Page 9 of Gage
Taking a step backward into her room, he followed closely, shoving her right shoulder with the hand not holding the gun, and closing the door behind him with an eerily loud snick. The blue eyes staring at her unnerved her, and for a moment her life seemed to flash before her eyes. She wasn’t ready for things to end.
This is it. This is how I die. Whoever killed Steven, he’s come back to finish the job. To eliminate the witness, even though I didn’t see anything. Why? Why is this happening?
Glancing furtively around the room, looking for anything she might use as a weapon, she found nothing.
Dang it, who’d have thought there wasn’t a bleeping thing in a hotel room to use to defend myself? I mean, there’s a chair,but it’s across the room and he’d catch me five seconds before I could make a grab for it. The phone is wired to the wall, so I won’t go far trying to throw it. What about the lamp? I might be able to swing it like a baseball bat, if I can get my hands on it, but…
“What do you want?” She managed to bite out the words, her mouth dry as the Sahara.
“You.” He advanced another step toward her, and her breath caught in the back of her throat, nearly choking her.
“Me? Why do you want me?”
“Worth much money. Big ransom.”
Now that he’d spoke more than one word answers, she noted the heavy accent to his speech, though she couldn’t quite place it. English definitely wasn’t his first language. It wasn’t Spanish either, of which she was fluent. No, this sounded more like an eastern European dialect, or possibly Russian.
“Ransom?” She shook her head, taking another step back. A crazy man with a gun, an empty hotel room, and the threat of violence added up to disaster. Somehow, she had never anticipated her end coming in a hotel room in New Orleans.
If I die, will anybody but Ally mourn me? Will they even notice?
Another horrible thought flooded her. If she was gone, there’d be no justice for Steven. They’d stop looking for the real killer, and all the blame would fall squarely on her shoulders, even though she hadn’t done it.
“Much money. No fight. No police. I get money, I let you go.”
“I…I can get you money. I don’t have any cash with me. I’ll need to contact my accountant.”
“No calls. No police.” He waved the gun in her face, and her heartbeat raced in her chest. It felt like her heart was going to leap from her chest, or maybe explode from terror. She’d never been so scared in her left, not even when she’d wokeup next to Steven’s bloody body. She rubbed her sweaty palms against her thighs, knowing the situation was devolving from bad to worse. Getting money wasn’t a problem; she had access to her personal bank account. While it wasn’t enormous, there was several hundred thousand dollars in there in there at the moment. Nope, the issue was getting the money to her would-be assailant/extortionist/possible kidnapper. She couldn’t simply walk into the bank and withdraw a large sum of money. It was never that simple. Plus, there’d be questions—ones she couldn’t answer without drawing unwanted attention to the fact she was being extorted. And she doubted Mr. Ski Mask would take a personal check.
“I don’t have that kind of cash with me. I will have to contact somebody to get the money. To bring it here, or someplace where we can pick it up.” Which she really didn’t want to do, because leaving the hotel room put her in more danger than she was already in, and right now she was neck deep in quicksand and sinking fast.
“No money here? Rich people always have money. Give me your purse.”
Suzanna handed him her bag, and watched him fumble trying to open it one handed, while maintaining his hold on the gun. He yanked out the little leather pouch containing her ID and credit cards, digging through the bag futilely before tossing it on the bed.
“Where is money?”
She shook her head, wrapping her arms across her chest. “I told you, I don’t have any money with me. I only have credit cards. I would have to get it from the bank.”
The man started pacing, back and forth, both hands bracketing his head. Suzanna couldn’t take her eyes off the gun. Was he going to lose control, now that he wasn’t getting the money he demanded and shoot her? She took a tentativestep toward the door and when he didn’t seem to notice, took another. Muttered whispers in a language she didn’t understand came from him as he paced.
She froze when he reached into his pocket, dragging in a ragged breath when he pulled out a cellphone. Within seconds, he was talking with somebody, again in that same language, which somehow only made things worse. His blue eyes, visible through the openings in the mask watched her, and she forced herself to stand still, pretending to be a statue. She’d always hated that game when she was a kid, but right now she’d have won hands down.
Should she try and make a run for it? He was distracted, vacillating between watching her and yelling into the phone. If only he’d lose focus long enough for her to make it to the door, she might have a chance.
He finally hung up and walked toward her, his every move menacing and terrifying. Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, Suzanna readied herself, knowing a desperate man wouldn’t be thinking clearly. He’d come with a specific purpose, to get money. He’d talked about ransom when he’d first come in, and she had the feeling she was about to become a statistic of senseless violence. If he had decided to kidnap her, she knew chances were good she’d never get out of this situation alive. Kidnap victims rarely did.
“You come with me now.” Once again the gun was pointed at her face, and she blinked. The barrel seemed huge, and she wondered if it would hurt when the bullet struck. TV and movies always made it seem simple. One shot and you’re dead. But what were her choices? Be killed here or go with him and be killed someplace else. Didn’t seem like good odds either way.
“No.”
“No? You come. I won’t hurt you. Will demand big ransom. Family pay to get you back.”
“I won’t go with you. You’ll kill me.”
He shook his head vehemently. “No kill. Take to safe place. Get ransom.”
“No ransom. No money. My husband was rich, but he is dead. His company has all the money, not me.”
