Carefully but casually, Julie glanced around at the other shoppers as she set down her shopping bag. None of them were paying any attention to her. As she leaned forward over the stacks of silk scarves on the low display counter, apparently checking the size tags on the sweaters on the next-higher ledge, her London Fog overcoat with the zip-out lining swung open. She gave her head a little shake -- just couldn’t find the right size; oh, well -- and straightened up. She made a quarter turn as she picked up her bag again, concealing the movement of her hand as it slipped back through the slit in the lining, drawing a $40 Italian scarf with it, balling it up small in the bottom of her pocket.

She strolled over to the fragrance counter, glancing at the bottles lined up on the mirrored trays, reading the labels on one or two of them. From there, she went to the watch counter, pausing to rotate the plastic display case. A previous customer had left a lovely gold watch with tiny filigree hands in its box on the counter and the clerk, distracted by other customers, hadn’t yet put it back in the case.

Finally, her shopping done, she walked confidently out of the store and back into the mall, turned to the right, and admired the lingerie in the window of Victoria’s Secret as she passed. But she’d already been there and didn’t stop. Time for some pizza in the food court, she thought. But as she altered course toward the escalator, a stranger stepped in front of her, forcing her to halt abruptly.

"Excuse me, Miss. I think you’ve made a mistake.” The man was tall, not bad looking, wearing charcoal slacks and a navy blazer with his shirt collar open. He smiled at her confidently. "I believe you forgot to pay for some things. The pressure of Christmas shopping, I’m sure.” Julie tried to step around him but the man anticipated her easily.

"Just you leave me alone,” she said, trying to sound indignant and hoping he couldn’t hear the sudden pounding of her heart and the quaver in her voice. "Leave me alone or I’ll call the police.”

"Let’s not make this difficult,” he said. "I *am* the police.” He took a small leather case from his jacket pocket and flipped it open. The shiny oval metal badge said "Security Officer.” "And you do have some items in your pocket you haven’t paid for.”

Julie’s throat was closing up but she managed to shake her head. "No, I don’t!”

The man’s expression became harder. "You’re denying you’ve taken anything from the store?” She shook her head again. "Then I’m afraid I’ll have to put you under arrest,” he said, taking a discrete but very firm grip on her elbow and steering her toward one of the mall’s side corridors. Julie tried to pull away but he pressed a spot between the bones and a sharp jolt of pain shot up her arm. She gasped as her fingers went numb. She didn’t try to resist again.

At the far end of the corridor, past the restrooms and the telephones and the water fountains, was an unmarked door. The man produced a key, opened it adroitly, and escorted Julie into the dark room before she could react.

As he closed the door, he released her arm and flipped on a light in a single practiced movement. Every word he had spoken, every motion he made, was calculated to intimidate the culprit, and in this he was completely successful. It was beginning to sink in on Julie that she was probably in serious trouble.

She stopped and looked quickly around the small, windowless room. There was an old sofa against the wall to the left, an aging file cabinet beside a small table supporting a Mr. Coffee and three chipped cups against the opposite wall, and what appeared to be a coat closet directly across from her. There was a single bulb hanging from the ceiling under a dusty plastic shade. In the middle of the room was a card table with one folding chair.

Julie looked back at the security officer, who was now leaning against the door, arms folded and ankles crossed. He was examining her and he seemed amused. She knew what he was seeing: An unusually pretty teenage girl with thick, reddish-blonde hair that fell below her shoulders and wide green eyes, dressed in an expensive cable knit sweater and wool slacks under her topcoat.

The security man sighed and stepped away from the door, pausing to lock it from the inside. "All right, please empty the pockets of your coat onto the table there. Then empty out the shopping bag. I want to see the receipts for all your . . . purchases.” He gave her half a smile.

She rallied a little. "If you’re arresting me, don’t you have to read me my rights? And let me call a lawyer?” She hunched her shoulders and tried to wrap her coat more tightly around herself.

"Well, . . . technically, I’m just holding you until the police arrive. *They’ll* read you your rights and actually place you under arrest. Now, please empty your pockets and the shopping bag.”

The police! Julie was too frightened to resist any longer. Her eyes began to mist as she began pulling items out of her deep pockets and then out of the recesses of the bag. The scarf. The gold watch. A half-ounce bottle of expensive perfume. A pair of small gold hoop earrings. A slinky black negligee. A small crystal paperweight for her mother’s desk. An Italian necktie her father would have loved.

The man watched, shaking his head slowly. "Adding it up in my head, I make the total value easily in excess of two hundred dollars. And that’s the magic number.” He glanced at her. "Any receipts?”

Julie shook her head and stared at the stuff on the table. It was all just for Christmas presents! He went to the file cabinet, took out a battery-powered tape recorder, and set it in the center of the card table.

"Sit down,” he said firmly. She sat. "Theft over two hundred dollars is a felony in this state, not a misdemeanor. I want you to think about that. And I want you to listen to me very carefully. A taped confession, voluntarily given, can help you a lot when you go to court. Judges are impressed by remorse. So I strongly recommend you tell this recorder all about your little crime spree.”

He pressed the record button and said, "This is Security Officer Ridgeway, 3:45 in the afternoon of December 12th, Northside Mall. Interview with---” He looked at Julie.

"Julie Engstrom.” Her voice was so low she could barely hear it herself.

"Interview with Julie Engstrom, apprehended in the mall in possession of merchandise totaling more than two hundred dollars in value, none of it paid for. She wishes to make an entirely voluntary statement.”

He pushed the recorder a little closer to her and stepped back. The shade on the ceiling light put the upper part of his face into shadow.

Julie opened her mouth but nothing came out. She swallowed and cleared her throat. "I’m sorry I took that stuff.” Her voice was squeaky; she sounded about six years old. "I didn’t mean to. I mean, I *did* mean to, I guess, but---” She couldn’t think what to say. How could she explain this?

"Have you done this before?” Ridgeway asked quietly.

"Yes -- but not like this. Only a candy bar or a lipstick, things like that. I got a job during the summer so I’d have enough money for Christmas shopping, but things came up and I just, I just. . . .” She could feel the tears beginning to dribble down her nose. "I didn’t have any money and I couldn’t ask my folks for any because that was the deal we made -- but I *had* to get Christmas presents for everyone!”

"You’re still in high school, aren’t you? How old are you?”

"Eighteen. I’m a senior. I’ve already been accepted at Rice for next fall.”

"Well, I wouldn’t count on that,” he said, shaking his head again. "I imagine a felony conviction will cause them to reconsider your application. Not to mention that you’ll be on probation for several years at the very least. You might draw some county jail time, depending on which judge you get.”

Julie stared at his solemn expression in horror. Jail? Not go to college? Her parents would never forgive her! She’d end up spending her life waiting tables! The tears were flowing freely now.

"Keep working on your confession,” he said. "Have you ever been in any kind of trouble before?”

"No, . . . nothing important. I got sent to the principle’s office for some Halloween pranks at school last year. And I got a speeding ticket. Well, two tickets. But that’s all.”

"Other than this---” He waved at the merchandise spread out on the card table."---you have a good moral record?” She looked at him blankly. "You’ve never been pregnant, for instance?”

"No!”

"Are you still a virgin?”

"Uh. . . .” He cocked his head and waited. Julie swallowed again. "Yes, I am -- technically.”

"‘Technically’.” He smiled cynically. "That means everything just short of actual penetration, right?” She looked down, aware that her pale complexion was turning bright red.

"Well, Julie, I hate to see your life ruined. I really do. I hate to think you’ll likely go to jail for a year or two.” Ridgeway stepped back up to the table, leaning his fists on it so his face was again fully in the light. He pressed the recorder’s OFF button. He had an earnest expression and Julie began to feel a nibble of hope. Maybe he’d take pity on her.

"It goes without saying, first, that I would have to have your solemn promise that you will never do anything like this again.” She opened her mouth to blurt her assurance but he held up a finger. "Second, to make sure you’ve learned your lesson, to make sure you understand how the real world works, you are going to have to, shall we say, ‘purchase’ any lenience I may decide to show you.”

Julie tried to figure out what he was saying. He wanted something from her?

"You mean like, um, community service at the mall, or something?”

"Community service is rather pointless as a punishment. I don’t think mopping floors or handing out store maps would teach you any lessons. No, I had in mind a much more personal transaction, just between you and me.”

The light began to dawn. She stared at Ridgeway’s calm smile and wondered if he was trying to frighten her all over again. Maybe he was just making a terrible joke at her expense. But he didn’t laugh.

At the expression on Julie’s face, he nodded slowly several times. "I think you understand. Why don’t you take off your coat and go and sit on the sofa?”

He stood back and Julie slowly got up from the chair and shrugged off the topcoat. Her brain was seizing up, refusing to work properly. She didn’t know yet exactly what Ridgeway wanted -- but she knew she didn’t want to go to jail and miss college.

She sat down stiffly. Ridgeway came around the table, taking off his own jacket and draping it over the chair as he passed. Coming to a halt a yard in front of her, he slowly unzipped his fly, undid his belt, let his slacks slide down his muscular legs, pushed his briefs down with them.

At first, Julie could see only the tip of his penis beneath his shirttail. Then, as he quickly unbuttoned his shirt, she was confronted with his whole body. His chest was nearly hairless, his stomach flat and well-defined, his thighs tanned and smooth. His cock drooped in a curve but it was becoming larger and more erect as she watched in shock and alarm.

"Go ahead,” he said quietly as he moved closer to her. "Take it in your hands. Stroke it up and down. Hold my balls. Take your time, Julie; we’re not in any hurry.”

She did as she was told. It was like she had no control over her own hands. His cock was large and she couldn’t quite close her fingers around it. She could almost feel the blood rushing into it, increasing its thickness and length. She slipped her other hand blindly into the warmth between his legs, weighing his balls in her palm, then searching out their shape with her fingertips.

Ridgeway moved even closer and gently but insistently pressed one hand against the back of her head. She knew what he wanted her to do. Swallowing yet again and licking her lips -- and trying very hard not to scream -- she put her open mouth over the head of his cock and closed her lips around it. His hand pushed again and she took more of it into her mouth. She began instinctively to move her tongue around and around the smooth cap of his penis, sucking in a little more of it each time.

She thought about that time she had sucked Kevin’s dick in the car after Laurie’s Halloween party. His had been nearly as large than this one, even though he was still just a boy, really. Ridgeway must be thirty at least. Kevin had been a bit arrogant about the whole thing, like most football players. God’s gift to women. Ridgeway seemed confident she was going to do what he expected, but at least he didn’t swagger. She had managed Kevin; maybe she could manage Ridgeway. Because this was much more important than some high school boy’s ego.

She also remembered the couple of dates she had gone on with George from her poly-sci class. She had jerked him off once and gotten that stuff all over the front of her sweatshirt. And he had tried to talk her into doing the dirty with him but she’d flatly refused, wouldn’t even discuss it. It made her wonder just how much this cop was going to expect from her. She gritted her teeth -- though only mentally. She definitely didn’t want to go to jail!

Ridgeway combed both his hands through her hair and took a firm grip. Then he began pushing into her mouth more urgently. She felt the rigidity of his shaft tickling the back of her throat and fought desperately not to cough or choke; she didn’t think he would like that. He drew back, then pressed forward again. Saliva was filling her mouth now and she slathered it around his cock as best she could. She could feel herself drooling down her chin.

"Put your hands around behind me and squeeze my ass,” he said.

Julie wrapped her arms around his hips and let her hands slide over the smooth, warm muscles of his buttocks. She slipped her fingertips into his ass crack and squeezed, separating the hemispheres, feeling him clench the muscles. And then she was shocked all over again to realize that some part of her was thinking about how sexy Ridgeway was. His voice was tightening, too. Maybe he’d be satisfied with just this.

She should have known better. After sliding his penis in and out of her mouth a few more times, he moved back, stepping out of his slacks and briefs and motioning her to her feet. She unconsciously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she struggled up from the sofa, glancing down at his rigidly horizontal cock as she rose. Then he let his shirt fall back off his arms and he was naked before her. Julie was terrified by his self-confidence.

"Now it’s your turn,” he said. "Take off your clothes. Pants first.” And he began slowly to stroke his cock.

Julie was still somehow running on automatic. She stepped out of her loafers and unbuttoned and unzipped her slacks. She gave them a downward push and the expensive material slithered over her hips and down her legs. The bulky sweater covered her to just above her crotch. She looked at him and dreaded what she knew was coming next.

"Now your panties.” Somehow, hearing a naked man pronounce the word "panties” in her presence made her stomach knot up.

Julie took a deep breath, hooked her shaking fingers over the elastic of her trim red panties, and pushed them slowly down past her hips, bending to get them to knee-level. Then she shifted her weight from one foot to the other several times and they joined her slacks, puddled around her ankles.

Ridgeway nodded to her to continue. She grasped the hem of her sweater and lifted it over her head, then dropped it on the sofa. Her lacy red bra matched the panties. Without waiting for further instructions, she reached behind her back and unhooked the bra, letting it slip down her arms and onto the sofa.

Ridgeway looked her up and down and smiled and nodded approvingly. "Very nice, very nice.”

No boy had ever seen her completely naked before, but Julie suddenly was seeing herself through this big man’s eyes. She saw the rather large breasts and the wide shoulders that supported and uplifted them. She saw the red, swollen tips -- they were always that way, whether she was aroused or not -- and the small, hard nipples. She saw the narrow waist that accentuated her breasts, and the flat stomach. She saw the small patch of strawberry-blonde hair above her crotch and she saw the long, slender legs and trim ankles. She wondered: Had she been caught because this cop was following her around anyway?

She didn’t quite know what was coming now and she was trembling all over with tension. Ridgeway continued to examine her body but he made no move to touch her.

"You can sit down now,” he finally said. "And I want you to spread your thighs wide apart for me, Julie.”

She almost collapsed back onto the sofa, leaning back and letting her arms fall to her sides. Closing her eyes, she slowly moved her knees far apart.

"Ah-ah! Keep your eyes open, young lady! How are you going to learn anything if you don’t pay attention?”

Julie’s eyes snapped open again and she saw that Ridgeway was silently laughing at her. He was still stroking his cock, too. And now he moved forward and knelt on the floor between her thighs. He was so large, his cock was now at exactly the right height.

Ridgeway took hold of her hips and scooted her forward a little more. Then, taking his organ in his hand again, he leaned forward and brushed the head of his penis slowly up and down her pussy. She shivered at its touch but forced herself to watch its movement. She wondered if it would hurt too much when he actually shoved it inside her.

But he surprised her again. His erection continued its journey up and down the length of her pussy, which was becoming wet of its own accord. She saw the moisture on the head of it -- partly from her mouth, partly coming from inside her -- and she shivered again.

"I think you want it, don’t you, Julie?” He smiled. "You want this inside you, don’t you?”

Julie knew without being told that she should not tell Ridgeway what she really wanted. He was in control and her future depended on him.

"Yes, I want it inside me,” she said huskily, and tried not to choke on her tears. "I want your cock in my pussy.”

Ridgeway nodded in approval. "Tell me again what you want.”

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "I want you to fuck me! Put your cock in me and fuck me! Hard!”

Julie held her breath and steeled herself but Ridgeway only smiled and continued stropping his cock against her pussy, which was getting more and more damp -- no matter how much she knew she didn’t want this to happen. But she was sure it would, eventually.

Finally, he set his hands on his hips, his cock bobbing a little as he let loose of it. "All right, Julie, I think it’s show time. And I don’t want you to worry, now,” he added in a reassuring tone, "because I’m nice and clean, no diseases.”

Christ! She was shocked all over again. She hadn’t even considered that she might catch something from this man!

"Okay,” he went on with a hard smile, "I want you to take it in your pretty little hand and put it right into that cute little cunt all by yourself. Go on,” he said when she hesitated. "It won’t hurt, not much. And don’t forget to watch yourself doing it, right?”

Julie blinked away the fresh tears and took a gingerly grip with one hand on the trembling penis poised at the opening to her young body. She spread herself farther open with the other hand and tried to still the fluttering of her thigh muscles as she pressed the warm, soft flesh between the moist lips of her pussy. It felt so huge as the head disappeared from view. She glanced up at Ridgeway’s face and when he motioned with a small jerk of his chin, she continued stuffing herself with his penis. Finally, he reached out and took her hips firmly in his large hands and pulled her toward him, the whole length of his cock sliding slowly, hotly into her. She could feel the tip of it drilling up into her gut.

She let out the breath she had been holding, relieved that it really hadn’t hurt. The embarrassing tingle that had begun in the base of her clit as his cock stroked past it grew stronger when he pulled part way out, then pressed into her again.

She was ashamed, too, of the warm, syrupy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, of the way her toes seemed to be curling, the feeling of fullness between her legs. He was raping her, she knew that was what was happening. Although she was frightened out of her wits on one level, . . . on an entirely different level, some part of her -- some whorish part, she thought to herself -- was becoming very, very excited.

Ridgeway tugged her body even closer to the edge of the sofa, pulling her flat onto her back. Then he lifted her ankles, set them on his shoulders, and leaned forward, folding her nearly in half. Her feet were practically behind her ears. His cock was pushing hard against the end of her passage and the discomfort made her wince. He began stroking in and out of her more vigorously and Julie could feel her pulse rate picking up despite herself. She would be mortified if she actually had an orgasm!

He was grinning like a maniac and Julie was sure he was going to come any second. She was dreading it, having his semen inside her, . . . but she realized she was also very curious. Would she actually be able to feel it when he came? When he did, would it make her come?

She was thrown off balance when he suddenly stopped and took a deep breath, obviously trying to bring himself under control. Did that mean he was trying *not* to come inside her? She was pathetically grateful.

Ridgeway leaned forward harder, pressing her thighs tighter against her chest, making her bottom curl up toward him. He gazed down at it a moment and gave her another taste of that disconcerting smile. "I’ve gotta get a better view of that sweet little ass, young lady.” He sat back on his heels. "Turn over the other way. Put your knees on the floor and lean forward.”

Oh, god, she realized: Now he wants it doggy-style. At least she wouldn’t have to watch him fucking her any longer. She pushed herself off the sofa and turned around, leaning forward on her folded arms and spreading her knees. She sighed. Please, please, just get it over with. She was a little surprised at herself, though. She wasn’t actually in hysterics yet.

Sure enough, Ridgeway took hold of her hips again and his cock, which seemed even larger now, slammed full-length straight into her, making her gasp in shock. She clutched at the sofa cushion as the force of his thrusts rocked her back and forth. What one of her girl friends had described as "well and truly fucked,” she thought. She couldn’t have imagined what that meant until now.

"Julie, how’re you liking this? Glad you’re not a virgin any longer?” He squeezed her hip bones for emphasis. She knew what he expected.

"Yeah, I was tired of being a virgin, Mr. Ridgeway.” She winced as his cock seemed to impale her kidney. "I’m really glad you’re fucking me.” What else was there? Oh. "I love the feel of your cock, your big cock, in my pussy!” There.

Like it or not, she was getting into the rhythm of his pounding thrusts. He kept stroking her back and ribs with his hands, squeezing her ass, stroking her thighs. Under other, less coercive circumstances, with a boy her own age, she thought she might even be enjoying this. Maybe she was silly to have insisted on maintaining her virginity. Maybe not.

Julie squirmed a little when Ridgeway pressed the ball of his thumb against her asshole. She didn’t even like the fact that he could *see* her asshole; it was different, somehow, than being able to see her pussy. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as the first long joint of his middle finger insinuated itself into her rectum. No, no, no. . . .

Just as she was mentally preparing herself -- again -- for being filled with this man’s come, he slowed and let his cock slide out of her. Now what? And then she felt his finger withdraw as well -- and the sudden, painful pressure of his organ attempting to push its way into her other hole.

"No, please! You’ll kill me! I’ll rupture!” She tried to writhe out of his grasp but he held her firmly in place.

"I intend to fuck your ass, young lady. You have it coming, you know, after the larceny you’ve committed today.” She could hear the smile in his hard voice. "In fact, I think you should ask me for this. Don’t you?”

Julie clenched her fists on the edge of the cushion and buried her face in it. "Please, please, fuck my ass,” she said in a small voice. "Put your cock in my butt.” She could feel it working it’s way in there, too.

"Let’s have more enthusiasm, shall we?” And he pinched her buttocks so hard, her eyes popped open.

"Oh, god! Fuck my ass hard! Make it come out my mouth!” (Where in the world had that come from, she wondered dazedly.)

"That’s more like it. All right, then!”

She gritted her teeth as he pushed steadily, screwing his cock into her rectum. She wouldn’t have thought it possible that something that big could ever fit into an opening as small as hers, but after another minute or two, the pressure let up and Ridgeway took a deep breath.

"Damn, you got a tight ass,” he muttered. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand, then pulled it back behind her bottom. "Feel that,” he said.

As instructed, she hesitantly reached out her fingers and found herself touching his penis where it disappeared into her. His pubic hair was brushing her knuckles and it dawned on her that the entire length of his organ was inside her. Her intestine had a man’s cock in it. Her anus was painfully stretched, but she was sure she could feel him throbbing in her. She felt queasy and swallowed hard.

"Feel good, sweetheart?” He sounded pleased with himself.

"Uh-huh,” she murmured, hoping she wouldn’t suddenly throw up on his sofa. She didn’t think he would appreciate that.

"What does it feel like, Julie? Tell me.”

She tried to concentrate. "It feels like a log, like a pine tree inside me. It makes me feel constipated, like I have to shit and can’t.” She bit her lip. Why was she saying things like that?

"Hey, there’s a description of sodomy I’ve never heard before!” he chuckled. "I think you like being raped, don’t you?” He squeezed her ass cheeks sharply. "Don’t you, Julie?”

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut as the invading organ began thrusting slowly in and out. "Yes, I like it. I love it! Someone should have raped me years ago, I like it so much!” Was she pouring it on too thick? "Thank you for fucking my ass so good, Mr. Ridgeway.”

"Don’t be a smart-ass, Julie. Maybe I should ‘smarten’ your ass properly.” He was moving in longer strokes now and Julie clutched at the edge of the sofa cushion. Her head was butting the back of the sofa, but it didn’t hurt. Then there was a loud smack and a stinging whip-crack of pain as Ridgeway slapped his palm hard on the flashiest part of her bottom.

She jerked her head up and squeaked in shock, but before she could react further, it happened again. The big man was spanking her as he fucked her. The slaps continued and Julie trembled with the pain and indignation and the tears streamed down her face.

After a dozen blows that made her ass feel like it was about to explode, she could stand it no longer. "Please, Mr. Ridgeway! Please, don’t! It hurts! Please -- I’ll be good!”

The spanking ceased. "Wiggle that pretty pink little ass for me, Julie.”

She snuffled as she tried to twitch her buttocks, but she couldn’t really move, she was so thoroughly impaled. Then Ridgeway’s thrusts began rapidly to increase in force and tempo and she had to hold tightly to the cushion. Finally, he slammed into her extra hard and made an explosive sound in his throat. He jerked and squeezed her hips hard and, though she couldn’t really tell by feeling it, she knew he was coming inside her, shooting his semen up into her rectum. She was bitterly ashamed that some small part of her enjoyed that knowledge. Down deep someplace inside her, she experienced a tiny climax of her own. Pervert! she screamed at herself.

She was numb and though it could only have been a minute or two, it felt like hours before the male body behind her shifted its weight and the organ filling her insides began its withdrawal. Her face was pressed into the cheap, stale fabric of the sofa and she had lint in her mouth. Her hips and her back ached and her knees felt broken from the linoleum floor. Her butt was on fire from the spanking, and the circle pain surrounding her asshole throbbed so fiercely, she wondered if she would ever be able to take a shit again.

Julie groaned under her breath as Ridgeway pulled his cock completely out of her and stepped back, but she couldn’t make herself move. "Turn around, girl.” He prodded the sole of her foot with a toe.

Slowly, she levered herself up off the floor and almost fell over as she sat heavily on the sofa -- then had to shift her weight quickly onto one hip. She looked up at his sweaty face in a daze.

"You left my dick kind of messy, don’t you think?” She dropped her eyes and stared at his organ, which had shrunk back nearly to what must be its normal size. It was red and gooey-looking, smeared with Julie’s insides and its own ejaculation. Thoroughly disgusting, she thought vaguely.

"I think you should clean that up.” She swallowed. Please, no. "Lick it clean, Julie.” No, no, not that too. Wasn’t what she had done enough? "Suck it, lick it.” His tone was becoming threatening.

Julie tried to blank her mind, to retreat far away from the bare, dusty room, far away from the flesh in front of her.

Ridgeway stepped closer and grabbed a fistful of her hair, jerking her head up, making her wince with new pain. "Open your mouth!”

Her jaw dropped open and he stuffed his penis into her mouth. The taste and smell of the traces of her own shit almost her gorge up her throat, but she fought it down and sucked and licked mindlessly until he sighed and shook his head.

"I think we’re finished here,” he said, picking up his briefs. As he sat on the folding chair pulling on his socks, he raised his eyebrows at Julie. "Aren’t you getting dressed, young lady? Do you want me to put you back out in the mall like that?”

She stirred and looked down at herself, at the bruises on her breasts and thighs, at the sticky wetness matted around her crotch. She could only imagine what her face must look like. Listlessly, she picked up her underwear.

"Actually, I believe I’ll hang onto those,” Ridgeway said, as he stood and zipped up his trousers. He reached over and took the bra and panties from her hands. Julie let them go and slowly gathered up her sweater and slacks, climbing stiffly into them, pushing her feet into her shoes.

The security man was completely dressed and waited with a patient air as she shrugged into her topcoat. He had stuffed all her stolen merchandise back in the sack and now he handed it to her. "Julie, I want you to keep these items. Part of our deal. Have a nice Christmas, hear?” As she took the sack, Julie just stared at him.

Ah hour later, Julie Engstrom was standing in the mall’s main atrium, watching the dancing fountain but not really seeing much of it. She felt a hand slip under her arm and glanced to the side to discover Tabitha Franklin grinning cheerfully at her. Tabby was one of the group of girls she regularly ran around with. Not her closest friend, but a good person. The grin faded as the other girl got a look at her face.

"Julie, what happened? Your face is all red and puffy! And your hair’s a mess, too. What have you been up to?”

"I got caught lifting some stuff, nice stuff for Christmas presents.”

Tabby had been known to swipe a candy bar now and then, but still she looked shocked. "God! Did they charge you?”

"No, not exactly. This security man took me to -- I guess it was one of their interrogation rooms. And he made me tape a confession because it might mean a lenient sentence.”

"What?” Tabby was looking at her strangely. "That isn’t how it works, Julie. They can’t force you to confess to anything. That’s unconstitutional. What they do is, they write up a report and they call the cops, and the cops decide whether to just ticket you or to press charges, or whatever, depending on how much you took and what it’s worth.”

"It was more than two hundred dollars worth. He said that made it a felony.” Julie’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears again. "That I could go to jail and I probably would never get into college.”

Her friend was shaking her head. "Haven’t you ever heard of inflation? Felony doesn’t start until something like eight hundred, maybe a thousand bucks. Anyway,” she added, squeezing Julie’s arm, someone like you, a first-time offender, good family and all that, you’d only get fifty or sixty hours of community service. And when you finished that, the judge would order your record expunged.”

Julie raised her head and stared. Tabby shrugged. "Hey, I got two uncles who are lawyers. One of them is in the PD office. He does this kind of stuff all the time. There’s no room in the county jail for minor offenses that don’t involve drugs.”

A horrible realization was beginning to form in Julie’s mind. "He offered me a deal,” she said slowly. "He wouldn’t report me if I, . . . if I did certain things for him. . . .” She couldn’t bring herself to go into the details.

Her friend’s hand went to her mouth and her eyes grew round. "He did *what*?! My God! Come on!” Tabby grabbed her arm in both hands and steered her away from the fountain. "We’re going to report this!”

Julie tried to pull back. "But he kept the tape! I could still get in trouble!”

"No, you wouldn’t, Julie. You won’t! A little shoplifting against assault? Are you kidding?”

Tabby walked her friend firmly to the security office near the center of the mall and pushed open the door. At a desk just inside was a man in a uniform with the mall logo on his sleeve above a sergeant’s stripes. He smiled at them. "Can I help you ladies?”

"You certainly can,” said Tabby. "My friend here wants to make a complaint about one of your officers, a plainclothes guy named---” She looked at the other girl.

"Ridgeway,” Julie said in a low voice.

The sergeant looked blank. "Sorry, but there’s no one on our security team by that name.” He raised an eyebrow. "Can you describe him?”

"Tall, nice-looking,” she said. "He was wearing a navy blazer and gray slacks. He had a badge,” she added.

The sergeant stood and dug in his back pocket, fishing out a small leather case which he flipped open and laid on the desk in front of them. "Did it look like this?”

Julie stared at the star-shaped badge with "Northside Mall Security Dept.” enameled in the center. "No, it was a different shape, and it didn’t say ‘Northside’ on it.” Her voice was beginning to quaver.

Tabby’s expression shifted from disbelief to anger. "You mean there’s a *fake* mall cop wandering around here, preying on innocent women?!”

The sergeant shook his head and sighed. "I’m afraid it sounds like that’s what might have happened, Miss. If you want to make a report, I can take a statement and pass it on to the police. But I have to tell you, not much is likely to come of it. You can buy a generic badge by mail. What exactly did he do?”

Tabitha looked at her expectantly. Julie thought about it for a few moments. She didn’t want to reveal to her friend what Ridgeway had done, how much of a fool she had been. Tabby probably assumed the guy had merely hit on her. She couldn’t admit to being raped, especially since she hadn’t screamed for help. And she *absolutely* couldn’t say anything to this real cop, who was beginning to look slightly skeptical.

Julie finally shook her head and turned back to the door. "Never mind. There’s nothing you can do. And it doesn’t matter anyway.”

"Julie!” Tabby reached to grab her arm again but Julie stepped away from her.

"Forget it, Tabby. It’s not important, and they’d never catch him.” She tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. Everything between her navel and her knees still ached, and the spanking place on her bottom throbbed in time with her pulse. "I’ll take it as a ‘life-lesson’, okay?” She pushed through the door with her head down.

Tabitha turned back to the sergeant in frustration. He held out a business card. "Miss, if your friend decides to make a formal complaint, have her call me. I can put her in touch with the right people at the police department. They won’t give her a hard time, I promise.” He shook his head again. "Still, the longer she waits, the harder it’s going to be. I expect the perp was out in the parking lot three minutes after he left her. He may have been trolling Northside for weeks, hunting for a victim, but he’s not likely to come back for awhile.” He hooked his thumbs over his pockets and shrugged. "Sorry. These things happen, I’m afraid.”

The man known as Ridgeway watched from his Jeep Cherokee as the two girls left the mall’s south entrance. He smiled. As expected, there hadn’t been any "hot pursuit” by mall security. He was an old hand at this charade and he knew the ropes from his own time as a private cop. He was intrigued by Julie’s cute little friend, but that was a no-no. Julie would have alerted her and she would know instantly that he was a fraud. Julie herself was probably also off-limits hereafter, . . . but you never knew. He’d had repeat performances before. And the girl did have a lovely ass.

He started up the engine and wondered what to get his wife and kids for Christmas.