Liar

by C. L. Stone

  At this, he snarled through the cloth, and fought so hard against his restraints. He wasn’t getting it. Maybe he thought I was threatening Sara.

  “No!” I cried. “We don’t have her with us. We brought her to your grandmother’s. Mrs. Gunther. The old lady with the pies and the computer in the bedroom.”

  He stopped his noise-making and stared at me, weighing out the truth.

  “We stole Sara from Luanne,” Blake said behind me. I turned to see he his hands up, too, but stood close to the door, still acting as our lookout. “But it won’t take long before they figure out what we did.”

  “We need your help to get you both out of this,” I said. I crept forward slowly and Fred didn’t squirm like before. “Can I take the mouth thing off?”

  He nodded quickly.

  On my knees in front of him, I dug my fingers into the binding. I couldn’t figure out how to untie it so I ended up twisting it enough I could tug it down over his chin.

  The moment the binding was clear, he coughed hard. I backed up, giving him space. He spat at the floor, swallowed and spat again.

  “Is she okay?” he croaked out. “Sara? Is she…”

  “She’s fine,” I said. As proof, I tried to think up something he’d know about her. “Did you know she could spell?”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “She can read, too. Second grade level.”

  “Would love to learn more,” Blake said, “but we’re running out of time.”

  “We need your help,” I said.

  “I can’t really help like this,” Fred said. “A little tied up at the moment. Let me loose. I’ll go get Sara. I’ll take her to Cuba, or anywhere…”

  Blake shook his head. “No go. If you two run and you’re caught and go to jail, you may lose Sara.”

  “Tell me about it,” his voice rose. “I don’t have a choice. They’re the ones that said I ran in the first place. If I don’t go…”

  “We’ve got another plan,” I said. “We need proof that Henry kidnapped you and Luanne helped plan this whole thing.”

  Fred stared at me hard, breathing heavily for a moment. The unit was stuffy. I couldn’t imagine how long he’d been in here. “How?”

  “Henry’s going to show up any minute,” I said. “We’ve got video cameras on outside, watching the place. We need to catch him coming in for you, and taking you with him.”

  Fred shook his head. “That won’t be enough. He could make it look like I was living here and he caught me.”

  I bit my lip. That might be true. I turned to Blake.

  “We need that confession,” Blake said. “We need a recording. That might be easy enough. The tough part is getting Fred away from Henry after.”

  I hadn’t worked that far into the plan yet. “We need to stop him from leaving the lot.”

  “Good luck,” Fred said. “He’s got an army. He brings them every time, just in case anyone gets too curious while he’s in here. If he’s on the way…”

  “It’s all right,” I said. “We’ve got our own army.”

  Fred looked at me and then at Blake. “Two people doesn’t make an army.”

  “I don’t know,” Blake said, smirking. He nodded toward me. “Have you seen this girl?”

  “We’ve got others out there,” I said. “They’re watching the office and we’ve got more on the way.”

  “On the way?” Fred asked. He shook his head. “They aren’t even here? No way. I’m going to get killed.”

  “They have to bring you in alive,” Blake said. “I don’t know what they told you…”

  “Dead or alive,” he said. “Unless I cooperate.”

  “They won’t kill you,” I said. “They can’t. They can’t show up with a dead body.”

  “But they can make a dead body be found at the swamp,” he said. He looked up, squinting at me. “If they make it look like suicide or something. Then what happens to Sara?”

  Good point. “We have to take a chance,” I said. “If you can get him to talk, then we catch him coming in and dragging you out on video. We’ll swoop in and save you.”

  “If he kills me before…”

  “He won’t,” I said. “If you pretend to be willing. He won’t think he has to. He’d rather you be compliant. Less trouble. Less of an investigation.”

  Fred sucked in a breath.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out.

  Corey: They’re here. Stalled them at the gate but it won’t take long.

  “We have to do this now,” I said. “They’re here.”

  “Let’s go, Kayli,” Blake said.

  I started to stand, looking at Fred.

  Fred looked at me, like he wasn’t really sure about this. If I were a prisoner, I wouldn’t trust anyone who could walk away so easily. How would he know I wasn’t sent ahead of Henry and posing as a good guy to try to get him to comply?

  “I’ll stay,” I said.

  Blake dashed forward, grabbing my arm. “Are you insane?”

  “I’ll hide,” I said. There weren’t many places to hide. I looked up, to where there was space above our heads, made by 4 by 6 beams. I pointed to them. “I’ll hang out there with the cell phone. I’ll get the whole thing recorded. I’ll be right here.”

  “I’ll stay,” Blake said.

  “You need to take your car on the other side of the lot,” I said. “Hide it. I may need you to come in after us if things don’t go well.”

  “No,” Blake said.

  “I’m not asking!” I turned on him. “We don’t have time to argue or for any of your male ego heroics.”

  Blake stared at me, those gold flecks in his eyes like needles, piercing at me. His jaw moved like he was grinding his teeth. He looked at Fred and pointed a finger. “She ends up hurt, I’m coming after you.”

  “Don’t be a jerk,” I said. I moved to under where one of the beams crossed with another, guessing that would be the strongest point. “Help me up. Hurry.”

  Blake boosted me. There was only a few feet between the beams and the roof of the unit. It was much hotter up here.

  And it was much harder to keep my flip-flops on. I had to relax carefully on my stomach to spread my weight. I moved my phone, sending a text to Corey to let him know the plan and ask him to record. “Lock us in, Blake.”

  “I’m going to end up in jail,” Blake said. He jogged to the door, held it open, looking up at me, frowning.

  “Go,” I said.

  He shook his head, frowning, but rolled the door down. The sound of the lock snapping into place echoed.

  Sealing our fates.

  THE DIVIDE BETWEEN

  GOOD AND BAD ISN’T

  A STRAIGHT LINE

  I forgot once I was in the beams that I’d left Fred’s mouth gag down. “You have to put the gag back on,” I said.

  “You’re both insane,” Fred murmured. “Who are you guys, anyway? You’re not cops.”

  “Something better,” I said.

  “FBI?”

  I shook my head, gazing down at the floor. I wasn’t very hidden, just above their line of sight. If someone did look up, I was going to be in trouble. “We’re friends of your cousin from Charleston.”

  “Cousin?” he asked. “What? You mean Harry? Little Harry sent you?”

  “Little?”

  Fred stared up at me. “He’s only twelve. How does he know you?”

  The lightning strike of information nearly knocked me off the beam I was balanced on. Harry Gunther was a twelve-year-old recruit inside the Academy.

  The grandmother had said Little Harry and I assumed she was like all other old ladies who called their own kids little even if they were adults. With Fred being an adult…

  Looking from the outside. No wonder Harry couldn’t come for Fred himself.

  “He mentioned…” I said and then trailed off, unable to give him an answer.

  Fred huffed. “It’s insane.”

  “Well I’m in here now,” I said. “Stuck in these r
afters. We’ll just have to trust each other.”

  “I don’t know if I should trust you. How do I know it’s not a trick?”

  I heard the sound of the gate opening off in the distance. My heart was in my throat and sweat poured down my face. My breathing became faster. I was suffocating in the heat and the adrenaline had kicked in. “You could find out real quick; just tell Henry I’m up here,” I whispered. “But then we both could end up in jail… or worse.”

  Fred only nodded in reply, and dipped his face to capture his gag into his mouth. It was loose now but would do for the moment.

  Corey sent a quick message back.

  Corey: In place.

  I hoped that meant what I thought it did. I turned the sound and vibrate off of my phone.

  There were voices outside the unit. I stiffened as the sounds of the lock scraping against the door echoed.

  The door rolled up, letting in sunlight and fresh air. From my angle, I caught the top of three people. I could see the grille of a black Hummer outside, too.

  I couldn’t see if he brought reinforcements, but it sounded like there was another car pulling up.

  The lead man in the trio stepped inside the building: Henry.

  He turned his head, scanning the unit and then settled on Fred. “At least you didn’t piss yourself this time.”

  I wanted to spit on him.

  Fred only glared at him.

  “Last chance,” Henry said. “Come with us quietly. Do what we say, or you’ve got a date with Alligator Alley. We’ll let the monsters deal with you.”

  Fred started shaking his head.

  “Don’t think we can?” Henry asked. He moved forward, kneeling well out of range in case Fred tried to kick out. “Stop thinking. Just do what I tell you.”

  Fred jerked his head, and then mumbled through his binding.

  Henry reached out, tugging the gag back down. “What?”

  “Where’s Luanne?” he asked.

  Henry smirked. “All this time, you’re asking about her?”

  “Do you have her, too?”

  He was framing Luanne as part of this. Good guy! I stretched out the phone toward them, wanting to capture every word.

  “Who do you think came up with the plan?” Henry asked. He rose. “What, you think she didn’t know?”

  “She didn’t…” Fred said. “She wouldn’t…”

  “She came to me,” he said. “Wondered if I could help her. At first she wanted help getting her girls the only escort service in town the cops wouldn’t invade.” Henry tilted his head and I could see the smirk. “What was it like being married to an escort?”

  “It’s why we divorced,” Fred said. “I found out.”

  “You shouldn’t have,” Henry said. “Hell, she makes a killing at it. She doesn’t care if you’re fucking around as long as you don’t do it in front of her. You were an idiot giving that up.”

  “Does she have Sara?” Fred asked. He looked at Henry dead on. “Tell me she’s safe; that’s all I care about.”

  Henry pulled out a cell phone. He fumbled through and then held it out. “Took this one yesterday morning.”

  I couldn’t see the picture, but I imagined it was Sara and Luanne.

  Fred’s lips twisted and he shook his head. He started breathing heavier. “Don’t hurt her,” he said. “Please… please don’t. She doesn’t need to be around all that.”

  “She asked you for more support money. She asked nicely. You should have listened to her.”

  “She demanded more than I could afford,” Fred said. “I was the one taking care of Sara, and she wanted every last penny I had. When that wasn’t enough, she wanted me to ask family. I made the mistake of listening to her, and asking my parents, my grandmother but it still wasn’t enough.”

  “Should have worked harder,” Henry said. He stood up. “But this is your only chance. We take you in, you go to jail for a while, lose your rights to Sara, and we might leave you with some visitation. Supervised. Look at the bright side. Sara’s safe. You don’t have to worry about her. She’ll be out of your hair. Luanne’s off your back. It’s win-win, right? But it only happens if you come quietly. What are you going to do?”

  Fred swallowed again and sighed. “I’ll go.”

  “Good man,” Henry said. He stood and backed away. He snapped his fingers and pointed to one of the goons. “Unlock him.”

  The two men moved forward together. One lowered himself so he could free Fred. The other kept his hand on the gun on his belt. He was steady, with his eyes focused.

  My heart was pounding so much. This was it, but now I realized my problem. I had no idea where the others were. I had no idea how many there were. I was depending on Corey and Blake to actually carry out the rest.

  Unless I wanted to jump down and get shot at.

  I forced the impulse back, especially when Fred stood, wobbled forward. His clothes were stained with sweat, blood and other fluids. He limped as he walked, a goon on each arm, toward the door.

  I closed my eyes for a moment but then forced them open, needing to pay attention.

  As soon as the group was at the door, my phone lit up.

  Blake: Make a distraction. Lure one of them back into the unit.

  They needed me to separate them so they could get to Fred.

  I relaxed my feet, letting my flip-flops drop to the ground.

  The slap and clatter of flip-flops against the concrete, echoing off the bare walls and metal roof, sounded louder than I anticipated, but it did capture their attention.

  “Get him in the car,” Henry shouted. He ducked his head back into the unit alone, scanning the area.

  I readied, needing to take him out. I needed to do it before the goons could get Fred in the car and join Henry again.

  Growing up, Wil and I used to brawl. The only problem was, even though I was the older sister, once he hit puberty, he was taller and stronger than I was. It made wrestling him tougher on me, but at the same time, I learned a few tricks. It helped later with taking our dad down when he went on his drinking and fighting binges.

  Henry moved forward slowly, a hand pressed to his hip. I couldn’t see well, but I thought he might have a gun strapped there. Or maybe a Taser or something.

  He spotted my flip-flops on the ground and stared at them. He started looking up.

  I jumped, aiming my heels for the back of his legs, hoping to get the back of his knee.

  My foot made contact, and I dropped hard on him, dragging him down with me.

  He hollered and the impact of his knees hitting the hard surface radiated through my body, making all my bones shake. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to him.

  But I could hear it in his howl.

  I moved quickly. My back was exposed to the opening. I fished for his pocket, feeling the end of a Taser gun. I yanked it out, rolling to the side, out of thrashing reach of Henry.

  Henry wasn’t getting up. There was blood at his knee. He covered it, screaming. His eyes were wide and wild. As much as he cursed and cried out, he wasn’t getting up right now. He was trying to retreat, protect his knee, and get out of range.

  I swallowed hard and forced myself to look out the opening.

  I saw the grille of the Hummer. It hadn’t taken off yet. Where were the goons?

  There was shouting outside. I checked Henry again; he was hanging on to his knee. I shuffled forward slowly, holding up the Taser toward him as I risked a glance outside.

  A black SUV was stopped to block off one part of the exit for the Hummer, the other way was blocked off with a bright red Montego.

  Behind the Montego, using it like a shield, were Marc and Raven. They stood side by side, each holding a handgun aimed right at the Hummer.

  Axel was on the roof of the next storage building, rifle trained at the same area.

  The Hummer was running but wasn’t moving.

  I couldn’t see anyone else, but my heart soared. Future did more than deliver Sara. She armed the boy
s.

  Did we win? Were we going to take Fred now? I couldn’t believe it. We were going to make it.

  I checked back on Henry. He was still covering his knee. He was shouting something, but with the echo, I couldn’t tell what he was saying. He wasn’t getting up, though. I wasn’t sure he could stand with that knee being busted.

  A crash further down the unit lot sounded. What was that?

  Axel turned his head, looking like he was sweeping the area, and then lifted the rifle, aiming it at the Hummer.

  Before I could think, he fired.

  From my angle, I couldn’t see where his shot landed. I ran out. The Hummer lunged, nudging the rear end of the SUV.

  As soon as Axel started shooting, so did Marc and Raven. They shot together, taking out the tires. Axel was putting holes in the engine block.

  The Hummer jerked back like it’d been put into reverse.

  One more shot by Axel, and the Hummer stopped altogether. The engine popped and rattled but the wheels weren’t turning.

  A black Mercedes came barreling down the last row of units. It swerved hard, did a spin and parked with the butt toward the unit I was in.

  Both doors opened, Blake jumping out the driver’s side, while Corey dashed out of the other.

  Blake stumbled toward the Hummer first, favoring one leg and gritting his teeth. He stopped, turned to look at me and then barreled right for me, so fast I thought he was going to tackle me.

  “Get down!” he shouted.

  I ducked out of instinct, but walked sideways a little, looking out toward the guns. They were shooting out there, not in here. Were there ricocheted pieces flying around?

  Blake dove in past me.

  I turned to see him knocking Henry down. I was surprised to see he’d gotten up and had a knife. Henry had crawled toward me while I was distracted. I hadn’t heard him over the gunfire.

  I leapt back and let out a yelp as I got caught by the waist by Corey. He hauled me toward the Mercedes.