by Chris Bostic
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
“Just hurry,” he said, waving for me to follow him. “Go!”
At a sprint, he cut between the last two fermenting tanks. I thought he might go for a closet on the far wall, just like we had at Bison Fork to hide from the robbers, but Lee was all about speed.
He flew down the steps, heading for the indoor grain bins opposite the column still.
No time to worry about making more noise, I assumed, as the steps clanged as loudly as me dropping that stupid gun.
“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath. “What an idiot.”
Lee kept going. At the bottom of the steps, he pivoted hard to the left and slipped out of sight.
CHAPTER 22
I sprang off the last step and made the turn, but Lee was nowhere to be found.
As I streaked past the staircase, a hand shot out to grab my arm. It took everything in me not to scream.
Lee had taken shelter in a dark nook underneath the stairs. He dragged me toward him like a bear pulling an unsuspecting hiker into a cave, albeit a very agitated and winded hiker.
“Shh,” he whispered, keeping a tight grip on my arm.
I gasped for air as quietly as I could, and eventually got my breathing down to a dull roar.
In the darkness, I caught a glint of light. I hoped it was his phone, but Lee came up brandishing his silver pistol.
“We gotta call,” I whispered, but he shushed me again.
With a subtle hand gesture, he pointed upstairs. In the span of a heartbeat, I heard what he was getting at. Footsteps clanged up a metal staircase, going to check on where I’d dropped the pistol.
“Dammit,” I cursed again. “Sorry.”
He shook his head. “I’m the one who knocked it.”
His finger went back across his lips to shush me. He puckered up and kissed his index finger, then touched my cheek with a soft smile.
I nodded in understanding, but still hung my head in shame.
We had to be quiet. Thanks to my clumsiness, we couldn’t risk a phone call. Especially with people stomping around right above us.
I thought we should maybe make a break for the far door, way across the open room, but Lee seemed content to sit. The longer we waited there, the harder my heart pounded against my ribcage. Beads of sweat threatened to break out across my brow. My hands felt clammy.
Still the footsteps continued, now on the floor gridding rather than the steps.
My head pounded, each heartbeat sending a stab of pain straight through my temples. Each footstep another nail driven into my gut.
I couldn’t take it anymore. If Lee wouldn’t let us head outside, I had to do something else to keep my sanity.
I pulled out my phone and dimmed it as low as it would go before Lee had a chance to chastise me. Then I punched in 911 and showed it to him, my thumb hovering over the call button.
He shook his head.
I didn’t have any intention of talking on it with the thugs close by, so I leaned over to put my lips by his ear and whispered, “We don’t have to talk. I can just let it ring and they’ll ping the location.”
He shrugged at that. I took it as my sign to go for it and hit the button. The phone blinked, counting seconds away at the top but not showing a connection.
Footsteps grew closer overhead, yet also from farther away, making me think at least two of the thugs were upstairs looking for us.
A door slammed shut, and I figured it was a good thing we didn’t go for the closet. Still we were the better armed unlike at Bison Fork. Perhaps the only ones armed. No black rifles poked us in the back.
I sat my phone on the floor in front of me, still annoyed that it rang without an answer. At twenty-five seconds and counting, I reached out my hand for Lee.
He took my hand in his and squeezed. Nice gesture, but not what I wanted.
“The pistol,” I whispered. “Let me have it back.”
“You gonna drop it again?”
“You just said it was partly-”
He pressed a finger over my lips. “Just a joke.”
“Not funny.”
He reached into his back holster and held out the gun for me, then acted like he’d keep it away. “I better not. You look mad enough to shoot me.”
“Shhh to you,” I snarled, and took the gun from him. Then I pointed it over my head at the steps above us.
Lee nodded approvingly. He picked up my phone and hit the end call button. Then he redialed for me.
Still nothing.
“What the fuck?” I muttered when it kept ringing again.
Footsteps sounded at the top of the steps, literally right over our heads. I punched the end call button and rolled the phone over so it wouldn’t show a trace of light.
I held my breath, wondering if they would come downstairs. I had to assume they would. We weren’t exactly quiet racing down the steps earlier, so they almost certainly had to have heard something moving on our level.
Still, they seemed content to stay up by the fermenters.
“Fuck it,” came the deep voice of Little Willie. “Let’s go, boys. We’re wastin’ time.”
I almost got in a full sigh of relief when the more twangy sounding man declared, “Imma gonna check down there first.”
“Suit yourself.”
A door slammed again.
I looked to Lee. He stared out into the room, immobile as a statue. He kept the shiny gun close to his body where it wouldn’t reflect any stray light.
I left my phone on the floor and tightened my grip on Lee’s weapon. I wasn’t about to drop it again, not with Twangy to deal with first.
I thought he might go slowly down the staircase, thereby giving me a little time to work up the fortitude. But the guy practically sprang down the steps, taking them two at a time.
Lee leaned forward, bending slightly at the knees.
A shadow covered the light, plunging us into full darkness. Feet shuffled. Not Lee’s. Then my man sprang.
With a rustle of clothes and an awful thunk, Lee found his target.
“Awwgh,” came the quick groan.
Twangy slumped to the floor like a sack of shit. Something clattered across the floor but without the metal clang I’d become accustomed to.
“Hope, grab his legs,” Lee said as I remained sitting there in shock. “C’mon.”
“Uh, yeah. Okay.” I crawled out of our hiding place over to Lee.
My hero stood there like a gladiator over his victim, holding the barrel of his pistol in his hand to where it looked more like a hammer.
For a millisecond, I almost felt bad for Twangy. The poor bastard never knew what hit him, but it was obviously better for us that way.
I took a couple steps toward them and twisted my ankle on the handle of a bung hammer. I sank to a knee and had to have Lee pull me back up.
“You okay?”
“I think.” I massaged my ankle and felt relieved that it wasn’t nearly as bad as the tumble Lee had taken during our previous robbery experience. After a couple tentative steps, I announced, “It’s not bad. I can walk.”
“Not great, but way better than I could,” he said as he observed me walking back over to him.
“That’s true.”
I looked down at our victim. I got the weird idea there should be a pool of blood spilling across the floor. Maybe half his head caved in or something equally gruesome, but it seemed more like he was sleeping. Oddly contorted, but otherwise seemingly unharmed.
I’d find the knot on the back of his head later.
“One down, two to go,” Lee declared as he turned his gun around and slipped it back into its holster. “Let’s get him outta the way.”
“We gonna tie him up or something?” I said as I went around to where I could grab Twangy’s legs.
“Probably should. And a gag too.” Lee stood back up. “Then again, we could just get this over with.”
“How so?” I said, raising an eyebrow at his bold statement.
“Th
ey’re gonna come looking for him.” Lee seemingly sneered at Twangy. “It’s two on two now, and we’ve got cold steel on our side.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking that, but we’d have to tie ‘em up or hold ‘em at gunpoint until the cops come.”
“It’s doable.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “But risky.”
“Might have to anyway if they come looking soon.” Lee scratched at his chin. “But I s’pose you’re right.”
“Let me hear that again.”
“You’re right, Hope, my beautiful little genius.”
I smiled. “That’s much better.”
“Whatever.” Lee looked at Twangy and grimaced. “You can try to call again after we drag this loser outta here.”
CHAPTER 23
“I’m gonna have to go outside,” I said after my phone refused to connect again. “All the metal must be blocking the signal.”
I’d held it to my ear and had heard it ringing, but I just didn’t trust that. Someone at 911 would have picked up if it had been actually ringing on their end.
“Hang on a second.” Lee rolled Twangy to the side and tucked his legs into a supply closet. “On second thought….I think we’re gonna need more tape.”
Seeing how the criminal’s hands were already bound and a rag had been stuffed in his mouth, secured with duct tape, I wasn’t sure what else we needed to do.
“Don’t want him kicking out the door,” Lee said when I handed him back the roll of tape we’d found over by some piping.
The tape screeched as he pulled a length off the roll for a starter. He proceeded to wind the roll multiple times around Twangy’s ankles.
“I could use some of that on my ankle too,” I said, still nursing a little soreness.
“Kick your shoe off,” Lee said, turning around to take me up on it.
“I’ll be fine. I was just joking.” Not really, but I didn’t feel like wasting any more time seeing how I could walk well enough. “I’m gonna go call now.”
“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”
I retrieved my phone and pistol off the floor, then headed over toward a big rollup door where grain trucks could drive inside to drop their loads of corn and wheat and so forth.
I had no intention of actually rolling that noisy door up. Instead, I found a person-sized door farther down the wall, and slowly turned the handle.
Before I pushed it open, I took a second to consider my surroundings. The other two thugs were presumably upstairs in the bottling hall, which put them by a loading dock. Though different levels, I tried to decide if the rollup door would be remotely close to the dock.
I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t be certain. So I figured I’d better wait until Lee came over. He would know better.
“What’s up?” he asked. “Still no signal?”
I didn’t want to admit I was directionally challenged, so I went with, “Just waiting for you, darling.”
“Ookay, sure.” His eyes narrowed at me. He looked at my hand wrapped around the doorknob. “You don’t know what’s on the other side.”
“Of course I do,” I said and watched as he put his hands on his hips. “It’s the same road that runs alongside the visitors center.”
“Obviously. It’s where the trucks make deliveries.”
“So the loading dock is right up there.” Tentatively, I pointed up and through the door.
“Yeah, so?”
“That’s where they’re at.” I copied his stance, putting my hands on my hips. “I can’t just open the door with them up there.”
“They’re working again. Don’t you hear that little rumbling?”
I concentrated for a moment. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You just want me to go first,” he said, and patted me on the backside. “You like when I take charge, don’t ya?”
“I guess you are finally gettin’ better at it.” I slapped his ass. “Now giddy up, Cowboy.”
“Yee fuckin’ haw.”
Lee brushed past me. He put the forearm of his pistol-wielding hand on the door and gripped the knob with his other one.
With a quick twist, the door swung open ever so slightly.
“After you.”
“I think I’ll stay here for a sec.” I stretched out to put my phone into the crack of the door and pressed the three digits. Then I hit send.
We both watched the screen. It reminded me of watching sand in an hourglass, wondering if anyone would answer before the grains all slipped out.
Seeing how we were alone, I thumbed the volume on the side while we waited. I turned it all the way up to where we could hear it plainly without needing speakerphone.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang.
“What the fuck is wrong with this place?” I let it keep ringing, and said, “Try yours.”
Lee punched in the buttons and hit send. Of course, the call went right through for him.
He pulled it to his ear and said, “This is Leland Rogers, Director of Security at Old Tyler Distillery out on Rangeline Road. We’ve got a robbery in progress. It’s going down in the back by the still house. Send every available unit.”
The lady on the other end kept trying to interrupt him, but Lee was not to be deterred.
“We’ve got one perp tied up in a closet. The other two are loose at the bottling line. Possibly armed. We’re going to attempt to apprehend them.”
“Sir,” she kept saying over and over. “Sir, please confirm that.”
“How long?” Lee actually waited for a response that time. “Any units close by?”
“About twenty minutes,” she said. “But no guarantee. Wait for officers-”
“Twenty minutes? Jesus, that’s for-fucking-ever. What’s wrong with you people?”
The woman started to say something, but Lee wouldn’t let himself be interrupted when he was on a mission.
He spoke over her, saying, “Never mind the waiting bullshit. Just get them here as quickly as possible. My partner and I will be at the Distillation Building.”
Partner. That almost felt special if not terrifying.
“Again, the robbery is going down in the back of the Old Tyler property off Rangeline,” Lee repeated. “We’ll be waiting for first responders by the distillation building.”
Lee ended the call with the lady still talking.
I gave him a quizzical look mixed with a healthy side of annoyance.
“Why didn’t you stay on the line?”
“They got everything they need. Now we need to do our part.”
I shook my head to try to settle my nerves. “Which is us going to apprehend the others?”
“Yep.” Lee nodded confidently. “We got this. No doubt about it.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I let the door close softly, keeping us inside. “But why would the hell would we want to do some crazy shit like that?”
Lee glanced over to the closet. “They’re gonna come looking for their buddy.”
“Yeah, and….”
“We deal with them together. Haven’t I told you the best defense is a good offense?”
“That’s like some fucked up kinda playground logic there.”
“It’s true though,” Lee protested. “Just hear me out.”
“Fine.” I leaned back against the wall and exhaled. “Amaze me with your brilliance.”
“We make our move. Come at them right through the loading dock, and get ‘em at gun point…from a safe distance.”
“Then we hold them until the cops arrive?”
“You got it.” He walked back over by the closet and picked up the duct tape. “We might need this just in case.”
CHAPTER 24
“Ready?” Lee asked. He’d managed to stretch his pocket enough to slide what remained of the duct tape inside. That left him with both hands free to carry out his plan.
“Ready as I’ll never be,” I said, intentionally botching the phrase.
He looked at his larger daily carry pistol,
which hung at my side in a limp arm. “You might want to keep both hands on your piece.”
“I know, but thanks for reminding me, Jackass.” I used my free hand to slug him on the shoulder.
With a look of pretend pain and a rub of his shoulder, he said, “Save the fight for the enemy.”
“I didn’t plan on fighting,” I sassed. “That’s your department.”
“Not to worry, I’ll take care of it.” He puffed his chest up and put on the rogue grin. Then he grew serious. “I didn’t plan on fighting either. Definitely not Little Willie.”
“I wouldn’t want to meet that dude in a dark rack house,” I joked, and then added, “Wait. I already did.”
“Maybe we should send you in there alone. Just have you walk on in there and ask them fellas what’s going on.”
“Sure, I’ll just stroll right in.”
“Exactly. No way you don’t grab their attention.”
“And they try to grab me,” I retorted, thinking back to their crude remarks earlier.
“I’m just thinking through the options out loud.” He scratched at his chin. “There’s merit in having you wander in there all innocent-like. Maybe draw Little Willie outside to where I’m hiding.”
“If I thought you could knock him out, I would try it.”
“Very funny, Hope. You’re quite the comedian.”
“And you said girls aren’t funny.”
“Touché.” Lee took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Anyway…I’m not letting you go in there alone.”
“Good thing I don’t need your permission for something I’m not gonna do.”
Lee raised an eyebrow, seemingly turning the words over in his head. Perhaps my bold statement hadn’t been quite as eloquent as it had sounded in my head.
Eventually, he shook his head and said, “Enough stalling. Let’s go finish this. You and I, going in together…from a nice, safe distance.”
“You really think we should?” I asked one last time. “Positive?”
“Not really, but I do think we need to confront them before they come looking for us.”
My head bobbed slowly. “I understand.”
Lee spread his arms wide, which probably looked a little funny since he still held a pistol in one hand. I held my weapon out to the same side to where it looked like we were both aiming at the wall.