by Carmen Faye
The doors opened, and one by one the men with me stepped into another empty hallway. The man keeping me at bay with his gun exited last and motioned for me to follow. I followed and quickly realized this floor could only be reached via the elevator. There were no other doors except at the opposite end of the hall, one lonesome office without a window or name on the door.
It felt as though seconds were hours and each step brought us no closer to the nameless door that was miles away. Then with equal suddenness, the door loomed over me, a hundred feet tall.
The driver knocked, and entered. The rest of us followed him in. It was an empty conference room; no one was there but us. I was shoved into a seat, and the man with the gun sat beside me. The two men from the backseat of my ride over sat on the opposite side of the table. The driver remained standing, opposite the head of the conference table.
After a few minutes, one of the men from the backseat checked his watch and sighed heavily with annoyance.
“He’s late,” he declared.
“What’s your point?” the driver said, clearly unamused by the team he had been working with in my abduction.
“So, we took a risk for this guy and endured injury and now he is late,” the man from the backseat continued. “For our troubles and time. We need to be more fairly compensated than originally discussed. I think we need to renegotiate our arrangement before we turn over the girl.”
I tried not to flinch visibly. I didn’t know who I was being turned over to, but surely it would be better than left to the whims of these men. The driver and the one guarding me seemed like they only intended to do what was required, but the two from the backseat seemed torn between having their way with me or selling me to the highest bidder in whatever condition they would take me.
“My instructions were to retrieve this girl and bring her back, unharmed,” said the driver. “You have been nothing but a hindrance to achieving this goal – you and your partner. I have been sorely tempted to remedy this problem all day. You and your pal be silent and collect what you got coming, and then we part ways. Another word before that and I put a bullet in both of you.”
“You wouldn’t do that to us,” the other backseat man who had put his hand on my thigh earlier snarled.
“I would without hesitation,” the driver replied, sitting and propping his feet on the table. “You two were only brought in case Tarek had somebody in wait to get the jump on us. At this point, you are expendable unless you prove worthy for future work. I can guarantee the latter won’t be happening.
This time, the two men from the backseat tried not to reveal their uneasiness. They passed a few looks between them and sat back silently although the handsier of the two kept eying me angrily.
Seconds later, the room fell even more silent as we all heard the sound of someone reaching the conference room door. As the knob began to turn, the driver and passenger seated near me both stood. Following their example, the men from the backseat who had been complaining stood as well, though they looked confused and resentful about the gesture.
When the door finally opened, Perry Hamilton stepped in and greeted the room.
“Hello, gentlemen,” he said, applying the term loosely as he took his seat.
“Hello, sir,” the men replied in staggered voices, echoing each other.
He lifted his hands and lowered them again, giving them permission to be seated. Then he turned his attention to me.
“Hello, Ms. Beckwith,” he said, smiling. “Do you mind if I call you Analise? It’s such a beautiful name. It suits you far better than ‘Annie’ and I want us to feel comfortable speaking with each other.”
“I suppose,” I replied, unsure what to make of the seemingly nice, middle-aged man before me. “Just, please, don’t hurt me, Mr. Hamilton.”
He laughed heartily.
“Hurt you?” he said, letting his laughter die down to an occasional chuckle. “First, call me Perry. Second, I would never dream of hurting anyone, particularly a young lady like yourself. These gentlemen were given strict instructions not to lay a finger on you, and they shall be dealt with accordingly. I simply want to talk to you. I believe we could be mutually helpful to each other.”
He glared at the men at the table with us, but let his furious expression linger on the two men who had swollen knuckles that complemented my own injuries. They shifted in their seats and a look of understandable fear washed over them. When they began to utter their apologies and explanation he held up a hand, and they immediately fell silent.
“Where are the others?” Perry asked the driver.
“The second car should be here soon with their guest,” the driver replied.
“Excellent,” Perry replied. “Analise, it seems you have already been more than helpful. I love when people are cooperative, and business can be conducted smoothly.”
***
Tarek
“Annie,” I called, finally exiting the office. “I have a few ideas about your boss, and I want to ask you a couple of things. It’s nothing major. I just want to talk to you about any health concerns you may have noticed in recent months or maybe a lack there of if there used to be anything.”
I had taken the file from Ali’s office and was planning to compare the dates in key points in the research with dates in Ali’s calendar. I had been looking at them as I came out of the office and made my way fully into the living room without looking up. When I did, I did not see Annie watching the window where I had left her. I didn’t see her there or in the kitchen and dining area.
“Annie?” I called hesitantly. “Annie!”
I yelled her name a few times now and placed the file I had taken on the kitchen counter. I began to move around the apartment quickly, checking the bathroom and bedrooms. She was nowhere to be found.
“Annie!” I yelled one last time as I barreled my fist into a wall, leaving a sizeable hole in the sheetrock.
My hand was a little sore but uninjured overall. I grabbed a towel and let a few ice cubes fall into it from the automatic icemaker on the outside of the refrigerator door. I pressed it to my hand to prevent swelling. I stood in the kitchen looking at the main rooms of the apartment, stunned.
“She left,” I said aloud, feeling somewhat disappointed. “I can’t believe she left.”
I couldn’t explain why I was disappointed. I was even angry. More than that, I was worried. If Annie had been seen leaving the apartment, she might have been followed, taken, or worse. Perry Hamilton wasn’t so good with women, and his men were that much worse.
Still, despite her nervous and questioning manner, she had held her own with me when times were tough. If she thought she was better off on her own, maybe she was. Maybe this settled my problem about where things stood between us. If there had been anything, this clearly meant, either way, it was over.
I searched Ali’s apartment for a book bag or duffle to carry the file less obviously, but all I could find was a variety of luggage and a few briefcases he didn’t use anymore. I opted for one of his less formal briefcases. I placed the file on Man 1 and a few photos and other items I had printed inside. Then, I took one last sweep of the apartment, making sure there was nothing left from Annie or myself.
I returned to the window one last time. The streets were busier than they had been, but nothing looked out of place.
With a deep breath, I crossed the room, grabbing the briefcase on the way. When I reached the door, I checked the peephole and did not see anyone in the hallway. Under the circumstances, I still made my way out and to the elevator carefully.
I felt more relaxed as I made my way to the ground floor without a hitch and then all the way to the rear service exit. The feeling didn’t last long.
As I pushed the door open and stepped into the steamy city air, a punch landed the right side of my jaw. It was enough to send my head sliding to the left and spit flying. I had been caught off guard, ambushed by four guys. They were taking turns giving me solid blows to the face and gut, pas
sing me around and holding me by the arms.
I began to feel the warm, thick penny like taste of blood in my mouth where a tooth had loosened and I bit the side of my tongue. I felt my muscles tightening to defend themselves from the beating. It all gave me an adrenaline rush, a desire to fight.
I managed to turn my shoulder into a punch that was intended for my face causing that particular attacker to creel his hand back quickly. When he came in for a second attempt, I jerked, pulling the man from my right into the punch, so he only had the option to keep his grip on me and take the hit or let me go to spare himself.
He let go.
I immediately formed my free hand into a fist and swung it into the man holding me from the left. He stumbled back but remained standing. The fourth man, who had been waiting to take the place of the man initially hitting me, cracked me over the head with a broken lamp that had been in the trash.
I felt blood immediately begin to run down my forehead. The spot began to beat and pulse like a snare drum resounding in my head. I stumbled feeling the loudness of the swat internally. I hadn’t expected that move, but I should have.
I was too wrapped up in my head and fighting with myself as much as the men around me. I felt like the world was more than against me; it wanted to see me gone. Maybe Ali was against me. Maybe Annie tricked me. Maybe these men were here to kill me. Maybe my life was meant to just have life itself beat me down again and again, and maybe it was time to just let it.
I continued to swing, but the warm fluid was quickly making its way to my eye, mixing with sweat and blurring my vision. I landed a few lucky shots, but it was hard to see or hear well to make significant damage on anything anymore.
I felt myself make a solid connection on a face and reach ahead of me to find his shirt. By chance I grasped well enough to tighten my grip to control his collar. I continued to punch. Again. Again.
I felt the others attacking from my sides and back. My body felt like one broken mass, but I continued. If I was going down, I wasn’t going down without taking someone with me.
I felt a barrage of fists working my body over, as my world became shades of red and black. Soon, I saw nothing at all. There was no sound. There was no light or color or even darkness. There was nothing.
Chapter 13
Annie
“Annie?” I heard Graham’s voice say, coming down the hall to our conference room.
His steps were loud and fast paced. I could imagine him already, probably red and blustery when we are short staffed for an event.
“What have they done to you? What have you done to her?” he asked as soon as he burst into the room.
There was the slightest second of relief before sheer anger and concern. He crossed the few steps to the table and took my chin lightly in his hands, tilting my head this way and that. He winced and sucked his teeth as if imagining the pain.
“She struggled,” said the man beside me, who had tempered me at gunpoint before.
“Yeah, bitch put up a good fight,” called one of the backseat attackers from the opposite side of the table. “I think I may even have a hoof print somewhere from here kicking.”
“We only hit her once or twice once it was necessary,” the other agreed.
They had deserved what little damage I managed to inflict and more. The man beside me looked at the driver who was glaring at the more vocal of his companions to be silent.
“Well, I’m sure you will be dealt with. Correct, Mr. Hamilton?” Graham asked, turning his attention to Perry Hamilton, who was watching his display with evident amusement.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I expect my instructions to be followed. This is not what I asked.”
“Thank you,” Graham said, giving a nod of thanks to Hamilton. “Analise, let’s get out of here.”
“The girl will be remaining with me, but thank you for bringing her abduction by that motorcycle thug to my attention,” Hamilton said, keeping me frozen in place with an eerie smile. “I have enjoyed our conversation thus far, and she has been more helpful than anyone I have put on this matter. Thanks to her, I will soon have the only bargaining chip that matters to Ali Poole. Tarek is expected to arrive any time now. I can sit back, relax, and wait. Annie is going to be a doll and keep me company.”
I looked at Graham, hoping that the smiles and friendship I thought I had seen between the two didn’t actually guise a degree of power struggle or servitude. I was wrong.
Graham began to plead and argue on my behalf, “But, Mr. Hamilton. A few days ago, she was nothing to you. You probably wouldn’t have even recognized her from the events she had worked for me that you attended.”
“That has nothing to do with it now. The present is more important than the past. The only thing more important than the present is the future,” Hamilton said, gesturing to the room as if giving us all a lesson. “Whatever she was or did in the past means nothing to me. At present, she is valuable. In the future, she still has undetermined potential.”
Graham paused, looking perplexed. The men across the table seemed to be enjoying the scene, but the driver and front passenger simply looked ready to leave now that their job was complete.
“Mr. Hamilton, I believe it is best that Annie returns with me and be allowed to recover and put this entire incident out of her mind,” Graham said, taking a deep breath and planting his feet in the authoritative stance he often took when addressing the staff. “The point was for you to help me get Annie back, and you could have Tarek. He is already on the way. Once you have Tarek, you will have access to all you need to get to Ali. I have done everything you have ever asked me to. I’m asking one thing. Please, leave Annie to me.”
At this point, he looked at me, and he had the same look in his eye as when he revealed his feelings for me. He looked as he had when his heart bordered on breaking, holding a tiny glimmer of hope.
Perry Hamilton merely looked amused.
The room was silent, expectant. We all looked to Hamilton for his answer and what was to happen next. He looked to Graham; his expression was the ultimate poker face, truly unreadable.
“Fine,” he replied, after some time. “Ms. Beckwith is released to your care.”
He rocked back in his chair and swiveled it from side to side. It was hard to tell whether he took the matter seriously at all.
Graham seemed to know better than to wait for him to change his mind, change his generous mood.
He placed a hand on the back of my chair, encouraging me to leave. He helped me slide it back and held it as I stood to leave. I wasn’t sure whether I was expected to say anything to Mr. Hamilton, but I thought it was better not to risk any comment at all. Instead, I silently made my way to the door with Graham right behind me. He stayed close, and on my heels. He subtly forced me to a quick pace.
I reached the door and placed a hand on the knob. I was relieved to have made it so far without any further problems.
Once I opened the door, Hamilton called to us.
“I may want to speak with you again, Analise,” he said, stopping me in my tracks. “You have spent more time with the closest person to Ali Poole that anyone. I also know that you work and save, because you would like to have enough money to travel someday. I think we could become great friends if we got to know each other, form a very symbiotic relationship. Tarek is not known for picking up strays. Ali is a private man, and you have been inside several of his homes. I would much rather pick your brain over a nice meal than beat information out of some outlaw savage.”
I felt no safer than the moment the first blast went off at the gala beginning this whole fiasco. Perry Hamilton was powerful and bloodthirsty for more. It seemed he had a matching taste for women, but I imagined even if he was given one he would take the other. I may be walking out of his office now, but if he wanted me, he would have me.
Tarek was right.
I began to breathe in very shallow pants, soft and quick. I felt lightheaded. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt the eyes of th
e men at the table, relishing in my fear and tension.
I felt Graham’s hand on the small of my back.
“Let’s go, Annie,” he said, giving me a small nudge.
We made our way out the door, and he closed it behind him. We walked hurriedly to the elevator. I stopped reflexively, but my mind was abuzz. My thoughts were whirling. I was worried about Tarek. I wondered if Hamilton would send for me, or go after Graham for standing up to him. I was afraid of the idea of who Ali was and what cards he was holding in all of this.
Graham pressed the down button, and the doors opened. He had been the last to use the elevator between its two destinations. As we stepped inside, he exhaled loud and deep.
“I have never stood up to him,” he said, moving about with a little excitement. “It felt good. I don’t think I could do it again, but I had to.”