Chapter 9 #2
Dom snarled at her. “Sure, you may have heard all kinds of things, but that doesn’t mean anybody listens to him. You think we don’t know what he’s like? You think we don’t watch him to see where his weaknesses are?”
She stared at him. “Oh my, you’re trying to cut him out, aren’t you?”
He stiffened and glared at her. “Did you just read my mind?”
She snorted. “I don’t need to be psychic for that. You’re the scheming type, trying to figure out how to cut him out and then take over his contacts. It’s a thought, but probably not a smart idea.”
“Why is that?” he asked curiously.
“The boss man managed to get into that position somehow, even without psychic abilities. His forte seems to be money and brute force. So I presume the boss man has a bunch of rich backers, funding all this. Do you have that, Dom?” When he failed to answer her, she chuckled.
“He obviously has something you don’t, Dom.
So he probably understands exactly what guys like you are up to. ”
Dom glared at her. “You don’t know anything about me, and you don’t know what guys like me are thinking,” he snapped, followed by that same sneer again.
“No, probably not,” she conceded, “and I’ll take that as a good thing.”
He shook his head. “Why don’t you just shut the fuck up?” She glared at him, and he laughed. “And that upsets you? You get upset to finally be told off after you’ve been talking nonstop this whole time? Wow,” he muttered, as he looked over at Wallace. “Why, man? Why her?”
Wallace laughed. “Why not her? She’s pretty special.”
“Sure, but pretty crazy is more like it.” Dom shook his head, turning to Amy now. “I don’t even know why he would want to keep you around.”
“Because you don’t think like Wallace,” she explained in a bored tone, hopping to her feet.
Dom stepped back suddenly at her quick movement.
This time she laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “What’s the matter now? I’m five four and weigh 110 pounds. Really someone to fear, right?”
“I wasn’t scared,” Dom stated defiantly. “You startled me.”
“Startling you is one thing,” she replied, “but having that coffee right over there and not being allowed a cup? Well, that’s just pissing me off.
” She walked over to the coffee, where the guards stood, and defiantly poured three cups, emptying the pot.
Nobody made a move to stop her. She carried the first cup to Terk.
Then she picked up the last two cups, handing one to Wallace.
Nobody said anything, but she felt a brewing sense of opposition to her actions.
She smiled at the men, then chuckled. “Thanks for the coffee.” She injected just enough sincerity that it would not only confuse them but also make it harder for them to rise up against her.
She sat back down next to Wallace, who reached out an arm and tucked her up close. Snuggled up against his chest and holding the coffee cup in her hand, she wondered at the sense of self-satisfaction she felt, if that was even the correct wording.
She glanced around the room, sensing a touch of that weirdness again. Then she smiled, realizing that Terk and Wallace were manipulating the energy, manipulating the tone, the atmosphere, just to freak out Dom and their guards. If it would help them out of here, she was all for it.
Dominic just glared at her. “That was a pretty ballsy thing to do.”
“Getting coffee?” She snorted, then shook her head. “I wanted a cup of coffee. The boss didn’t say we couldn’t have it, so it was hardly an issue.”
“Not an issue as far as you’re concerned, no,” Dom conceded, “but as far as the guys who made the coffee, that’s a different story.”
“Why is that?” she asked, looking over at them. “Don’t they share?”
“Not everybody shares,” Dom snapped. “Some of these guys are not accustomed to sharing at all.”
She didn’t say anything, just shrugged. What was she supposed to say, since it was obvious that something was going on here?
Dominic turned to the others. “I’ll take off for a bit. You know your orders.”
“Yeah, we know our orders,” one of the men replied, studying him. “But what we don’t know is where you fit into all this. Is she right? Are you trying to take over?”
“If I was, what would it mean to you?” Dom asked, eyeing the men with curiosity.
He shrugged. “We just want to know where we’ll end up at the end of the day.” He motioned at his buddies and himself. “The last thing we want is to get caught in a power struggle—or an exchange of fire that doesn’t have anything to do with us.”
“Ah, so you want to know if you’ll survive the end of this?” Dom stated. “Sure, you will, if you took care of the guy in the hospital, that is.”
The other man shrugged. “He’s under guard right now, so we have to wait a bit for an opportunity.”
“Confirm that you do,” Dom snapped. “No matter who ends up where at the end of the day, none of us will be happy if that guy gets loose.” And, with that, Dom stormed out, one of the guards following him.
She looked over at the two remaining guards. “That doesn’t make it easy on you, does it?” she asked. “Two bosses, not happy with the other, fighting. You wonder who’ll be standing at the end of this. Plus, will Dom pay you what the boss man is paying you?”
One of them frowned at her.
She nodded. “I know. I get it. It’s none of my business. But, at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself these questions.”
“Doesn’t matter if we ask ourselves or not,” interjected the second man, who hadn’t spoken up before. Even now his tone was wary as he added, “It’s not as if we just get to walk away.”
“Right,” she agreed, again sensing the atmosphere shifting, giving the room a haunted vibe. It was pretty impressive. Changing from genial to almost empathetic now, she pressed on. “I’m sure this infighting was not what you signed on for.”
Both men looked at each other, then over at her and nodded. “The boss, he’s been fine,” the first guard said, “but he got weird when it came to this.”
“He had a vision in his mind, I think,” she suggested. “So walking away from something he was pretty sure he could have makes it difficult.”
The guard shook his head. “And yet what the hell does he want from all this? Who wants to deal with psychics who can read your mind? Who wants to deal with people who can do all kinds of crazy unbelievable shit—or anything else we’ve been hearing about?
” He visibly shuddered. “I would just as soon know that the people in my world can’t play those games. ”
“That’s because you’re a straight shooter,” she noted, “but your bosses aren’t. They want things bigger, better, and bolder. And that’s where the problem comes in.”
“It doesn’t matter much,” the other guard added, pouring himself some freshly made coffee. “We’ve got to deal with what we’ve got right now.”
“Protect yourselves,” she murmured. “Whenever those two go against each other, and things blow up, whoever remains will determine where you two stand, right?”
They nodded. “We get it,” the one guard replied, “but you’re in the same situation. So you should be worrying about yourself.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice,” she muttered, with a laugh. “Sometimes we just don’t get those options, do we?”
“Are you psychic too?” he asked. “It didn’t seem like you were, when you were here last time.”
She shook her head. “Nope, not me. I did see the guy you guys put in the hospital though. That sucked.”
“That was the boss, the big boss,” the other guard declared absentmindedly, as he sipped his coffee. “He’s pretty-damn scary when he wants to be.”
That tidbit was odd. “That surprises me,” she shared. “I guess I figured he would have had one of you guys do that job.”
The one guard shook his head. “Nope, not his style. When it comes to handing out the punishment, he likes to get his hands dirty,” he shared, with an eye roll. “A little too dirty.”
“Did you ever think about what the world would be like if he did get ahold of psychics he could use and abuse?” she asked curiously.
They nodded. “Yeah, but you also must understand what he’s like regardless and choose which side will favor our world.
It’s not as if we can just turn around and walk out, even if you think you’ll try to persuade us to do that,” he pointed out bitterly.
“It’s not happening. It can’t happen. The penalty for that would be incredibly harsh. ”
“Of course,” she agreed sympathetically. She did feel bad for them—not bad enough though, not after what they’d done to her. But she understood that they were caught between a rock and a hard place as well. “There’s really no easy answer when you’re stuck in the middle, is there?”
“Nope, there sure isn’t.” He tossed back the rest of his coffee, then looked over at her.
“A word of advice. You really need to keep your mouth quiet when he’s around because he has a very short temper.
When it blows, everybody and everything around him ducks.
You could be caught in that crossfire and not see tomorrow—literally.
And believe me that the boss man wouldn’t give a crap.
Not one bit.” And, with that warning, he looked over at his buddy and added, “We need to get them back to their rooms.”
His buddy nodded, looked over at their captives, and realized that there was three of them to only the two guards. He frowned and asked, “Where’d Tom go?”
“He went out with the boss. You want to go get him?”
“Yeah, but…”
“I’ll go.” The one guard walked over to the door. “You keep an eye on them.” And, with that, he quickly dashed out.
Now just the one guard was left, and he stared around at the three prisoners. “Did he do that on purpose?” he asked, studying them carefully.
“Probably,” Wallace agreed, as he stood up and stretched.
The guard shifted back uneasily. “Well, crap.”
“They didn’t think that through very well, did they?” Wallace asked, as he took a step toward him.
“They’ll be back any second anyway,” the guard stated, showing a bit of bravado. “Besides, I’m sure I can take you.”