Chapter Twenty-One #2
I slide past her as I hear the hallway door open. Quickly, I slip through a closed door into an occupied room. There is a man on the bed and a woman standing behind him wearing stilettos and holding a crop.
They both look at me startled as I rush past and over to the covered window.
I yank the blinds hard, tearing them off as I grab for the window.
It’s locked, so I switch the locks off and try again, but the window won’t budge.
I can hear them outside of the room, so I know that I don’t have enough time to find a different room.
I pick up a chair and throw it at the window.
The window shatters, making the girl scream.
The door is thrown open as I use the chair to knock away any jagged pieces of glass.
I pull my hands into my sleeves as I grab onto the window frame and pull myself through.
They rush for me as I get my foot up onto the sill, so I can jump down.
“Get him. Don’t kill him,” Red says as I drop down on the other side.
A piece of glass breaks under my foot, so I grab it and hold it carefully as I slip it into my back pocket.
A ten-foot-high fence surrounds the place to keep people from being nosy, but it also threatens to keep me in.
The only way past it is through the front gate or over it.
I jump up, catching onto the chain links as someone tries to fit through the window and for the first time in my life, I realize I’m pleased about being small.
I fumble up the side of the fence, forcing the toes of my shoes between the links.
It’s hard to do and when my foot slips, I almost fall, but I just manage to catch the top and heave myself over before dropping down on the other side.
I lose my balance and fall forward, into the stones.
Before I can quite get my bearings, I am already starting to run toward the front where my car is waiting while trying to yank my phone out of my pocket.
I redial the last number that I called, which was García’s, and pray to God he answers.
As I near the parking lot, I see the men filing out through the front door.
They’re too close to my car, telling me that they would get there before I would, so I turn toward the road instead.
Maybe if I can get to the road, I can get someone to stop for me.
“This is García,” he answers.
“García, I’m at Paradise Ranch in Nevada and I found the drugs.
I think they’re giving the drugs to the workers and forcing them to work for them, but they caught me, and now they’re chasing me, and Lane is back at the hotel, and I’m going to die,” I say as quickly as I can.
My heart is pounding too loudly, and my stomach feels tight with anxiety.
“What?” he asks. “Slow down. You’re being chased?”
I glance behind me as two men barrel down on me. “Yes. What do I do?”
“If he catches you, you do anything he tells you to do, alright? No hesitation. Just tell him anything you need to tell him or do anything he asks you to do. What hotel is Lane at?” he asks.
“I don’t remember! The one off Broadway Street!” I say.
“Okay. Can you hide anywhere?”
“I’m in the fucking desert! There isn’t even a tree!
” I yell as I hear one of the men nearing me.
His breathing is heavy as his feet fall like bricks with each step.
He lunges forward and tackles me to the ground.
I slam down onto the hard earth, causing the phone to slip from my fingers and clatter along the ground.
I reach back into my pocket and pull the chunk of glass out before stabbing the man right in the leg. He howls out as he rolls off me, allowing me to scramble to my feet, but the second man grabs me in a hug from behind.
“Let me go!” I yell as I bring my arm down fast. I can feel the glass biting into my hand as I drive it at the man’s side.
Before I can reach him, he quickly grabs my wrist and yanks it up as he pries at the glass.
In doing so, he lets go of my body, so I swing around and kick him in the balls hard enough I had to have burst one.
He sounds like a wounded animal as he jerks away from me.
I turn to run when I notice Red casually walking up to me.
“You’re like a little Tasmanian devil,” he says as he continues his leisurely stroll up to where I stand next to my victims. I hold the glass tightly as my blood and the blood of my enemies drips off the tip. The glass is biting sharply into my hand, but I don’t loosen my grip.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I say as I stand my ground. “I’ll fucking gut you if you get closer to me.”
“I see why Lane likes you. You have a bit of a spirit to you. I like that,” he says. “Too bad you’re so fucking nosy.”
His foot hits something, and we both look down at my cellphone.
He reaches down and picks it up before setting it against his ear.
“Is this Lane?” he asks. “Oh…that’s fine.
But I think we’re going to make a few negotiations…
no… I will make the negotiations…Oh, you don’t have anything that can bring me down.
I’m running a perfectly legal business. There’s nothing you can pin on me.
I’ve actually done nothing. Currently, this kid has come into my establishment, broken my window, stabbed a man, and hurt another.
We haven’t even touched him. Tell Lane to give me a call so we can talk.
” He hangs the phone up and tosses it back onto the ground. “Alright, kiddo, let’s go,” he says.
“I want to see you try,” I growl as I hold my piece of glass steadily.
The man I’d stabbed in the leg is now getting up even though his pants are stained in blood. The other man is acting like I kicked his testicles into his stomach.
I might have.
And I will do the same to Red.
He walks up to me, and I rush him. He steps to the side, grabs my wrist as his other hand rolls up my arm, and suddenly I’m face first in the dirt with no recollection of how I got there. He kneels next to me, holding me down with a knee on my arm as he leans over and looks at me.
“You had your fun. Time’s up,” he says as he pulls the glass out of my hand and tosses it. “Let’s go. What the fuck am I paying you two for if you can’t control a ninety-pound boy?”
The man I’d stabbed is the first to respond. He grabs my arms and yanks them behind my back before pulling me to my feet. I thrash and kick, but I can’t make contact with him. He seems to have a bit of experience with dragging people around.
He hauls me over to the parking lot and up to a car. The other buff guy opens the door, and as he tries to push me in, I set my foot against the door and push back. The man, having none of my shit, roughly shoves me inside as he comes in after me.
“Get me something to tie this damn kid’s hands and legs down,” the stabbed bodyguard says.
The one I’d made a eunuch returns with such material, so they hold me down against the seat as he loops what looks like a shoestring around my wrist, pulling it tight until it’s biting into my wrists before tying it.
Then he does the same to my feet as I kick and thrash about, that is until the eunuch leans on my legs, so I can’t move them, and ties them tightly.
Red climbs in next to me after I’m tied up.
I glare at him as he smiles at me.
“I’m so glad you could join us today,” Red says.
“Thanks, me too,” I say sarcastically. Instead, I’m trying not to panic or cry or show any of the emotions raging inside of me. My stomach hurts at the prospect of being whisked off by supervillains, so maybe I’ll get sick and throw up on him and he’ll toss me out the door.
Instead, Red reaches down to the ground and picks up a shirt, which he wraps around my eyes, blocking my vision. The car begins to move, as my brain runs as fast as it can. I should listen to García. I should do exactly what they say. García and Lane will find me, right?
For the rest of the drive, I’m left in darkness, listening only to the sound of Red playing on his phone.
My mind is racing as I question what will happen to me.
Lane was right, I shouldn’t be here, pretending like I know what I’m doing.
What if they kill me? I mean, they don’t care about killing people, right?
They’ve made it this far by expertly covering their crimes up.
I’ll just be another that is swept under the rug.
Fuck.
My stomach aches as I sit in the seat, hands on my lap as I lean against the cold door. It feels like a ball of anxiety is eating away at my stomach as I question where exactly I went wrong. Maybe all of it?
Fuck.
When the car stops and the engine shuts off, I’m not sure if I’m more anxious or slightly relieved. I want something to happen as much as I want nothing to happen. But I know that right now, in this car, I can’t do anything but wait for my fate. I need out. I need to see. I need to do something.
The car door opens, and my ankles are untied. The moment they’re free, I’m yanked out. My foot hits hard as I’m dragged forward, blind to the world around me. This is how Lane lives every minute of his life. Unable to tell what is before him. What is coming or what is behind him.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. I need a clear mind to think all this through. Lane would have helped me calm my nerves, but I don’t have him here. So, I have to fight like he is with me.
“I think I need stitches,” stabbed guy says.
“You? I think my fucking nuts exploded,” the other guy says.
“Well, you’re ugly as sin anyway so it’s probably a good precaution. You should be thanking the kid,” Red says.
“You’re welcome,” I say, and Red laughs.
“Any other day and I think I would like you, kid,” Red says. “But today, you’re a fucking nuisance.”
I’m dragged through a doorway and suddenly I’m inside. The sound of my feet on the ground changes as my shoes sound on the floor. I’m pulled to the right and given a shove.
I stumble and rub the blindfold off on my shoulder. It slides up enough that I can see Red standing in the doorway.
“Let’s talk. Felix, right?” he asks.
“Maybe,” I say.
“Alright, have a seat,” he says as he waves behind me.
I look behind me to where a small table is set up with four chairs. It definitely looks too civilized to be a torture chamber. I walk over to the far chair that is facing the door and sit down.
Red pulls the opposite chair out and takes a seat. He straightens his suit jacket before folding his hands on top of the table.
“What are you doing in Nevada?” he asks.
“Gambling,” I say. “I like to count cards.”
“Do you? That’s an interesting hobby.”
“My mom was poor, and I would sneak into the nearby casino and count cards for money,” I lie. I really hope he doesn’t ask which card game is the one you count because I don’t have a clue. Only card game I know how to play is Uno.
“So, what were you doing at my ranch then?” he asks.
“Prostitutes in Las Vegas are illegal, so I headed to a different place,” I say.
“They are. So why my ranch? Why not any of the multiple ranches between mine and Las Vegas?” he asks.
“Ratings,” I say.
“Oh, okay. What about my laundromat? What were you doing there?” he asks.
“Now, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
“Okay,” he says as he pulls up a computer and sets it on the table. He opens it up and clicks the play button, so I can watch myself break into the truck lot.
“That’s not me,” I say.
He looks at the video then at me in mock shock. “It isn’t ? Huh…that’s crazy.”
“I know, right?” I ask as I watch Lane pushing me into the cab.
“What tipped you off? How’d you find the laundromat?” he asks.
“I watched Breaking Bad . In that, they were doing drugs in a laundromat, so I just…automatically assumed you’d do the same,” I say.
He laughs as he leans back in his chair. “Tell me.”
“I told you!”
His phone begins to ring, the noise sharp in the quiet room. He sighs when he glances down at it. “Perfect timing. Let me take this call and then we can decide what I’m going to do to you. You have a very, very nice face. I bet I could get some men to pay a nice sum for you to spread your legs.”
“Thanks, I think I’m alright, but that means a lot,” I say.
He ignores me and heads out the door, leaving me alone with the eunuch. He is glaring at me, so I glare back as I mess with my binds under the table. They’re really freaking tight, but unlike when Lane and I abducted Ryan, my fingers are free. And Lane is right about how big of a mistake that is.