by Cindy Bell
“We need to be careful, Ally, you never know what this man might be up to. We can’t just assume that we know what he’s calling us here for.” She frowned. “If he knew about Carter hiring Austin then he is just as guilty as Carter.”
“That’s true.” Ally bit into her bottom lip as she turned into the parking lot. “But if he’s willing to turn on Carter or Marris, then we might at least get the culprit arrested.” She parked a few spaces away from the fancy car again. There were no other cars in the parking lot.
“Are we ready for this, Mee-Maw?” She glanced over at her grandmother. As she did a furry blur jumped into her lap from the back seat.
“Ah!” Charlotte ducked out of the way. “Flying cat!”
“Oh Peaches, you naughty cat, how did you get in here?” Ally grinned as she stroked the cat’s fur. “I guess you were jealous that Arnold got to go to the farm with us, huh?” She scratched the cat behind her ear. “Well, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to carry you, because I don’t think they let cats into places like this. They actually prefer their cars un-shredded and fur-free.”
Peaches meowed and bumped her head against the curve of Ally’s chin.
“I know, I know, you think that’s crazy, but it’s true.” She stroked her back all the way down to her tail. Although it was quite a surprise to find her, she was glad that Peaches had crept her way into the car. It was just the comfort she needed before she faced Kevin Lang again.
“Silly cat.” Charlotte clucked her tongue. As they opened the door to get out, Peaches hopped out.
“Come back, Peaches!” Ally called but the cat ran away towards the side of the building and she was soon out of sight. “Oh no!”
“Don’t worry, Ally, she’ll probably go to the cottage or the shop.”
“Okay.” Ally sighed.
“Let’s go speak to Kevin and deal with Peaches later.”
Although Peaches often tried to escape, Ally was a bit worried about her on the loose.
Charlotte and Ally found the door to the store was unlocked. Ally held it open for her grandmother and they stepped inside. Kevin Lang appeared almost instantly.
“Ladies, thank you for coming.”
“Why did you want to see us?” Ally jumped right to the point as she looked into his eyes. “Did you find out something about Carter?”
“Yes, I did.” He gestured towards the stairs that led up to the second floor. “Come with me. I don’t want to talk about it here.”
Ally hesitated as the stairwell was dark, the entire second floor was dark as well.
“There’s no one else here, I don’t think we need to be concerned about anyone else hearing anything.”
“You can’t know that. These walls have ears.” He chuckled. “In my line of work, people are always eavesdropping on each other.”
“About cars?” Ally furrowed a brow. “That seems strange.”
“High-end cars are about the same thing as dealing in jewels.” He smirked. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Join me, please?” He started towards the stairs.
“We’re fine down here.” Charlotte crossed her arms. “If you really have something to tell us, Kevin, you need to just come right out with it.”
“Look, I’m not going to put myself at risk. You act as if I should automatically trust you, but I don’t know anything about either of you, other than that you were on the plane when Austin died. For all I know you could have cut the cords.” He stared hard at Charlotte, then shifted his gaze to Ally. “Maybe someone paid you to do it?”
“That’s nonsense.” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Ally, this was a waste of time. We need to get out of here.” She caught her granddaughter’s arm and started to tug her towards the door. However, as she did a bolt slid into place, and shutters folded across the front windows as well as the door. Her heart dropped.
“What’s going on here?” Ally craned her neck to look at Kevin. “How did that happen?”
“Oh, I have state of the art security on this place. It goes into lockdown after hours.” He shrugged as he pulled one hand out of his pocket. “Safety first, you know.”
“Well, open it.” Charlotte released Ally and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to face Kevin. “We’d like to leave.”
“Not just yet. I invited you here for a reason.” He glanced around at all of the cars that surrounded them. “But we really need to have this get-together upstairs. All right? Just come up with me, hear me out, and then I’ll set you free.” He grinned. “Like the little birds that you are.”
“Little birds?” Ally stared at him, confused, and just a little disturbed. “What are you talking about? We want to leave. Open up the doors right now.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that.” His shoulders sank. “I had hoped that this could be a more pleasant experience for all of us, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case.” He glanced up towards the stairs. “A little help please?”
Charlotte grabbed Ally’s hand and pulled her towards the door. “Ally, we have to get out of here!” She pounded on the front door but the thick glass showed no sign of giving way. Ally tugged at the handle but it was also fastened tight.
“Enough.” A low voice drifted from behind both of them. “There’s no way out of here. This will be a lot smoother if you two just cooperate.” Ally heard the unmistakable sound of a knife being pulled from its sheath. As her stomach flipped she realized what a grave mistake she’d made. She trusted the evidence when it pointed towards Carter or Marris. After all, she had evidence to prove that Carter had hired Austin to kill Marris. Why wouldn’t she believe that either of them could be Austin’s killer?
Chapter 16
As Ally turned slowly to face the person behind her, shock waves coursed through her body. She recognized the man, and the knife in his hand, which had barbed wire engraved into the hilt.
“Pete?”
“In the flesh.” He grinned, his handsome blue eyes seemed to sparkle. “Good to see you both again.”
“I don’t understand.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t bother to waste your energy on it.” Pete gestured towards the stairs with a smug look on his face. “Go on up, nice and easy.”
“No.” Charlotte stood her ground, though her heart raced. “We’re not going up there with you. You can’t do anything to make us.”
“Oh no?” He held the knife in the air and pointed it in Ally’s direction. “You’re wrong. There’s plenty I can do to convince you to comply. I think I’ll start with her.”
“No!” Ally shrieked as the knife jutted towards her. She swung her hand down hard against Pete’s wrist. The blow hit hard enough that he released the knife and it clattered to the floor. There was no time to retrieve it. Instead, she grabbed her grandmother’s hand and tugged her into the field of cars.
They both crouched down and made their way through the showroom hiding behind the cars.
“We should split up,” Ally whispered to her.
“No, I can’t leave you.” Charlotte’s cheeks burned as she tried to hold back her anger. “There has to be a way out of here.”
“Ladies, this is really tiring. There’s no way out!” Pete tapped his knife against the top of one of the cars. “If you come out now, we can have a nice conversation, find a way to work all of this out. But if you make me break a sweat, I’m not going to be in the mood for talking.”
Charlotte closed her eyes tight, then tilted her head towards the stairs.
“We should try to go up. There might be a roof exit. It’s darker up there, we’ll be able to hide.”
“But that’s where they want us to go.” Ally gulped. “Who knows what might be up there.”
“We can’t hide behind these cars forever.” Charlotte grimaced as she heard the heavy footfalls of a man approaching. In silence the pair huddled behind a car. The footsteps continued past them.
Ally knew that her grandmother was right. It was just a matter of time befor
e Pete found them. Once he did there would be no escape. To create a distraction she reached into her purse and gathered up all of the loose pieces of candy that hung out in the bottom. She gripped them in her hand and looked into her grandmother’s eyes.
“When I throw these, we have to head straight for the stairs.”
“Yes.” Charlotte nodded, though her eyes darted in the direction of Pete’s voice.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” He chuckled.
Ally peered around the edge of the car. When she saw his back turned, she flung the chocolates towards the front of the store. She guessed it would be easy for him to believe that they would still be trying to get out that way.
“Go Mee-Maw, go!” She hissed at her grandmother.
The two ran straight for the stairs, breathless and frightened. As soon as they were swallowed up by the darkness, Ally felt a little safer. Only one light blazed through the pitch-black surroundings, and that was the exit sign. She grabbed her grandmother’s hand and led her towards it. Something crinkled under their feet. She presumed that it was some wrapped candies, but she didn’t dare look down to find out what it was. She could hear feet on the stairs.
“Open the door, Ally, hurry,” Charlotte gasped out as the footsteps neared the top of the stairs.
Ally gave the door a hard shove and managed to get it open. Then they were on another set of stairs that led to the roof. She and her grandmother made it to the door that led to the roof before the man chasing them reached that second flight of stairs. However, when she looked down, she saw him look straight up at her. He knew exactly where they were going. With no other choice, she pushed the door open and led her grandmother out onto the wide open flat roof.
“Mee-Maw, we have nowhere to hide!” Ally’s eyes filled with tears. The last of the evening light had faded, giving the roof a gloomy feeling. She pushed her shoulder against the door to hold it shut, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it that way for long. To her surprise, she didn’t feel anyone pushing at it. There was no pounding or shouting.
“Mee-Maw, see if you can call for help.” Ally continued to keep her shoulder and her ear pressed to the door.
“I’m trying, but there’s no service up here.” Charlotte grimaced. “Nothing!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Ally wasn’t sure if she was trying to calm down her grandmother, or herself. With little noise on the other side of the door, she dared to try to open it. However, the handle did not give in the slightest. An awful feeling curled up in the pit of her stomach. “Mee-Maw, we’re locked out here. That’s why he’s not trying to get to us. He has us trapped!”
“Maybe there’s a fire escape?” Charlotte surveyed the roof for any sign of one. All she saw was the flat edge in all directions. There was no hint of a fire escape. The other buildings on the street were all too far away to get to.
“I don’t see anything!” Ally tried her phone, but she couldn’t get a call to go out either. “Oh, Mee-Maw, what are we going to do?”
“We have to flag someone down, that’s all.” Charlotte marched towards the edge of the roof. But as she reached it, a bullet flew past her head.
“Mee-Maw!” Ally shrieked and grabbed her grandmother’s hand. They both crouched down on their knees. “He’s trying to shoot us!”
“I didn’t even hear him fire. He must have a silencer. Ally, we have to stay as calm as we can. There is a way out of this. There is always a way.” She squeezed her hand, and managed a small smile. “We just have to think it through.”
“We can’t get off the roof. We can’t get back inside. Maybe if we coax him to open the door?” Ally frowned. “It would be a risk, but at least we wouldn’t be stuck up here anymore.”
“It may be our only option.” Charlotte nodded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She crawled on her belly and elbows to the edge of the roof, then waved the handkerchief like a flag through the air. She hoped it was light enough that he would be able to see it.
Chapter 17
As Pete stepped out onto the roof he pushed a piece of cardboard under the door to prevent it from closing. Ally noticed that as he strode towards her, his gun was slung over his shoulder. He didn’t have it ready to shoot her. But why?
“Listen, as I said before, I want to have a conversation with the two of you.” He looked between them both. “Are you calm enough to talk now?”
“As calm as we can be, now that we’ve been attacked, locked on a roof, and shot at.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “That’s not exactly how I start a conversation.”
“Listen to me. I am not a bad person. I am just doing my job.”
“Your job?” Charlotte sneered.
“Kevin hired me to make sure that Marris was taken out. Marris was upset about some illegal deal that Lang and Carter made to get more funding for themselves and the dealership. I didn’t really care about the why or the how. I just knew that I had to take Marris out to get paid. So, imagine my surprise when I found Austin following my target around. It didn’t take me long to realize that he was a hitman, too. I was furious. I went back to Lang and accused him of hiring someone else for the job. But Lang told me he hadn’t hired anyone else.”
“But Carter had.” Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“Yes, that’s when I started looking into Carter. I figured if one of them wanted him dead, then they probably both did. Turns out that Carter hired Austin to take out Marris. When I gave the information to Lang he thought it was funny, he said may the best man win. So, I did. I took out Austin first, to make sure that I didn’t have any competition. Then I went after Marris. But Lang was nervous about Austin’s death and told me to wait a little bit before I took out Marris. Now, I’ve got an even bigger mess, because the two of you got yourselves involved.” He shook his head as he stared at them. “How did you even manage that?”
“Well…” Ally began.
“Never mind.” He waved his hand. “Here’s the deal. I’m not interested in killing you. I’m not getting paid for it. But, I also can’t let you go, because you know too much. So, if you both agree to pay my fee, I’ll take out Lang, and Carter. We’ll all be vulnerable, which protects me, and keeps you two in check. All you have to come up with is five hundred thousand each.”
“Five hundred thousand?” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “You say that like it just grows on trees!”
“Hey, do you want to live or not?” He shrugged. “I’ll give you the chance to raise the funds. While Ally here, stays with me.” He swept his arm around Ally’s shoulders. “If you don’t get back with the cash in say, an hour, then Ally’s the first to go. If the police come I will kill her on the spot. Understand?”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s night time. Where would I even get that kind of money?” Charlotte tried not to show how terrified she was.
“I don’t care where you get it, or how you get it. Just get it done.” He tugged Ally closer to him even as she strained against him. For a small man he was really quite strong.
“No, we don’t want the deal.” Ally squirmed.
“All right then, I’ll just take care of things right now.” He started to shove her towards the edge of the roof.
“Fine, fine! I have the money,” Charlotte gasped out the words. The last thing she wanted to do was leave Ally behind, but she knew it was the only chance to buy them some time. If she could get Luke’s help, she was sure that he would figure out some way to save Ally. As she walked towards the door, she noticed something strange and fluffy near the edge of the roof. As she realized what it was, her heart beat faster. She was almost to the door when she stretched her arms out to Ally.
“Wait, I need a hug before I go. Please!”
“Whatever.” Pete shrugged and let Ally go to her grandmother’s embrace. In that moment Charlotte wrapped one arm around her granddaughter and reached for the door with her free hand. She pulled them both through the door, and intended to tug the door closed behind them. Howeve
r, it wouldn’t budge. The wedge of cardboard was more effective than she anticipated.
“Stop!” Pete shouted. He pulled his gun off his shoulder and aimed it at them both. “You have five seconds to get back out on this roof or I will take you both out right now.” As he began his count down, Charlotte noticed a small orange paw near the door. Ally did as well. Peaches pawed at the piece of cardboard wedged under the door, until it loosened. Charlotte knew that she would be able to pull the door shut.
“Okay! Fine!” She lifted one hand as if she surrendered. In a flash of movement she reached for the door handle again, and this time she was able to pull it shut. She and Ally jumped away from the door as bullets slammed into it. Luckily it was thick metal, and the bullets only left dents.
“Mee-Maw, we have to go now!” Ally led her down the stairs, to the dark second floor. Her heart raced as she hoped that Peaches had made it off the roof safely. When she reached the first floor, she recalled that the doors and windows were all shuttered.
“How do we get out?” Charlotte frowned.
“We have to get Lang to let us out.” Ally recalled his hand being in his pocket as the shutters closed. “It’s too much of a coincidence to think that the shutters closed automatically. He must have had a remote in his pocket.”
“He’s never going to let us out, though. I’m sure he wants us dead as much as Pete does.”
“He’s in his office,” she whispered tipping her head towards the small space set back from the floor displays.
“There’s something on his desk. It looks like a remote. Maybe if we can get him out of there we’ll be able to get to it.”
“Another distraction?” Ally met her eyes.
“Yes, but it has to be good. We will only get one chance at this. If he realizes that his hitman is trapped on the roof, he’ll let him back in, and then we’ll be right back where we started.”