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“Right,” she rolls her eyes. “The time of my life. Wonderful. So I’m stuck down here forever.”
I cough and grab at a cigarette. “Look, I should go,” I say. The look in her eyes haunts me. It’s pure terror. “But I’m going to come back here every night. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
I’m sure it’s not much consolation, but I know these dudes. They’re tough, and they don’t give a shit about some yuppie from the Pennsylvania. They care about money, killing, and fucking. That’s about it. I’ll need some time before I get her out of this mess.
“You’re just going to leave me?” she asks, tears filling her eyes. “So, we both came, and now you feel good about yourself, so you leave me to die?”
“Have you listened to a word I’ve told you?” I ask her. “You ain’t going to die. Not yet, at least. I’ll protect you. You just have to trust me.”
“You’re a snake,” she sneers. “You disgust me. I don’t want anything to do with you, or your stupid little gang. You deserve to be hunted down.”
“Okay. Fine. I deserve all that and more,” I say.
“So, let me go,” she pleads. “Let me out. I promise, I won’t say anything.”
“I wasn’t okay with putting you down here in the first place,” I tell her. “I have to follow their lead. I’m practically nothing at this point. I’m a pile of shit on the side of the road. All of the gangs are probably trying to find me now. I’m like you.”
The idea hits me straight in the fucking face. I’m like her.
I may not be locked up at the bottom of some cellar, but I’m hunted. I’m shackled. Only, my chains aren’t physical. My chains are the head that arrived on my doorstep the other day. My chain is watching my gang slowly disappear into oblivion.
Where’s the contact from any of them? They were supposed to give me word about what was happening. That’s the protocol for this sort of thing. Yet, there’s radio silence. Nothing. Not even one letter.
We both fall silent at this realization. “I’m sorry about your friend,” she says with enough honesty for me to believe her.
“It’s okay. Shit happens. It’s always a possibility,” I say. “Death is always lurking.”
“Just don’t let me get hurt. Get me out of here. Please,” she begs.
And when I look in her eyes, I have to feel sorry for her. I have to give her my word.
“I promise I’ll fix this,” I tell her. “They’ll be here soon. I’ll see you later. Swear on my life.”
She falls against the mattress, and I lock her chains around her wrists again. It’s not what I want to be doing right now. I’m heartless, but I’m not so heartless as to keep a woman down here against her will. Putting the chains back on makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I turn and leave, taking the key. This is hard. I think I like this woman, oddly enough. She’s got a different perspective from the rest of the women around me. She actually listens to me. Women never listen to me.
When I’m outside the hole, I lock it up and turn toward my car. In just a few seconds, I see the dust flying up over two motorcycles.
Instinct kicks in. I grab my gun, but I quickly realize it’s no threat. It’s Andy and Jeffco.
“Fancy finding you two here,” I tell them.
“Shut the hell up,” Jeffco says. “Have you checked on her?”
“Nah. Just got here myself. I heard her screaming something a second ago. I think she heard me roll up,” I tell them, carefully reading their eye movements.
Are they on to me? So far, it doesn’t seem like it. They look completely clueless, as usual.
“Well, that’s to be expected,” he says, walking toward the door in the ground.
“What’re we going to do with her?” I ask them. “What’s the plan?”
Jeffco stops and turns to me, grabbing his revolver. “Well, I reckon we have some fun,” he smiles. “We’ll see what happens in a few days, I guess.”
“You want to kill her? Is that what you’re saying?” I ask him.
“I’m saying, we’ll find out later. Jesus, what’s gotten into you, brother? You’re starting to worry me a little with all that talk,” he says.
