This is Not a Double Date

by Grace Risata

  “Why are you acting so fearless?” Roman questioned, staring at me intently as though seeing me for the first time through a new set of eyes.

  “I’m sorry that my defiance upsets you, Mr. Kidnapper. I’ll have time for grief later when I’m not in mortal danger.”

  “This behavior from you is very surprising,” he countered, clearly not expecting me to fight back. He’s absolutely correct. I really shouldn’t be fighting…or antagonizing them…or talking at all. Now is the time to plan my escape and prepare for whatever comes next after we reach our destination.

  But I can’t resist one last dig.

  Gathering all the saliva in my mouth, I pulled off a nice little move borrowed from Tyler’s fiancé.

  Spitting directly on Roman’s shoe, I channeled my inner Gypsy.

  “I curse you, your family, all future generations of your family, and all those from your family that have come before you. May a rabid dog come along and piss on their graves.”

  I’m fairly certain my curse wasn’t bound by any magic what-so-ever, but it felt damn good. It also caused Duke to lunge at me, but thankfully Roman caught him in time.

  Enough games. I need to use my head and figure out a way to contact Hailey and get her to involve Ivan. That might be harder than escaping my captors. My sister could be stubborn at times…

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Andi

  “This is so fucking cliché,” I muttered aloud to no one in particular. After driving around for what seemed like an eternity, we ended up in a dilapidated abandoned warehouse. I’m not exactly certain about the prior use of the building, due to the fact that they put the bag back over my head before we got out of the car and I wasn’t able to see any signage that might have indicated just where the hell we were.

  Roman made sure to be the one that led me inside, lest any of the other guys get too close and decide to ‘accidentally’ take a swing at me. I was expecting that to happen at any moment. After all, I wasn’t exactly making this easy for them.

  “You know what’s cliché?” Tyler asked. “Your face. Now keep your fucking mouth shut unless you’re answering our questions.”

  I decided to do as he requested, zipping my lips and focusing on my surroundings. I wasn’t exaggerating. It really was cliché. Let’s kidnap someone, but where do we take them? How about that old warehouse on the edge of town? No one will suspect a thing!

  This place was your textbook locale for any seedy crime a person wanted to commit. Broken windows with shards of glass littered the floor, letting in rays of moonlight that gave an ominous feel to the place. Colorful graffiti lined the concrete walls, letting me know which gangs found it necessary to mark their territory. I should also mention the pitter patter of little feet that reassured me we weren’t truly alone. If I needed assistance, all I had to do was channel my powers of animal communication and unleash the rodent army.

  Sigh. If only…

  I also found no useful weapons laying around at my disposal. The cavernous room held a card table, four folding chairs, a couple cardboard boxes, and one strong metal desk chair that held yours truly. Unfortunately, we can safely assume the men weren’t sitting around playing poker, but most likely plotting out their little scheme. Speaking of that, I’m long overdue for some useful information.

  “Okay, guys. You’ve repeated yourselves over and over that I better get my head on straight and cough up some answers. What exactly do you need to know? If I’m kept in the dark about your master plan, how am I supposed to help?”

  I’ll start by giving them a false sense of security and play along as though I might actually be cooperative. I call it ‘operation: be nice.’

  Eddie sat in one of the chairs scribbling in a notebook with a pencil, Duke leaned back and held onto his nose with a ratty handkerchief, Roman stared off into the distance like he wasn’t even mentally here at all, and Tyler chose to pace back and forth while giving me dirty looks.

  “You want to know our plan, Andi?” Tyler asked sweetly. “Trying to think of a way out of your situation, eh? Let me save you the trouble. You have no options, no hope, and no chance of escape.”

  “Fair enough.” I can’t believe Cara actually boned this guy. As soon as I get out of here, I swear I’m going to punch her in the face for getting me involved in this shitstorm. “If you’re squashing all my optimism, at least tell me what’s going on.”

  “I see no reason why we can’t let her in on the job,” Eddie offered, attention suddenly on me, eyes gleaming with wickedness. “We’re planning a very profitable heist, honey. What began as a tiny little crime soon turned into so much more after you entered the picture. Honestly, you fell into our laps like a beautiful twist of fate.”

  “You can thank your friend, Cara,” Tyler chimed in. “Had she not invited you along that very first night, none of this would have happened.”

  Oh, really? Now we’re getting somewhere. I figured it was wise to keep my mouth shut and let them continue their confession. Instead of talking, I simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

  “It was supposed to be me, Cara, Duke, and his girlfriend. The ladies you met at the Pit are in on it too,” Tyler explained. “But Duke got stuck working late, so we had to go with plan B…I bring Roman, and Cara scrounges up a friend. I never thought princess would actually come up with anyone because she’s such a selfish bitch, but she surprisingly found one. You.”

  “Okay…I still fail to see where you’re going with all this.” Blah, blah, blah, can we fast forward to the good part?

  “Much to everyone’s shock, you and Roman got along like two peas in a pod,” Tyler continued, pacing like a caged animal. I couldn’t help but notice that my traitorous date was hanging on his cousin’s every word as though waiting to step in if something got said that he didn’t like. “The dinner conversation turned to employment, and I was ready to pump Cara for more details about her job at the jewelry store. That was the original plan, Andi. Gain some inside information and pull off a simple burglary. Make off with some diamonds, sell them for easy cash, and move on with our lives. But that’s not what happened. See…you just had to open your big mouth and brag about that fancy job at the Penn Museum.”

  The hell I did! Telling a stranger where you work is not bragging. This jackass is delusional. Unfortunately, he was about to drop a bomb on me.

  “Once I put two and two together and realized the crown jewel exhibit was due to hit town in a couple weeks, you became plan A. Why go for a little minnow when you can snag a shark, Andi?”

  No. Oh fuck, no. My eyes widened and all the color rushed to my cheeks.

  “That’s right, stupid,” Duke piped up to throw his voice into the mix. “Thanks to you, we’re making off with millions of dollars worth of royal treasures. If you want to see tomorrow, you better cooperate and give us the information we need.”

  “You’re planning to rob the museum,” I murmured in shock.

  “That’s right,” Tyler confirmed. “And you’re going to help us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Roman

  It was becoming plainly obvious that Andi was most definitely not going to help us. The more I tried to question the stubborn woman, the more belligerent she got.

  “We’re running out of time here,” I explained, already feeling completely hopeless about my prospects of getting any sort of cooperation from her. “Would you rather I let Duke or Tyler interrogate you? Do you think they’ll be polite and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you?’ Just tell us what we need and let’s get this over with.”

  “Are you trying to be the ‘good cop’ in this scenario?” she replied sarcastically. “Do you think you can just storm into my life, win me over, make me care about you, and then drop this massive bomb of dog shit on me and I’ll just happily sing like a canary and help you mastermind a heist? There’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m going to let a group of low life thugs make off with priceless treasure. Fuck you and fuck your secret fiancé,
too.”

  “I don’t have a fiancé!” I shouted, losing focus on the task at hand. Instead of properly intimidating my captive, I kept obsessing over the fact that she thought I had a girlfriend. “If there was any special woman in my life besides you, I sure as fuck wouldn’t keep her a secret. Not all men think with their cock. Some of us understand the meaning of loyalty and respect!”

  “Besides me? I’m the only special woman in your life, hmm?” she asked, narrowing her eyes and honing in on the one thing that shouldn’t have come out of my mouth. “Do you always kidnap your lucky lady and grill her for information? Do you consider that to be showing ‘respect’ for her?”

  “You’re missing the point entirely,” I argued, desperate for her to understand the meaning of my words. I needed her to realize that no matter what our current circumstances, she still meant something to me. “There is no one else in my life. Only you, Andi.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Are you going to let me wear your class ring on a necklace to indicate we’re going steady? Fuck off, asshole.”

  “Tsk, tsk cousin,” Tyler heckled in amusement. “While I’m enjoying the front row seat to this lover’s quarrel, I can’t help but say that I told you so. Gypsy girls may be fiery at times, but at least they know their place. Trina would never treat me like a piece of shit. Yeah, she may chase me around the kitchen with a butcher knife sometimes, but that just leads to hot and heavy make-up sex. My girl understands that I had to seduce Cara in order to rob the jewelry store. She knows the lifestyle. Andi doesn’t get it, because she’s not one of us. So quit acting like a pussy and coddling the fucking bitch.”

  As if my masculinity wasn’t already in question, my hostage had to step up and come to my rescue.

  “Yeah, Tyler. You have it so good with your secret fiancé. If you really loved her then you wouldn’t cheat on her, and if she honestly gave two shits about you then she wouldn’t let you mess around. I’ll bet all the money in my pocket, which is roughly fifteen bucks, that Tricia doesn’t know you had sex with Cara.”

  “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, Andi,” the jackass replied with a wink. “Now get off your moral high horse and give us some answers. Last chance, sweetheart. If we don’t get what we want the easy way, there are other methods to use. Let me assure you…it’s not pretty.”

  “Are you going to torture me?” she asked hesitantly, as if not wanting to consider that as a possibility.

  “No,” I snarled, looking around to make sure everyone heard me loud and clear. “The first person that touches her is getting their teeth knocked out. If you don’t think I’m serious about that…try me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tyler promised reassuringly. “I don’t like getting my hands dirty. There’s no need to torture Andi for information. Besides, she’s being stubborn and it might take awhile for her to crack. We’re going to have to resort to the backup plan.”

  What the fuck is he talking about? There is no backup plan.

  “Ah, son, I see the confusion on your face,” my father stated while nodding his head slowly in resignation. “I had a feeling that you might be too attached to the girl after I showed up at her apartment a few days ago. As soon as I saw the starry-eyed look on your face, I knew you’d be worthless at coaxing any useful information from her. Fortunately, I had the foresight to come up with an alternative.”

  “No,” I yelled decisively, even before he could explain himself. Eddie Boswell wasn’t known for showing mercy, and I didn’t want him scaring Andi.

  “Your dad is brilliant, actually,” Tyler admitted while gazing adoringly at the bastard that shared my DNA. “He had the genius idea to get the whole family involved in tonight’s little party. Under his mentorship, I can only hope to be that ruthless one day.”

  “Thank you for actually appreciating my cunning schemes instead of being embarrassed by them, Tyler. You should have been my son instead of this worthless loser I’m stuck with,” he replied, sending a massive wave of rage tearing through my body. If one of the guns were in my hand instead of tucked safely inside a cardboard box, I might have used it right now. Little did I know, things were about to get worse.

  Unable to conceal his glee, my dumbass cousin enlightened us to the master plan.

  “If Andi doesn’t talk in the next ten minutes, then we’re going to bring in a friend to keep her company. Maybe she could last for a while under excruciating physical pain, but I think it will speed things up if we let her watch us play with Hailey instead.”

  I sucked in a deep breath at the same time that Andi let out an unholy wail.

  “If you lay one hand on my sister, I will kill each and every one of you with my bare hands! Do you hear me? You stay the fuck away from her!”

  I had to turn my eyes away from the heartbreaking sight as she went into a fit of hysterics.

  Several truths flooded my conscience like a drowning man being consumed by an ocean wave. I knew how much Andi loved her sister. I knew she’d go to any lengths to keep Hailey safe. Family came first. That’s why Eddie devised this test of my loyalty. Would I turn my back on the woman he knew I cared for in order to appease my father…or would I stand up and confront him?

  There was only one logical choice at this point. Once my mind was made up, I couldn’t turn back. All this work…all this fucking time and effort…really only came down to one decision. The game was mine to lose.

  And I was about to walk away from the one thing that truly mattered to me.

  “Ten minutes, Andi. The clock starts now,” I advised. “If you do as you’re told, this will all be over before you know it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Roman

  The day I let Eddie Boswell pull a fast one over on me, is the day Hell freezes over. That devious motherfucker isn’t the only gypsy with a backup plan.

  I have one too.

  While Andi hung her head in misery and despair, I subtly palmed my pocket knife and began pacing back and forth in front of her chair.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way,” I barked, pouring frustration into my voice. “If you would have just cooperated, everything might have gone off without a hitch.”

  Making sure my back was to the group of men gathered around the boxes of supplies, I tried to give the impression that I was losing my patience with the whole situation. It wasn’t much of a stretch.

  Getting right up in her face, I put my hand under Andi’s chin and forced her to make eye contact. After mouthing the words ‘trust me,’ I backed off so as not to draw any attention and linger too long in her presence.

  “You have no other option,” I advised loudly, walking around to the back of her chair and placing one hand on the woman’s shoulder while using the other to swiftly cut the ropes around her wrists. “It’s time to get this over with and move on with our lives.”

  Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, “Bathroom. Open window. Wait for me.”

  Andi remained silent and I had no idea if she’d actually follow my orders or decided she lost all confidence in me. For some reason, I had faith that it would work out. I rejoined the guys at the card table and half-heartedly picked up a nine millimeter handgun to tuck into my belt.

  One minute ticked past…then two. Finally the woman spoke.

  “I have to use the restroom,” she whimpered. “Just untie me really quickly so I can do my business and then I’ll come right back and tell you whatever you want to know. Don’t bring my sister…I don’t want her hurt.”

  To her credit, Andi sounded totally defeated. All the bravado was gone from her voice, and a scared little girl remained where a mighty lion roared just minutes ago.

  “No,” I instantly replied. “I’ll take you to the bathroom, but your hands stay tied behind your back.”

  “You’re not taking her anywhere,” Tyler responded. “Do you think we’re stupid? You’ll just wimp out and let her go.”

  “Do you honestly think I’d do that?” I asked in mock outr
age. “All the work and planning that went into this job…and I’m just going to walk away from it because of a woman? You know me better than that, dumbshit. Have I ever taken my eyes off the prize? Have I ever, in my entire life, chosen pussy over my family? Get your head out of your fucking ass. Let Duke walk her to the bathroom if you don’t trust me.”

  Tyler nodded his head at the guy who suddenly came to life with the prospect of being alone with our hostage. I had a sinking feeling Duke wanted revenge for his nose injury. Let him feed right into my plan.

  “I think I’ll go with to supervise,” I offered casually. “If you smack her unconscious, no one is getting any information out of anyone.”

  My cousin studied me for what seemed like an eternity, most likely reading my body language in an effort to find out if I was sincere. After narrowing his eyes, the idiot finally waved us off.

  That was his second mistake.

  His first fatal error was allowing me to be the one that rented the getaway van. I took the liberty of making a second set of keys for just such an occasion. A quick escape was in order.

  As soon as Duke, Andi, and I were a safe distance away from the cavernous main chamber of the warehouse and down a dark hallway, it was time to put my plan into action. Using the butt of my gun, I gave our companion a severe blow to the head and knocked him out cold. Mustering all my strength, I dragged him into the nearest room and shut the door. One problem down, one to go.

  “Get your hands off me,” Andi hissed, pulling her arm away when I tried to lead her out of the building.

  “Now is not the time,” I responded. “We have to get the fuck out of here, warn Hailey, and prepare for the hurricane that’s about to be unleashed when my family realizes I betrayed them. Let’s move!”

  So we did…and set into motion a chain reaction of events that would alter the course of life as I knew it.