I ’d never seen it coming. But then, I’m not sure she did either. Sarah Crumbly was a hooker. For sale to the highest bidder. When someone made her a better offer, she took it. It was as simple as that. It made sense.
“Can we untie Emily now. You’ve got your card.” James froze his stare.
“It’s not quite that easy.” Chen glanced around the room. “We’re taking the girl with us.”
“Hold on, you promised me that-” I glanced at Em. A rag was stuffed in her mouth, and her eyes were full of fire.
“We’re leaving her at the abandoned building. If you leave this building, or this office, within the next half hour, we’ll kill her.”
I turned my attention to Sarah. Hooking was one thing. Killing was something else. She never met my gaze, just held onto the pistol, waving it back and forth at the trio on the floor.
“Are we understood?”
I wanted to jump this guy. He was about five eleven, in good shape, but I knew James and I could have taken him. And why we didn’t, I don’t know. I don’t think that Sarah had the courage or desire to fire the pistol, but I couldn’t take the chance.
Chen leaned down and picked up Em, dragging her toward the door. “I’m closing this office door. And then I’m going to stand here and wait. I can’t tell you how long. If you open that door, I’ll shoot the girl, and I’ll shoot you. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
“You can pick the girl up at the building in an hour.” Cold, menacing.
Sarah jumped off the desk and followed Chen out the door. I didn’t hold out much hope that she’d survive this ordeal either, but you could never tell. She pushed the door shut and James and I stood there, not knowing what to say. Em was still in a lot of trouble.
There was a gurgle from the floor and Sandy Conroy scooted on his back and gave me a pleading look. Feng stared up as well.
“I don’t see any reason to help these two, do you?” James nodded to the two men.
“No. James, we should call the cops.”
“You should never call the cops, Skip.” The day they hauled his father off to prison was the end of any trust James had for officers of the law.
“But, man-”
“Bro, you call, they go after Chen, he kills Em.”
And, of course, he was right.
“What do you think was in the box?” The thought was in my mind too.
“I thought it might be money.”
“Yeah.” James sat down on the edge of the desk. “Lots of money.”
“James, do you think they’ll leave Em off at the building?”
“Skip, I can’t figure out why they left us all here. I mean this guy has apparently killed anyone who got in his way. So why leave us all alive to tell the authorities what happened?”
“Makes no sense.”
We were quiet for a minute. I glanced at my cell phone and saw that five minutes had passed. Sandy and Feng lay on the ground, obviously very pissed off at us.
“Do you think they’re out there? Ready to shoot if we open that door?”
“No.” I didn’t. I figure Chen was buying time. He was long gone.
“Care to take a peak?”
I thought about it. Em’s life would be in danger. I walked to the door and twisted the handle. “I’ll just tell ’em I had to go to the bathroom.”
I opened the door just a crack. Couldn’t see much. A little wider and I froze. There she was, lying on a worktable next to the brown box. I cringed, waiting for a gunshot. Nothing. I opened the door just a little farther, and saw the raw fear in Em’s eyes. Quickly glancing around the room I saw they were gone. And then it hit me.
I bolted out of the room. “James. Down. On the floor.” I grabbed the box, heavy, bulky like a case of beer, and I bolted for the doors. Down the hall, past the reception area, my legs pumping, my arms aching. The flames in my lungs leaped into my throat and my mouth as I hit the door. It opened and I ran into the parking lot, thinking that I’d seen this play out once before. Ten steps into the lot, I heaved the box, fell to the ground, and buried my head under my arms. I think I heard the roar of the explosion. But I’m not sure. I was dead.