by L B Wyatt
Veronica listened as the girl rambled on and watched as she came on into the room, dispersing things from her hold as she went. She finally stopped in front of Veronica and laid out a dress.
“He requested you wear this,” Ginger said, carefully smoothing out the ivory gown. It nearly disappeared into the fabric of the sheets.
“Where is he?” Veronica asked on edge.
Ginger paused in her efforts and then straightened her shoulders. “He’s in his penthouse. He said he was preparing to accompany you.”
How eloquently put, Veronica sneered inside her mind. It was a fancy way to say the bastard was getting ready to rape her and probably strangle her to death for kicks. With the casual tone and nonchalant motions, Veronica couldn’t help but wonder how many times Ginger had ‘prepared’ someone for a visit from her boss.
“Where are you from?”Veronica inquired.
Ginger held her tongue for a moment. It was then that Veronica realized the girl had lost her chewing gum somewhere throughout the evening. What a small, but immeasurable blessing that was.
“Boss says I ain’t supposed to talk to you,” she whispered.
“Do you always do what he tells you to?” Veronica asked quickly causing the girl to jerk her head sideways so they locked eyes. The fear behind her gaze was evident.
“Yes.”
“How could telling me where you’re from do any harm?” Veronica asked softly. She watched as Ginger thought about it before shaking her head.
“I can’t. I won’t. Just get ready,” she ordered.
“I’m not wearing that for him,” Veronica informed sternly.
Ginger took a step back and crossed her arms. “You’re not the first girl to say that. But you will. They always do.”
“I won’t.”
“You don’t have to be alive, you know?”
Her words made Veronica pause. Wow. So that dress was getting on her body whether it was warm or not? Interesting, she thought. And disturbing.
“Things always go better when you listen,” Ginger offered. “I think you’re probably real smart, so just do it okay? I put some soaps in the bathroom. The ones he likes his girls to wear. Make sure you wash all that makeup off. He hates that stuff. And let your hair dry naturally.”
The more she listened, the more Veronica became disgusted. “How long do I have?” she inquired.
“’Bout an hour, I guess,” Ginger answered. “I left you a razor in there too. He likes his girls trimmed up, you know?”
Veronica’s eyes narrowed with distaste. “No, I didn’t know,” she ground out.
“Well, just behave, okay? We might could be friends if you play your cards right.”
Veronica understood what Ginger meant, even if her English wasn’t as proficient as it could have been had she finished high school. She wasn’t stating that Veronica would be lucky to have her as a friend. She was indicating that the Barber might turn Veronica into one of his pets if she listened and behaved like a good little girl. Well, that was never going to happen. She would much rather go ahead and die.
“Hurry now,” Ginger insisted and she started back for the door. Veronica’s opportunity was running out. Startled into action, she leapt forward and grabbed Ginger from behind, holding her pretty redhead in a chokehold.
“Sorry about this,” Veronica breathed in her ear. She was struggling to hold onto her. Ginger was a lot stronger than her tiny little appearance let on. Like a Boa constrictor, Veronica squeezed tighter with every wiggle completely cutting off Ginger’s airway.
Finally the girl quit moving and her body went limp. Veronica instantly let go, not wanting to cause any serious damage. She lowered the girl to the floor and began to explore her body for the key card to escape. After several minutes of very invasive searching, Veronica had nothing. She cursed out loud and stood up, looking around. How in the hell was she going to get out? There had to be a way, Veronica knew. If Ginger had walked in, she most definitely had a way to walk out. And since the camera was destroyed, there was no way of letting whoever was watching know she was finished and ready to leave. So that meant only one thing: there was a key somewhere in some kind of form or fashion.
Veronica changed her efforts just then, looking for something more permanent. She scoured the girl’s body and just when she felt a small lump under the skin on Ginger’s wrist, Veronica was knocked forward as the floor beneath her gave a mighty quake. The lights flickered before going out completely.
She sat there on her knees beside Ginger’s body and listened to the outside noises. There were shouts in the hallway and Veronica could smell smoke or something noxious in the air. The lights flickered again, but didn’t stay on. However, the television came to life causing Veronica to stand up and look. The screen behind it was black and she watched as words appeared on the screen as if someone were actively typing them.
You have 90 seconds…
The door clicked softly and the television died. The backup lights in the hallway made everything eerie and red. She pulled the door open, hating herself for taking the opportunity. She knew who was helping her escape and her pride was bucking against her common sense the entire way out the door. To her left she could see the end of the hallway. It had a huge hole blown in the side of the wall. Debris from the crumbled structure was scattered on the floor nearly all the way to the doorway.
She started toward the rubble to the left, but stopped. Her mind took a turn and she glanced to her right. She had 90 seconds, right? It probably wouldn’t take that long to run to the Barber’s office and then get back to her escape route.
Taking a chance, she headed in the opposite direction of freedom. No sooner had she come to the corner did she run into Zane and another thug by his side. In the odd lighting, it was easy to overcome them. Veronica had the element of surprise in that they were not expecting her out of her room.
She hit Zane across the jaw and felt the pain in her fingers and her poor stitched up side as she did so. She ignored her throbbing knuckles and burning ribcage and grabbed his hand as he reached for a gun in his jacket pocket. She was fast, her old skills coming back tenfold in the element of danger. She had the handle of his gun within a second’s time and fired off a round at his partner as he raised his own weapon at her. He staggered back against the wall, his hand going up and randomly firing. She could tell fate had played in her favor when Zane’s body went stiff. His partner’s erratic misfire had hit her other enemy. She didn’t know where the bullet had entered and she didn’t care. Zane had grabbed her arm at some point, but his grip went lax and he crumbled to the ground.
Veronica took the gun and moved quickly and quietly. Fire alarms were starting to ring now, with bright lights flashing down the corridor. It was no secret the building was being evacuated. Which meant the Baber would be coming to collect his most prized possession and her time was extremely limited.
She didn’t waste a second, firing the gun at the office door as soon as she found it to break the lock. Veronica entered cautiously in case someone had beaten her inside. Luckily, the room was empty. It was also dark, illuminated with only the dull generator lights. She took a minute to adjust and when her eyes focused, she moved further in. Her mind was in agent mode, thinking only of her objective. She needed that evidence and she wasn’t going to leave without it. That resolution came with a risk, she knew, the risk of not making it out at all. It would be worth it either way, she decided. Besides, she couldn’t leave the building with her knowing exactly where it was hidden. The cocky son-of-a-bitch had practically came outright and told her where he kept his precious book of clients. So she was morally and ethically bound to retrieve this knowledge.
She had no choice.
Veronica found the globe and knelt down in front of it. She placed her weapon on the floor momentarily to try and feel her way around. That book had been his world, huh? She thought back on his particular choice of words. Well, she was about to turn his world upside down. Veronica found the la
tch and her heart nearly came out of her throat with excitement. She undid the small, hidden door on the underbelly of the massive globe and the black notebook fell out into her hand.
For a split second she was sucked back into her old life, back into the old familiar adrenaline rush and satisfaction of defeating the bad guy at his own game in the most unconventional way. Before she could even stop herself from thinking it the thought was there plastered on the forefront of her mind—I miss this. And by this, she meant being a Rogue. She had to fight to not laugh out loud, and for a split second she thought she might be having a stroke. She couldn’t decide whether she’d lost her mind or she was finally just being honest with herself. Either way, now was certainly not the time to dissect her insane thought processes.
You’re not out of the woods yet, Veronica, she reminded herself and swallowed back her galloping heartbeat. She would have to wait to savor this small triumphant moment for when she was on the safer side of things. If she even made it that far.
“I should have known you didn’t come here alone.”
She jerked, turning her head toward the door. The Barber stood there, looking infuriated and almost demonic with the lights of the hallway glowing eerily behind him.
“Who do you work for?” he demanded.
Veronica remained still. She knew he was armed and if she made a grab for her own gun, he would shoot her right between the eyes. She clutched the book in her left hand, her right twitching to take her weapon and end this.
“No one at the moment. I told you I was suspended,” she reminded him casually.
The Barber stepped in closer, stopping in front of his desk. “Get up,” he ordered, making an upwards gesture with the 9mm he had pointed at her head. “The cops don’t have the manpower or the balls to blow a hole in the side of a historic hotel,” he growled. “Who are you working for?” he demanded again.
“No one,” she assured, slowly raising herself up to face him. He made another gesture with the gun to come closer. Clutching his book carefully in one hand, she moved toward him slowly. She stopped once they were in arm’s length and waited for his next move. He took one step closer and she felt the cool metal right between her breasts as he pressed his weapon to her flesh for effect. Her expression remained unfazed as she looked steadily into his eyes.
“I’m so disappointed,” he admitted with a sigh. “I really wanted you.” He reached up for the book with his other hand, pulling it swiftly from her fingers. “Get on your knees,” he commanded.
Veronica clenched her jaw and started to obey. Her plan hadn’t gone quite as well as she’d hoped so far, but she was going to take a chance with plan B and see how that panned out. Before she completely knelt before him so he could put a bullet in her skull, Veronica swiftly grabbed his fancy letter opener off the wooden stand where it was perched and before he could react, she had it plunged so deep into the flesh above his knee there was no way he could chase her out of the room.
He reacted violently, firing his gun three times as he cried out in surprise. Veronica impressed herself with her agility to dodge those flying bullets. Or maybe he was just a terrible shot, either way she had the gun knocked out of his hand before he could hit his intended target. Saving her fingers some pain, she grabbed the brass paperweight off the desk and slung it against his head. He hit the floor with a thud and Veronica stood there in shock for a second. Her mind came reeling back to the here and now as she heard heavy footsteps in the hall.
She reached down and grabbed the book and his gun before running out the door. There were a couple of men in the hallway and she continued to use the element of surprise to her advantage and fired her weapon. She hit both of her marks, knocking them down like dominos and jumping over their bodies in pursuit of freedom. She didn’t see anyone else on her way back to the hallway she had originated from. Nevertheless, she kept her weapon raised, tight in her grip and the book pressed snuggly to her body.
The smell of smoke and the sound of sirens overwhelmed her senses as she hurried down the corridor toward the hole in the wall. She tiptoed around the rubble on the floor leading up to it and then had to crawl over the destroyed concrete. Suddenly she was winded and a wave of nausea washed through her body.
What the hell, Veronica? You’re two seconds from being out of here and you’re wimping out now?
Her harsh inner voice was not pleased with the turn of events. Her foot slipped between the debris and Veronica felt the skin peel back on her ankle as the jagged edge of a broken block slid across her flesh.
Go! she screamed inside her head, using the pain as a motivator. The Barber wasn’t dead and he had plenty of other men to send after her. This was her only opportunity to get out alive. But when she started to pick herself up from stumbling, she felt something running down her arm. She paused, the lighting in the hallway was dim, but she could see the dark red liquid pouring from her body. Where the hell was it coming from?
Damn it, she thought before lurching forward. Strange sensations were overcoming her and she faltered on her last step through the wall. The Barber must have been a better shot than she gave him credit for after all.
Chapter Fourteen
Passing out wasn’t an option, even though that’s what her body was screaming at her to do. Veronica pushed through the exit, but it wasn’t the escape route she was expecting. Once she was through the threshold, she was standing in a long, narrow concrete hallway. She wasn’t sure if it was a sewer access or something electrical related. Either way, the lights were flickering from the explosion and for a second, she didn’t know which way to go. When her head turned right, she could see what looked like a large metal door so she started in that direction. She tugged on the handle about the time a bullet ricocheted off the wall next to her head.
Instinctively, she ducked and turned back toward the rubble to see Zane hadn’t been as incapacitated as she originally thought. He was standing outside the hole in the wall and he fired another shot at her. Veronica raised her weapon in retaliation and tugged on the handle of her escape route. She pulled the trigger about the time she realized the door was locked.
Zane dodged her fire and hobbled closer. Veronica stepped back and quickly injected two bullets into the lock. It cracked open as another shot rang out loud down the corridor. Veronica slipped through the doorway and the sounds of the city instantly greeted her as she now stood on a paved platform a story below street level. When she looked upward, she could see the street lights shining down and a staircase directly in front of her.
Without wasting another second, she rushed up the steps, heaving hard as her bare and bloody feet hit the sidewalk on the backside of the hotel. She took a moment to look around; the sounds of the sirens were screaming loud and getting closer. She knew she needed to hightail it now, but she had no form of transportation and she wasn’t exactly in good shape to hail a cab. That’s when her eyes fell upon a black car parked near the curb. The windows were tinted so dark she couldn’t see inside, but for some reason beyond her understanding, she was drawn to it. Holding the ledger in one hand and her weapon firmly in the other, Veronica started across the street toward the vehicle. She heard the basement door slam shut and she knew Zane wasn’t far behind her.
She was nearly there when a car came screeching around the corner. It stopped right in front of her and Veronica had her gun raised, ready to fire before she recognized the driver.
“Get in!” Quinn demanded. “Now!”
Veronica grabbed the door handle and slipped inside the car just as the back window shattered with the impact from Zane’s bullet. He fired off three more shots, but Quinn had gunned the vehicle, speeding off and away from the danger.
It was several miles before Veronica could relax. She was clutching the book with all her might while hugging the passenger side door. She was tossed from side to side occasionally as Quinn took a curve too fast, but she was completely okay with that. As long as she was as far away from that hellhole as he could get h
er. Veronica had about a thousand questions running through her mind, but she couldn’t form any coherent thoughts at the moment. Her body was still pumped up on adrenaline and all that excitement was just pumping what precious little blood she had left in her body right out of it. She was crashing fast. All she could think was how the danger was behind her and she could relax.
But even as she started to slump against the passenger side window, her brain was screaming: Are you sure the danger’s gone or did you just get in the car with it?
∞∞∞
It felt amazing. Well, being unconscious did anyway. Coming back around—eh, not so much. Veronica felt the scream forming in her lungs as she came to, drawing in a deep breath to expel the hurt. Before she could release the sound, a large hand descended roughly over her lips, pushing her back down and stifling the noise.
“Shhh! You’ll wake the neighbors,” Quinn’s deep voice rumbled, vibrating through her chest as he pressed himself into her.
Veronica couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was suffocating under the weight of Quinn and his efforts. She struggled to push him off, but her arms were restrained. She could feel the cold metal of his handcuffs around her wrists and she panicked. The more she resisted him, the harder he pushed his body onto hers.
“Calm down, Veronica!” he ordered harshly. “I’m trying to help you, damn it!”
She considered his words. Or that’s what she told herself anyway. In reality, she was growing so weak she couldn’t fight him if she wanted to.
“If you’re not still, you’re going to bleed to death.”
Finally she stopped. Her body went lax, sinking into the soft mattress beneath her. If she wasn’t in such a perilous situation, it might have actually felt incredible. But she had two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle sitting on her and her arm was on fire. Not to mention her side hurting from all the stitches he had undoubtedly, although unknowingly, pulled loose.
“Stop!” she whispered hoarsely as soon as his fingers were lifted.