Chapter 40
I can’t leave her.
Sterling said it himself; the story is what’s important. We didn’t work our asses off last week to miss an opportunity like this, even if it’s not exactly the one I pictured.
Tegan’s hands shake as her wrists are bound. She’s whispering to herself, words I can’t make out.
I try to reassure her, “It’s going to be okay.”
“Shut the fuck up,” comes the reply of the man in front of me.
I might not be able to see his face, but from the brutal way he tightens the zip tie, I can tell he’s enjoying himself.
I stare at the cross around his neck, gold and garish against his white skin.
I stare until I can picture it behind my eyes.
I will not forget.
Sterling shifts, about to step closer, but I shake my head. He’s already made himself a target. I won’t be responsible for him getting hurt.
I’m going to prove I can handle this.
I’m going to get him his story.
The jerk in front of me slaps my face. “I said, move it, bitch.”
This gets Sterling moving again. “Touch her again, and I’ll rip your throat out.”
I blink back tears.
There’s more shouting.
Sterling is shoved violently to the floor, and the guys around him are raising their guns, and I can’t breathe.
A spurt of gunfire cuts into the noise.
Dust falls from the ceiling, where T’s bullets decimated the molding.
Everyone is silent.
“Stop wasting time,” he says, his voice cold. “We’ve got work to do.”
“But, boss—” The jerk who hit me sounds put out.
“What did I say? Put ’em in the back and keep a lookout. The alarm’s been triggered, which means we have minutes before the cops start setting up outside. I need you up here.”
“Fine.” The jerk spits the word out but then stays quiet.
Tegan and I are being shoved down the corridor and to the left, into a room that is already full of hostages.
The door is closed behind us.
More footsteps sound in the hallway, but Sterling never appears.
They must have taken him to the same room as the other guy.
Fuck.
Most of us sit on the floor, although one or two people are standing, propped up against the wall. One man is curled up into a ball in the corner, his head in the lap of a woman—partner, friend?—who is trying to soothe him.
There’s a window high on the left, closed and barred. Likely glued shut.
Even with the heat on, the chill seeps through.
If the movies tell the truth, they might turn that off soon, and I worry what that will mean for the older gentleman who is already breathing in rasps.
“Do you have your inhaler?” I ask him. Alice always keeps hers nearby.
He nods with jerky movements. “My—my pocket.”
I push up onto my knees and shuffle closer. “Can I help?”
“Please,” he says. “I can use it, but I can’t—can’t reach.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get it for you.” I slip my fingers into his jacket pocket, feeling for the inhaler and almost falling over with relief when I pull it out.
As soon as it hits his hands, he uses it, and I stay with him, matching his deep breaths until I’m sure he’s okay.
“Thank you.”
I don’t know how to tell him that he shouldn’t need to thank me. That anyone could and would do the same, but I’ve lived here long enough to know it’s not always true.
Still, I want to believe.
“The cops will be here soon,” I assure him. “I heard them before they dragged us in here. We’ll be home before you know it.” I hope.
As if I timed it, we hear a chorus of sirens outside. Relief ripples through the room, and soft murmurs of conversation start to pick up.
I return to Tegan. She’s silent now, but her eyes are glassy. Far away.
“Do you know the first thing I’m going to do after we get out of here?” I ask her. “Have the greasiest, cheesiest burger with extra pickles. I’ve been craving one all weekend.”
Tegan sniffles. Blinks. Someone nearby coughs.
She doesn’t answer.
It’s fine. I cross my legs, pick at a loose thread on my pants, and try not to think about Sterling, lifeless in another room.
I can’t stop hearing his scream when I was slapped.
The sound of him hitting the floor. Seeing the guns pointed at his face.
Fuck. It’s probably ridiculous to worry about him. He’s the most capable person here. No doubt he’s already talking his way into an exclusive, and what am I doing?
The minutes pass slowly.
My stomach rumbles, loud enough to hear. I could really go for that burger now.
Tegan’s voice is small. A whisper. “All I want is a pint of cookies and cream.”
I lean closer, resting our shoulders together. She presses into it.
“When I was little,” I say softly, “I used to sneak into the kitchen when I thought my parents were asleep and eat the top layer straight out of the carton so they wouldn’t know it was gone. Then my brother would dig a ditch in it and ruin the secret.”
Her smile fights through the fear. “Rose used to do that too.”
The plan was for me to ease into the conversation. Tegan doesn’t know who I am or why I’m here, and if we weren’t in the middle of a robbery, I would have taken my time, but the longer we’re here, the more panicked and scared she’ll be.
No. It’s a risk I have to take.
“Your sister-in-law works for a bad man, Tegan.”
Her eyes widen.
I continue, as gently as I can, “We know he’s been funneling money into hidden accounts at this bank.
We know an LLC was registered under the name Peachee at the same time that a sizable amount of money went missing from last year’s profit statement.
We know that money was used to attempt voter fraud.
We also know it’s not Cox’s name tied to that company.
I think he used you and your sister to hide that money. ”
Tegan’s gone white.
I put my hand on her knee. “If this goes public, he isn’t the one who’ll pay the price, Tegan. It’ll be Rose, and it’ll be you because he designed it that way.”
Her face crumples in an instant. “He told us if we said no, he’d bury us in court. I can’t … I’m still paying off my student loans. I couldn’t do that to my parents.”
“I know.”
“I’m scared,” she whispers, rubbing at one eye with her knuckle.
“Rose keeps telling me not to worry, but she’s too close to him.
She says he’s a genius and he’ll look after us because we’ve proven our loyalty, but ever since she started working for him, it’s like she’s a different person.
I barely see her anymore. He’s got her wrapped around his finger. ”
I want to be sick. First, it’s late nights, weekends; then it’s separating her from her family and friends. Until there’s no one else she trusts but him.
I want to ruin Cox so badly that even the sound of his name will make people gag.
“Can you protect us?” she asks, fresh tears in her eyes.
Can we? I want to.
“I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
Sterling trusts The Observer’s lawyers to protect him, but it might not be enough. Cox is massively wealthy. Guys like that built the very system that protects them.
“What will I need to do?”
“We need proof that Cox knew about this, that he knows what the money was used for and signed off on it. Ideally, you and your sister would make a statement.”
She shakes her head. “He’ll just deny everything. No one will believe us.”
“We have to try.”
“Okay.”
I look around. The sounds from outside are getting louder, orders being shouted and repeated.
I drop my voice low. “There’s a waffle place down the street; do you know it?”
Tegan nods.
“I’ll be there with a friend of mine tomorrow morning before work, and we can talk.”
Pins and needles start to prickle at my ankles. There’s no room to stretch out, so I roll and stretch them as best I can and try not to think about the worst-case scenario.
“Older or younger brother?” Tegan asks, her voice small.
“Older, by four years. I love him now, but he was a little shit when we were kids. Last year—”
Footsteps in the hallway stop me cold. I stare at the door.
There are sounds of a struggle, followed by a loud thump that doesn’t sound like anything good.
“It’s them,” Tegan whispers.
She’s gripping my hand, her nails almost piercing skin. She’s shaking. I look around; there’s nothing to protect us. I’ve got nothing. Can do nothing except wait for whatever fresh horror is about to come.
The handle rattles.
I shuffle forward, shielding Tegan with my body. Whoever comes through that door will have to go through me first.
The lock clicks open.
“Sterling?”
* * *
They’re saved!
you can’t just leave it there. what happens next? (go to 61)
go back (go to 33)