Introduction

November 7th circa 3:30 p.m.:

I stirred my hot tea for about fiftieth time. I thought about dropping in another lump of sugar thinking that might make it a little less tasteless. I pondered the other three quarters of the club sandwich I’d ordered but couldn’t eat, “I tell you Bev I just don’t know what to do.”

Beverly Camel is my older sister. Ever since I could remember whenever I had a problem, she was the one I could always, and I mean always, turn to.

Now let’s see I must go on, “Bev everything started out so good. I always get home from my job first. I fix a nice supper. I always try to fix one of Bill’s favorites. We eat, wash the dishes together, and then we slip into the bedroom for some great sex. Later we’ll lay in bed watch some TV, and maybe do it again.

I watched as Beverly listened attentively and nodded her head reflectively. I knew I was doing the right thing. Beverly was the smarter one, the thinker. She had such a creative mind. I could tell she was figuring things out, “Like I said Bev everything was great until about four weeks ago. Then Bill started coming home and acting differently; now he gobbles up dinner as fast as he can, and then he bails out, he just leaves.”

Annie went on, “He used to be so mannerly; now he’s different. Like when I fix spaghetti; he used to eat it with a big spoon. You know, twirl it around in the spoon and eat it the way they do on those TV shows. But the other night when I fixed spaghetti; you know what he did? He scooped it up and slapped it on a piece of bread, then he folded the bread over and ate it like a sandwich. I swear Bev he deliberately smacked his lips and ate with his mouth all open just to embarrass me.”

She couldn’t stop, “I feel awful. Now after he eats he just jumps in his old Camaro, tells me he’s out for the evening, and he drives off. I don’t know what to do. I miss my old Bill.”

Bev nodded and listened.

I saw the concerned look in my sister’s eyes, “I tell you Bev. We’ve hardly been married a year. You don’t think he’s found another woman? I just don’t know where he goes. Gee Bev we’ve been talking about a house and kids!”

Beverly listened. Annie was her little sister, the baby of the family. There was an older brother Gary, and of course mom and dad. Beverly took her sister’s hand, “Let’s keep this to ourselves right now. Christ, if we tell Gary he’ll be out looking for Bill. If he finds him and Bill’s up to something you know he’ll beat the shit out of him. We can’t say anything to mom and dad either. Mom’s not well, and you know dad. He doesn’t like Bill all that much as it is. Dad wanted you to go to college; but in his own words, ‘you had to marry the greasy auto jock’. Jesus, I’d hate to think it if dad turned out to be right.”

Then Beverly rolled her eyes and added, “Damn, if dad found out Bill was disappearing like that after dinner every night you know he’d load the shotgun and that’d be all she wrote.”

Annie frowned, “I didn’t say he went out every night. Sometimes he stays home. He likes to watch Dancing with the Stars and he has his favorite mysteries. You know NCIS. A lot of times he brings home technical manuals. He’s really serious about staying ahead with the technical stuff. But when he’s home now, I just don’t know, it’s just different. Now in bed it’s always just a slam bam thank you ma’am, and then off to the TV. He acts like he doesn’t even care if I do anything anymore! I used to really get off; now it’s more like shaking hands. Gosh Bev I really like making love with Bill, and until lately he was such a considerate lover. He always made sure I had my ... um, my ... you know. He’d go down on me and kiss and suck, and slather his tongue all over me. When we watched TV he always had his fingers in me down there.”

She squeezed her legs together, “Oh I can just feel him right now. And yeah he might be mechanic, but he’s always clean, no dirt under his finger nails. I even shaved down there for him. Honest though Bev; it makes it better for me too. Mean my labia swells up and ... Oh, I could just cry.”

Beverly squeezed her sister’s hand, “You don’t know where he goes?”

“I thought about following him a couple times,” answered Annie, “but what if he saw me, or worse what if I saw him with, well. I don’t think I could handle it. Bev I love him so much. I just don’t know what to do.”

One Month Earlier, September 5th:

Bill was sitting around the picnic table outside the garage having lunch with three of the guys.

There was Fred. He was twenty-two, unmarried, and just getting over a gut wrenching break up with his high school sweetheart. They’d been a pretty much exclusive item since their junior year, but then he caught her with one of the boys who went to the local university. She’d more or less dumped him; she’d traded up you might say. Fred did the tire work; he did the simple things like tire pressure, valve stems, balancing, and repairing flats.

Then there’s Buck. At thirty-six Buck was the oldest, divorced, and a confirmed woman hater. He’d caught his wife in bed with the boss at his last place of employment. He’d pulled the guy off his wife and beat the shit out him right there in their bedroom. He’d paid a hefty fine and spent a few days in jail for it. Of course, after that his wife left; took their two kids with her too. Buck operated the alignment machine when he wasn’t running errands for Mary their forty something office secretary.

Last of the group was Barry. Barry was twenty-seven, married, and paying on a mortgage and two cars. When he left the garage in the afternoon he went to his other full time job working the second shift at the paper mill. He seldom saw his wife and new baby, but he suspected she was up to something with one of the neighbors. He wanted to do something, maybe find out, but he was so damned tired all the time he just couldn’t pull it together, just no energy.

That left Bill. He and Annie had been married just ten months. Annie was the world to Bill; she was a pretty little thing, short brown hair, dark brown eyes, kind of mousy really, but he loved the living shit out of her.

Annie’s dad was an administrator who worked out of the central offices for the county public schools. He’d gotten his little girl a decent job as a secretary at the nearby middle school. Bill liked the money she brought in; it helped with the bills, and maybe they’d be able to save a little to buy a house in a year or two.

Annie’s dad didn’t like Bill; in fact he never liked him. He thought Annie could have done better. He believed Annie only married him as a way to show him, her dad that is; that he couldn’t tell her what to do. The idea his daughter actually had fallen in love with and married an auto mechanic never crossed his mind.

Though Bill was still ‘the kid’ in the garage, he was their best mechanic. He knew his job, and could fix just about anything. Bill thought he was smart in other ways too. He imagined if he got a little help; he could start his own garage. He already had a pretty reliable clientele.

Fred ripped off another big piece of the sub he’d bought. All the guys except Bill ordered out to the Subway or bought something at MacDonald’s every day. Mostly they got the Subway cold cut; sometimes Fred got a hot sub. Today he was working on a steak sub, “Bill you can’t trust em. I tell you, if you aren’t on your toes they’ll lie to you and cheat on you the first chance they get.”

“I don’t know Fred,” replied Bill, “Annie’s a good girl. I trust her.”

Buck was picking the onions out of his sub when he said, “I wished I’d handled things differently with my ex. I know what I did wrong. I gave in too much, and I let her have her way about everything. I mean a man’s got to be a man. He’s got to keep his foot on his wife’s neck or she’ll run out on him.”

Bill took out his lunch; a homemade bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Annie had fixed it for him by putting each of the parts in separate plastic baggies so they wouldn’t smoosh together and get all soggy. She’d even put a dab of mayonnaise in a little Rubbermaid container. He’d use the plastic fork she’d put in to spread the mayo on the toast. Yeah she always toasted his bread. Sometimes the bread got a little stale, and he didn’t like crumbly bread. Sometimes she’d cut the crusts off if she thought it wasn’t just right. He checked the inside of his lunch pail to see if she remembered his pudding. There were two napkins crumpled in the corner of the lunchbox; a small plastic spoon was wrapped inside them. Annie preferred to make her own pudding instead of buying the stuff they sold at the supermarket. She always stuffed a huge gob of the stuff in for him. She said her ‘homemade’ tasted better and was better for him because it didn’t have all those preservatives. He saw she had his iced tea in a Tupperware container. He’d already drunk all the flavored coffee she’d fixed and poured in his thermos. Annie made good coffee, and she’d bought his favorite flavoring, that unsweetened almond flavor he liked so much. It made his coffee taste extra good early in the morning.

Bill listened to the guys, “I don’t think I have to worry about Annie.”

Barry scoffed, “Ever wonder why her old man got her the job at the middle school?”

“Well, he loves his daughter, and he knows we’re trying to save up for a house and maybe kids later on.”

Buck chuckled, “Yeah, what about those young college educated school teachers? You got a hot wife Bill. If you’re not careful she’ll be trading up like little Freddie’s sweetheart here.”

Fred didn’t like that, “I hate the bitch, and I hate the smug little fucker she ran off with.”

“Buck’s right Bill,” added Barry, “your wife’s a hottie. One of these days she’s going to see there’s more to life than being a mechanics wife.”

“If I were you Bill,” said Fred, “I’d start to stick it to her now before she gets too uppity.”

“Uppity,” asked Bill?

“Shit Fred’s right,” intoned Buck, “you gotta keep her in her place now so she knows who the boss is. Otherwise you’ll be shit out of luck.”

“How do I do that,” Bill innocently inquired?

Barry smiled wisely, “You’ve got to keep her on her toes. Keep her guessing. Never let her know what’s up.”

Bill looked at Barry, but he didn’t understand.

Buck smiled, “Yeah, keep her guessing. Hey I bet you go home every night and just sit around and watch the tube or something don’t you?”

“Well yeah,” replied Bill.

“So she knows what’s up all the time,” clucked Fred, “look my man, don’t you ever like just go out. Christ Bill no one ever sees you out. You ever thought about just getting out. You know shaking off the cobwebs, kicking up your heels a little.”

Fred chortled, “Yeah. Like getting out with the guys. Tossing off a few, maybe squeezing some fresh meat down at the tavern.”

Bill was nonplussed, “You mean cheat on Annie? I could never do that.”

“No, of course not,” answered Barry, “what he means is to get out, see the boys, having a brew, maybe just flirt a little bit, knock off a game of pool or two, play some darts. You know, come home with a little foreign perfume on you every now and then just to keep her guessing; just to keep her worried, wondering.”

“Yeah,” piped up Buck, “just to keep her off guard.”

Bill answered, “Oh I couldn’t do that; it would hurt her feelings. She wouldn’t understand. Beside I think it would be wrong.”

Fred laughed, “Hey, guess what?”

“No what?”

Buck hit it, “You’re pussy whipped!”

Pissed at that Bill shot back, “Bull shit! I’m no pussy. What, you calling me a wimp?”

Barry laughed, “If the shoe fits.”

Just then the garage foreman stepped outside; he was a real asshole, a total piece of worthless shit, “You all coming back to work, or do I to tell Mack?” Mack was the owner; and a nice guy as long as everyone pulled their weight, but he could be a real prick if he thought anyone was slacking. Of course the biggest slacker in the company was the fat fuck yelling at them right now.

Fred called back, “We’re coming.”

The next day, September 6th, while Bill was intently reaching up working on a Volvo transmission Buck sneaked up on him. Barry was right behind. Buck real quick snapped a dog collar around Bill’s neck. Barry slipped a lock through the hole at the end of the tongue of collar and clipped it shut. It was a big one and bright red; something one would put on a Labrador or a German shepherd.

Bill leaped back, “Hey, what the...”

Fred laughed, “Yeah, that’s you! Little Billy Boy, the neighborhood lap dog!”

Bill reached up and felt the collar. The other guys in the shop were staring. Some started to laugh.

Bill pulled at the collar, “Hey you bastards get this off!” He reached for a large pair of shears.

Buck stayed his hand, “No, I think you should wear it, at least till lunch time anyway.”

Barry grinned, “Yeah, wear it a while. It looks good on you.”

They made Bill wear the fucking collar all morning. Mary even came out to the garage to see it. Bill felt humiliated. He didn’t speak to any of the guys the rest of the day, but he swore that night, instead of staying home, he’d slip down to the Sunset, the local tavern, and have a beer just to show everybody he wasn’t the pussy whipped wimp they thought he was.

3:00 p.m. November 8th:

Annie had just gotten home from work; the phone was ringing so she picked it up, “Hello.”

“Annie this is Bev. I’ve got an idea.”

Annie was all ears, “You do?”

“Yeah, listen. Since you’re afraid to check up on Bill I’ve been talking to a couple of the girls. They’ve seen him around. He isn’t going anywhere. He mostly just goes to the Sunset, buys one maybe two beers, and then he hangs around just listening to the other guys talk. Sometimes one of barflies, one of the piggies with nothing to do will try to hit on him, but he pretty much keeps his distance.”

“What do you mean pretty much,” asked Annie?

Bev responded, “I don’t know actually, except they said there are a couple girls who like to tease him. You know; act like they want to get in his pants, but so far he’s held them off.”

Annie was concerned, “What’s so far mean?”

Beverly chided, “Come on Annie, you know Bill’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do anything wrong; he’d never get out of line. I heard maybe once or twice he’s let one of them give him a peck on the cheek, maybe let one squeeze that muscular ass he has a little, no big deal.”

“Hold it,” a slightly pissed Annie replied, “I’m the one who’s supposed to be pecking those cheeks, and if anybody’s squeezing Bill’s ass it should only be me. I don’t like the sound of this. Is there anything else I need to hear?”

“Well,” answered Bev, “There’s a dance floor.”

Annie sighed, “Well that’s OK; Bill’s not much of a two stepper.”

Beverly wasn’t helpful, “No, but I heard he’s been doing some slow numbers with a couple of the girls.”

“Oh heck no Bev, Anybody I know?”

“Now don’t get upset. You remember Gwen Bitterman and her sister Laurie?”

“Those two,” winced Annie, “Yes I remember them, especially Laurie. She’s always had trouble keeping her hands off my Bill. Oh Bev what should I do?”

Bev answered, “I thought about it. I think you should see for yourself. I’ll get some of the girls and we’ll go with you. We’ll keep you hidden. We can slip in for just a few minutes, see what’s going on, leave, and then see if we need to do anything.”

“OK, when?”

“Well let’s see. This is Wednesday. Thursdays are pretty busy at the Sunset. I’ll get a couple of the gang to go with us as a smokescreen. We’ll slip in Thursday night say around 8:00 p.m. You can scope the situation out and leave without being seen.”

Annie felt a knot tighten in her stomach. What if her Bill was up to no good? It made her sick to think about it, but there was no other way. She had to see for herself, “Thursday then, if Bill skips out of the house we’ll follow.”

Bill was out that Wednesday night. He usually got home around 10:00. Annie thought, Thursday, tomorrow; she wouldn’t make it easy for him.

Tomorrow-Thursday Afternoon, November 9th:

Annie had taken off work early. She’d run to the supermarket and bought a rack of ribs, some sweet potatoes, and fresh green beans. She knew she wouldn’t have time to make a pie from scratch so she bought a frozen cherry pie, and some ice cream to scoop over it.

She spent all afternoon cooking. Ribs were one of Bill’s favorite meals. She figured if she could entice him with food and maybe a little sex he might not go out at all that night. If he stayed home with her there wouldn’t be any need to find out if he’d been naughty. She preferred the word naughty; it sounded less threatening. She knew her Bill could never be bad; no, not her Bill.

That afternoon before Bill got home Annie took a hot shower. She shaved her legs, trimmed her Suzie, that was their pet name for her vagina, polished her nails, did her hair up real nice, and put on some fresh makeup. She slipped on the tiny hooped earrings Bill had bought her along with the thin matching necklace. She pulled on a pair of lacy silk panties, her special white silky camisole, no bra; she wanted her pert little 34Bs to jiggle around just a little for when he got home. She had on her prettiest white blouse with the perky peter-pan collar she knew he liked, and she put on her black pleated mini-skirt, another of his favorites. She capped it all off with a pair of white ankle socks and her low heeled black shoes. Last she dabbed on some of the expensive perfume Bill had bought her.

Annie checked herself out in the mirror. She was convinced she was every little boy’s, and in this case, young man’s idea of the perfect wet dream. She was standing at the front door of their rented house when Bill pulled up.

Bill got out of his Camaro and headed straight for the front door. He’d been the target of some serious ribbing all afternoon. Annie had put a love note and a tiny flower in his lunch kit that day, and the guys had been merciless. Actually he liked it when she did shit like that; it made him feel special. He noticed none of the other guy’s wives did anything like that, but he’d kept his mouth shut. Yeah he liked it, but it was embarrassing sometimes too.

Bill walked in and right by Annie. He didn’t look up or anything. He just walked on by, “I have to take a quick shower. I’m meeting some of the guys again tonight.”

Annie was surprised and hurt. She’d done herself up special. She’d fixed him ribs. He didn’t even say hi or anything. He used to kiss her when he got home. She didn’t even get that tonight. She followed him down the hall, “Bill didn’t you notice anything when you came in?”

He didn’t even look back, “Yeah, you vacuumed.”

She had vacuumed; she wanted everything to be perfect, “Did you notice anything else?”

Bill smelled the ribs. Damn they smelled good too. Shit, if he stayed home tonight he’d be ruined tomorrow. The guys would ride him all day. He went to the bathroom and stripped down. He took a quick shower, then he slipped into their bedroom and pulled out a fresh pair of jeans and a clean Tee-shirt. He stalked back into the kitchen.

Annie was standing there. Her were big eyes and looked all juicy. She had her pretty little white apron on. Christ she looked beautiful. Why the hell did she do this tonight? Crap, he’d give anything to stay home. He saw the table, the ribs, the sweets, the beans. He saw the pie on the kitchen counter. She’d even put candles on the table. Damn it! He needed this! His wife! Her good home cooking! This was perfect. Why’d did she have to do this tonight?

He tried to smile, “Annie I have to go; the guys are expecting me.” He literally flew out the door. Was he ever a crazy asshole?

Annie followed Bill to the door. She called out, “Bill I made you a special dinner! Bill!”

He was gone.

Annie was in tears. Here was this great big meal; all his favorite foods. She’d even bought parsley. She was all dressed up, and Bill didn’t even care. He hadn’t even looked. She grabbed the phone and called her sister, “Bev get over here right now! I need you!”

Beverly was there a few minutes later. She climbed out of her car and walked into Anne’s kitchen. She saw Annie. She saw the elaborate spread, “Oh Annie.”

“Bev he didn’t even look. He didn’t even take a taste. Look at me; am I that ugly?”

Beverly pulled her sister into a chair and sat down beside her, “Sweetie I’ve some more to tell you.”

Annie whimpered, “Oh no, it’s that Laurie isn’t it?”

Beverly pulled her sister into her arms, “No, not at all. I had a long talk with Mary, the secretary at Bill’s garage.”

Frightened, Annie looked up, scared, the older woman, “Oh no! Not...”

Beverly laughed reassuringly, “No, nothing like that. Mary filled me in on what’s been going on. Let me tell you. Some of the men where Bill works are real losers; they’re a bunch of cuckolds, divorcees, and overworked older men, and they’ve been riding our Bill.”

“Riding?”

“Yes, they’ve been teasing him mercilessly. Mary said one day they even locked a dog collar on him.”

“A dog collar? Why that?”

Beverly explained, “They wanted him to think you had him on a leash, like you were his master and he was your bitch.”

“That’s terrible,” Annie exclaimed, “we’ve got to do something. I’m going up to that garage tomorrow and tell them off!”

Beverly hugged her sister, “No sugar, that’s the last thing you need to do. I’ve got this figured out, but first let’s slip up to the Sunset and see just what’s really up.”

Annie sniffed, “OK, but first let me put some of this food away.”

Together Beverly and Annie got everything in the frig.

Beverly looked her sister over and decided she shouldn’t try to change. It was already nearly 8:00 p.m., and this evening was more a scope out than anything.

Thursday, November 9th; 8:15 p.m.

Annie, Beverly, and four of their friends slipped in the rear door of the Sunset Lounge. The jukebox was blaring out an old George Strait song. Hanging along the bar were perhaps fifteen guys all wearing one or another type of dirty baseball cap. Some had on a John Deere, and another a Caterpillar, there were a few tool caps, a Husqvarna, a Stihl, and even an old Orioles cap. Yeah, like most of the time, it was Redneck night at the old Sunset.

The first thing Annie noticed was her Bill at the bar. He looked like he was nursing a cold Coors Lite; that was his style, something cold and tasty but low in alcohol content. He wasn’t wearing a cap. He never wore one of those ratty things. He had a good head of long brown hair. It wasn’t all shaggy or anything, just a little long; it pooped down just a tad over his ears, and when he wore a button up shirt it just encroached on the collar a teensy bit. His hair went nicely with his big brown bedroom eyes. For sure, one thing Bill wasn’t, he was no stupid redneck. Another for sure; he was easily the best looking man in the tavern, a real catch, her catch.

If a stranger were to walk in and look around they’d know right away Bill didn’t fit in there. Her Bill; well he was just a cut above all the others, and she wasn’t being prejudiced, it was just true.

There were four girls all around him; one was Laurie. They all looked like skanky cheap little piranhas ready to swim in and take a bite out of her man. They were all dressed like whores; too much makeup, ass high mini-skirts, low cut blouses, not a bra in the pack. Annie looked down; she wasn’t wearing a bra either. Yeah, but her boobs were perky and firm; those girls’ were all overweight and hanging down.

Laurie’s hands were all over Bill. Bridget’s hands, another one of Bills old girlfriends, looked like she about to grab his crotch. Bill seemed to be fending her off with his eyes. In fact Annie didn’t think Bill looked all that comfortable. Annie knew he knew he didn’t belong there.

Annie and Beverly discreetly watched as Laurie pulled Bill out on the dance floor. It was a slow dance, and the floor was small and crowded. They watched as Laurie tried to put the moves on Annie’s husband. It was obvious Bill wasn’t comfortable. Laurie, with her big floppy tits, frizzy bleached hair and bulged out, beer belly stomach was pressed up against him as close as she could get; her puffed out crotch in her too tight mini was nearly inside his zipper. Bill seemed to be backing away as they danced.

Annie whispered over to her sister, “I’ve seen enough.”

Bev looked down, “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the picture. You can take me home now.”

About an hour and a half later Bill almost insolently strolled in the front door of their home. He expected Annie to be up and waiting for him. He was a little surprised to find she’d already gone to bed. She was quietly asleep, well almost quietly, Annie snored, but her snoring always had a delicate soft murmuring quality. It was just another one of the many really nice things he liked about her. Even when she snored she sounded soft and feminine. He got out of his jeans and slipped into bed.

Bill lay there awhile, and wondered if he knew what he was doing. Hell he thought; if I wanted to be honest, I was being a real jerk. Annie is a good girl, and I love her like crazy. Why have I let those assholes at work twist me around like they do? OK, one more night. Tomorrow was Friday. I’ll go out, have one beer, and leave early, then I’ll come back to my adorable little woman. I’ll start to make things up to her when I get back tomorrow night.

Friday, November 10th, 3:00 p.m.

Beverly and Annie were sitting in Annie’s kitchen. Beverly looked at her sister, “Ok, we’ve got it figured out, right?”

Annie replied, “Yes, Bill is too sure of me. He thinks I’m some kind of floor mat so he’s letting the assholes he works with run his life and ruin mine.”

“So,” Beverly added. “If we make it look like he’s starting to lose you, what happens?”

“We make it look like I’m not so easy anymore. Like I’m not available.”

“Yes,” chirped Beverly, “No one is more desirable then when it seems like you can’t have them,”

Annie smiled and stretched, “It’s like when you hear about a party, and you tell everyone you didn’t want to go, but then someone says you weren’t invited anyway, and you get pissed off, put out, you get that oh shit well the hell with you feeling.”

Beverly grinned evilly at Annie, “This is war girl.”

Annie smiled back, “I’ve played this game before. That’s how I got him the first time. I played hard to get, and then I reeled him in like he was a just another large mouthed bass. I did it once. I can do it again.”

“Yes,” intoned Beverly, “phase one starts tonight.”

Bill pulled up in front of their rental, got out, and started up the lawn. He went in the house. He looked around, but Annie wasn’t there. On the table was a sandwich wrapped in cellophane and a note. He checked the sandwich. Bologna, Yuk. He opened the note and read it.

“Bill I’m out with the girls for the evening. Be back later. Left a sandwich. See you tonight.”

Love, Annie

“Damn,” thought Bill, “What kind of shit is this? She went out without telling me? Where’d she go? With who? Girls? Which girls?” He picked up the phone and called Annie’s sister on her cell, “Hello Beverly?”

Beverly replied, “Bill? Is that you?”

“Yeah, Annie’s not home. Do you know where she is?”

Beverly was driving toward the Sunset Lounge. Annie was right beside her, “Annie? No. You say she’s not home?”

“No, she left a note saying she was going out with some girlfriends. Who do you suppose she’s with?”

Now there were girlfriends, and there were girlfriends; some were nice, some not so nice. Beverly answered, “Oh I don’t know for sure. Annie’s been on the phone a lot with Alice Carmel and Dorothy Landis. They wanted her to go out with them.”

Bill answered, “OK, thanks,” He hung up the phone. Damn Alice and Dorothy were both divorced women, both had been caught having affairs. This wasn’t funny. He dashed down the hall to get a change of clothes. He’d go to the Sunset first, then the Stables, and last, Heaven forbid, the Stockade.

Beverly and Annie had it all planned; first they’d go to the Stables, Beverly would hide but they’d make sure everyone saw Annie, then they’d go to the Sunset, after that the Wagon Wheel, and last the Stockade. If Beverly and Annie had Bill figured correctly; he’d be right behind them hunting the same places. All they needed to do was be out, make sure Annie was seen, and stay one step ahead of Bill. Best of all Beverly had called one of her men friends from work to meet them at the Stockade. He would pick Annie up and take her straight home. All Bill would know was that his wife had left the Stockade with some man.