Page 32 of Raider Unleashed

“No,” he responded. His voice was so quiet she’d had trouble hearing him.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then the sound of the TV in the kitchen being turned on met her ears. Some sort of sporting event.

“Baker,” Raider whispered.

Piper had to crane her neck to see Baker at all.

His eyes were huge and he shook his head. “Shut up, man,” he whispered.

“Baker,” Raider said again. “Just listen to me. Raise your hands as high as you can and bring them down while pulling them apart. The tape will break.”

Baker shook his head. He wasn’t having it.

“Baker,” Raider called softly, “you’re the only one who can do this. It’s easy and then we can escape.”

Baker turned his head away as if he was a toddler.

“Baker,” Wells growled. “I wanna live, dude. You can do this. I would if I could.”

The sound of a door opening reached them and everyone fell silent. Denlo walked by and glared at them.

He disappeared into the kitchen. “Anything?” Kasinski must have shaken his head because Denlo commented. “I don’t know why we can’t just kill them now.”

“Because Raider is a Navy SEAL and the boss is worried about what kind of heat that’s going to bring down on us. He’s tried to get details. It’s gonna have to look like some kind of accident.”

“Fucking shit. I knew this job sucked balls. A fucking Navy SEAL. For shit’s sake.”

“Calm down. We’re getting it sorted.” There was a lot of crashing and banging in the kitchen and then, “Go eat that somewhere else. It stinks,” Kasinski growled.

“It’s cheese.”

“I don’t give a fuck what it is, it smells. Go somewhere else.” Kasinski roared.

Denlo grumbled as he walked through the great room and down the hall.

They stayed a few minutes in silence and then Wells spoke again. Piper craned her neck to see him but she couldn’t he was too far over. She cocked her head to try and better hear what he was saying.

“Baker, you gotta do this, man. I got a kid, I don’t want to die.”

Baker stayed silent.

Wells tried again. “What about your mom? Who will look after her if you’re dead?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw Baker turn his head. A minute later he said, “What do I have to do?”

Raider instructed, “Move out from the couch.”

Baker scooched forward a bit.

“Raise your arms above your head and bring them down hard as if you’re gonna slap a hip with each hand.”

Baker tried it but it didn’t work.

“That’s okay. You need to really jerk your arms apart as you bring your hands down. Do it as hard as you can.”

Baker raised his arms above his head again and did as he was told. His hands came apart and slammed into the carpet. Everyone froze. Seconds ticked by but neither Snake nor Denlo came running. Baker started pulling the tape off his ankles.

“Baker,” Raider called softly. “Come over here. There’s a knife in my left boot.”

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