Page 117 of Eyes in the Shadows

“Yeah, not surprised. ‘Eleanor Wilson’ doesn’t sound very Russian. You’re just a dumb cunt that fucked the wrong guy, aren’t you?”

“Yeah… That’s it, up there,” I say, gesturing ahead to the dark, flat building.

“Go past and pull off the side of the road up there.”

I do as he instructs, leaving my hands on the wheel and foot on the brake as the car eases to a stop. He puts the car in park and takes the keys. The rain is drizzling around us, bringing a chill in the night air, and I can see the breath of my scream as he pulls me from the driver’s seat by my hair.

“Shut the fuck up,” he says, smacking my temple with the butt of his gun.

I fall back a step, landing against the back door of the car. It dazes me, my ears are ringing, and the pain sets in slowly, in waves that coincide with my heartbeat. Then I groan, the ache growing into something pointy and stinging.

Mac yells something I can’t discern and Rossi is gripping the back of my neck with harsh fingers that dig into my skin. He forces me towards the building and I stumble along.

“Eleanor, I’m right here with you. I’m at the warehouse, too, okay?”It’s Wesley again.“You need to bring Rossi inside, through that big open door just beyond the chain link fence. There’s a truck just inside the entrance, that’s where the guns are. But it’s dark in there, and there are plenty of racks in the back half—if you can get away, you may be able to lose him.”

“Where are the guns?”

“The truck is inside,” I tell Rossi, repeating Wesley’s instructions. “Um, there’s a fence overthere—”

“Why is the bay door open?” he asks suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” I say, letting a sob bleed into my voice as the pain settles into a pounding headache. “Maybe someone got here first.”

“McCloskey,” Rossi growls. He shoves me forward, using his grip on my neck for leverage, and shoves the unyielding metal into my back. “Walk. Go ahead of me.”

I trudge along through the wet grass that seeps into my sneakers and makes my toes freezing cold. We approach the fence, and he pauses. I can see a broken chain with a padlock still attached to two ends—someone cut it. The arm is flipped up and the door is a few inches ajar. He shoves me forward again through the opening. I keep my taped hands low, looking around wildly and trying not to trip over my own feet because my limbs feel strange and loose, like I don’t have total control over them.

We move towards the open rolling door, and the first thing I see is the truck Wesley mentioned. Rossi pushes me inside and looks around. It’s very quiet, and very dark.

“How do we close this?”

“Eleanor, donotlet him close the door,”Mac says.“I need it open.”

Suddenly, there’s a banging noise and we both startle. It sounds like it’s coming from the back of the truck, like someone is inside hitting the walls. “Help! Let me out!” comes a muffled voice from inside. “I promise I won’t tell anyone anything!”

“McCloskey?” Rossi says, like he doesn’t quite believe it. He gestures to me to go forward until I’m just past the truck and he can get to the handle.

He lifts the latch and pulls the door open, immediately training his gun into the opening. “Boss! Thank God! How did you find…” McCloskey trails off as he sees me about an arm’s reach from Rossi. “You little bitch!”

“Funny, I was going to call you the same thing,” Rossi rasps, aiming the gun at McCloskey. “It’s ‘Boss’ again, now, huh?”

“She’s playing us, Jay.”

“Is she?” Rossi scoffs sarcastically. “I know that, you idiot. She’s still with the Russian, and he’s still a pain in my ass. I’m gonna use her, like I planned.”

“But we’ve got the guns now! Look, it’s all in here!”

Rossi stretches his neck, following the movements as McCloskey shines the flashlight around at the crates and boxes around him. The state of it looks like someone has recently been rifling through it—lids are off, packaging material covers the floor. “That’s not all of it.”

“It’s not?”Wesley says faintly.

“It’s not?” McCloskey echoes him.

“Where are the other six crates?” Rossi asks.

McCloskey turns his accusatory stare on me. “They must have moved some of it… I’m telling you, she’s setting us up! She’s the one that gave me this address, told me to tell Kevin…”

Rossi’s face darkens and McCloskey falls back a step as his drains of color. Well, he certainly said the wrong thing. “What?” Rossi growls. “You told Anderson—”

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