All looked like they belonged there. Baskets of food in front of them. Beers grasped in their hands.
“From where I sit, the most out of place in the room is you,” Drake said.
Didn’t bother to look over at Ava. Could feel her glare on him.
Drake again checked the time.
“How long do we give him before we give up?”
“What time is it?”
“Ten to eleven.”
“Ten minutes,” Ava said. “But who says we have to give up?”
Slowly Drake slid his gaze from the room back to Ava.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning we know where he’s most likely to be.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Two and a half minutes.
Even faster than originally anticipated.
The back door to the store being unlocked helped tremendously.
Jenks body weighing virtually nothing helped a lot too.
Hector lifted him from the ground. Carried his body to the basketball goal with minimal effort.
There was enough anger and adrenaline in his system to carry a horse one handed. The only concern at this point was keeping it under wraps until he found what it was really aimed at.
Once Jenks was in position, Raquel looped the noose around his neck. Cinched it tight.
Hector pulled him up from the floor. Tied the rope off. Positioned a toppled chair beneath his feet.
Checked to make sure the rope had sufficiently bitten into the soft skin of his neck.
Once everything was in place, they melted from the store.
Considered checking to make sure there was no video record of their presence. Decided against it, erring on the side of speed.
Once outside, they hopped in their car. Remained behind the building. Pulled down to the far end of the store.
Reversed into a cubby between a dumpster and a stack of pallets. Space so narrow neither could open their door.
Cut the lights. Turned off the engine.
Settled in to wait.
“Are you sure about this?” Raquel asked. Kept her eyes straight ahead.
“Yes.” Even voice. Not even the slightest hesitation.
“How do you know?”
“He knows we’re angry. Knows how he’s treated us. Knows that having us on the sidelines will be the only way he sleeps well at night.”
Raquel nodded.
“And he thinks setting us up is the only way to put us on the sidelines?”
“Either that or try to send somebody after us,” Hector said. Turned. Smiled wickedly. “And nobody’s that stupid.”
Raquel matched the smile.
“Nobody.”
Silence fell in the car.
Neither one noticed the cold as it settled in around them. Both were still chock full of adrenaline from the Jenks hit.
Both ignored the carnal longings that surged them.
Side by side they stared into the darkness as nothing happened. Waited fifteen minutes.
Half an hour.
With each passing minute, Hector became a little more unsettled. A little more in disbelief.
“If nothing shows up by an hour we can go,” he finally said.
Raquel didn’t have the chance to respond.
At that moment, a pair of headlights rolled into the parking lot. Circled around to the back of the building. Pulled to a stop outside the red rear door.
Not the square, low-slung lights of a police cruiser.
The oversized, high-set lights of a pickup truck.
From it climbed two people. Even in the dim light of the night, it was easy to make them out.
The young couple from Galt’s house.
Neither one so much as glanced towards Raquel and Hector as they walked around the truck. Went inside.
Inside the rental, both watched in silence.
Raquel reached up and started the engine. Rolled it forward just far enough to open their doors.
Left the lights off the entire time.
Together they climbed out. Merged into the shadows. Made their way down towards the rear door.
Said nothing.
Chapter Forty-Six
Ajax despised the plan.
Kade liked it even less.
Drake reasoned with them that it would be alright. They were just going to swing by Bargain Mart.
Odds were he wasn’t even there. They would probably make a drive by. Drop Ava off. Be home well before midnight.
If Jenks was still there, they would pop in to say hi. See what it was that seemed so damned urgent a few hours before.
Still probably be home by midnight.
Both Ajax and Kade asked a half-dozen times if he wanted them to follow. Reasoned that people from Bargain Mart’s past were disappearing all over town.
Drake told them not to worry about it. Those people were former employees. Represented a financial windfall for the company.
Joked that neither he nor Ava were worth a nickel to Bargain Mart.
Didn’t elicit the laughter he was hoping for.
After ten minutes of back-and-forth, Drake won them over with a basket of wings and the promise to call if anything was up.
They weren’t pleased with the arrangement. Agreed to it anyway.
Together Drake and Ava left for Bargain Mart. Silence filled the car. The smell of Desperado’s was a close second.
The drive took less than ten minutes. The entire way Drake ran through the list of what they might encounter at Bargain Mart.
Knew that they might be walking into an ugly situation. Prayed he wasn’t putting Ava in harm’s way for the second time in as many months.
Did his best to conceal it all behind a poker face.
Despite knowing Jenks had called earlier wanting to talk, Drake couldn’t shake the feeling something was awry. The man had sounded desperate. Scared even.
The source of his anxiety could be any of a hundred different things.
None of them were good.
Drake pulled into the Bargain Mart parking lot. Most of the overhead lights were already out. The storefront sign was dark for the night.
“Looks like he’s here,” Drake said. Motioned towards the aging Honda parked along the back row.
A light film of frost had already formed on the windows. It clearly hadn’t moved in quite some time.
Ava grunted in acknowledgment. Said nothing.
Drake considered pulling into the parking stall beside Jenks. Instead pulled up parallel to the rear door. Shut the engine down just a few feet from the rear entrance.
“We go in piss-and-venom or just act naturally?” Drake asked.
Ava eyed the door. “I’ll let you know when we get inside.”
“Sounds good,” Drake said.
Even as he stepped from the truck, he couldn’t shake the uneasiness in his mind. Couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched.
Pushed the thoughts aside. Circled around the front of his truck. Followed Ava through the back door.
Walked right into her as she stood rooted in place just two feet inside.
“Whoa, what the heck?” Drake asked. Backed away from her.
Ava didn’t even notice he’d bumped into her. Stood rooted in place. Eyes straight ahead. Mouth half agape.
Drake looked at her for a moment. Raised his eyes to see what had her spooked.
Not fifteen feet away was Jenks.
Or, more aptly, the body of Jenks.
Drake’s own mouth fell open. His gaze took in the entire scene. From the rope tied tight to the base of a shelf, to the straight line it made it the rim, to the noose that hung down beneath it.
To the grotesque angle of Jenks’ neck.
The way his body rotated ever-so-slightly as it hung suspended. The way the few remaining parking lot lights silhouetted his body in the aisle.
Three fast blinks and Drake regained a state of consciousness. Stepped forward. Put his hands on Ava’s shoulders. Steered her off to the
side.
Out of sight from Jenks’ body.
She made no effort to fight him. Pushed her hands down into the pockets of her pea coat. Shivered uncontrollably.
Did not cry.
Did not even make a sound.
Drake pushed his hand down into his pocket. Pulled out his phone.
His first thought was to call 911. Report an apparent suicide at Bargain mart.
The self-preservation side of him overrode it. Told him to call Kade and Ajax.
Knew they would get there much faster than the police.
Drake thumbed down in his call log. Started to dial Kade’s number.
Was cut off by a voice behind him.
“Turn the phone off and drop it to the floor.”
Woman’s voice. Accented. Eastern European maybe. Commanding tone.
The sound of a gun cocking.
“Now.”
Man’s voice. Accented. Latin sounding. Equally commanding tone.
“Damn am I sorry Ava,” Drake whispered.
The phone fell to the floor with a clatter.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Raquel kept her gun leveled on the pair.
To their credit, neither one said a word. Tried to bargain. Clung to the belief they could talk their way out.
That was the normal route. Victims that would barrage them with an inane stream of yammer. Keep talking until Raquel wanted to shoot them silent.
Clearly this was not these two’s first brush with death.
Hector disappeared into the aisles of the store.
Together they had spent a half hour canvassing the place that afternoon. He knew where to find everything he needed. Made a direct path between the items.
Duct tape. Rope. Utility knife.
Returned to the rear of the store to find Raquel still standing watch, gun trained.
Hector tore the plastic wrap off the duct tape as he walked. Stuffed it into the pocket of his jacket. Strode straight to the young man and pulled his arms behind his back.
The young man’s wrists were wide. Arms thick with muscle.
There was no way he could match Hector in a fight. The disparity in training would be too great. But for the briefest of moments Hector considered challenging him just for fun.
Forced the idea out of his mind. Demanded himself to focus on where his angst was really aimed.
The young man made no attempt to resist as Hector wrapped the tape around his wrists. Spun him around and pressed a five inch strip over his mouth.
Went for the girl. Bound her hands and mouth as well.
Raquel lowered the gun. Tucked it into the waist of her pants. Watched as Hector placed the two of them back to back.
Wrapped several revolutions of rope around them and cinched it tight.
“Walk,” Raquel said.
The young pair both stood rooted in place. Watched her closely.
“Outside. Now.”
The young man led the way. Short, slow, shuffle steps.
The girl backed up behind him. Gait impeded by an enormous walking boot.
These two had definitely been in a scrape or two before.
Hector held the back door of the store open. Waited for them to pass through. Walked over and dropped the tailgate on their truck.
The two shuffled over just short of it. Paused. Seemed uncertain what to do next.
Seemed unwilling to do much more than they already had.
Using the rope as a handle, Hector lifted them both into the air. Dropped them unceremoniously on their side into the truck bed.
Slammed the tailgate shut behind them.
The entire time, neither one made a noise of protest. Not one attempt to escape.
The eyes of both seemed to never stop moving about. Taking in everything. Searching for any angle.
It was futile. There were none.
Hector climbed into the front of the truck. Fired up the engine. Waited for Raquel to retrieve the rental.
Followed her out of the parking lot. Down a side street. On towards the open expanses of land west of town.
Checked the pair in the rearview mirror every few minutes.
Neither had moved an inch.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Every fiber of Drake’s being screamed in protest.
From his arms, pinned tightly behind his back, to his shoulder, still smarting from having his and Ava’s weight dropped on it when loaded into the truck.
His mind, telling him that he had to figure out something to do, to his eyes, searching desperately for any implement in the bed of his truck.
Unfortunately, his clean nature had finally caught up with him.
Every tool, every potential weapon, was locked up in the toolbox extended behind the cab of the truck.
Just a few feet away in actual distance. Miles and miles in accessibility.
Unable to speak, Drake used his fingers. Reached out behind his back. Found Ava’s hands.
Squeezed them tight twice. The implication clear.
Are you alright?
Two firm squeezes in response.
Drake released his grip. Ran through what he knew in his head.
The last thing in the world he wanted to do was stand inert in the store. Let them tie and bind them.
At the same time, he knew without a doubt these were the people responsible for the deaths of Irwin and Carpenter. Of Jenks swinging free in the Sporting Goods section.
Any protest at all would have gotten him shot in the back. After that, who knows what might have happened to Ava.
He’d already gotten her tortured once. Couldn’t bear the idea of putting her through it again.
Instead, he allowed himself to be tied up. Led to the truck. Thrown inside.
Now they were being transported to God knew where.
With each passing moment, the decision to play it passive looked a little more foolish.
Drake twisted his neck to the heavens. Tried to see something, anything, that would give him a clue as to their location.
There was decidedly none. Nothing but inky black, starless sky stared down at them.
The sound of wind rushing over the body of the truck filled his ears. Blotted out any ambient noises. Cars passing. Livestock crying out. Water rushing.
As best Drake could tell, they were headed west. Beyond that, he had no idea.
The seconds slowly ticked by. The bitter cold began to seep in.
Drake again reached out for Ava’s hands. Folded them into balls. Wrapped his own around them.
They felt like ice against his skin. He could feel her body shivering behind him.
There was still nothing he could do.
The ride lasted nearly twenty minutes before the man let off the accelerator. It was the first time the truck had even slowed since leaving Bargain Mart.
Drake made a mental note of where they might be. Still had no idea how far they had actually driven.
The sound of gravel crunched beneath their tires. The truck pulled to a stop. Low squeal from the brakes.
The engine shut off.
The truck door opened and closed. A second door opened and closed off to the side.
Both people were there.
Footsteps circled the truck.
The tailgate dropped open with a thud.
Drake opened his eyes wide. Lowered his chin to stare the length of his body at their abductors.
Still just the two of them. One a woman. Middle-aged. Ski-cap pulled down over her head. No hair visible. Sharp features. Dressed all in black.
The other the man that loaded them in. Larger than the woman. By no means overly muscle-bound. Same ski cap and black attire. Dark features. Brooding stare.
The man reached out. Grasped Drake and Ava each by an ankle. Drug them to the edge of the tailgate until gravity took over.
Their feet dropped to the ground.
Ava’s body faltered as it hit the earth. The rope that bound them bit into Drake as her body fell.
&n
bsp; Keeping her hands tight in his own, he braced himself. Stopped her fall. Felt her lean back into him. Pull herself to a full standing position.
The man and woman watched impassively. Seemed to look at them with complete indifference.
The woman motioned away from the truck with her chin. “Walk.”
This time, Ava led the way. Short, choppy steps. First on gravel, then onto dirt. Bits of sagebrush, clumps of grass underfoot.
Drake allowed her to lead the way. Carefully put one foot back behind the other.
The ground sloped downward as they walked. Drake kept his eyes on the pair as he went. Watched the truck disappear from sight behind them.
Fifteen slow, agonizing minutes passed this way. Each step brought another wave of questions, of anxiety, to Drake.
His palms begin to sweat. He could feel Ava’s hands grow warmer beneath his.
It was impossible to know how far they walked. In their restrained position, movement was glacial.
After awhile, Drake picked up the sound of water. Running lightly over rocks. Flowing, but not cascading.
“That’s far enough,” the woman said.
Ava stopped instantly. Seemed to be panting. Her body began to quiver again.
Drake suspected this time was from fear, not cold.
He swung his eyes around. Could make out a stream bed off to the side. Otherwise, there were no distinguishing features of any kind.
No lights visible in any direction.
The man walked directly up to Drake. Reached out and snatched the duct tape away from his face.
With it came a fair amount of facial stubble.
Drake didn’t make a sound.
“Who are you?” the woman asked.
Drake stared at her. Debated how to answer the question. Decided to omit their names as long as possible.
“We are attorneys. Thomas Jenks asked us to come see him.”
No visible reaction from either one.
“About what?”
“Something about Bargain Mart’s insurance practices. We didn’t get a chance to talk to him.”
“Why were you at Alice Galt’s house yesterday?”
“We’re her attorneys. That’s how we came in contact with Jenks in the first place.”
The two cast another glance at one another. Held it for several long seconds.
The man took the utility knife from his pocket. Extended the blade up so several inches glinted in the moonlight.
Dead Peasants (Zoo Crew series Book 2) Page 19