Change of Heart (11 page)

The conviction in his words is undeniable. But I already know how good a liar Rich is. “I’m not convinced.”

“If I were working with them,” he reasons, his voice a low growl, “would I need to sneak in through the fucking ventilation shaft to get you?”

“It could be an act,” I point out stubbornly. “Bait me into going with you to prove I’m uncooperative. Victor seems like the kind with a lot of anger inside. He’d jump on the chance to teach me a lesson.”

“Penny. Look at me.” Rich stares down at me and holds my gaze. For the first time, I notice that his eyes are red from lack of sleep. There are stress lines on his face that weren’t there before. They make him look older. No. Not older.
Wearier
. “I promise you, I am
not
working with them. Even if I were, it wouldn’t matter. You’re not supposed to be in any danger. You’re not the one they want.”

I blink. “What do you mean?”

“Think! Before you met me, did you believe anyone had reason to kidnap you?”

“No, but random crimes happen all the time—” I protest.

“They do
not
.” He gives a mocking snicker. “There’s always a motivation. You’re so naïve sometimes, Penny. But then I forget. You’re still very young, aren’t you?”

“And you’re a condescending asshole,” I snarl, twisting out of his grip. “I’ve gone through more shit in my life than would fit in two of yours. That’s not even counting this fucking disaster!”

Rich glares at me. For a second, I think he’s going to argue. Instead, he takes a deep breath and holds his hands up placatingly. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” He takes a small step toward me

“You do that a lot,” I note. I look back. I have nowhere to go. I don’t want him any closer.

He smiles. For the first time, the expression actually looks genuine. “You bring out the best in me.”

“I—”

“Just listen. The only reason you’re here is because these men believe you’re someone else.”

My eyes narrow. “Who?”

Rich shakes his head. “It’s a long story. There’s no time right now.” He looks over his shoulder, anxious. “We need to get out. I’ve distracted Tam, but Victor’s still around. We’re going to need to get past him.”

“Tam?”

Rich points to his scalp. “The bald one. You wouldn’t think it, but he’s the more dangerous of the two.”

“Actually, I had a pretty good idea,” I comment drily.

Rich makes a sour expression of disbelief. “Right. Whatever. Point is, we’re losing time squabbling over nothing. I came here to get you out. Until I do that, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“And if I refuse?”

“If you refuse,” Rich smiles, “I’ll give you another Pepsi and carry you out over my shoulders.”

***

As I follow Rich through the back corridors of the building, my mind teems with unanswered questions. It’s obvious from the surroundings that we are in some type of bar. We pass a storage room, a kitchen, and a peculiar looking closet stacked to the ceiling with unlabeled wooden crates. When I ask Rich about them, he shakes his head and tells me it’s better not to know.

So, I follow him quietly through the halls, trying to find the answers that would let any of this make sense.

Rich had said I wasn’t the one Tam and Victor wanted. That meant
he
knew about my mistaken identity, even though they did not. The only reasonable conclusion was that, for one reason or another, Rich had set me up. He’d pawned me off to the two men, misleading them to believe I was somebody else. But, who? And, why?

I look at Rich warily. I’m stuck with him for now, but have every intention of escaping from his company as soon as I get the chance. How can I trust somebody like him? I cannot.

He peeks around one corner, then recoils, cursing. “Shit!”

“What is it?” I whisper.

“Victor’s there. Between us and the doors.” He gestures for me to come and look. Carefully, I bring my head around the corner. We’re standing at the staff entrance to the bar. I can see the entire place from here. It’s dark, grimy, and empty. The chairs are stacked upside down on the tables, each a replica of the one I’d been tied to. Dust covers most of them. It doesn’t look like there has been a patron here for weeks.

My eyes move to the doors, obvious even in the dim light by the red “EXIT” sign above them. Sure enough, Victor is there. He’s seated at a table close to the doors, leaning his great bulk over a light in his hands. His phone.

He has a pitcher of beer on the table. I watch as he takes a bored swallow, wipes his beard with one hand, and turns his attention back to his phone.

I turn back to Rich. “Now what? We can’t just get by him, can we? Is there another way out?”

Rich shakes his head. “The back exit leads to an alley that’s fenced off. This is the only way in or out.”

“How did you get in here?”

“Through a window,” Rich shrugs. “But it’s a long drop down.”

I jump as Victor coughs, choking on a mouthful of beer. When he quiets down, my heart is beating so loudly in my chest that I’m afraid the sound will give us away. “Let’s do it,” I say, my voice unsteady. I take a breath to settle my nerves. “Try the window, I mean.”

Rich shakes his head again. “It’s too high up to reach from inside.” He gives me an appraising look. “Especially for you.”

I hit him on the arm playfully before I remember myself. I blush at my own stupidity. His eyebrows go up in surprise, but that’s all the reaction he gives.

“I climbed a gutter outside to reach the window,” he continues. “There’s nothing either of us can grab onto to reach it from inside. Our only option is in front of us.”

“Guarded by a bear,” I mutter under my breath.

“Right.” Rich smiles. “But you haven’t seen me in action yet.”

“What?” I ask. “What do you mean…?”

Before the words are out of my throat, Rich is gone. With the slender grace of a dancer, he slides soundlessly behind the bar. He ducks down. When he reemerges there’s a heavy wine bottle in his hand. He shoots me a smile and wink, then crouches low and begins darting from the cover of one table to the next.

I have a bad feeling about what Rich is planning. But I can’t do anything but watch.

Victor is still engaged with his phone. Rich moves like a ninja, until he’s mere feet away from Victor. The bigger man still has no idea anything’s going on behind him.

My nails dig deep into the flesh of my palms. I’m dying from anxiety. If anything goes wrong…

Rich straightens behind Victor. He glances over at me, to make sure I’m watching, and gives me a great, wide smile.
Hit him!
I want to scream. Every moment Rich delays just gives Victor another moment to turn around and see us.

With the showmanship of a street performer, Rich flips the bottle in the air. He catches it by the neck on its way down. His arrogance astounds me. Victor is still oblivious to what’s going on behind his back. Finally, mercifully, Rich hefts the bottle with both hands, brings it above one shoulder, and swings it at Victor’s head.

The bottle crashes into the big man’s skull with enormous force. The glass shatters. Victor collapses from his seat to the floor. Dark, frothy liquid gushes everywhere.

Rich looks down, then back at me. “See?” he calls out. “Easy as—”

“Oh, my God!” I scream, “Rich, watch out!”

Rich whips around. He jumps back just in time to avoid Victor’s lunge at his legs. Apparently, the bottle did nothing but daze the enormous man.

Victor pushes himself to his knees. His face is twisted in a dark mask of fury. Blood trickles down the back of his neck from the head wound. His eyes find Rich. “
You
,” he growls. With an ear-splitting roar, Victor launches himself at Rich.

Rich sidesteps the attack—but just barely. Victor crashes into a table, knocking over the chairs stacked on top. He picks himself up and turns around. Rich is positioned about ten feet away, his hands up defensively, his knees bent. Rich is the taller of the two, but I would never have bet on him in this fight. Victor must outweigh him by at least eighty pounds.

Victor picks up a chair and hurls it at Rich. Rich ducks under its path. It collides with another stack of chairs behind him, sending them all toppling to the floor.

“Come now,” Rich taunts in a low voice. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Enraged, Victor roars again and barrels toward Rich. At that moment, I’m reminded of a linebacker with a clear lane to sack the quarterback. Rich surprises me with his quickness. He kicks up a stool just before Victor reaches him, then curls to the side and slams it hard against Victor’s back. The stool shatters. Pieces flew everywhere.

The blow sends the bigger man staggering a few steps. When he turns around, there’s bloodlust in his eyes. “I’m going to kill you,” he promises Rich. “And when I’m done, I’m going to go back and rape that slut sister of yours.” He smiles through his thick beard. “In fact, I think I might keep you alive long enough to watch, yes? Just so you can hear her scream.”

Rich doesn’t answer. Victor reaches to his belt. My heart leaps to my throat when I see him pull out a large hunting knife. Rich has no chance against an armed man Victor’s size—not without a weapon of his own.

Not a flicker of fear shows on Rich’s face. Only grim determination.

Never taking his eyes off Victor, he kneels down and picks up a broken leg of the stool. The piece of wood isn’t much longer than Victor’s knife. He might as well be fighting with a pillow for all the advantage it gives him.

This time, Victor approaches Rich slowly. Rich steps sideways, and the two men start circling each other in the clearing they made. Victor continues his taunts, but Rich does not respond. He just watches the big man, cautious, wary.

Without warning, Victor lunges forward and stabs at Rich’s body. Rich steps aside and hits Victor’s extended arm away, letting the large man’s momentum carry him forward. With a flick of the wrist, Rich’s wooden rod comes up, and catches Victor in the mouth. I hear a sickening crunch.

Victor falls against a table. He spits out a mouthful of blood, then picks himself up and spins around, swinging his knife wildly. The blade catches nothing but air. Rich is already a safe distance away.

Rich and Victor begin to circle one another again. It’s like watching two feral cats, each searching for a weakness in the other. Victor tries another slash, aimed at Rich’s face. Rich swoops beneath it. He slams his makeshift weapon into Victor’s knees. Victor cries out in a mixture of pain and rage.

I don’t know where Rich learned to fight, but I decide that I’d underestimated him before. Even without a real weapon, he’s more than a match for Victor.

As Victor scrambles up again, the blood making a nasty red stain where his mouth should be, I also decide that now is my best chance to slip away unseen.

I crouch low and start to make my way from table to table, keeping to the outside of the room. The sounds of the fight continue. Mostly it’s just Victor’s heavy breathing, interrupted every so often by a curse, or a grunt, or another roar. I take that as a good sign. It means that Rich still has the upper hand.

I creep from table to table, quick as a rabbit. Soon, I’m at the last table before the doors. They’re at the end of a short corridor. But, there’s a problem: There’s nowhere for me to take cover between here and there.

My only chance is to make a run for it. I peek over the tabletop to where the men are fighting. They’re still focused on each other. But if I stand and run, I’d be dangerously exposed. Even if I get outside, I don’t know how far my still-frozen limbs can carry me. I don’t even know
where
this bar is.

I duck down, considering my options. The grunts and noises of the fight continue. If I wait for Rich to win… then I’ll be putting myself back in his arms.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me
. I do not want to rely on Rich for anything else. Ever again.

That seals my decision. Taking a deep breath, I stand and run forward…

“Penny!” It’s Rich. “No!”

I spin around. Horror fills me at what I see.

Victor is staring at me with rage in his eyes. He’s bloodied and bruised, while Rich is none the worse for wear. But Victor is about twenty feet closer to me than Rich is.

With a vicious snarl, Victor launches himself at me. Horrified, I turn and run for the doors. I reach them, and press down on the handle. They don’t budge.

Oh, shit!!!

I turn around to see the hulking beast of a man lumbering toward me. A sharp beam of light reflects from his cruel blade. I hesitate too long in the corridor, and suddenly I’m trapped. Victor’s massive shape fills my only escape route. He stops, his eyes dark and greedy. He looks like something out of a horror movie. Blood mattes his hair and continues running down his neck. His gaping mouth is red and snarling like an inferno. I have nowhere to go. I—