demanded and pressed the re-dial button but a sharp stabbing pain shot on head as she fell to the floor trying to reach for her mobile phone that slipped out from her hand. She felt her forehead and noticed tenderness on the area when her finger touched it.
"The way I see it, lady." The man began. "You're hiding the guy I'm looking inside your store." Roughing her up as he grabs her by the arms and making her stand up.
"What guy? What are you talking about? Let go of me!" She glared at him. Ellis didn't listen and continued. "When my friend comes in here, we'll find him." He bets.
The woman squirmed in his grip and was in time to see the man posing as a mannequin moved.
"No!" She screamed. It was more of a warning for the guy on the mannequin display stands than for her. She squirmed again. "Keep your slimy hands to yourself, you brute!" Then drove her heel so hard on the man's instep.
"Yaw!" the man exclaimed as he shoves her hard the floor. She quickly crawled out of the way at the same time the bells jangled again. The man straightened up thinking it was his partner Thornton who has arrived and was joining him.
"Thornton, glad of you to join me, he's here." Ellis reported and spun to face two barrels of the guns at him.
"Freeze, LAPD." The police officer ordered. Beside him was a woman who made an assessment of the room through the quick movements of her eyes.
The store woman breath a sigh of relief but remained on the floor and waited.
"We can do this quietly without anyone getting hurt." The uniformed officer said.
Ellis gulped as he watched the two officers came for him and since he was still wincing in pain, he was completely overcome by the big officer. Couple of clicks sounded as he was handcuffed and escorted back to the waiting squad car parked outside the front store.
"It's all right, now. Ma'am." The police officer was looking around for her. The woman stood up from her hiding place where the officer came to her.
"Thank goodness. It's all over." Breathing out a relief and straightened out her blouse and skirt. The two walked away from the racks.
"I'll be needing your statement, Ma'am." She reached out for a small notebook and studied the woman relating to her a bad experience. After telling her statement, the woman whom later identified as Pricilla Kerns said goodbye to the two officers after thanking them.
Pricilla heaved another breath while locking the front entrance of the boutique store and placed the inverted CLOSE sign on the door. She drew the curtains of the store and switched on several lights inside the store. She was curiously looking at the new mannequin by the business suit area. Looking directly at the 'new' mannequin she said. "You can stop impersonating a mannequin now. They're gone. No one's in the store except us." And waited.
Then his eyes moved as his body relaxed. He gingerly picks his way down from the display and looking embarrassed at the woman. He returned the cap to her.
"Sorry about this. But it was the only thing I could think off at that time." Gus told the woman.
Stifling a laugh, the woman remarked. "I can tell you make a very convincing mannequin."
Gus face reddened as he smiled. Despite the funny circumstances, he suddenly went serious.
"I have to go now." He said as he moved away. "Thank you, for playing along and not turning me over to the police."
The woman nodded. " Be careful and… I just may have for those binds." She said and left the room. A few minutes later she emerged from the fitting room bringing with her a Swiss Army Knife. With the help of the store- lady, the piece of rope that bound his wrists was cut.
Massaging his wrists, Gus thanked the lady and began looking for the exit door.
"You can use the back door." She pointed at the exit way.
The man left heading back to where he left the pickup truck. He reached the vehicle and started the engine. He checked both ways of the street and drove to the direction of Ridgemont.
Gus reached downtown and for the past hour he had been trying to loose his tail. Nighttime has fallen over the town as he glanced again at the side view mirror of the pick-up truck he 'borrowed'. He told himself for the umpteenth time. The brown colored pick-up truck has been following him and took another turn and glanced at the rearview mirror, the truck wasn't following him now. He drove to couple more streets before stopping in front a laundry mat. He alighted from the vehicle and went across the street. There was a phone booth and he immediately tabbed the numbers he needed to call. Despite the seeming difficulty of hiding the binds from onlookers, he managed to place a call and waited to be patch through the concerned party on the end of the line. Placing the hand set properly to his ear, he felt something else was inside his shirt pocket. He groped for it with his fingers and finally caught it between his forefinger and thumb. It was small box-like instrument that had a steady light blinking on its front face.
"A trace!" he muttered under his breath and dropped the bug to the ground and stomped it with his heel. A satisfying crunch was heard. He glanced up and down the street looking for that brown pick-up truck. There was a click in the phone line and a voice came a second later. "Sorry for not responding quickly," a male voice said on the other line.
"Sam, its Gus. Davenport had me holed for almost a day. He changed his security lay out of his study." Gus reported.
"Are you all right?" Sam Douglas asked in concern with his friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've managed to escape from the warehouse and I'm in downtown, though I'm not out in the woods yet." He breathed.
"We'll picked you up…" Sam told him but he was cut short.
"No, Sam, there's no time. I also have found some files from Davenport's safe indicating he's connected with the baby marketing operations. One of it, probably." Gus said.
"We'll add that to the other charges when we get him tonight at midnight." Sam told him assuredly.
"Sam, about the meeting place," he rushed off with the information. " They'll be at Delago's warehouse instead."
"Are you sure?" Sam wasn't about to pull out the operation and relocate almost a dozen men to a new location unless Gus was correct with his gathered data.
"I'm not thinking it as a suggestion, Sam. I believe that's his new meeting place all right." Gus answered him.
"But how did he know the previous set up was covered?" Sam wondered out loud. Gus was about to reply when Sam remarked.
"No, don't answer that. He must have some ears here as well."
"Who could it be?" Gus asked.
"I don't know. But we'll fish him out. I'll let Greene know about it. Gus, you told me about the baby marketing files. Any names?" Sam was interested to know.
"Bill Hicks, is indeed his connection and Davenport has still the babies' files with him. By the way, remember Julie Davenport, his adopted child?" Gus waited for a response.
"Yes, what about her?"
"Well, it seems that Julie was a product of that scam, unfortunately." He voice was quiet. He had grown to love Julie and hated the idea that she was caught in the crossfire of this sordid business. He vowed that he'd help find her true parents.
"There were other baby files but I can only remember four names." He added.
"Where you able to get Julie's real name?" Sam asked.
"Yes." Gus paused as he tried to recall the name. "Her real name was Janine Douglas. Maybe we can track her parents down or her surviving relatives." Gus suggested but stopped when he noticed that there was only empty air at the other end of the line.
"Sam?"
Sam Douglas felt numbed that he almost dropped the phone in his hand. He sank on the chair and closed his eyes. He opened them again and looked at the handset, dazed from hearing his lost daughter's name. Outside the room, Sam saw the other agents preparing for tonight's operation, unaware of what just happened to him.
"Sam?" a voice called from behind him. "You, okay." Greene said as he approached his now seated friend and was close enough to hear the insistent voice on the phone.
"Are you going to answer that?" Greene asked pointing at the handset that Sam was holding.
FBI agent Sam Douglas blinked and he felt his breath went a little ragged. He tried to keep his emotions in check. Agent's Greene's face seemed to loom in front of him.
"We might have some change of plans." He faintly said. Greene looked at him and glanced at the phone.
"Sam, are you still there?" Gus frantically asked.
"Yeah, I'm here." He blinked again. " Gus," he began. "Did I hear you right? Did you just say Janine Douglas?" Sam clarified.
Agent Greene's brows went up in surprise as he hears the name. He was curious and waited for Sam to end his conversation with the other man.
"That's right, Sam." Confirmed Gus. "I was shocked. I loved Julie like a niece and never have thought, she was taken away from a family she rightly belongs too." The man added and then he became puzzled. "Why, Sam? Have you come across a Janine Douglas before?"
"Gus," Sam slowly said, holding his breath. "Janine's my long lost daughter. She was taken from the hospital at three days after she was born. We haven't found any traces of her being alive till now." He expelled his breath slowly as he let the words sink in. Now, it was Gus who went silent. Minutes passed and finally he spoke up.
"I'll go back to the main house and get her out. Probably tell her an excuse, so you can finish this with Davenport." Gus suggested.
Sam agreed to the plan. It would be best to get her to safety before things get too ugly. Soon a million things erupted in his mind. His thoughts were crowding each other. He couldn't believed the girl he had met two days ago was/is his daughter Janine! He took a deep breath. It would not do him any good if he were getting emotional. He has a job to do and now is a crucial time to get going.
"After all this time," Sam's voice was low. "I'll make him see to it that he'll pay for the pain and sufferings he had caused to the families he had robbed babies from." He said with a taint of anger in his tone. The buried anger and frustration he had kept inside, revived.
Sam glanced at his friend Greene who grasped his shoulders. "We'd better talk." Greene quietly said and moved away. Sam acknowledged by giving him a nod.
"He'll get his due, Sam." Gus remarked hoping to calm his friend.
Sam breathed deeply and looked at his wristwatch. "We can pull this change of location. We still have four hours before midnight." Sam told him.
"Okay, later then."
"Wait, Gus. Do you think you can get hold of those files?" asked Sam. He wanted to see the files himself.
"I'll see what I can do, Sam." There was uncertainty in his voice, which Sam noted. He knew that without the files, the FBI wont be able to pin the baby marketing operation on Davenport and Julie with the rest of those four names will not be reunited any time sooner to their proper families.
******
"Well? Where did he go?" Ellis demanded as he turned to his partner, Thornton who was behind the wheel. They were aimlessly driving around town, as Ellis put it and it was making Ellis dizzy.
"Quite, whining and pay attention to the monitor." Thornton grumbled and pointed at the instrument on the dashboard.
"He's not on the monitor, Henry." Ellis pointed out to him and glanced at the junction ahead. "I knew it was a bad idea hung back when we should have been closing the gap between him and us."
"Hey! I didn't hear you telling me a thing back then." Thornton barked. He slowed the truck and along with his partner, they searched for the truck or Gus himself on the streets. They turned into another street and another intersection when they saw him crossing the street away from the phone booths.
Henry laughed. " Now, we got you." He gunned the engine and the truck lurched forward with the sudden burst of energy from its engine. The vehicle gobbled up the remaining meters in seconds and with a screeching halt despite throwing its occupants forward, they immediately regained their bearings and ran towards Gus.
Gus turned to his right when he heard a screeching sound of brakes squealing from a sudden stop. He couldn't clearly see who were inside the truck but he had a bad feeling about the approaching men. It was Davenport's men after they stepped out from the glare of the lights. He jumped into the truck but decided to against using the vehicle because he was wedged close by to other vehicles He saw from the rearview mirror. He opened the passenger door just when one of Davenport's men reached the door and was trying to open it. With a hard push, the other man fell to the ground, the wind taken away from him when he hit the ground. Gus jumped out of the truck and headed to one of the alleys. Henry looked down at his companion. He was clearly annoyed.
"Come on!" He urged Ellis to his feet by grabbing him by the arm. Soon the two ran after Gus.
The chase let them to a lot of alleyways. Gus tried his best to out ran them and out-figure them too. He threw trashcans, crates, boxes or whatever anything he could throw at their path. But the men still came after him.
Gus began to feel the tightening of his chest. He knew the pain was either the result of the beating he endured or it came from the strain of running for so long. His breathing came in short gaps. He better think of something fast. I don't think Davenport will give me another chance to escape. He said to himself.
He grimaces when his left leg started to cramp. His eyes frantically darted from side to side, searching for a hiding place, there were now suitable places for cover. He rounded up a corner and pushed his legs even further. He zigzagged it the crowd hoping it would confuse his pursuers. After a full five-minute maneuver, he quickly ducks inside a boutique store. Gus panted as he tried to catch his breath. He later noticed a startled lady looking at him. He glanced around the boutique, there were no one else. He started to walk towards her but stopped.
"Wait," Gus said still heaving. He raised his bound hands in the air. The manner made the woman moved back another step.
"Please, I'm not going to harm you. I need only your help." Heaving another breath. His gaze strayed back to the front of the boutique. Davenport's man just went inside the store that was sitting across from where he is. If they're thinking of going through from one store to another, he's in trouble. He went to the entrance and saw the second guy just coming out of the store before this one. He quickly turned away from the window and saw the lady wasn't by the counter anymore. Oh…oh…oh…
He dashed here and there, looking for a place to hide. He ducked just when the door chimes jangle that a 'customer' came in. Gus began to crawl on the floor still hoping to find a place to hide. Where…Where? His mind repeatedly asked. The path to the dressing rooms was too obvious from where Davenport's man was standing. He momentarily stopped as he listened at the angry outbursts from the fellow. He found himself looking up at group of mannequins.
If you think you can't hide sometimes the place to hide is in the open. Julie once told him that. When she was only ten years old.
Suddenly it hit him, the mannequins. Quickly, he took a pair of dark shades from a nearby display. He used a gel that was lying in another display near the mannequins and slicked his hair back. He found it extremely difficult with the binds on. Lastly, he wore a mannequin's cap and struck a pose at the business section of the store.
A few minutes ago, Ellis came barging into the boutique store when some guy he was positive that it was Gus looking out from the glass door. Now, that he was inside, no one seems to be tending it. It looked suspicious.
"HEY! ANYBODY HOME?" he smirked at his own joke while making his inspection.
From her hiding place by the fitting room, the woman drew back the heavy curtain and was in time to see the first man slicking his hair with a gel tube and posed as one of the mannequins in the display. She had just finished a call to the police when another guy abruptly came to her store, shouting and banging the counter. Summoning all her nerves to calm down, she straightened her dress and calmly walked out from the fitting room carrying clothes. The man gave a cold stare and suspiciously glances at the fitting rooms.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked in a most unaffected tone when she reached him and placed the clothes to a nearby basket. She forced herself not to glance at the direction of the mannequins.
"Took a long time for you come out, lady. Is that how you treat your customers? You want them to wait for you." Ellis remarked in a gruff manner.
The woman raised her brow and disdainfully looked at him. "Not to most customers, no." She replied in a solid tone and looked straight at him.
The man moved away from the counter and was going towards the fitting rooms and began inspecting them.
"I'm sorry but what business do you have with this boutique that you think you own this place and walk in here whenever it pleases you." Came the biting tirade from the woman. "Leave this store now!" She demanded and pressed the re-dial button but a sharp stabbing pain shot on head as she fell to the floor trying to reach for her mobile phone that slipped out from her hand. She felt her forehead and noticed tenderness on the area when her finger touched it.
"The way I see it, lady." The man began. "You're hiding the guy I'm looking inside your store." Roughing her up as he grabs her by the arms and making her stand up.
"What guy? What are you talking about? Let go of me!" She glared at him. Ellis didn't listen and continued. "When my friend comes in here, we'll find him." He bets.
The woman squirmed in his grip and was in time to see the man posing as a mannequin moved.
"No!" She screamed. It was more of a warning for the guy on the mannequin display stands than for her. She squirmed again. "Keep your slimy hands to yourself, you brute!" Then drove her heel so hard on the man's instep.
"Yaw!" the man exclaimed as he shoves her hard the floor. She quickly crawled out of the way at the same time the bells jangled again. The man straightened up thinking it was his partner Thornton who has arrived and was joining him.
"Thornton, glad of you to join me, he's here." Ellis reported and spun to face two barrels of the guns at him.
"Freeze, LAPD." The police officer ordered. Beside him was a woman who made an assessment of the room through the quick movements of her eyes.
The store woman breath a sigh of relief but remained on the floor and waited.
"We can do this quietly without anyone getting hurt." The uniformed officer said.
Ellis gulped as he watched the two officers came for him and since he was still wincing in pain, he was completely overcome by the big officer. Couple of clicks sounded as he was handcuffed and escorted back to the waiting squad car parked outside the front store.
"It's all right, now. Ma'am." The police officer was looking around for her. The woman stood up from her hiding place where the officer came to her.
"Thank goodness. It's all over." Breathing out a relief and straightened out her blouse and skirt. The two walked away from the racks.
"I'll be needing your statement, Ma'am." She reached out for a small notebook and studied the woman relating to her a bad experience. After telling her statement, the woman whom later identified as Pricilla Kerns said goodbye to the two officers after thanking them.
Pricilla heaved another breath while locking the front entrance of the boutique store and placed the inverted CLOSE sign on the door. She drew the curtains of the store and switched on several lights inside the store. She was curiously looking at the new mannequin by the business suit area. Looking directly at the 'new' mannequin she said. "You can stop impersonating a mannequin now. They're gone. No one's in the store except us." And waited.
Then his eyes moved as his body relaxed. He gingerly picks his way down from the display and looking embarrassed at the woman. He returned the cap to her.
"Sorry about this. But it was the only thing I could think off at that time." Gus told the woman.
Stifling a laugh, the woman remarked. "I can tell you make a very convincing mannequin."
Gus face reddened as he smiled. Despite the funny circumstances, he suddenly went serious.
"I have to go now." He said as he moved away. "Thank you, for playing along and not turning me over to the police."
The woman nodded. " Be careful and… I just may have for those binds." She said and left the room. A few minutes later she emerged from the fitting room bringing with her a Swiss Army Knife. With the help of the store- lady, the piece of rope that bound his wrists was cut.
Massaging his wrists, Gus thanked the lady and began looking for the exit door.
"You can use the back door." She pointed at the exit way.
The man left heading back to where he left the pickup truck. He reached the vehicle and started the engine. He checked both ways of the street and drove to the direction of Ridgemont.