Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Don’t think I won’t shoot you… Easier the second time…
Jordon was sure the stranger was going to make good on his word when he dragged him out of the break room.
He should just be grateful he was still in one piece, but he was having a tough time forgiving himself for not pulling the trigger when he had the chance.
He tried to excuse his inaction as being noble, but the truly noble thing to have done would have been to shoot this man.
He could have saved others from suffering and relieved Mahoney from his.
So far, Mahoney was hanging in there, but that could change in a heartbeat.
When the gunman returned to the break room, he sat at the table going through their phones.
Apparently confiscating them wasn’t enough.
The man wanted to further violate their human rights by having them provide him with their passcodes.
But surely sitting around in a nurse break room couldn’t have been the point of today.
And from the sound of it, there were others.
Plural. He also didn’t talk like someone in charge.
So was he just hanging around, biding time?
It fit with Jordon’s image of the man. A subordinate. Also, he suspected he wasn’t a hardened criminal, or he would have shot him a moment ago.
Easier the second time…
He clearly hadn’t shot someone before Mahoney.
And Jordon wasn’t sure it was something the man particularly enjoyed doing.
But he could be wrong. He vividly recalled the cold, calculating look in the man’s eyes when he gave his gun back.
Still, he hadn’t pulled the trigger. Was that a testament to the stranger’s character?
Jordon had a hard time accepting that. He had shot Mahoney and was putting countless other lives at risk for the duration of the lockdown.
Had this gunman thought of all the repercussions?
Maybe if Jordon pointed this out… “It’s been hours. People will need their meds.”
The gunman slowly raised his eyes from the screen of Jordon’s phone, but he dipped them back down again without a word.
“He’s a father,” Leah Winters said about Mahoney. “I’ve got two little girls.” She hadn’t left her spot on the floor in favor of returning to the couch. “They need me. I need—”
“Cut that out. Right now,” the man barked without prying his gaze from the phone’s screen.
Jordon imagined that the nurse was trying to humanize them, but the endeavor was failing.
He flipped the scenario around in his head, trying to see another angle.
All he landed on was what he had tried before.
“Let them go. Hold on to me.” He was accustomed to being viewed as a commodity, with a target on his back for kidnapping and ransom.
Being the only child of billionaires, he grew up with a bodyguard over his shoulder twenty-four hours a day.
“And why would I do that?”
“As long as you have me, the police won’t touch you.
You know who my mother is. Her philanthropic interests and my father’s business have earned them friendships with powerful people in DC.
If that’s not enough, my family has a crapload of money.
I’m talking more money than God.” Jordon didn’t enjoy touting his family wealth, and he hated how he sounded. But if it works…
“That’s quite a claim, but what does it have to do with me?”
The man’s reaction had Jordon faltering. “You’re kidding, right? You let all of us go, I can make sure you’re set for life.”
“Yeah, right.”
Jordon hadn’t expected such a lukewarm reaction to his proposal. He might have to try another tack. “You told your partner I’m insurance. But what if…” Jordon slowly got up and walked to the utensil drawer. There, he pulled out a knife.
The man lunged across the room, while holding the gun on him. But he wouldn’t shoot. I’m insurance.
The only way he could think of to gain control here was to threaten harm against himself. This stranger would have to know the police would blame him, not Jordon. He held the blade over his wrist.
“Get that blade away from your arm,” the gunman hissed.
“Why should I?” Jordon got the steel closer to his flesh.
“Put the knife down. Now!”
Jordon said nothing as he poked the tip into his skin.
“Stop right now otherwise I’ll kill your girlfriend.”
Jordon’s world became still and spun.
“That’s right. I saw the pictures of you two. I even know who she is, and I’m quite sure I know where to find her.” The stranger held eye contact. Seconds passed, stretching into what felt like minutes. “Put the knife down or I will leave this room, track her down, and put a bullet in her head.”
Jordon set the knife down. “Please, leave her out of this.”
“Hmm. I’m not so sure I can anymore.” With that, the man rushed from the break room with Jordon on his heels.
What have I done?