Page 64 of Gabe

Tansie Bell stood behind me, gun held in one hand, which she had to angle upward in order to reach my head. She wasn’t alone either. Several other heavily armed men stood around her. Their weapons weren’t drawn, yet, but it was obvious that one wrong move from me would have me riddled with bullets in less than a second.

“Miss Bell?” I said, trying to pour as much meaning and question into those two words as I could.

The gun in her hand shook. “I’m sorry, but I have no choice. They have my son. And now they’ve got your people as well. Those two young men. What are their names? Newt and Frankie? Here.”

With the hand not holding a gun, she showed me her phone. On the screen, there was a picture of Frankie and Newt lying unconscious in the back of some sort of vehicle. I only saw the picture for a few seconds, just long enough to identify Newt and Frankie, but not enough to pick out any other details from the photo.

She stored the phone back in her pocket one-handed, while the armed men around her never even twitched.

“They’ve got your guys just like they’ve got my son. So, just do what they say. Okay? Please don’t make me shoot you.”

“All right.” I relented, raising my hands back into the air where everyone could see them. “What do you want me to do?”

Tansie hesitated, like she was reading through a list in her mind.

“First, you have to take us to Sebastian Roth. We know he’s around here somewhere.”

The demand was expected and didn’t take me by surprise. It wasn’t the first time I’d been held at gunpoint, though I could admit it was the first time I’d felt afraid.

Not for myself. My high probability of getting killed one day was something I’d accepted a long time ago. However, this time there was more to lose.

If I died now, what would happen to the others?

What would happen to Frankie?

Determined to stay alive, I played along for the moment.

“Sebastian is this way,” I said and led them out through the building’s cargo bay.

When we stepped out onto the street, Tansie put her gun away. We all knew she didn’t actually need it. If anyone was going to shoot me, it would be one of the other armed men silently following us. I counted at least three different concealed weapons on each of them.

Plus, even without any weapons, the threat to Frankie and Newt would be enough to keep me obedient.

To reach the RV where I’d left Sebastian, I would need to turn right and head several blocks down the street.

As a test, I turned left instead.

They didn’t correct me, meaning they probably didn’t know where Sebastian actually was. That gave me a little room to maneuver and hopefully, regain the upper hand.

“So, what’s the end goal here?” I asked as Tansie walked beside me on the street. The armed men watched us both. “Once I give you Sebastian, then what?”

Tansie looked over her shoulder at the men following us. “They’re going to kill Sebastian Roth. He’s been too much of a thorn in their side to let him live, but you’re an agent with the FBI. That could be useful to them.”

“Ah. I see.” In my head, I reviewed a map of the area. There was a parking deck up ahead that would be perfect for my needs. “They’ll keep Frankie and Newt alive so long as I act as their mole.”

Silence was more natural to me than conversation, but silence wouldn’t do me any good at that moment. Trying to channel as much of Frankie’s attitude as I could, I gave my best conceited laugh.

“It seems I was giving your masters too much credit. They aren’t as smart as I thought they were.”

Beside me I saw Tansie flinch and several of the men following us reached for their guns.

Tansie tugged nervously at one of her pigtail braids.

“Don’t… don’t say things like that. You’ll get us both in trouble. Don’t you care if your boyfriend dies?”

Boyfriend?

Is that what Frankie was to me?

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