Getaway
She looked into the dark room, her jaw clenched. The floor was damp and the smell of rotting wood mixed with the hot sticky air. Mold grew in gray spots on the white plaster ceiling with a creaky fan in the middle of the room. Underneath the fan, a lonely chair sat in the middle of the room. A figure was tied to the back of the chair, gagged, and blindfolded. There was a small window by the floor, but it allowed only enough light to dimly suggest the figure was tied to the chair.
She stepped onto the failing floorboards gently and crept towards the figure. At the sound of noise it tried to look for the source of the sound, but was restricted.
“We’re here to help,” she said cutting the ropes quickly.
The figure was still. She pulled it upward and tried to get it to stand up, but it was having trouble. She motioned for one of the people with her to take its arm.
“Do you have the money?” it whispered.
“Never mind about that.”
“How are we going to get out?”
“I’m trying to figure that out, now.”
She peeked outside the room into the sterile hall. The eeriness came from the silence and them being alone. The walls were blinding and they melded into the floor and ceiling. Except for the scuffmarks from where they’d come, she’d believe that the whole thing had been turned on its head for someone’s enjoyment. She stepped out and led the troop of three down the hall where her captain was still talking to the head of this operation.
She lost no time in waving her partners to the exit and put the person they had saved in the car. She could see now, it was another girl. Her hair was cut short and ragged, and she was covered in cuts and scrapes. On the way, she had collapsed and it was easy for them to gently fold her up in the trunk for a fast getaway.
“I hope she’s ok,” one of her partners said.
“She’ll be fine, if Isaac would hurry up.”
Finally, their captain came out of the building and moved fairly quickly towards the car. Everyone fell into line, one person taking the driver’s seat, one in the passengers with his gun loaded and cocked, and she was in the back waiting for her boss. He slipped neatly into the back seat and locked the door.
“Step on it, Shannon,” he said. Without further instructions, Shannon pressed the accelerator and at fourty miles per hour, shot out of the parking lot and towards the highway.
“Where to, captain?” she asked.
“The Purple Hotel,” he said. “Try to get there by seven o’clock.”
“So what happened?” she asked Isaac. He sighed.
“Nothing much. I managed to give them a small down payment, but they’re not willing to give up the girl. By the way, where is she?”
“In the trunk.”
“You never cease to amaze me with your hospitality, Teagan.”
“It seemed the easiest place if we get stopped on the road. The girl passed out anyway.”
“I’m just going to take your word on it that she’s actually there.”
“She is,” the gunman in the front seat said, “we dragged her out.”
“Once she’s in the hotel, Shannon you’re going to stay. Teagan, Darryl, you’re going with me back to headquarters. But give Shannon the gun because they’re not going to be happy when they find out the check is fake.”
“What’s this all about anyway?” Teagan asked. “We haven’t got a lot of answers.”
“Someone made a backroom deal at one point that never went through. It was probably a bet off the Boston Red Socks, but I don’t remember anymore.”
“You don’t know any more than we do, do you Isaac?”
He laughed. “Not really. I used to be in the know, but now I just order people around and pass of illegal checks to places in power. I’m getting too old to do the dirty work, anyway.”
“This route’s been pretty quite,” Shannon said. “Nothing out there?”
“Just cars,” Teagan said. “And good riddance. Could you imagine if they hit the trunk?”
The car pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a large hotel. Shannon got out first, and then Darryl. Teagan got out and switched places with Shannon, who opened the trunk with the keys before tossing them in the open window to the new driver. Darryl put his arm gently around the girl and walked her to the lobby of the hotel.
“Jeeze, she looks awful.”
“Don’t manhandle her next time,” Isaac said from the back seat. “And look sharp, there’s someone in that black car that looks very out of place.”
Teagan looked in the rearview mirror. “They look normal to me.”
Just then, Darryl came out of the hotel and walked past the couple. The man glanced at Darryl and moved towards his inside coat pocket. Teagan reared the engine a bit in warning and Darryl walked faster towards the car. But the other man hadn’t done anything by the time Darryl had reached the car and got in the back seat. Teagan pulled away as quickly as she dared.
“To headquarters,” Isaac called to her from the backseat. “And don’t push the speed, I don’t want to get stopped by cops.”
“Gee, Isaac. Trust me for once.”
“I will. Just please drive the speed limit.”
