A Night in the Desert

Chapter VII

"I'm sorry Sue Ann. He gave you eleven years at the super max prison. The sentence is far too harsh. That facility is reserved for the worst of the worst, murderers, psycho cases." He looked genuinely concerned. Maximum Security didn't sound too good. Eleven years, maybe less if she got parole. Eleven years surrounded by the very worst society had to offer.

She panicked, "No! It isn't right, I didn't do it!" She backed into the bailiff behind her, knocking him down. She tried to run toward the courtroom doors but her attorney grabbed her arm, slowing her down. Then the other bailiffs were on her. The first bailiff had already gotten the cuffs on her wrists; she was powerless to resist the rest. Her mad dash ended in seconds. They hustled her out of the courtroom immediately. In the corridor she was forced to the floor until someone put leg irons on her, then she was hauled back to her feet. Sue Ann was crying profusely, pleading for them to let her go.

They put her back in the holding area cell by herself. She sat in the corner quietly crying. Tears streamed down her face; she couldn't wipe them off as her hands were still bound behind her back. Eleven years in prison, she couldn't do it. Her attorney had warned her this would happen but she didn't really believe it. Up to the last moment she had believed the system would work and she would be set free. He had said there was the possibility of parole, but she would have to serve two-thirds of her sentence first. That would be about eight years. She hated whoever had done this to her. Her life had stopped; she had lost everything. Why her, what had she done to deserve this?

She heard her cell door open. She looked up. The same jail guard who had brought her to court this morning was standing at the door, watching her. "It's time to go," he said. "Are you going to give me any trouble?" Someone must have told him about her scene in court.

She hung her head, answering in a subdued voice, "no sir, no trouble. I'm sorry for what I did." She stood up and walked toward the guard. He turned her around so her back was to him, and then replaced the handcuffs and leg chains, handing the bailiff's restraints back to the female guard for the holding area. He turned her back to face him. She noticed he had used the high security hinged cuffs on her wrists again. They walked toward the rear door, as usual his hand tightly gripping her upper arm. He put her in the back of the prison van, seat belt as usual, but this time he also padlocked her ankle chain to the floor before closing the rear door. It had been foolish for her to try to run. Now they weren't going to take any chances with her.

She pulled on the cuffs locked on her wrists. They didn't let go. There was a certain irony in that, she reflected. When she had tried to run away, blinded by panic, she hadn't even noticed the bailiff had already cuffed her hands behind her back. Between her self-bondage sessions, her desert hike, and now her arrest being dressed in chains was becoming second nature to her; she didn't even think about it any more. Even if she had managed to get out the courtroom door she wouldn't have gotten very far. She imagined herself running aimlessly down the street with her hands locked behind her, in the middle of a business day.

The guard drove her back to the Detention Center. She didn't know what was going to happen next. Most likely she would be on the next bus to prison. She was taken back to her original cell. This time the guard did not remove her chains until the cell door had been locked shut. As she figured, they were going the safe route now. Another female guard stooped at her door and tossed some jail issue clothes through the bars. "Change into these and give me your street clothes. You won't need them any more," she ordered. Sue Ann changed into the denim prison garb and folded her business suit neatly, handing it to the guard through the bars.

Her attorney showed up later that day. He didn't have any good news for her. Now that she had been sentenced the Public Defender would sever from her case. She was on her own if she wanted to appeal. He wished her luck and apologized that he hadn't been able to do more for her. She thanked him for his effort and watched as he left. That was her last hope; she had no one on her side now. She sat on the edge of her cell bunk, her head in her hands, in despair. Quietly she started crying again.

She spent the night in her cell. In the morning the guard informed her that after breakfast she would be leaving. Not to court this time, to prison. Sue Ann ate, cleaned up, and waited. She was resigned to whatever happened now. Her life would be controlled by rules someone else set, enforced by guards she didn't know.

An hour later two large uniformed guards came to her cell. The male officer was easily twice her size, maybe more, and looked very strong. The female office was also large for a woman, and had a mean look. Sue Ann felt small and weak just looking at them. The jail guard unlocked the cell door and motioned for Sue Ann to step out. The two prison guards grabbed her and spun her around, forcing her against the bars of the cell, hands above her head. The female guard searched her thoroughly, then placed a wide leather belt around her waist. Sue Ann could feel her fasten it in back. Looking down, she saw a stout metal ring fixed solidly to the front of the belt, with handcuffs dangling from it. Next the woman turned her around and locked the handcuffs around her wrists. Finally the guard knelt down and took a set of leg irons from the male guard. Sue Ann saw they had a shortened chain, similar to the ones she had used that night in the desert. Her ankles were locked together. The female guard finished by double-locking all the cuffs so they wouldn't tighten.

Except for the issue skirt and blouse she was bound in a nearly identical fashion to what she had tried that night in the desert. Other than her hands in front the difference this time was she had no car with the keys waiting at the end of the road. She also had two escorts to make sure there were no escape attempts. Though that first time she did wind up with someone else holding the keys. It was too bad she never got the chance to meet her mystery man again. One on each side of her, both arms held by them, the prison officers marched her along the cellblock aisle, down the elevator and out to the rear parking lot. More than once she would have fallen had they not been holding her. The pace was too fast for her to keep up, especially with her ankles hobbled by the short chain between them. It must have been deliberate on their part; they didn't slow down when she did stumble.

Outside in the parking lot the assistant District Attorney who prosecuted her was waiting. Behind the lawyer were a nicely dressed woman and a man in an unfamiliar uniform. Both of them looked Hispanic. The prison guards halted in front of the attorney. "Hello Sue Ann. I wanted to give you one last chance." She held up an official looking document. "The Procuradura General for Mexico City yesterday filed bank robbery charges against you and your unnamed accomplice. Since you have been convicted we didn't need the formality of an extradition hearing. This is a signed order to send you to Mexico to stand trial. Se ñ ora Munoz," she gestured to the Hispanic woman standing behind her, "is with the Prosecutor's office in Mexico City. She is here to take you back with her."

Sue Ann was speechless. She hadn't expected anything like this. She knew eleven years in the State Prison was going to be bad, but nothing like a Mexican prison.

"Tell me the name of your partner. I want to know where he is and where the money is. Tell me that and I'll tear this up. By the way, in Mexico bank robbery carries a twenty-year sentence, or so Sra . Munoz tells me. You have no more time left, Sue Ann. Tell me what I need to know right now or I turn you over to them. You will go to Mexico first, and then return here to serve your original sentence. Come on Sue Ann, tell me, it's your only chance."

Everyone was watching her. "I can't! Don't you get it? I don't know who he is. I don't know where the money is. I didn't take it. Why are you doing this to me?" Sue Ann started crying again. It wasn't fair. No one had told her this would happen. She would have pleaded not guilty and gone through the trial rather than be sent to Mexico. She had been tricked into taking the quick conviction.

"I'm sorry Sue Ann. Sorry for you. I hope it's worth it. Why do you protect him? You know he isn't worth it. You will grow old in prison while he enjoys the good life. It's your choice." The attorney stepped aside and handed the extradition order to the Mexican woman.

Sra. Munoz glanced at the document, and then turned to her companion. " Por favor , Hector" she said, gesturing towards Sue Ann. The Hispanic man stepped forward. His shoulder patch read Policía Distrito Federal , the Mexico City metropolitan police. The prison guards stepped aside as Hector took hold of Sue Ann's arm. " Gracias . Thank you for your speedy assistance," Se ñ ora Munoz said to the assistant District Attorney while shaking hands, then turned and started toward a rental car in the parking lot. " Vamanos , let's go," was all she said, her back to Sue Ann and the Mexican police officer.

Another set up, Sue Ann thought as the officer led her toward the car. No wonder they had agreed not to ask for a heavy sentence. They knew this was waiting for her. A good plan too, if she had known the name she would have told them everything when faced with extradition. The guard, Hector, opened the rear door and helped her sit down. He fastened the seat belt around her waist, then shackled her ankles to the floorboard. He locked the car door and closed it, then went to the other side. Looking down she could see the cuffs on her ankles, and a chain running under the front seat. He had used oversize handcuffs, her ankles were hobbled by only a few links of chain. She could stand but little else. She pulled on the floorboard chain. It must have been locked to something under the front seat as she had little room to move. Even if she could get the seat belt and car door open she couldn't get out of the car. Looking out the rear window she could see the Mexican woman talking to the assistant D.A., they shook hands and the woman walked towards the car.

The woman drove as the man Hector sat next to Sue Ann in the rear seat. She assumed they were heading toward the airport, and would then board the next plane to Mexico City. She had no illusions as to what would happen when they arrived. A fast trial, certain conviction, and she would be sent to some hellhole third world prison for the rest of her short and miserable life. Even if she lived through it, all that was waiting for her was another eleven years in a maximum-security prison when she was returned here.

The two Mexicans were talking in Spanish. Sue Ann noticed they didn't seem to be heading for the airport. In fact they were on the highway out of town. Desert had already replaced houses and stores. Were they planning on driving all the way to the border? That would take twelve hours or more. "Aren't you taking me to the airport?" she asked.

" Callate , shut up and be quiet!" the Mexican woman told her. Sue Ann didn't pursue it further. She didn't look forward to a long drive in the tight shackles she was wearing, but without a key there wasn't much she could do about it. The man next to her wasn't as large as the prison guard, but she was sure he was strong enough to easily overpower her, even if she wasn't in restraints. No point in struggling or trying to fight. She'd probably wind up hog-tied and stuffed in the trunk if she gave them any trouble. Still, something didn't seem right. They weren't headed south toward the border.

She watched the scenery roll by while her captors continued to talk in Spanish. Sue Ann knew a handful of words in Spanish but they talked too fast for her to even make an attempt to follow. The woman had put on some music on the radio, but it was all Spanish language. Traffic thinned and dropped to only a few cars as they headed out into the desert. This wasn't right at all. The direction they were going was empty barren desert for nearly a hundred miles, then a few small towns before they reached the state border. The wrong border, they would be even further away from Mexico.

The car slowed as the driver took an off ramp to an overpass, then turned on to a dirt road. Something was very wrong now. What were they going to do? This made no sense at all. She hadn't seen any signs on the highway or along the dirt road. There was nothing out here, no reason for them to come this way. It could only mean one thing; they weren't going to take her to Mexico. They were going to torture her for information; the male officer would rape her, then murder her and bury the body in the desert. Tears were in her eyes, she was going to die and no one would ever know. Her hands clenched into fists as she pulled against the handcuffs. It was hopeless; there was no way she could possibly escape.

She watched the desert scenery as they drove along, thinking of all the things she should have done with her life, the mistakes she had made, the people she had know. Her captors were still talking in Spanish, occasionally laughing, and all the while callously ignoring her. She knew there was no point in pleading with them

It must have been an hour or more before the driver pulled in to a turnoff surrounded by low hills. A nondescript white van was there already. They parked and the woman, Munoz, got out. A man got out of the van to meet her. Sue Ann saw him hand her two envelopes. The woman opened each one, appeared to be checking something, then turned around and waved her hand. Sue Ann didn't recognize the van driver. This wasn't what she had expected. What was going on?

The officer next to her, Hector, got out and went around to Sue Ann's door. He opened it, released her legs from the shackles and helped her get out. Sue Ann took a moment to get her balance. She still wore the transport belt and handcuffs, severely limited her movements. Hector took her arm and marched her toward the other two. She was stiff from sitting so long and walked slowly and clumsily toward the van, urged on by the guard's hand on her arm. Slowly she realized she wasn't going to be killed. Something very different had just happened. From what she could see, she had just been sold to someone.

"Here you are, Señor , " the woman Munoz said to the stranger. "There will be no problem with records in Mexico. I will arrange to have them lost. If anyone inquires your friend here will be listed as an escaped fugitive inside Mexico. There will be no notification of authorities here in El Norte unless there are official enquiries. Unfortunately there is no, umm, como se dice ? A statue of limitations, that's it. She will remain a fugitive until tried in court. Hector, para Usted " she handed one of the envelopes to the officer next to Sue Ann. He handed a set of keys to the man from the van, and then both Mexicans went back to their car and drove off.