Chapter 7

Jimmy moved to a hotel not far from the house where Christine was staying and waited for Price to get in touch with him. He had seen Chris in the afternoons and they had made love in his room or in hers, but he had not seen Price since that one afternoon. Finally, Price sent one of his men to see him and he was told that his first job was for the next night and that George would pick him up and take him back to the "hideout."

He felt a certain apprehension at his first venture into crime, but it seemed such an ordinary sort of crime that aside from its degree, he tried to look on it as simply as smuggling an extra quart of liquor through customs as he had done when he had returned from the Bahamas on vacation one spring vacation at school. He was just going to transport some whiskey to be sold at an under-retail price, and it really didn't seem to be too big of a thing.

At the hideout everyone was waiting, only none of the girls were there, and he wondered where Christine was at that moment.

He had no way of knowing that at that very moment she was being madly screwed by some of Price's preferred clientele at a very private party and as a result of the drugs, was enjoying every minute of it!

"Okay," Price said. "You other two can take the wagon, just in case we get more than we bargained for."

Jimmy wondered what could possibly go wrong. Wasn't this supposed to be easy, nothing to it. Wasn't that what Price had said? Anyway, it was too late now for him to back out.

It was just after midnight when they started through the dark streets, each car taking a different route. In the back of the wagon, there were a few pieces of furniture as a disguise.

He drove easily, following Price's instructions and wound his way through some of the back alleys of Harlem.

"All right," Price said. "That'll do, pull over to that corner." They had been driving for about a half an hour.

He pulled up just beyond the corner, away from the street light, which yellowed the sooty walls of the last row of tenement houses. They sat there for awhile and waited, but Jimmy didn't have enough nerve to ask why. He was content to let things take their course.

In a few minutes, the occupants of the van skidded round a corner at the opposite end of the street, saw them and turned down an alleyway, going up on the narrow pavement at one side and pulled in front of them, barely missing the side of the car.

"Okay, follow them," Price commanded sharply.

He slipped the car into gear and the car sped down the dim street and turned the corner after the van. They crossed a broader street still following the large truck in front of them until he saw the iron gates of the dock area.

"What about the man at the gate," he asked.

"That's okay," Price growled, "he's a friend of ours."

They swept through the gate and Jimmy glanced at the little sentry box at the entrance to the dock. There was no guard!

He followed the van, feeling suddenly apprehensive and on edge. They dodged among a number of long heavy wooden buildings and then along a concrete runway. He pulled into the shadow of one of the buildings just behind the van. Price opened the door of the car and jumped out.

"Just hang on a moment," he called to Jimmy, "we'll see if the coast is clear.

He disappeared behind the building with George and other two men, each in their respective cars.

He waited impatiently, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel nervously, and was surprised at the difference in his nerve between now and when he felt he had smuggled the booze out of the Bahamas. He stared round at the little rear window and saw another one of Price's men standing there, grinning back at him.

After several minutes, Price reappeared and motioned to them as he climbed into the van that he had been following.

The caravan of automobiles moved around to the back of the dock warehouse, where the broad doors had already been opened and the rest of Price's men were hauling crates to the outside and loading them into the car and into the van.

"Hurry up, you guys," Price barked, standing beside the cab of the van. "The narks are at the other end now, but they'll be down this way before too long!" As he spoke, he looked at Jimmy.

"When we're ready to go," he said quietly, "just turn round this warehouse and go back the way we came."

"Okay," Jimmy heard himself answering. He felt some admiration for Price's cool and organizational manner. It was just a matter of habit, he surmised.

The men worked rapidly and smoothly for about another ten minutes and by that time all the crates had been loaded into the van and the car, with the blind of furniture covering them.

Jimmy was surprised that there wasn't a night watchman or some sort of guard watching the place, but he didn't know anything about this sort of thing, and obviously Price had had it all planned.

The loading was finished and George was pushing the last crate straight and the rest were moving back to the van when Price saw two figures in the distance coming up the long concrete lane between the warehouses.

"Christ," he snapped. "Get out of here fast, the narks!"

As he spoke, the van shot forward and disappeared around the building. Jimmy could feel a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead and his palms. Now was the time to be cool, he told himself, trying to regain his composure. He slipped the car into gear once again and drove towards the two figures which had now broken into a fast run and were flashing powerful flash lights down the dimly lit walk, and then, he too, turned quickly around in back of the warehouse and skidded into the direction from which he had come.

"Speed it up," Price snapped, "or they'll get us at the gate."

He put his foot down to the floor, swerving dangerously round the building, missing the corners by inches and caught the van just as they, too, reached the gate and screeched through the narrow opening.

"Nice going," Price complimented him, and he began to unwind somewhat after their close call.

Behind them somewhere he heard a police siren as they raced at breakneck speed through the narrow, deserted alleyways and into the streets.

They had managed to shake the police and they slowed down as they neared the respectable east side street of the hideout, swerved into the garage and the doors closed behind them.

All the men were waiting inside the house when they walked in through an entrance which he had never seen before.

"A nice clean job," he said. "It was the driving that did it. We were almost in a spot when the narks showed up!"

"Well, we have enough stuff to last for awhile," one of the men chuckled.

"Yes indeed, we're in the chips again," another added.

Jimmy was relieved that it was over and he felt more involved with the gang than he had expected to be, but it was too late now for regrets. An uneasy feeling came over him and he felt that now he was among the marked men, the men that the police searched out in every nook and cranny of the city, even a city as big as New York.

"We'd better stay here until morning," Price warned. "Then I'll start to get rid of the stuff. Quite a few classy people are going to be very pleased!" He laughed wickedly, glancing all around the room.

He awoke in the morning, surprised that he had slept at all and wondered what time it was. He looked around the room and they were all there and Christine had joined them along with one or two other girls.

Price looked at him as he struggled up from the narrow couch.

"Just going to wake you up," he said, "It's time we were going."

He looked up and stared at Christine, thinking how lovely she was and how much he loved her. She smiled down at him and gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.

Jimmy picked up the first edition of the evening paper which Christine had just brought over which meant that it must be after six o'clock. He glanced at the headlines aware of the fact that Christine was following his every movement, then his eyes spotted a tiny headline, "Gang broke into New York Docks last night. Overpowered guard and watchman, stole large quantity of dangerous drugs, escaped. Drugs valued at several hundred thousand dollars."

He read the passage three times and looked slowly up from the paper. The first eyes he met were those of Christine. They were looking at him with the hesitant, shy look to which he had become so accustomed lately. She was waiting for his reaction before she said anything.

"This is us!" he said, holding the paper towards Price.

"That's right," Price answered almost jovially. "We really took them for a big haul this time! We weren't quite sure how you'd take it, so we had to invent the whiskey business until we got to know you better!"

The look of shock on his face must have been obvious, and Christine moved to his side.

"I didn't know, Jimmy. Honestly, I didn't know." she said.

Her eyes looked at him pleadingly, begging for understanding and she was almost in tears as she clutched for his hand.

Dangerous drugs, he thought. That wasn't exactly what he had bargained for, but as he looked around the room, he knew that there would be no way to escape from this web of crime he had become involved in without being aware of it.

"What sort of drugs," he finally had the courage to ask as his face turned an ashen color and he was afraid that he would be sick.

Price reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package which contained a sugar like substance.

"Heroin!" he gasped.

"That's right," Price agreed cheerfully. "It was going to the hospital, but they can get plenty more very easily. Our clients aren't so lucky."

"But that's a federal offense," Jimmy interjected. "It's piggish, you prey on people's weaknesses!"

"Not at all," Price retorted. "We didn't give these people the taste for it. We merely supply their demands."

"Besides, anything worth this kind of money, is a serious offense, as far as the law is concerned!" he added.

Jimmy looked at the others around the room to see if anyone else agreed with him, but he was met with just blank stares. He turned to Christine and her eyes were downcast at the floor.

"Well, it's just not exactly what I had in mind. Sorry fellows," Jimmy said.

"I wouldn't be so hasty in your decision," Price almost shouted at him. "You were brought to us by Christine, even though she didn't know exactly what the story was, and now it's too late to back out. We can't let you out now, you know too much and you wouldn't like anything to happen to your little girlfriend here now, would you?"

Jimmy looked at Price's sensual face and it was the hardest face that he had ever seen. He was in a trap, a horrible web of circumstance from which he could not escape.

"What do you think you can do if I just leave and take Christine with me," he asked.

"The police have a way of finding people once they've been tipped off and it's amazing how the narcotics squad find out about people who try to leave. We can't afford that kind of publicity, so it looks as if you're stuck!"

"Well, what good am I to you now, what good is Christine, now that we know?" he interjected.

"Oh, I see, it's that way," Price added.

Christine was almost cringing in one corner, hoping that Jimmy would shut up, so that Price would not be forced to tell him just what sort of thing that she was involved in.

"The only time when there is honor among thieves is when you are useful to us, and I told you how useful you are as a driver. You didn't lose control or blow your cool last night, so right now, you are valuable to us, and that is your only protection."

He glanced at Christine and her eyes were looking at Price with hatred. It was just a second, but Price caught her hateful look and walked across the room towards her.

His hard, cold eyes were blazing as he looked at her and his hand slashed cruelly across her face and she fell backwards.

"You can expect her to take more of this if you decide to back out now," he quipped, "not to mention what will happen to you!"

Jimmy stood there completely frozen to his spot. He knew that it was no good to try to play the knight in shining armor and avenge the slap, because there were too many of the others in the room and things would only get worse and both of them could be badly hurt or even killed.

Why, he thought to himself, did she get me involved with this type of operation. But then he realized that she, herself, must have been desperate to have approached him. This explained a lot of her moods and hesitant feelings she had had during the past week!

He was unable to say anything, do anything, and Price slapped Christine again, this time across her full, well shaped breasts and she fell limply backwards into a chair.

She began to sob quietly while he looked on. She looked at him understandingly, knowingly and her eyes begged him to remain silent.

He was unable to contain himself any longer and he started to her aid.

"Leave her!" Price commanded. "Mind your own business!"

"But she is my business," he replied and once again started towards the chair where she had fallen.

All of a sudden there were hands holding him down so that he could not move and he could feel a swift kick soundly in his groin and he cringed in pain.

She got to her feet and tossed her head in an effort to show Jimmy that she wasn't really hurt that badly. Her face was crimson from the blows she had endured, but moved to a bed and sat down, her fists clenched, her eyes staring at the ceiling so that she would be able to fight back the tears.

Price looked at her for a moment longer, his mouth twisted in a menacing grimace as he nonchalantly tucked his tie back into his coat.

"All right. Let the gentleman go," he commanded to the other men that were holding him down. "You shouldn't treat class that way."

He walked around to the drawer in a desk and drew out a fat wad of bills and laid them in front of Jimmy.

"That's another little advance," he said. There will be more when we dump the stuff, so why not just sit back and cooperate like a good little boy." He was laughing sadistically, and went to sit on the couch next to Christine.

She tried to move away from his touch as he reached out to grab her by the knee, but his fingers closed tightly around the flesh of her thigh.

Jimmy looked at him and then at Christine. She was in tears, and trembling.

"Please don't touch me. You've got what you wanted. Why don't you just let us alone!" she said.

Price laughed sadistically as his hand began to slide up to the fleshy part of her thigh and his fingers pinched the warm, soft skin on the inside of her legs.

Jimmy looked at her challengingly, but her eyes met his with a cold stare as she tried to stop the tears from flowing, hoping that he would just leave and wait for the next phone call, the call for another job.

He started to walk to the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice said, "What's your hurry, son? Why not wait and see the entertainment."

He didn't know exactly what they had in mind, but the grip that was biting into his shoulder blades told him that he had better turn around and stay at the house if only for a little while.

When he went back into the room he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Several of the girls had already stripped down to the brassieres and panties and were tantalizing the men to come join them on the couches. He looked for Christine, but he could not see her. Finally, after a few minutes he heard her voice coming from a door at the far end of the room, crying and pleading with Price.

"You promised me that nothing would happen to Jimmy. You promised that you would never let him know what was happening!" she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Well, my dear," he said, "since your boyfriend has decided to go straight on us I don't see that I have any choice. After all, the only real hold I have on him is you, you and your beautiful body, your prowess in bed and I can't let that get away. Even if he should try, we still have you and I couldn't let you leave us that easily. After all, you are the best lay in the house, you satisfy every horny bastard that I send around to you, so you too are valuable. Besides, you would miss all the loving you get from Price and his boys now, wouldn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"But you couldn't do that, even you have that much of a sense of promise." she said, trying to appeal to his sensitivity, which was totally lacking.

Jimmy headed towards the direction of the voice in an effort to help her, but in a second there were two men holding him back into the larger room.

"That's okay," Price said. "Let the little boy come in and watch. Let him see his virginal girlfriend in action. Maybe that will change his mind about going to the cops."

All at once the arms that had been holding him back were dragging him into the smaller anteroom where Price was holding Christine. His hands were around her waist and then he appeared he let his hands wander up to the soft, full mounds of her breasts, cupping them and juggling them as if they were made of jelly.

Jimmy tried to break loose and grab her from his lustful hold, but the arms once again grabbed out at him and he could feel himself being pinned to the wall.

"Hold him for just a moment, let him see what his little bitch is about to do to make old Daddy Price happy!" His eyes were lit with passion and cruelty, and there was nothing that he could do and Christine's struggles were futile.

He was being held fast while he watched Price run his hands up and down the soft, voluptuous curves of her body, pinching, fondling, cruelly caressing every inch of her flesh. Christine was struggling, trying to get away from his vise-like grip, but it was useless, his hands were like the claws of a crab, biting and hurting, digging into her and not about to let go.

Jimmy tried to close his eyes and his mind to what was about to happen to his tender sweetheart but his head was forced back up against the wall. "Open your eyes," Price hissed over at him. "I want you to see this!"

Christine looked across at him, her eyes begging with him to understand that she could not help what was going to happen any more than he could help what had happened to him the previous night.

Price dragged her back into the corner of the smaller room and he could hear the tearing of cloth and he knew that Christine was being stripped naked.

The men forced Jimmy around the room until he stood directly opposite a small, dim light that was burning in the corner. Price was busily rummaging at Christine's clothing. He was standing behind her and had ripped off her blouse, revealing her brassiere and the full, supple orbs that protruded from above the cloth. His hand was working itself inside the binding until he reached the tender nipple of her breasts. The other hand was tugging at the waistband of her skirt, ripping the buttons and pulling the thin material to the floor. She stood there completely without outer clothing, dressed in her flimsy underwear... her brassiere, silk bikini panties, garter belt and stockings and shoes. She was struggling against his power, but it was doing no good, because his massive hands soon found the tiny, red nipples of her breasts and were tweaking them cruelly until they stood completely erect.

"Man, look at those tits," Price said huskily. "I can't wait to get my tongue around those babies."

Jimmy gasped, he could not stand the thought of anyone else touching his girl, the girl he loved so much, the girl with whom he had shared so many tender moments of love lately. Their lovemaking had not been out of depravity, lustfulness, it had been out of love, tender love and he could not bear the thought of anyone else touching her body.

He tried to free himself from the hands that held him fast to the wall, but with each renewed effort he was forced backwards until his head slammed soundly into the plaster, causing his ears to ring.

Price had unfastened the hooks of Christine's brassiere and was tugging at the straps in an effort to release the binding from her body. She could do nothing to stop him as he roughly pulled the thin silk straps so tight and furiously that they finally broke and her breasts stood out like two white cones, full and resilient. Price's hands covered them harshly, pinching the soft flesh of her bosom and tweaking her pink nipples into erectness so that they stood out provocatively, temptingly.

The other men in the group caught their breath and you could hear a huge gasp sound throughout the room.

"Aren't they beauties," he laughed. "Think of sucking on these mounds."

The men watched him jealously as he fondled her sensitive breasts, squeezing them into various shapes, leaving deep, red fingerprints wherever he touched.

She watched the men as they glared at her and finally her eyes had the courage to meet Jimmy's once again. He was standing there helplessly, watching the horrible degradation and humiliation of her body, the body that he loved and cherished so much.

Price's hands began to wander further down her body until he was holding her tightly around her slim waist, forcing her buttocks back into his pelvis. She could feel the bulge of his cock through the material of his pants and she knew that there was no way that he would be left unsatisfied, and that Jimmy and all of the other men would be there to watch her ultimate humiliation and shame as he planted his seed of lust deep inside her unwilling body.

The panting in the room began almost a roar and Jimmy, in spite of his revulsion could feel his penis begin to stiffen within the confines of his trousers. The sight of this beautiful girl, his girl, bare-breasted in front of him, would cause any man to desire her regardless of the circumstances.