She moved away from him and picked up her clothes. She managed to clean her breasts a little with a tissue from a box on Frank’s desk and quickly dressed without speaking a word. Finally, when she was fully dressed she turned to Frank who was re-arranging his clothing into some semblance of order.
“Right, I’ve done what you wanted. You promised me that if I gave you oral sex you would let me off the shoplifting charge and not call the police. You even said I could keep the watch I stole.”
Frank nodded slowly. His eyes looked heavy and he had a strange half-smile on his face which worried Karen.
“I did” he replied, “and I meant it. You’re free to go.”
He reached out and stroked her breast clumsily with his large, hairy hand. Karen flinched and pulled away from his touch.
“Just don’t let me catch you in my store again. Do you hear?”
“Don’t worry” replied Karen. “You won’t see me in here again.”
She picked up her handbag which had been sitting on the corner of the table and unlocked the door. Frank followed her out of the office and led her up the stairs out of the dark basement and back into the brightly lit, respectable world she had not been a part of for a short while. He accompanied her to a hidden door which was used as an exit by staff members and provided a discrete means of removing shoplifters and troublemakers from the store with the minimum of fuss. As she was about to escape this nightmare he put his arm across the doorway and blocked her path. He looked puzzled.
“You remind me of somebody I met once. Have you got a sister?” he asked.
Karen’s blood froze for a second. Why was he asking her this all of a sudden? What did he suspect?
“Yes I have.” She replied cautiously. “She’s eight years younger than me. Why?”
Frank shook his head. “I’m thinking of somebody older. Forget it.”
“Remember what I said. Don’t let me catch you in here again.” He warned. “Unless of course you want to earn yourself something nice!”
With that he pushed Karen out of the door and slammed it shut behind her. She found herself standing in a car park surrounded by a concrete wall on three sides and the car park entrance to her left. She felt dirty. She could smell his foul, coppery odour on her chest and clothes and could taste his vile stink with every breath. She would have to get cleaned up somewhere and to make things worse she was late for work. Despite all of that she had achieved what she had set out to do today. With a smile spreading across her face she headed out of the car park and away from the store and back to the office where she earned her living.
It was morning and Karen stepped off the bus and onto the busy pavement. There were lots of people rushing to get to work just like they did every other weekday but today Karen was not one of them. She had an appointment that she had been both dreading and anticipating for a long time. She placed her large shoulder bag over her shoulder and headed down the street away from town. With every step her pulse quickened, her heart beat became that tiny bit stronger. She felt good. After years of carrying around all of that guilt and anguish she was now finally going to do something about it. She turned into the narrow road and made her way to the eighth house on the left. She knew exactly where she was going. She had been here many times before over the last year or so on different days and at different times. Today would be the last day she would have to come to this hateful house. Today it would end.
She slowed down as she approached the house and came to an abrupt halt as she drew level with the front gate. A multitude of thoughts raced through her head including one which said ‘Turn around and never come back. It’s not too late’ but she ignored it. She’d come too far now, invested too much to just turn around and run like a baby. She pushed open the gate and headed up the path to the front door. Taking a deep breath she reached up and pressed the doorbell. She could hear no sound from inside to indicate the bell actually worked but she waited patiently until suddenly she saw the distorted outline of somebody approaching the door. Her pulse was now racing. Copious amounts of adrenaline coursed through her veins preparing her muscles for conflict or flight. Whichever it was her body would be ready.
As she stood in the doorway the person behind the old but clean door fiddled with a number of locks and chains and opened the door. She held her breath and waited. The man stood in the doorway shocked by his unexpected visitor.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
Quickly followed by “How did you know where I live?”
“I know a lot about you” she said coldly. “Can I come in?”
“Why? What do you want?”
“Let’s just say I have a proposition for you that I don’t think you’ll be able to refuse” with this she grinned. She was starting to enjoy this.
The man was obviously shocked. She was the last person he would have expected to have seen this morning and his confusion was perfect. His eyes showed that he was scared but she thought she saw lust and greed in his eyes. Did he really think she was here for that?
The man stood to one side and ushered her in with his large hand.
“You’d better come in” he said. Before he had finished speaking she pushed her way past him and into the hall. She scanned the house and made a note of what was around her in case things turned nasty. She listened to whether he would deadlock the door just in case she had to get out quick. He didn’t.
She walked into the small lounge and stood by the window. The man followed her into the room and sat down. He gestured for her to sit down too but she just stared at him with blank expressionless eyes.
“So, Frank, I bet you didn’t expect to see me today did you?”
Frank laughed but the laugh was tinged with nervousness and fear and he instantly regretted it.
“No, I didn’t. How did you know where I live?”
“I know a lot about you Frank. Where you live, where you go…where you work” with that last part she fixed his eyes with hers and she could sense the fear in him growing.
“Look, what’s this about? Is it to do with what happened yesterday? I thought you were pleased with our arrangement”
“I’m pleased with how it went yesterday. Very pleased” With this Frank stood up and approached her aggressively.
“Sit down Frank” she ordered. “I haven’t finished yet”
The man stopped, thought about it and sat back down.
“Look, just tell me what you want. Is it more of what you had yesterday?
With this Karen laughed mockingly.
“You’re pathetic!” she hissed “Do you think I enjoyed having to do that? It was something I had to do”
“What do you mean?”
Karen placed her bag on the table and took out a black seven inch tablet. She unlocked it, tapped an icon and handed it to Frank.
“Press play and watch. I think you’ll recognise the people in this film”
Frank suddenly looked scared. He took the tablet but he knew what he was going to see even before he pressed the play button. The video on the table showed him receiving oral sex from Karen in his office yesterday. It was clear and perfectly framed and the audio was perfect too. The colour drained from his face with every passing second until he finally pressed pause bringing the events of yesterday to a convenient stop.
“What are you going to do with this?” he asked with trepidation creeping into his voice.
“That depends on you and what you decide to do. Am I the only woman you’ve done this to?”
Frank paused for a split second. His answer was weak and unconvincing “Yes. You were the first”
Karen let out a short exclamation. “We both know that’s a lie don’t we Frank” Karen’s eyes glazed over as tears began to escape and well up.
“What about Paula? Have you forgotten her already?”
“I don’t know who you mean?” he answered pleadingly. “Who’s Paula?”
“No, you probably didn’t get her name did you? Didn’t have tim
e for that I suppose. She was my sister and you made one of your deals with her”
Karen was now crying. Hot, salty tears were streaming down her face but her voice remained strong and resolute.
Frank’s face showed little sign of emotion or compassion but there was an ember or recognition. Now he knew why Karen looked so familiar to him.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I saved you from being arrested. You’d have a criminal record now if it wasn’t for me. And your sister. I did her a favour too.” Frank was now shouting, his voice rising with every angry word. “You come round here giving me grief and all I’ve done is help you and your ungrateful sister. You shouldn’t have broken the law if you weren’t prepared for the consequences”
“My sister is dead!” screamed Karen. “And you killed her!”
Frank stared at the young woman standing in front of him with a mixture of fear, horror and confusion. Her words had chilled his blood and suddenly he felt weak and dizzy.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I never killed anybody. You’re lying”
“She couldn’t live with the shame and humiliation of what she had to do to you in your dingy little room. She didn’t want to steal from your precious store but she had no choice”
Karen managed to regain her composure and continued clearly and in control of her emotions.
“After what you made her do her life fell apart. It changed her into a soulless shell of what she used to be. She turned to drink to help her cope and when that stopped working she discovered drugs. We didn’t see her for months. She was living on the streets when they found her in a back alley. She’d taken some heroin laced with rat poison and was close to death. She managed to hang on for two days and in that time she told me what you did to her.”
Karen was crying again but she was not weak. She seemed to be growing in strength and confidence with every passing second.
“Before she died I promised her that I’d make you suffer for what you did to her. She didn’t want me to but I knew I had to. She died soon after that and ever since I’ve made it my goal to find you and ruin you. I’d kill you if I knew I could get away with it but I’m not going to prison because of you. You’ve ruined too many lives already.”
“What do you want?” said Frank. He looked worried and was deathly pale.
“I know a lot about you Frank. I know you’ve got money and lots of it. Since your parents passed away you’ve inherited their house. You don’t go anywhere or do anything so I know you’ve still got their money.”
“I want you to make a large donation to the local hospice. Paula spent a lot of time there before she died and they made her final days the best they could be. If you do that one thing you’ll never hear from me again. I’ll destroy the video and you can carry on with your boring little life. So do we have a deal?”
Frank stood up. He looked shocked and relieved at the same time.
“Yes we do. I’ll do what you ask.”
With that Karen turned to walk out of the room. Frank followed her gingerly; he looked like a naughty schoolboy.
“Just remember Frank. I’ll be watching you.” Karen opened the door and strode out and away from the house. She felt good and never looked back. Her plan had worked perfectly. The hospice would get a nice, generous donation from an unknown benefactor and Frank would get the shock of his life when the police knocked on his door and arrested him for rape and indecent assault. Did he really think she would let him buy his way out of the mess he was in? He was obviously a bigger idiot than he looked. He would pay alright, with his life.
She walked down the quiet, respectable street and away from the anger and bitterness that had engulfed her life since her sister had died. She would have to face a lot of dreadful times in the near future but it was worth it. She was the victim and she would be protected. She had done it. She had gained justice for her dear sister. She turned the corner into the main road headed for the bus stop.
Caught In The Act - An Erotic Short Story (Erotika For Women) Page 2
