a kidnapping had actually occurred and that it might cross state borders.
Unfortunately, Gary couldn’t tell them what kind of vehicle Alfred might be driving. They agreed to check for stolen cars. One thing that Detective Landon had done was to coordinate with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and ask them to keep an eye on Alfred’s apartment in Lomita. They had alerted his landlord, who would call them in case he returned to it.
He might never return to his apartment. There was a lot of space between here and Lomita where he might be. He had Penny with him. What was he doing to her?
After Gary had told the law enforcement people all he knew, he left the sheriff’s office, bereft and discouraged. He couldn’t expect much help from them. He agreed to stay in touch with them and let them know how they could contact him, but he had to do something on his own.
He thought about calling Penny’s parents. That would scare the hell out of them, and what would it accomplish? They couldn’t do anything. He thought about calling his parents-or his aunt and uncle, since his parents were in Europe. Same problem. What he needed most was support, which they couldn’t give him from across the country. Maybe he and Penny should have waited and had a traditional wedding back east.
Was he the one who had wanted to elope or was it both of them? If something happened to Penny, would it haunt him for the rest of his life? Yes.
He drove south slowly on Route 101, trying to look at the passengers in all the vehicles that passed him in either direction. A lot of good that did. He came to Leggett where Route 1 started (or ended if you were heading north) and went to the coast while 101 continued south in more of a straight line.
He stopped for gas while a new fear seized him. Up to now, he had assumed without really putting words to it that he was following the route Alfred and Penny were taking, and that, therefore, at least a chance existed that he might spot them. Now he had to make a choice. Which way would they go?
After his gas tank was filled, Gary parked in a corner of the station and tried to block out his fear for Penny long enough to think rationally about what he should do. It wasn’t easy, but with effort he gained some semblance of control over his mind. Alfred wanted Penny all to himself. He would like to live with her in L.A., but he must realize by now that L.A. was a dangerous place for him, especially if he returned to his apartment.
Penny would be trying her darndest to escape from Alfred. She might feel that it would be easier to escape from him in L.A. than up here, especially since escaping where there weren’t any people around to help her might not gain her anything.
On the other hand, she would want to stay as close to Gary as possible. If she had any control over Alfred at all, she might try to influence him to go somewhere Gary might find them, such as a campground.
Gary made his choice. He headed toward the coast. He would drive through every campground between here and San Francisco on Route 1. There were a lot of them, but it would keep him busy.
When Alfred stopped the camper, Penny heard him get out and close the door. She assumed he had stopped for gas. She couldn’t see anything because the blanket was still over her head. She had worked the tape partially loose from her mouth again, but she doubted that screaming would help her situation, and it would certainly bring his wrath down upon her. Anyway, she didn’t think that she could open her mouth wide enough to scream loudly so that she could be heard outside the camper. The blanket would muffle any noise she made. She couldn’t get the blanket off her; in fact, she could hardly move at all.
She waited for Alfred to reenter the camper, screaming internally from the pain of the cramps in her muscles. She needed him to untape her and agree to a new set of rules immediately, before the pain completely destroyed her.
After half an eternity, she heard him get in and close the door. He started the engine and pulled away from the gas station. She started humming as loudly as she could. Humming was the only noise she could make without giving away the fact that her mouth was not securely taped, and she didn’t know whether he would hear her over the noise of the engine.
Alfred drove for several minutes. If he didn’t react soon, Penny was prepared to risk giving away her secret by screaming out loud. Then he slowed down. Maybe he was looking for a place to pull over. After another minute, he stopped the camper and came back to her. First he took the blanket off her. She looked at him, her eyes wide, grateful to be able to see again, but humming loudly to tell him to rip the tape off her before her limbs froze in their current position.
Moving in what seemed to Penny like slow motion, he pulled the tape off her mouth, and she blurted, “Damn it, Alfred. My legs are killing me.”
This had an effect on him. He set to work immediately, tearing the tape off. When he had her arms and legs separated, Penny straightened her legs with a cry.
“The backs of my thighs are tied in knots.”
Alfred looked contrite. He rolled her onto her stomach and started massaging her upper thighs through her slacks while Penny directed him. Gradually he kneaded the knots out of her muscles. Although his hands came close to her genital area, he made no effort to touch her there, even though it would be easy for him since her wrists were still taped together.
This surprised Penny. What kind of a man was he? She still didn’t have him figured out.
When the pain finally stopped, she said, “Now take off the rest of the tape. And never do that again.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you. We won’t have to get gas again until somewhere south of San Francisco.”
She wasn’t ever going to let him tape her that securely again. She would die first.
“Are you going to let me sit in front and be your navigator now?”
Alfred hesitated. “If you start signaling to people or yelling out the window…”
“I won’t. I promise.”
She didn’t promise she wouldn’t jump out of the camper if they stopped in one of the villages along the way. She went forward and sat in the passenger seat and looked at the map. Fort Bragg would be a good place to make her escape. A center of population meant people. People meant protection.
Alfred must have read her mind. He was about to drive away when he glanced sideways at her. Maybe she looked too happy. He shut off the engine and got the duct tape.
“You said you weren’t going to tape me.”
“Just your legs. So you don’t jump out.”
Aarrgg. She argued with him. He was adamant. If she wanted to ride in front she had to have her legs taped. The alternative was for her to lie on the bed. She couldn’t take the bed anymore. She let him tape her legs, but she didn’t give in easily. He did it in such a way that it would be time consuming for her to untape them. Then he taped her legs to the seat. He also took her shoes.
Alfred got out of the camper, walked around the front, and opened her door. What was he up to now? He made sure her window was rolled up all the way. He securely taped the window crank so that she couldn’t open it. She had told him she wouldn’t shout out the window. He still didn’t trust her. He also taped the door lock in the locked position. He’d thought of everything.
This was galling. Penny did not like being told what to do in the best of times, and she hated being physically restrained. If she got out of this mess, nobody would ever tell her what to do again.
More campgrounds existed along this stretch of Route 1 than Gary thought. Not only public campgrounds but private campgrounds such as KOA-Kampgrounds of America. He stopped at each one. He drove through the larger ones and walked through the smaller ones.
He didn’t know what he was looking for. Some sort of car, probably. A lack of camping equipment. Would they be sleeping in the car? Gary didn’t want to think about the sleeping arrangements. If he did, he might kill Alfred when he found him. Since they didn’t have camping equipment, wouldn’t they stay in a motel? Alfred didn’t have much money. Otherwise, why would he have robbed the food store? They had been told he hadn’t gotten a lot of money from that. Penny had no money with her. He had found her wallet in the Beetle.
How would Alfred prevent Penny from escaping? Would he keep her tied up? She was feisty and wouldn’t like
