Chapter 13 #2
Amos led the way down the hall until they reached the end. He held the door as the man and Shyanna stepped through. As they headed down the stairs, Shyanna asked, “So what’s your name?”
“Wallace. Wallace Bergman.”
“Wallace Bergman. I know what name to tell them to put on your tombstone. You got a family? Wife? Kids?”
She heard him snort. “I’ve got a BMW sportster.”
“Keep you warm at night?” Amos asked.
“Warm enough.” They exited the building, Shyanna carefully concealing the shotgun, and forced him into Amber’s little car.
“Well, hello there!” Amber said with a laugh. “Thanks for coming along with us! This should be fun! I take it he knows what’s going on?”
“Not where Jensen’s concerned, but he’s in the middle of everything else,” Amos snapped.
“Uh-huh.” Amber’s phone rang and she handed it to Shyanna.
“Yeah. Okay. On our way. Ready for some fun? Good. Here we go.” Shyanna ended the call and glanced at Amber. “This is about to get interesting.”
Amber’s little car rolled to a stop outside Max’s motel room, and in seconds, SammyJo’s car pulled up alongside. “It’s showtime,” Amos said with a chuckle as they helped Bergman out of the car.
“What’s the plan?” SammyJo asked as she hopped out, and Shyanna watched as she racked a round into the chamber of a Glock.
“We’re going in. You got that roll of duct tape?” Shyanna asked Amos, and he held it up. “Then let’s go.”
Standing right outside Max’s motel room, Shyanna leaned toward Bergman.
“I’m going to knock. He’s going to open the door, and we’re going to storm the room.
You’re going to behave yourself or I’ll show you no mercy.
Got that?” Bergman nodded. “Amos is correct. It’s showtime.
” She pointed to the door and Bergman knocked.
The door opened just a crack and Max asked, “What are you doing out there?”
Amos gave the door a hard, fast kick and it flew open, knocking Max across the room with it.
Before he could scramble up, Shyanna was above him, her shotgun pointed in his face.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said as she watched him draw his hand away from his side.
The sound of the door closing behind her filled the room and then it was silent.
“Get up,” she told him, and Amos grabbed his arm and helped him stand, then started wrapping his wrists behind him with duct tape.
She didn’t even have to look―she knew SammyJo was holding Wallace on the other side of the room. “Now we’re going to get some answers.”
“I ain’t tellin’ you nothin’, bitch,” Max almost spat.
“Max, they know everything. If you know where this Strader guy is, you’d better tell her. She’ll kill us both,” Bergman said.
“Smartest thing you’ve said since I met you,” Shyanna told the man without looking at him. “Start talking, Max. I know wherever Jensen is, you’re the one who put him there.”
“Fuck you, bitch,” he snapped. The sound of the butt of Shyanna’s shotgun making contact with Max’s skull filled the packed space. He reeled, but Amos kept him upright.
“I can keep this up all night, Barlow. I won’t mind at all.
Now, I want to know. Where. Is. Jensen?” She waited, but he sat there mute.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Honey,” Shyanna said, pointing to Amber, “grab one of those bottles of oxycontin.” The pills rattled in the bottle as Amber carried them across the room and handed them to Shyanna.
“Here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to talk.
For every question I ask you, I force one of these down your throat when you don’t answer.
” She thought for a second and smiled. “Think we’ll do the same with ol’ Bergman over there. ”
“Max, please, tell them what they want to know,” Bergman said.
“Go fuck yourself, Owens,” Max said again.
“Well, if that’s how you feel about it, let’s get started.
Where’s Jensen?” Shyanna asked, her shotgun planted in the center of Max’s chest. He stood there, sullen and silent.
“Well, okay then,” she said, nodding at Amos.
“Hold his nose until he opens his mouth, darlin’, and stuff one of those in there. ”
Amos let Amber drop a pill into his palm, then grabbed Barlow’s nose and held it tight. When he twisted his torso to fight against Amos, Shyanna whopped the side of his head with the barrel of the shotgun. “Open your damn mouth,” she growled.
“Fuck you,” he repeated.
“You know, the funny thing about all these boxes is that they act as soundproofing for this room. Isn’t that interesting?
That means we could do all kinds of things in this room and no one would hear it.
” She pointed the shotgun at Barlow’s foot.
“Last chance. Here are your options. Tell me where Jensen is, swallow the pill, or I’ll shoot your foot. What’s your pleasure?”
Max’s voice was like acid when he said, “You won’t kill me. I’m the only one who knows where Strader is.”
He didn’t have time to blink before Shyanna hit him in the side of the head with the shotgun’s barrel again, then pointed it at his foot.
“I take it you want me to shoot you. Well, okay then, if you insist. Move back, hon,” she said to Amos just before she pulled the trigger.
The sound of the shotgun’s blast was deafening.
Fortunately for Max, she’d moved the barrel far enough to the side that most of the shot embedded in the floor, but some buckshot hit the cowboy’s foot, pierced his boot, and bored into his toes.
“Son of a bitch! You’re crazy!” he bellowed just as she hit the side of his head with the shotgun barrel again. “Stop it!”
“I’m going to ask you again: Where is Jensen? That time I showed you a little mercy. Next time, I won’t. Hon, get an extra pill,” she told Amos. “Now you get two, Barlow. Or I take your knee out with the shotgun. Doesn’t matter to me.”
“The cops will be here in a few minutes,” Max said, a snarl in his voice.
“That’s funny. See, there’s nobody in the rooms on either side of you. The people on the other sides of those rooms are going to think that was a car backfiring. Nobody’s calling the cops. We can do this all night. It’s kinda fun, watching you sweat.”
“For the love of god, Barlow, tell them what they want to know!” Bergman yelled.
“Shut up, dumbass! You’ve already told them too much,” Max yelled back.
Shyanna let her mouth drop open and gasped, feigning surprise. “Hey, I know! I’m going to email the pics I took of this room to that detective who talked to me! And then I’m going to email them to Zesser Pharmaceuticals. I’m sure they have some kind of connection with the DEA and the FBI.”
“I swear to god, if I knew where this Strader guy was, I’d tell you,” Bergman whined. “Barlow, TELL THEM!” he screamed.
“You really should listen to your nerdy friend over there. Two pills or a shot to the knee, Barlow. Here we go,” Shyanna said, then stepped back and pointed to Amos. He reached for Max’s nose.
Shyanna watched Max look around the room, at her, at Amos and Amber and SammyJo with her Glock, at Bergman, and at the boxes, boxes, and more boxes of illegal narcotics. To her delight, he seemed to deflate. “Okay, okay. Stop. I’ll tell you.”
“Let’s hear it!” Shyanna barked.
He let out a long sigh, and she could tell whatever he was about to say, it would be the truth. “You know where the cops found his trailer and his truck?” She nodded. “About halfway between there. There’s a place where the side of the road drops off, kinda like a little bluff, and―”
“Shut the fuck up,” Shyanna said and shoved the shotgun’s barrel under his chin again.
“I should kill you just for the hell of it, but let me tell you right now―if I go out there and I can’t find him, or he’s dead, what happens to you next will be written about in every college criminology textbook for the next hundred years. ”
“I’m not lying!” Max screamed. “He’s out there … somewhere!”
Shyanna marched to the door and motioned for the other three to come close.
“Amos, I need you to go with me. I need your car, Amber.” Without hesitation, the little brunette handed Shyanna her keys.
“Here’s the plan,” she whispered as their heads met.
“Amos and I will go get him. If we find him, and we’d better find him,” she hissed, “I’ll call one of you.
When you get that call, get the hell out of here because my next call will be to the cops.
” Shyanna glanced around the room, then reached to the little desk by the door, grabbed a notepad and a pencil, and began to write furiously with the pad braced on the wall.
Pleased with her work, she pulled the pages off, folded them in half, and handed them to Amber.
“If I call and tell you to leave, leave this note behind. And tape up Bergman before you go.”
“Got it,” Amber whispered.
“Good. And thanks to both of you. When you leave, head east. I saw a sign that said ‘hospital’ down there. That’s where we’ll be going.
” Looking back at the two assholes across the room, Shyanna sighed.
“We’ll call as soon as we can. Amos, let’s get a move-on.
” As she stormed toward the door, she heard the sound of a kiss behind her and knew Amos and Amber had said a quick goodbye.
Settled in Amber’s car, she put down the window and the red haired girl in SammyJo’s car did the same.
“Sit tight,” she barked, and the girl nodded. “They’ll be out in a bit.”
“Good luck, Miss Owens,” the girl called back.
Shyanna couldn’t help but give her a tiny smile. “That’s Shy to you. Gretchen, right?” The girl nodded. “Thanks, Gretchen.” Amos waved as they drove away, but all Shyanna had on her mind was getting on the road.