by Cindy Bell
“Who are they?” Mary whispered as she watched the two men walk towards the gold sedan. With her eyes focused on them, she never noticed the third man that stepped out of the cab, and then headed straight for their car.
The sharp knock of his knuckles on her window made her jump.
“Suzie!” Mary pushed down the lock on her door.
“Too late for that, I’m afraid.” The man smiled. He was short, but quite muscular, and the way he smiled made Mary’s stomach churn.
“Excuse us.” Suzie started to turn the car back on.
The man stepped in front of the car, then pulled a gun from his waistband. As he pointed it at the windshield, he smiled again.
“Time to get out of the car, ladies.”
“Mary, do what he says.” Suzie shot her a look. “We need to be very careful, no one knows we’re here.”
“I’m not sure that I can get out.” Mary shuddered as she reached for the door handle.
“Just take a deep breath. We’ll get out together.” Suzie looked into her eyes. “I’m going to get us out of this, I promise.”
“What’s going on here?” Freddy and the first two men walked towards the car as Suzie and Mary stepped out. “Put your gun away, Lorenzo!” He waved his hand at the short man.
The other two men stood on either side of Freddy. One was tall and thin, while the other was a bit shorter, and much wider.
“There’s been some kind of mix-up.” Suzie frowned as she looked straight at Freddy. “Just a little overreaction, I think.”
“How did you even get here?” Freddy glared at her. “Did you follow me?”
“We just got a little lost.” Suzie shrugged and laughed at the same time. “That’s all. When I saw your car, well, I thought you must know where you’re going, so I started following you. No harm intended.” She held her hands up in the air. “Sorry to interrupt you, we’ll be on our way.”
“You were tailed by two old ladies?” The heavier man chuckled. “Some professional.”
“Sorry Al. I didn’t expect to be followed.” Freddy shifted his attention to the two women, his eyes still narrowed.
“We didn’t mean to follow you.” Suzie smiled again as she grabbed Mary’s hand. “So, our mistake really, we’ll just be on our way.” She steered Mary away from the group of men, back towards her car.
“Stop!” Al’s commanding voice cracked through the air.
Suzie’s grip tightened on Mary’s hand as she froze.
Mary took a sharp breath and looked over at Suzie.
“Leaving so soon, ladies?” Al walked towards them. His cologne wafted through the air ahead of him as he stepped in front of them. “We haven’t even been properly introduced.” He held his hand out to Suzie. “I’m Al. And you are?”
“Not important.” Suzie flashed him a smile. “Just a scatter-brained, old lady, like you said. We can find our own way home, thanks.”
“No, you can’t.” Al turned his hand over and placed it against her shoulder instead. “I’m sorry to tell you this, as I’m sure you’re a perfectly nice person, but you have wandered into the wrong place, at the wrong time, and there will be consequences for that.”
“That’s really unnecessary.” Suzie squirmed in an attempt to get out from under his grasp. In the same moment, cloth draped down over her head. It took her a second to realize it was a hood, and Lorenzo had likely been the one to put it on her. She reached up to pull it off, but her wrists were seized by someone behind her, she guessed it was Lorenzo.
Mary cried out as she witnessed Suzie’s plight, but she didn’t have time to react before the same thing happened to her.
“Please!” Mary tried to pull her hands free. “We didn’t come here to cause any trouble.”
“And yet you did.” Al’s cold voice made its way through the hoods. “But don’t worry, I know exactly how to handle my problems.”
“You’re making a huge mistake. Just let us go, and you will be much better off.” Suzie’s voice wavered as she spoke. “We are very well known, and we will be missed very quickly.”
“Well then, it’s a good thing we’re not sticking around town.” Al chuckled. “Get them in the back of the truck, let’s get moving.”
Mary held her breath as she felt someone grab her by the arm. She fought the urge to pull away, or resist. She didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to take care of Al’s problem right then and there. As her stomach flipped, she wondered where exactly they were being taken. She heard Suzie’s muffled breathing not far behind her.
“Get up there.” The man beside her commanded as he gave her a light push against the tailgate of a vehicle.
A truck? Mary tried to see through the hood, but the material was too thick to even let much light in. Nervously, she tried to raise her leg.
“My knees,” she whispered as pain shot through her knee. “I’m afraid they’re not very good.”
“Great.” The man sighed. Then he hooked his arm around her waist.
Mary gasped as she was hoisted into the back of the truck. She knew it was no simple task for the man as she was not a skinny woman. Again, she thought about struggling, and again she talked herself out of it. Al’s plan was to drive them somewhere. That meant there would still be time for them to escape. But if she drew the wrath of any of her captors before that, there might not be any time left at all. Seconds later she heard the scuffle of Suzie climbing into the truck, along with a few words trying to convince whoever guided her inside to release her. Her words were punctuated by the sound of the truck doors slamming shut.
Mary tried to scoot closer to Suzie, but with her hands bound she found it very difficult to move much at all. Beyond the length of the truck, she heard its large engine roar to life. Wherever they were headed, Al had commanded them to get moving, and they were obeying that command. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried to think of anything positive about the situation. She was still alive. So was Suzie. That meant they still had a chance. She just had to stay focused on that.
Chapter 23
“Mary?” Suzie whispered. She felt the cloth against her lips and wondered how long she would have to wear the hood. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure.” Mary shifted her legs, then gasped as pain bolted through them. “I think we’re still moving.”
Suzie closed her eyes. She didn’t need to. The hood made everything dark. But she still wanted to block out the situation she’d gotten them both into, even more. Why had she followed a man who was most certainly a murderer?
“I’m sorry, Mary. We shouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for me—”
“Stop.” Mary sighed. “It’s not your fault, Suzie. We both wanted to know what he was up to. Neither of us expected this to happen.”
“Maybe, but all I had to do was drive the other way.” Suzie stretched her wrists against the rope tied around them. “Maybe we can find a way out of this once the truck stops.”
“Maybe.” Mary rested her head back against the side of the truck. She could feel the vibrations carry through the metal surface. Yes, they were definitely still moving. But to where? She wanted them to keep driving forever, but she was also aware that every mile they drove away from Garber, was one more mile between them and anyone who might be able to help them.
Suzie’s chest ached with fear as she tried to figure out exactly how they might escape. With their hands tied, and faces covered, they were at the mercy of their captors. “Suzie, we have to see if there’s anything in this truck that can help us. We’re going to need to surprise them if we have any hope of getting away. If we can find something to cut our hands free with, that would be a big help.”
“Let’s start with these hoods.” Suzie grunted as she pushed her body towards the sound of Mary’s voice. “If I can get my head to your hands, you can pull my hood off, then I can do the same for you.” She felt her head strike Mary’s hip. “Almost there.”
“I can’t reach.” Mary stretched her hands as far as sh
e could. “Can you get any closer?”
“I’m trying.” Suzie wriggled across the floor.
“Got it.” Mary tugged the hood free from Suzie’s head.
“Oh, thank you.” Suzie sighed, then pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Okay Mary, your turn. You’re going to have to lay down for me to reach the hood. Just go slow and be careful.”
Mary didn’t have the chance to go slow or be careful. The truck suddenly jerked to the side, and she slid right across it and slammed into the wall.
“Ouch.” She winced.
“Are you okay?” Suzie tried to get to her feet, but the truck rocked again, this time in the other direction. “Who is driving this thing?” She huffed.
Mary’s eyes widened as she felt bumps and jerks ripple through the truck. Her stomach lurched as she realized that she wasn’t just dizzy or off-balance, the whole truck was off-balance.
“Suzie, I think we’re going down! I don’t think anyone is driving!”
“Oh no!” Suzie cried out. “Find anything to hold on to, Mary, anything!”
Mary ran her hands along the wall behind her and found a strap that dangled from it. She clung to it tightly as the truck continued to lurch down what she guessed was the side of a mountain or hill.
“Do you think this is how Al meant to get rid of us?” Mary blinked back tears behind the hood that still covered her face.
“I don’t think so.” Suzie braced herself the best she could against the floor of the truck. “I don’t think this was part of the plan.”
The truck groaned, and then finally came to a stop. Suzie slid across the floor towards Mary. She could tell the truck had stopped at an angle. Which meant it could possibly begin to fall again.
“Suzie, are you okay?” Mary turned towards her.
“Let me get that off your head.” Suzie tilted her body against the wall of the truck until she could reach the hood on Mary’s head. “There.” She smiled at the sight of her friend’s face. “See, we’re going to be just fine.”
“I don’t think I understand your definition of fine.” Mary blinked at her. Then she noticed the hook on the end of the strap she held. “Maybe we can use this to get our hands free.”
“Good plan.” Suzie nodded. “Let’s get back to back. I can use the hook to cut through the rope on your hands.”
“Do you think the others are still in the cab of the truck?” Mary positioned her back towards Suzie’s.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t want to wait to find out.”
Suzie began to work the hook through the rope as fast as she could, however the point was not very sharp. Before she could make any progress, the door on the back of the truck began to rattle.
“Hello?” Freddy called out. “Hello, are you alive in there?”
Suzie froze.
Mary held her breath. She had no idea what the best way was to answer that question.
There wasn’t time to decide whether to answer, as the door swung open before Suzie could speak a single word.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Freddy stared at them. “Are either of you hurt?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Suzie stared back at him. “But you are.” She watched a stream of blood trickle down his forehead.
“Yeah, I hit my head pretty good.” Freddy wiped the blood away. “Let’s go, we need to get out of here. I think the truck is leaking fuel.”
“We’re not going anywhere with you.” Mary shied back against the side of the truck.
“Look, I didn’t sign up for this, okay?” Freddy sighed. “I got involved in this whole thing by accident. My cousin hooked me into it. He has a gambling debt with these guys and he had to help them to get it cleared. He told me it was time to expand the family business, that he knew of a place in Garber that we could easily smuggle product out. He said all I had to do was get a boat and bribe a few locals.”
“So, what went wrong?” Suzie asked.
“I get here, and I figured out that I’m being watched by a private investigator. I never would have known it, but I was at Cheney’s when he had an argument with an old client. I knew then, I’d been made.” Freddy shook his head. “I think he thought it was his lucky day when I sat down next to him. I don’t think he knew I knew who he was. I think he thought he might be able to get information out of me.”
“You killed him?” Suzie looked into his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to. I had no choice but to get rid of him for a while. I just wanted to make him sick so he would not be able to continue snooping and would go away. These guys my cousin got me mixed up with, they are killers. I knew they would come after me in a second if they thought I led the investigator to them. So, I took some powder from the supply I was smuggling, and I sprinkled it over his mashed potatoes. I honestly didn’t know it would kill him. I didn’t even know what it was. I just wanted to get my hands on his phone to see what evidence he had and to get him out of the way for a while.” Freddy shook his head.
“But you killed him?” Mary grimaced.
“I didn’t want to kill him. Once he was dead, I knew I was in a lot of trouble. I’ve just been trying to get rid of this product to clear my cousin’s debt to them and get out of Garber, but Al and his guys kept dragging their feet.” Freddy slammed his hand against the door of the truck. “Look, I may be a criminal, I may be someone who doesn’t make the best choices, but I couldn’t let those monsters kill you two. That’s why I crashed the truck.”
“What happened to the other guys?” Mary asked.
“They are in the truck. They are pretty messed up, but I don’t know how long they will be out for. You’ve got to come with me, before they wake up.”
“We’ll be fine on our own, thanks.” Suzie narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t sure whether to believe his story, but she certainly wasn’t going to trust him.
“Cut us free first.” Mary turned her back to Freddy and held out her hands. “That way we know we can trust you.”
“Fine.” Freddy frowned and pulled a knife from his pocket. He sliced through the rope on Mary’s wrists, then did the same for Suzie’s. “There.” He tucked the knife back into his pocket.
“Freddy!” Al’s voice carried from the front of the truck. “Freddy, when I find you, you’re a dead man!”
“We’re too late!” Freddy gasped.
“On your knees!” A voice boomed from behind Freddy.
“Wes?” Mary caught sight of him with his gun pointed at Freddy and relief flooded through her.
Behind Wes, was what appeared to be an army of police officers, including Jason.
“Are you hurt?” Wes looked past Freddy at the two of them.
“No, we’re okay.” Suzie smiled and hugged Mary. “We’re okay now.”
It took some time for Suzie and Mary to make their way back up the side of the mountain. As they walked, Wes lingered close beside them.
“Jason finally managed to contact Ginger’s boss. Some chemicals at his lab went missing and he thought it was an inside job, so on Ginger’s recommendation he hired Jerome to investigate it. Once he started investigating it, it apparently led him to Garber. The information you sent to Jason helped us work this out. He sent me the articles that you’d found because he knew the Mennossi crime family was tied to a few recent crimes in the area. Jason managed to link Freddy to his cousin whose photo matched a known associate of the Mennossi’s. Jerome must have followed the same leads. The robbery at the lab led Jerome here. Freddy’s cousin worked at the lab and he stole the stuff. Freddy was meant to help him smuggle it out. The trail led from Freddy to his cousin to the Mennossis. Then, Paul went in to see Jason because he thought Freddy might have been following you, Suzie. That’s when we knew we had to find Freddy right away. Luckily, the camera at the dock had caught the license plate on Freddy’s car. Garber and Parish PD worked together to find you as fast as we could. We tracked you to the truck stop, and then we were able to track the truck. I’m only sorry it took us so long to get to you
.”
“Well, I’m sorry that we were stuck in that truck in the first place.” Suzie shook her head.
“It’s not your fault, Suzie.” Mary gave her a quick hug. “The important thing is that we are safe now.”
“Yes, that is the most important thing.” Wes wrapped his arm around Mary’s waist and helped her up onto the road. He turned back to reach for Suzie’s hand, but before he could, Paul’s hand reached out from a few steps beside him.
“Suzie.” He pulled her close to him. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize what was happening sooner.”
“Are you kidding, Paul? If it wasn’t for you, we never would have been found.” Suzie rested her head against his chest. “I’m just glad all of this is over.” She hugged him as tight as she could.
“I wish I could get my hands on Freddy.” Paul growled as he watched Jason escort Freddy to a patrol car. Other officers escorted Al and his associates as well.
“Don’t be too hard on him.” Suzie turned to look at Freddy as he was placed in the car. “In the end, I think he really didn’t want to hurt us. He helped save us. From what he said I don’t even think he meant to kill Jerome. At least now we know what happened.”
“Let me take you home.” Paul kissed her cheek. “I saved you a cinnamon roll.”
“Oh sweetheart.” Suzie smiled as she looked into his eyes. “You really do love me.”
“I do.” Paul laughed and pulled her close for a kiss.
The End
***
Thank you very much for reading Pelicans, Piers and Poison. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. You can sign up for my newsletter to be notified of my latest releases so you don’t miss out on the special new release price at
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Also by Cindy Bell