Boosted (In The Fast Lane)

by Arya Cole

  “Sergei! You in there?” Shouting wasn’t likely to be much more effective. Better than just turning around and leaving though. “Come on, I just want to talk. I’m sure we can work this out.”

  He pounded on the door again, more out of frustration than any hope that it would be effective. “At least have the decency not to stab me in the back here.”

  Son of a bitch. He wondered how hard it would be to break the door down. He tested it with his shoulder. It seemed solid but had a little bit of give. Why not. He put his hand on the doorknob only to be shocked to find that it turned. The fucking place was unlocked. This seemed like the most unlikely thing to happen all week. Sergei and his boys never would have left the door unlocked like that, not even right after a shipment. Somebody had to be inside. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  It was completely dark inside. Unsurprisingly this illegal, secret garage didn’t feature any windows as part of its amenities. Brody had no idea where the light switch might be located. He felt around on the walls but had no luck. He went back to the car and got a flashlight out of the trunk. He went back inside and lit his way with the thin beam. Everything seemed as normal. The only difference was that there wasn’t the usual collection of cars. He continued to move through toward Sergei’s desk. Maybe he had mistakenly left something in there.

  It was then that Brody saw the pair of legs on the floor. They were on the other side of the desk and they weren’t moving. Holy shit. Brody stepped closer and closer until he reached the corner of the desk. What he saw beyond it horrified him. A pile of bodies lay stacked haphazardly on top of each other. The legs belonged to Sergei, shot through the head after enduring what looked like a severe beating. On the pile with him was Sergei’s goon, who normally guarded the outside of the garage, the painter, the mechanic, and a dock worker. The last was an unlucky bastard who was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  They all showed signs of torture: deep bruises, cuts both small and large, broken fingers. It had not been a quick death for any of them. They had begun to bloat and had probably been there since the night before. Brody felt sick to his stomach. It had been a long time since he’d seen a dead body and never anything as gruesome as this. This could only have been done by one person: the colonel.

  He hadn’t followed him. Brody was sure of that. Even when he thought he was in the clear he kept his eye on the rearview mirror to make sure no one was on his tail. The car must have had a tracking chip of some kind. Of course it did. No one that attached to their most prized possession would be without one. They usually checked for that kind of thing as part of the routine at the garage. They must not have done it quickly enough. A fatal mistake as it turned out. It had probably happened just after the shipment left too. Maybe if the car was still there things could have gone down a little differently.

  Brody’s thoughts now turned to his own fate. What had Sergei told them? Brody couldn’t assume that he had held out. He had to play things as if the colonel knew everything that Sergei did. That meant that he couldn’t go home. He should go ahead and throw his phone into the harbor. He must assume that they knew what he looked like, knew what kind of car he drove, and knew the places where he spent most of his time. He had probably placed himself in danger by even coming to the garage.

  He ran out of the garage and back to the car. He had already turned on the engine when he remembered something. He got out of the car and wiped off the doorknob to the garage. Best not to have the police looking for him too.

  EIGHTEEN

  The Decision

  Hannah had enjoyed her morning with Brody. It was the first time that they had felt like a real couple. She was disappointed in him when he left. She thought, falsely it turned out, that when he appeared the night before he was all done with his previous life. It appeared that this was not quite the case. Perhaps it never would be. Maybe the idea of Brody someday getting out of the thieving “profession” was nothing but a pipedream. She would only have him for a few fleeting hours at a time. Was enduring the separation really better than nothing?

  She spent most of that afternoon thinking about him. It wasn’t the near-obsessive thinking that she had done the week prior. It was a measured debate between the side of her brain that wanted to hang onto Brody and the side of her brain that told her that the whole thing would was doomed to failure. As hard as she tried she couldn’t get the two to reconcile. No decision miraculously appeared before her.

  Eventually she decided to go out and get some air. She took her books with her and did a little midday studying at the coffee shop. Ironically enough today’s chapter had to do with individual property rights. She managed to concentrate for an hour and felt fairly well prepared for class the next day when she was finished. She picked up a few groceries from the market and made her way home.

  When she arrived back at her apartment she found that she wasn’t alone. Waiting for her was a group of strange Middle Eastern men. As soon as she opened her door one of them grabbed her and pulled her inside.

  “Please do not scream,” one of them said. He was older and better dressed than the others. Hannah assumed that he was their leader. She was too shocked to scream anyway. The man had grabbed her sat her down so that she was facing the leader. Who were these people?

  “I am looking for a man,” the leader said. “I believe he is an acquaintance of yours.”

  “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But she knew exactly who he was talking about. Brody.

  Her face must have betrayed this thought as the leader pressed on. “Come now,” he said. “This man, Brody. We know that you have seen him. We want to know where he is now.”

  “I don’t know.” This time she was telling the truth. She never knew where Brody was when he left.

  “Call him,” the leader ordered. “Call him and tell him to come here.”

  Hannah’s eyes were beginning to well up with tears. She shook her head.

  “We are not going to hurt him. We would only like to have a discussion about some misplaced property of mine.”

  Hannah didn’t believe him. It didn’t seem like he expected her to believe him anyway.

  “You must believe that we will find him on our own. It is better for everyone if you call.”

  Still, she silently refused. The leader nodded to one of his men. The thug grabbed hold of her purse and emptied it out. He picked up her phone and searched through the contacts.

  “No!” Hannah tried to get up but she was forcibly pushed back down.

  “It would not be wise to do that again,” the leader warned.

  She heard the faint sound of a dial tone. The goon put her phone to his ear. “No answer,” he finally said.

  “Doesn’t pick up your calls. What kind of boyfriend is that?” The thugs laughed along with their leader. It was a threatening, lascivious chorus of laughter that sent a chill through Hannah’s being. She had no idea what they planned to do with her.

  “I don’t know what he did. But I swear, I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know where he lives.”

  The leader looked around the room. “Do we believe her?” Another laugh. “I don’t know if we believe her.”

  Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon. She could feel them staring at her, all four of them. They looked like the type of men who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her. Or worse.

  “You will come with us.”

  “No!” She shouted without realizing it. She knew if she went with them there may never be any coming back.

  “You will. And he will come looking for you. But he will not find you. We have a secret place where we handle the people who do wrong to us.”

  “But I haven’t--”

  “Sometimes we pay for crimes that are not our own,” he said as if he were suddenly some kind of philosopher. “We must be leaving now.”

  The leader stood up. A thug grabbed her on each arm and yanked
her roughly up out of her chair. They dragged her over to the door. The third goon opened the door for the leader. But when the leader took a step out of the door he stopped immediately. He took a step back into the room. As he backed up, a pistol crossed the door frame followed by the arm that held the pistol. The leader backed up further. Then Hannah lost her breath. Brody walked through the door.

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Brody said. “You’re looking for me, huh? Well I’m looking for you too.”

  “You took something that belonged to me.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I want it back.”

  “And I’d like to give it back. Unfortunately, that ain’t gonna happen.”

  “Give it back and I will show mercy.”

  “I can’t do that. I don’t know what our friends in the garage told you last night but your car is probably floating in the middle of the fucking Pacific right now.”

  “Then call the ship back,” the leader said, practically spitting out his words.

  “Look, chief. That’s not my department. There was one guy who could have helped you with that and you put a bullet through his brain.”

  “Get it back!” The leader’s voice was filled with impotent fury now. He was like a petulant child demanding one of his favorite toys that sat upon a shelf far out of his reach.

  “Not gonna happen,” Brody said simply. The gun in his hand never wavered.

  “I demand justice!”

  “Something more than an apology, I suppose.”

  “You took my prized possession. Now I take yours.” It took Hannah a second to realize that he was referring to her.

  “She’s not my possession,” Brody said. “And she’s not leaving this apartment.”

  “I supposed you’re going to stop us? There are four of us and one of you.”

  Brody smiled at him. “Yeah. But I’m guessing if I blow you away these other three aren’t going to care too much about what happened to your car.”

  “My men are loyal. They will avenge my death.”

  “You really want to find out how loyal they are?”

  The leader faltered then. Perhaps it was beginning to dawn on him that the only one in the room who was certain to die was himself. He decided to change tack. “This will not be the end.”

  “Yes it will,” Brody said. “I have a proposal for you. We leave here together. Me, you, and your three boys there. You leave her alone. Forever. She had nothing to do with any of this. You can do whatever you want to me.”

  This was too much for Hannah to bear. “Brody!” She didn’t want to believe his words. She wasn’t thankful that he was saving her. She was devastated that he was about to leave her once again. Forever this time. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself like this. “Don’t do it.”

  “It’s the only way. He’ll come after me for as long as one of use is still breathing.”

  “That’s right,” the leader confirmed.

  “And if I kill him now his boys might prove to be loyal after all. Besides, at that point the police would have to be involved. And nobody wants that.”

  “We don’t like the police.” Hannah was beginning to think that Brody and this man might have gotten along quite well had they met under different circumstances. They held themselves with a similar level of professionalism. They shared a belief in whatever unspoken code existed among people whose lives were lived on this side of the law. It was only by a twist of fate that they found themselves enemies.

  “So how about it, colonel?”

  “You can never replace what you have taken from me.”

  “This is the only offer on the table. It’s me or a bullet. And even if your guys get me on the back end, if you do something to her I won’t be able to live anyway.”

  Hannah felt tears welling up in her eyes. She stared at Brody, studying his face. She tried to record every detail. After this moment she may never see it again. She didn’t even have a photograph to remember him by. She would never again be able to feel his touch, never again kiss him, never again wake up in his arms. She knew that he had come here with the intention of sacrificing himself for her. He could have left town. He could have disappeared anywhere he liked when he sense that there was trouble. But he had come here to save her instead. She now knew how much she meant to him. And it only made her heart ache more.

  “You are in love,” the colonel said. “It is clouding your judgment.”

  “No,” Brody snapped. “I’m seeing clearly for the first time. What’s it gonna be?”

  “I agree to your terms. You will come with us. The girl stays.”

  Hannah almost fainted. She lost all feeling in her legs. If the thugs hadn’t have been holding her up she would have dropped down to the floor. She was openly weeping now.

  “I’m sorry, Hannah.”

  “Let her go,” the colonel said. Hannah sank to her knees as the tears flowed freely down her face.

  “Okay,” Brody said. “Here’s how it’s all going to happen. The colonel and I walk through the door first. Then the other three. Hannah.” He waited for her to acknowledge him. “Hannah, as soon as they leave you lock the door and you call the police.”

  “Wait a moment,” the colonel said.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll hustle out before they arrive. I just want to make sure she has protection.”

  “You won’t take me on my word?”

  “No offense, colonel, but I don’t think either of us know each other well enough to be taking each other on our word.”

  “She must promise not to say anything about us.”

  “That’s up to her. You put a pretty unnecessary scare into her.” Brody opened the door. “Let’s go.”

  One by one they filed out of the room with Brody and the colonel exiting last. As the door closed, Hannah felt as if her life was ending.

  NINETEEN

  A Desert Ride

  Once they had all gone into the hall Brody concealed the gun. They went downstairs and out to where the colonel’s car was parked. It was a similar town car but unless they had some emergency repairs done it could not have been the one that chased him the day before. The colonel and his men turned toward him.

  “You will ride in the trunk,” the colonel said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You will see soon enough.”

  One of his men popped the trunk open. Brody began to step in.

  “The gun please,” the colonel said, holding out his hand.

  Brody gave it up, though he was slightly reluctant to do so. He eventually reasoned that there was little danger that the colonel would just shoot him on the street. The colonel took the gun and immediately handed it to one of his underlings. It was as if it was beneath his dignity to hold it.

  As Brody sank into the trunk, the colonel gave him some parting words. “Watch your head, lay down flat, and pray to whatever god you worship.” The lid of the trunk then closed, leaving Brody in darkness.

  They drove for nearly an hour. The confines of the trunk grew hotter and hotter as the progressed. Brody guessed that they were headed out into the desert, possibly to the same place where he had followed them earlier that week. He could hear their muffled voices faintly over the roar of the muffler that sat only inches below him. He had soon sweat through his clothes completely. Every bump in the road shook him violently in the tight confines of the trunk. The air quickly became stale.

  Besides the physical toll it was taking on him, Brody was feeling surprisingly at peace with his decision. He did not spend the trip dwelling on his own mortality. He was instead thinking about Hannah and the opportunities that this gave her. Her future was assured. She could now go on to accomplish great things. Brody was sure that she would. She was so smart. So beautiful. He told himself that he would have only held her back. They could have found a form of happiness together. But without him Hannah could achieve greater heights. For him it was enough that he could help her in this way.

  Brody also con
sidered the life he had lived up until that moment. No one had given him much of a chance when he was a kid. He’d been smart enough but school never really clicked for him. He had a similar experience with organized sports. He could never figure out how to put his athleticism to good use. He was better at working with his hands. He didn’t have many friendships when he was growing up and those that he did have were fleeting at best. His good looks and air of mystery somewhat helped him with the girl. There were no solid, long-term relationships though.

  The only time he ever felt truly comfortable in his own skin was behind the wheel of a car. The fact that it was an illicit ride only made it feel more right. It was what he felt like he had been born to do. His life hadn’t made sense until that moment.

  Brody had actually lost his virginity in a stolen car. It was with a girl he knew from school. Lucinda was her name. She was a year older than him and half Mexican. He could still picture the way her dark hair framed her gorgeous face. She was short but carried herself as if she was the tallest person in the room. She was full of confidence and liveliness that never seemed to be shaken. She dressed in provocative fashion but was notoriously difficult to bed, earning her the title of “tease” by most of the boys in school. She wore her hair in a short bob cut and her piercing green eyes put love and fear in any boy who she decided to lay eyes on.

  She had taken a liking to Brody during that school year and frequently winked at him when they passed by each other in the hall. He had no idea why he stood out to her instead of the football players and rich kids who seemed like much more attractive targets. Maybe it was her way of mocking him, showing him what he could never have. He looked out to see if she ever did it to anyone else. If she did, he never saw her doing it.

  That summer he took up his old hobby and future profession. He learned how to pick locks and hotwire engines. He didn’t have any particular plans when he’d take the cars. He would often simply return them to the place where he had found them after a few hours of joyriding. One night he found a beautiful specimen, a brand new Porsche left right out on the street. It almost seemed like it must have been a trap. Brody decided to live dangerously. He popped the lock, started up the car, and took off into the night.