The view to the north was desolate. Outside the motel window the
desert
stretched as far as the eye could see: sagebrush, cactus and tumbleweed. No
animal or human could be seen.
To the west, the arid purple mountains stretched high above the desert.
To the east, the land was broken and jagged. The sun had just climbed over
the barren horizon.
""Rattlesnake Bend,'' Angelique muttered. ""What a
name. What a horrible
place. What the hell are we doing here.''
Then she smiled as she remembered.
Rattlesnake Bend was a desolate hard-scrabble town in the Nevada
desert,
80 miles north of Las Vegas on a remote, little used country road. Like so
many Nevada desert towns it was once a thriving mining boom camp, most of
which had long dried up and turned to ghost towns.
Rattlesnake Bend, forlorn and wretched, had survived for three reasons.
One, in the mountains to the west, they were still mining for silver,
digging up the last vestiges of once-great wealth. Two, there were three
bordellos off to the west in the shadows of the mountains.
Two were the usual Nevada whorehouses, pock-marked girls with straggly
hair whose dreams of stardom on the Vegas strip had died long ago. The third
one - known as Devil's Dungeon - thrived as the kinkiest, most depraved S&M
parlor in all of Nevada. Those in Las Vegas who wanted had a taste for sex at
its darkest were willing to make the winding, bumpy ride from Vegas and pay
huge amounts of money at Devil's Dungeon.
Third, there was a bank. The First Desert Bank, a rundown building on
the
west edge of town. From the outside, it looked like there couldn't be more
than a buck-fifty inside.
But someone had found out differently. The First Desert Bank was
controlled by the mafia. It was here, far from the prying eyes of federal
regulators, where the mob deposited the vast riches of it's illegal
enterprises in Las Vegas: drugs, prostitution, extortion and excess gambling
revenue that went unreported to the IRS.
From Rattlesnake Bend, the money was sent off to the Cayman Islands,
Barbados or Switzerland. But someone had found out that a vast fortune of
money lay within the vaults of Rattlesnake Bend.
That someone crept up behind her, wrapped her arms around Angelique's
nude body and fondled her breasts. Angelique felt her warm lips nuzzle her
neck, laying two soft tender kisses just below her ear.
""My love,'' said Catwoman. ""It is time.''
Angelique smiled and turned around. Catwoman too was naked and
Angelique
studied her body, the one she had made passionate love to the night before.
Truly she was Wendy no more.
She had grown since their crime spree started. The breasts were fuller,
firm and delicious. The body was sleek and sexy, athletic in a sexy way.
""Yes,'' said Angelique. ""It is time.''
Catwoman went to the bed and reached inside her overnight. She pulled
out
a pair of black lace panties and put them on. Angelique watched her, then lit
a Salem 100.
""One for me too,'' Catwoman said.
Angelique lit a second cigarette off the first and handed it to her
mentor. Catwoman took a drag and let it dangle as the smoke drifted out the
sides of her mouth. It stayed there as she pulled on her black stockings.
Then came the black leather pants, still tight and hugging her shapely
bottom. She took a drag off the cigarette and laid it aside while she pulled
over a black tank top. The leather boots came next and she tucked the pants
inside them as she pulled them on.
She found the gun next, silver gleaming in the morning light. She
checked
the chambers, smiled in satisfaction and closed it.
"Loaded?'' Angelique asked as she finished putting on her
Nazi-henchmen
latex ensemble.
""Yep, yours?'' Catwoman asked.
Angelique reached into her bag, checked the 44 Magnum and nodded.
""Ready and at the willing,'' Angelique said.
""If you have to love,'' Catwoman said. ""Shoot to
kill.''
*****
The law in Rattleshake Bend was a sherriff's office, a satellite branch
of one of the largest counties in America. The fat sloppy deputies that were
stationed there had few duties: watch the road in and out of town, make sure
there was no trouble at the whorehouses and protect the few struggling
business that still survived in Rattlesnake Bend.
A few discreet inquiries at a local beer joint
the night before had
illicited the information that it was staffed by four cops at all times. The
shift change was at 8 a.m. The four from the night shift came in and got
ready to drive back to Vegas. The four daytimers got ready to fulfill their
dreary daily duty. There was also a dispatcher and a clerk.
Catwoman and Angelique, as they pulled up to the station, were
confident
there were ten inside.
At precisely 8 a.m. they were all drinking coffee. They were caught
totally by surprised when the two masked ladies in black sauntered in.
""EVERYBODY FREEZE!!!'' Catwoman screammed. ""DON'T
YOU DARE MAKE A
FUCKING MOVE!!!''
The deputies were stunned. One started reaching for his gun but he
froze
as a bullet zipped by his head.
""YOU HEARD HER!!!!'' Angelique screammed, the smoke drifting
from her
barrel. ""DON"T YOU FUCKING MOVE!!!''
They didn't.
""ONE BY ONE!!'' Catwomam ordered, ""GUNS ON THE
FLOOR.'''
There were eight male cops, a young lady who served as the dispatcher
and
the fat old clerk. They complied, slowly and carefully.
""ALL RIGHT!!!'' Catwoman snapped. ""INTO THE
CELL...NOW!!!''
They got up and walked slowly. Angelique stood posed, menacing and
ready,
her gun unmistakably pointed at their heads.
""HURRY UP!!!'' Catwoman ordered.
She looked at the dispatcher.
""YOU STOP!''
The girl froze.
""I want the key to the cell, now!''
The girl complied.
The cell was 8-by-10. A drunk slept off a load from the night before,
otherwise it was empty.
Catwoman turned to the dispatcher.
""I want every handcuff in the fucking office,''
Again, the girl complied. There were 12 sets in all.
""EVERYBODY TAKE OFF THEIR CLOTHES!!!!''' Catwoman ordered.
The men looked at her in terror but the guns were still pointed
straight
at them. Again they complied.
""I WANT EVERYBODY NAKED AND THEIR CLOTHES THROWN OUTSIDE THE
CELL!!!!'''
Catwoman said.
The clothes came off. Angelique's blood raced through her body in
excitement but she couldn't help but laugh. Four of the deputies had hard-ons.
""All right bitch,''' Catwoman said. ""Start
handcuffing them. I want
everybody handcuffed to somebody else...NOW YOU FUCKING BITCH.''
Again the girl complied.
""Lady,'' said one of the deputies. ""I'm going to
get you if it's the
last thing I do...you fucking cunt.''
That was too much for Angelique. The deputy was one of the four with
hard-ons, which only made it hurt worse when Angelique aimed her black
leather boot and gave him a cruel kick in his groin.
""OH FUCK....'' he moaned, dropping to his knees.
""Anybody else?'' Angelique said. ""I don't like
the c-word.''
There was silence.
There were two handcuffs left and Catwoman locked the dispatcher to one
of the deputies with one wrist and the other to the bar of the cell. She
slammed the door shut.
""That will hold them,'' Catwoman said.
She pulled a cigarette out of her gold case and lit it. The smoke
streammed out.
""My love, we have more work to do,'' Catwoman said.
Angelique smiled and took the cigarette.
""Let's do it,'' she said, just before taking a drag.
""Let's go rob us a
bank.''
They had rented a blue Ford Taurus. The black corvette was waiting for
them in Vegas. They got in and headed down the street. The bank was four
blocks away, just as the road headed north out of town. They pulled into the
parking lot.
For Catwoman, the show at the sheriff's station was an awesome thrill.
Crime to her was not about money or jewels. It was about raw power, the total
feeling of control. It was not enough to steal or rob, she loved terrorizing
her victims, seeing them quake in fear at her presence, knowing they could
very well die at that moment.
She wanted to be feared far and wide, the queen of crime who nobody
could
stop. She loved the feeling, as Angelique had put it, that she was about to
ruin people's lives forever.
Not Angelique. It was about greed. Pure avarice. The point was to steal
as much as she could. She wanted it all, for herself, and she didn't care who
she took it from. The strong and the powerful or the weak and helpless. If it
was their money or jewels or whatever, she wanted to steal it.
Their motives were different. But the final goal was the same. It was a
powerful combination at work inside the two ladies criminals, clad in leather
and latex, their eyes smoldering behind their black masks, as they walked
into the First Desert Bank.
*****
Vito DeMarco hated Rattlesnake Bend as much as Angelique. It was on the
other side of the world from his hometown of Brooklyn.
He had started his life of crime early, running numbers and working as
an
enforcer for a loan shark. Deadbeats who didn't pay up got their arms and
legs broken by Vito.
He was as stupid as he was ugly but his earnestness earned him entrance
to the mob. He was strictly muscle for the Dons and Capos. He was good but
over-zealous. He brought results but he brought the heat. They had to get him
out of New York.
He was sent to Las Vegas where his new bosses found him just as stupid.
But they had a useful assignment. He was doing it now and he was armed.
He sat in the drivers seat of a black sedan parked outside the First
Desert Bank. The mafia was smart enough not to let the county sheriffs guard
their private bank. That was up to Vito and his partner Joey Vallero, who had
walked across the street to get coffee and was now coming back.
He got in the right front seat and handed a cup to Vito.
""Thanks,'' Vito said. ""You'll love this.''
""What.''
""See the blue car,'' Vito said, pointing to the Taurus,
parked near the
entrance about 25 yards away?
""So,''
""Two whores just walked in from Devil's Dungeon,'''
""How do you know they were whores??''
""Cuz'' Vito laughed. ""They were dressed all in
black, head to
foot.....all in leather.''
""Oh fuck.....Sadistic bitches...I'd love to show them some
pain when
they come out.''
Vito laughed and drank his coffee, oblivious to what was going on
inside.
*******
""FREEZE,'' Catwoman screammed. ""THIS IS A STICK
UP!!!! NOBODY FUCKING
MOVE!!!''
There were two tellers, a manager and one customer, a young man from
the
mines making a deposit. They were rooted in horror at the malvolent
black-dressed women pointing guns and their heads.
""WHERE"S THE VAULT!!!''' Catwoman screammed.
A teller pointed to the back.
""LET"S GO, EVERYBODY!!!!!''
They moved slowly, fearfully to the back of the bank. Angelique
directed
them inside with the wave of her gun and then her eyes popped open.
The vault was loaded with money, more than she ever dreammed, stacks
upon
stacks on shelf after shelf. Her greedy heart lept with joy.
""GET THE FUCK ON THE FLOOR!!!!'' Angelique yelled.
The four got down quickly.
The manager spoke.
""You don't know what your doing lady,'' he said.
""You better stop this
now.''
""Fuck you asshole,'' Angelique said. ""This is a
robbery. If you want to
make it murder, keep talking.''
The manager shut up. He wasn't worried. He had a button in his pocket.
It
would sound an alarm when he pushed it. It wouldn't go to the sheriff's
office. It would buzz the black sedan outside.
""Let's go to work,'' Catwoman said. ""Anybody
moves, shoot to kill.''
""Fuck yes,'' Angelique said.
They had brought five plastic bags. She snapped open the first one and
started grabbing the bundles of cash, as quickly as her black-leather gloved
hands could move. Catwoman worked just as quickly, her heart pounding as she
stole one bundle after another.
""God I love fucking robbery,'' Angelique moaned, the wetness
once again
soaking her. ""I love this shit..so help me God I do.''
Five bags wasn't enough but it would have to do. Even as robbers they
were smart. No sense going crazy. The five bags were filled with money beyond
their wildest dreams.
""Ready,'' Catwoman said.
""Yes, my love.''
Catwoman pointed at the miner.
""You get up,'' she snapped. ""Carry two of
these.''
The miner slowly got up and complied. Angelique carried two bags.
Catwoman carried the fifth, the gun in the other hand aimed at the miner. She
slammed the steel-bar door shut behind them, locking in the three bank
employees.
The manager watched them flee and pressed his button.
They bolted out the door and Catwoman pressed the remote button that
popped open the drunk. Angelique flung two bags in and the miner did the
same. Catwoman threw her bag in and slammed the trunk shut.
""ALL RIGHT YOU FUCKING BITCHES...STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!''
Catwoman and Angelique turned quickly. Thirty yards away, two men were
crouched behind a black sedan, pointing guns right at them.
""FUCK!!'' Catwoman yelled. ""LET'S GO.''
She bolted for the drivers seat on the side exposed to the sedan.
Angelique was covered by the Taurus as she raced to the other side. The miner
was frozen in terror.
Shots rang out and tore three holes in the miner's chest. He fell into
the dirt, dead before he hit the ground. Vito and Joey thought he was the
leader. They were wrong.
More shots rang out as Catwoman opened the door. Two whizzed by her
head.
Two hit the side of the car. One ripped into her left shoulder and blooded
spurted out.
""Fuck!!!'' Catwoman yelled as she got into the car.
""Are you hurt??''' Angelique asked, getting in the other
side.'
""Yeah,'' Catwoman said, breathing heavily as she turned the
ignition.
The car roared to life, the tires squealed and dust kicked up into the air.
The Taurus peeled out of the parking lot, took a right turn and headed north
out of town. Catwoman put the gas pedal to the floor.
""You're going the wrong way,'' Angelique said.
""We have a better chance in the desert,'' Catwoman
panted....she looked
back..the sedan had pulled onto the road and was coming after them.
Angelique looked at Catwoman...her left arm was on the wheel, her right
arm was clutching her left shoulder, but there was a determined look on her
face. Angelique thought, she'll get us out of this.
Catwoman didn't feel the same way. The pain roared through her shoulder
and she was driving...which she had only learned to do a few months before.
She tried to keep the car steady as it roared down the highway but it was
difficult to keep it from fishtailing....
Angelique double-checked her gun and looked back. The sedan was gaining
rapidly.
""They're coming,'' she warned.
""I know,'' Catwoman panted. ""I'm going as fast as
I can.''
Angelique leaned out the window and fired two shots but they missed
wildly. The sedan continued to gain...The road led up the side of the
mountains, following along the lower ridge.
Catwoman swore. It was tough enough to drive with a bullet in the
shoulder but it was worse with the twists and turns of the road. Sweat
trickled down beneath her maskas she saw the steep embankment form on the
right.
The sedan was just behind them. Angelique saw the thug in the right
front
seat lean out and fire two shots. She ducked. The back windshield of the
Taurus shattered into thousands of pieces.
""You all right??''' Angelique asked anxiously.
""Yeah....shoot to kill will you damn it!!!!''
The shattered windshield gave Angelique an unimpeded aim at the driver.
She waited until the car got onto a straight stretch or road, aimed at the
driver's head and fired two shots...
""FFFuck!!!!'' Angelique yelled.
""What's wrong.'' Catwoman asked as she swerved the car
through a left
turn at 62 miles per hour.
""Bullet proof glass...the mother fuckers.'''
The thug on the right side leaned out the window again. He took aim but
Angelique was quicker and fired off three shots. One hit the thug in his
right hand and the gun clattered to the highway.
""Yes!!!'' said Angelique.
""You get one??'' asked Catwoman.
""No...but he won't lean his dick head out the window
again,'' Angelique
said.
Catwoman nodded as the car continued to speed along the ridge. The pain
throbbed in her shoulder...
Gun play was over, she quickly reasoned. Their car is bulletproof. They
don't dare stick their head out again.
There were two possibilities she thought.
They could race to see who ran out of gas first. Or they could pull
over
and shoot it out in the desert.
The first one was a gamble, plus eventually they would come to another
town. Two speeding cars would attract attention and they were the ones
dressed as criminals and loaded with loot.
A shoot out was dangerous. These guys were mafioso. Who knows what kind
of weapons....
BAMMMM!!!!!
The Taurus lurched foward....Catwoman almost hit her head on the
steering
wheel. The sedan was right behind them, slamming into their
backside....Catwoman clutched the wheel and floored it. The turns got tighter
and tighter.
Her shoulder was throbbing. She thought the bleeding had stopped. She
chanced a quick look and saw a reddish-black hole...She stared at....
""CAT!!!!!'' Angelique screammed.
Cat looked up quickly and saw the right turn...was it too late??? The
car
leaned over on two wheels and there was no guard rail...Angelique was looking
60 feet below at the desert floor. Her heart raced wildly...For two seconds
she thought they were going over....
Catwoman yanked hard on the wheel, praying it would lean back over.
Gravel spurted up from the shoulder...they were two feet...one foot....inches
from the embankment,when gravity took over and the car righted itself again...
Catwoman breathed but now the road bent to the left. She turned hard
but
the car skidded and slammed hard into the side of the mountain. Her head
banged again the side, the car careened and skidded but somehow she
straightened it out.
The roaded sloped downward. The sedan was still behind. Catwoman saw a
long slow curve to the right and she eased into it. But the Taurus was
exposed and the thug in the right seat let loose at torrent olf bullets...
Sparks shot out from the side, then the last bullet pierced the right
tire. Catwoman heard a loud pop and then felt the car fly out of control. She
grabbed the wheel for all it was worth but it was no use.....
The car went into a sickening skid, then smashed through the guard rail
and went nose first over the embankment. Angelique screammed. Catwoman bit
her lip. Their heads smashed against the ceiling as the car thumped and
bumped, then hit a small crevice. The car flipped over, once, twice, then
three times before coming to a rest upside down on the desert floor.
The car had stopped but Cat still felt the world turning. She was
upside
down. She unhooked the seatbelt and flipped over....
She looked at Angelique, who was breathing hard, curled up in the area
where the feet normally rest.
""Baby....you all right,'' Catwoman sobbed.
""Yeah...Angelique said.
""Get out....it may blow...'''
Catwoman opened the door. She saw Angelique do the same. She crawled
out
of the car. The desert sun burned into her head...a mist covered her
eyes..She got out of the car...then fell face first into the desert sand....
******
Vito was both enraged, elated and pissed off. He was pissed because he
had to go down the embankment and get his shiny black Bostonians dirty. He
was enraged because these bitches had almost killed them with their attempted
getaway. But they had stopped the robbery. The money was safe.
As he stumbled down the hill, he saw that the trunk had popped open
from
the crash. The five bags had fallen out but the money was still safely tucked
inside. The bosses would be pleased. They had done their job.
He saw the two figures sprawled in the dirt.
If they're dead, they're lucky, he thought.
If they weren't, he thought, they soon would be. But he would break
some
arms and legs first.
Joey stumbled in behind him.
""Check the other bitch,'' he said.
Joey went to the other side of the wreck. Vito nudged the one in front
of
him.She didn't move. He cocked his gun....then, out of habit, looked around,
as if there were someone within 20 miles.
It was a fatal mistake. He looked down just in time to see a gun emerge
from under the body. He saw a flash of light and felt pain searing through
his heart. He felt no more.
Joey was staring at the other girl when he heard the shot. He looked to
the other side of the car and saw Vito fall. He looked back at the other
girl. She was sitting up, a gun pointing at him.
Angelique pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped into his left shoulder
and Joey fell backward. He dropped his gun as he hit the dirt.
""Motherfucker!!!!'' he moaned.
He looked up. Angelique was standing over him. The gun was pointed at
him.
""Wait...''' he moaned. ""Talk...we can make a
fucking deal.''
""I want one thing from you asshole,'' Angelique said.
""What.,....''
""When you get to hell,'' Angelique said. ""Put in
a good word for me.''
She was Angelique. She was the Angel of Death. Shoot to kill, Catwoman
had told her over and over again. She squeezed the trigger twice. Both
bullets ripped through Joey's chest and tore his heart apart.
Angelique closed her eyes and let out a slow heavy breath. She opened
them and saw Catwoman stagger to her side and lean on her. She was breathing
heavily.
Catwoman took off her mask. Her mascara was streaked down through the
cheeks. Her hair was in wet clumps. Blood was caked to her left shoulder.
""Baby,'' Angelique said, still breathing hard.
""You all right.'''
Catwoman nodded. They both laughed.
"":You look like shit,'' said Angelique.
""You look beautiful.'''
""So do you...so do you...''
""Thelma and Louise...we went off the cliff but lived to tell
about it.
They laughed some more.
Angelique looked around.
""We must be in hell,'' she said.
""Not yet,'' Catwoman said. ""Not yet.''
Their breathing became more relaxed and even. Their pulses returned to
normal. Their brains started to clear.
""What now,'' Angelique said.
""This,'' Catwoman said, holding up the keys to the sedan,
which she bad
taken from the lifeless corpse.
Angelique nodded.
""We can't go back through town,'' Angelique said.
""No...this road goes for another 50 miles.Then we get to a
highway that
goes west, back around the mountains and we pick up the main highway to
Vegas.''
""In the sedan??''
Catwoman nodded.
""We got time. We'll get to Vegas, ditch the car and take the
corvette.''
""We got the money.'' Angelque said.
Catwoman nodded wearily.
""You need a doctor.''
""I can make it to Vegas.'''
""Oh honey,,,,this was close.'''
""Angelique...Teresa...my love...we're criminals...this is
our life of
crime..there will be close calls. But we're getting better.''
Angelique pointed at the bags of money.
""We got a ton of money. Unmarked. Untraceable. Enough to
live on.''
""You want to quit,'' Catwoman said.
""No,'' said Angelique. ""Do you...'''
""Never.''