Page 3 of Spider

“Yeah, I’m done,” she said. She swung the stump at his head, and he ducked.

“What the hell are you doing?” he breathed.

“Getting out of here,” she said.

“There’s no way out of here,” he shouted. “Even if you do manage to land a blow with that thing, you’ll never find your way out of here.”

“I’ll take my chances,” she said, swinging the plank of wood at his head again. This time, she followed it up with a jab to the stomach and when he doubled over, she hammered him in the jaw and then finished him off with a thrust to the skull. He saw stars and knew that he wasn’t going to be able to keep from passing out. He fell back against the wall and slumped to the floor, cursing himself for playing the fool as his world went dark. He could have called for help, but that would have only gotten the woman killed and that wasn’t something he could risk, even if she was being a total bitch.

The last thing he remembered seeing was the woman dropping the wood to the ground, pulling his gun from his hands, and taking off down the hallway. He tried to tell her that she didn’t have to do this—that he’d help her, but why would she believe him? She had no reason to and that was the very last thought he had before he passed out.

* * *

Spider woke when the cold water that Hangman poured on him felt like a literal slap in the damn face. “Wake the fuck up,” Hangman growled.

“What happened?” Spider asked, grabbing his head, and groaning at the pain he felt from just that simple gesture.

“You let my product escape,” Hangman shouted. “You were supposed to take her to the fucking bathroom and back to her cage. Instead, you let that woman best you, and now, she’s gone.”

Spider stood from the floor, still holding his throbbing head, and stared Hangman down. “She’s gone?” he asked. A part of him was happy that she was able to escape, but he knew that wasn’t what Hangman wanted from him. He expected him to grovel and beg him for another chance, and that was just what Spider was going to do.

“She’s gone,” Hangman repeated, “she left through the side door that someone left unlocked. You know anything about that?” he asked. Spider knew all about it since he was the one who had left the door unlocked. It was his way out in case of an emergency. He knew that shit could go sideways fast, and he needed an escape route, just in case.

“No idea why someone left the side door unlocked,” Spider lied. Hangman looked him over as though he could see straight through him, and he knew that he was going to have to do some fast talking to get out of this mess. “I’ll go after her, boss.”

“Damn straight you’ll go after her,” Hangman yelled, “and if you come back here without her, you’ll pay for your stupidity.” He wasn’t sure how Hangman planned on making him pay, but he had a pretty good idea that it would involve a whole lot of pain and unnecessary violence.

“Got it,” Spider said. “I’ll check in soon,” he assured. He didn’t have any plans to check back in with Hangman because there was no way that he’d be able to bring that woman back to the warehouse. He knew that either way, he was probably dead. Hangman wasn’t the kind of boss who gave second chances, not even if Spider was lucky enough to find the woman and bring her back. He fucked up and his new boss wasn’t going to let him live to regret it.

Amelia

Amelia knew that her luck wouldn’t last and that sooner or later, someone would find the guy she knocked out and come after her. The problem was that she had no idea where she was and had nothing except the dirty clothes on her back and her determination to try to find someone to help her.

“You look lost,” a homeless man called to her from a bench by the street. She knew that he might be her only hope in gaining her freedom, but she also didn’t like the way that he looked her body over. It was almost as though he could see straight through what little clothing she was wearing.

“I am lost,” she called back to him, not daring to close the distance between them. “You wouldn’t by chance have a cell phone that I could borrow to make a call, would you?” she asked.

“No,” he breathed, “but if you can spare a few dollars, I’d be happy to show you out of this God-awful city. You don’t look like you belong here.”

“Can you tell me what city this is?” she asked.

“You really don’t know where you are, do you?” he asked.

“No, as I’ve already said, I’m lost,” she reminded. “What city is this?”

“You’re in Birmingham,” he said. “Where are you from?”

“Huntsville,” she admitted. The drive felt like it took a little over an hour, and she was right. She just had no idea which direction they were driving in or where they ended up.

“You’re a long way from Huntsville. Are you parked around here?” he asked.

She looked around, as if trying to actually spot her car, and laughed to herself. What the hell was wrong with her? Her car was back at the club where she had left it the night before. She wasn’t going to find it sitting on the street corner around Birmingham.

“Um, yeah,” she lied. “I think it’s parked on the next street over. Thanks for the help. I think I just got a little bit turned around. Have a good night,” she called to the man. He nodded at her from the bench, and she turned to leave. Amelia was going to have to find an open business—a restaurant or gas station, and she wasn’t sure that she’d get that lucky at this time of night. Hell, she wasn’t even sure what time it was. It was dark, but that was about all she had to go by since her kidnappers took her cellphone from her when they drugged and took her.

She walked as fast as she could over to the next street and looked back to make sure that no one was following her, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the homeless guy still sitting on the bench. Amelia turned the corner and walked into what felt like a brick wall. She almost fell to the ground, but the brick wall wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her close. She looked up into the man’s eyes and realized that it was the same guy she had just knocked out back at the warehouse.

“Don’t scream,” he ordered.

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