Chapter 71

At a full run John threw himself into the door, almost breaking it down more with his shoulder than opening it properly by hand. The calamity his entrance made was sudden, followed immediately by feminine gasps and the intimidating sound of a gun being cocked.

"Don't you take one more step!"

Upon his entrance Billie stood up, shocked and horrified. For some hours she had been hijacked by Alvin Karpis and kept in his room, just steps away from everyone else in the theater but still feeling secluded and frightened. Karpis hadn't taken her, rather, he was keeping her. Indefinitely. "It won't be forever," he had said to her ominously as his clammy, rough fingers covered her mouth and restricted her from crying out. "Once he robs that train you'll be free."

It all made horrible sense to her then. When Billie had first been grabbed and shoved and twisted about as if she were as inanimate as a pillow, she had no idea why she'd been attacked. She couldn't recall doing anything worth punishment, but still she did not fight back. Her lack of combat was either bravery or foolishness; she did not sense sudden violence but was still threatened enough to remain silent once Alvin had uncovered her mouth. He told her to be quiet, which he demanded often, and a gun was most always pointed in her direction. Billie had never been at gun-point before. When she was young she had gone hunting with her father and brothers, their grandfather having been a fur trapper and the excursion being a kind of handed down tradition. She was around all kinds of weaponry and even held her brothers prized Minié rifle but never fired it.

It was something how an ordinary object could suddenly hold such severity and instill such terror simply by the person handling it, and the angle in which it was held. A few centimeters made all the difference between mild anxiety and insatiable fear. Billie might have been every kidnappers ideal captive for she was completely compliant and gave no argument. Karpis had handcuffed one of her wrists to a chair in his room. For most of the day she sat, at first shaken and overwhelmed, then feeling a frustrated sense of boredom. The two scantily clad women that roamed the theater and were always at Alvin's side entered the room, smoking, drinking and occasionally playing cards. They didn't speak to each other and Billie didn't mind that. She could hear their pointless chatter and airy giggles and considered overhearing their ignorant banter the real torture.

She wasn't being held captive by Karpis so he could abuse or take advantage of her. Karpis wanted John. It was all about the blasted train and his participation. As the day grew on, Billie knew that John would find her missing and come after her. He wouldn't have to look far but it was still a waiting game. It was then that her boredom was overpowered by worry. John would be primal, and that wasn't even an appropriate description of how the man's tamper would take over his mind and body. Billie knew she would be safe, but what would happen to Alvin or anyone else who became involved in this charade was questionable. In a way it warmed Billie to know that John would literally do anything for her, but she was not intended to be harmed. The chaos that was bound to spin through the situation was what she feared.

When John did appear it was in a kind of whirlwind like she predicted. When he came flying through the door Billie stood, her palm stretched out and open toward him in a gesture that said 'stop.' A second hadn't passed before Alvin's gun was pointed toward him and even when Billie was the one trapped by an infamous kidnapper she was still John's voice of reason.

The sight assaulted John too quickly to comprehend. There was Billie weary and stressed, two nameless women perched back on Karpis' bed with whiskey bottles and cigarettes, and Karpis himself aiming a gun in his direction. There was the slightest glimpse of light near Billie and John's eye was drawn back to her, all of a sudden horrified to notice her delicate wrist was encased in a cuff also connected to the chair she had been sitting in. Urge took over and John stepped forward, ready to grab and release her, when a voice barked and Billie looked near tears.

"No!" her gasp was drowned out by Karpis.

"You take one more step and I'll shoot!" he boomed. When looking down at the barrel of a small pistol John stalled. He was not afraid of Karpis nor was he against taking a bullet (especially for Billie's sake), but in the same way Billie had been obedient he stalled to avoid unnecessary havoc. He looked at Karpis with disgust then his eyes went to Billie, softening almost to sympathy.

"Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?" he uttered, his expression and voice having trouble overcoming the fury he felt. Billie nodded eagerly that she was fine, shaking her head quickly to the latter.

"No, Johnnie, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just do what he says. Please."

Her voice was shaking; begging. John still did not know all the details of the situation and his face showed his bewilderment. He didn't understand and wasn't used to feeling lost, especially in a circumstance like this.

"What?" he breathed, intensely irritated, looking back to Karpis for some kind of explanation. The man could only smirk, it looking like the grin of a weasel.

"You see, John," Alvin began speaking in that manner like nails on a chalkboard. "I always get what I want, but right now you are in the way of that. So, until you agree to my request, she stays with me."

Another wave of fierce emotion shadowed John's face in many ways. He went from being outraged to vengeful in less than a second. Then in a minute he understood completely- on Alvin's desk was the roll of blueprints. He was using Billie to get to himself. In a sense, Billie's capture was John's fault, or that was what Karpis wanted John to believe. John felt repulsed and the lurch of his stomach as his fury became physical.

"Is that what this is about?" his voice grew louder with each word. "Your goddamn train!"

Again Billie held up her hands to urge John to calm down but it was useless. He took a step forward and leaned into Billie, intent on freeing her from the ridiculous binds. She squealed again, then there came a gunshot so piercing her ears began to ring, and the women behind her yelped. In the mix of these noises Billie felt John brush against her and, perhaps for the first time, Billie shoved him away violently. As she stumbled forward her wrist caught within the handcuffs and the chair squeaked under the movement.

It had all happened too fast for anyone to make a proper assessment. When John had moved forward Alvin had fired the gun, Billie pushing John out of the way to somehow impossibly miss hitting him. So startled by the gunshot Billie did feel tears sprouting in her eyes. They had not been in any real danger, Alvin having pointed the gun toward a wall, but it was enough of a warning.

"You hear me now?" he threatened, nearing closer to Billie. Watching his movements one didn't know whether he wanted to hurt the girl or put his arm around her, but Karpis was satisfied with either assumption because it would sicken John. "You get on that train and then you get the girl."

John was fuming. One could practically see the emotions leaving his body in heated sizzles. He was still debating knocking down Karpis and stealing Billie back, but he starred at her face and noticed she was mouthing "please…please…please." He could see in her eyes that she was not worried or scared for herself. She was worried about him. The thought impacted John perhaps more than any other instance before. Good God- she had a gun pointed at her head and all she could think about was John. The awareness of this, of her love, almost made John feel sick. He was greatly overwhelmed, more so than he could recall during any other event in his life- and he had been through more than most.

He was almost intimidated by her love, deeming himself unworthy but also determined to live up to her standards. All these things made him react physically, his body warming dramatically and his nerves shaking, but only his eyes softened as he gazed at her. He would do anything for Billie. He made a decision right then to not let her down, to make sure he reacted logically. He would not retrieve her just then but he would participate in the train robbery and then come back for her. John's eyes drifted over to Karpis, the snake that was coming between them, and his eyes regained their ferocity. When his voice came out it was like a low, deep growl.

"I will kill you."

That statement, almost a promise, was the last thing John left Alvin Karpis to think about.