AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I felt bad, hearing her call out my name. She had to think I forgot to wait for her. I peeked out from under my blanket to see her holding two hot chocolates. The Tylenol must have kicked in, because I’d fallen asleep. Hours had to have gone by. Quite possibly, the medicine wearing off had caused me to wake. And wake, I did. I woke to my eye throbbing and my foot sticking out from under the workshop.
Holy cow! How did my foot escape? I hope no one saw it.
I yanked my foot back in under the wall. Usually, I slept in a ball, but I must have relaxed enough for this to happen. I was a bit disoriented, forgetting I wasn’t in my car but in the workshop.
I must have hurt my head, but it was just a cell phone, that couldn’t be it. Maybe I’m just over-tired.
I heard a noise outside. I figured it was Toby making rounds but, on further inspection, I didn’t see Toby. I checked my watch. It wasn’t the time of night that Toby makes his rounds. Something told me to stay under the blanket. I could sense movement around me but was too afraid to look. I buried myself further under the blanket, being careful to draw my feet in under as well.
It’s them. I know it is. Oh my God. Did the mall just go dark?
“It’s time to come on out. It’s over,” I heard the familiar voice say into the darkness.
I didn’t move. Maybe they were bluffing. Tears rolled down my cheek and I fought to contain myself. I had no idea if I was in legal trouble. I did know I was fired. I laid there under the blanket, panicking, trying to figure out what to do.
“Paige, it’s Gunner. Come on out and let me help you,” he said. “I have the lights off so only the five of us will know who you are.”
Can I trust him? People in authority have lied to me my entire life. Why would he be different?
“Red, I promise we can help you. Let us.” Charlie pointed a flashlight into where I hid. “We understand what you’ve been through. We have connections, but you have to trust us.”
I was caught and we all knew it. I pushed the blanket down and sat up. The tears running down my cheek turned into full-on balling. I think I was letting out months of held-in emotions. They said nothing, nor did they try to force me out, and I appreciated that time to release.
“Red, if you come out of there, I’d like to give you a hug.” Charlie rolled the flashlight in to me. “That’s so you can see where you’re going. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Maybe I can trust them. I have nothing to lose.
I slowly gathered my stuff and crawled out. They were all sitting on the floor just outside of the workshop. I couldn’t really see their faces, but I knew they were there.
“What now?”
“Wrap that blanket around yourself and follow us,” Gunner said. “We’re gonna go talk.”
“Did you call the police?” I wiped at tears.
“Of course not, we don’t need the police,” Gunner said. “I said trust us. We can help you.”
I followed them through the dark mall in the opposite direction of the security office. I started to think they were escorting me out, but then we entered a different set of offices. Someone flicked the lights on. I put my head down to shield the harshness of the lights. When I adjusted to it, I looked up, straight into the eyes of four men. No one spoke for what felt like an eternity.
Come on, say something.
“I thought I was doing a good job avoiding you,” I groaned. “I should have known.”
“It’s been fun, honestly.” Gunner handed me a tissue. “We came in here so Toby wouldn’t know about this. We’ve done our homework on you. You’re a good kid.”
“I gave a fake name on my application. How could you know who I was?” I looked to Gunner. “We matched your license plate. It wasn’t real hard. It’s all about paying attention.”
“My license plate? How?” I blinked in surprise.
“Like I said, we pay attention. There’s a car that stays in the back part of the parking lot and never moves. We questioned the daytime security. He was a little jumpy with his response.” Gunner showed me a picture of my car and my driver’s license. “He told us it belonged to a mall employee.”
“My friend ran the plates and, looky there, that girl named Paige looks just like you,” Charlie grinned. “You were cute trying to avoid giving us your name.”
“You already knew it was me, then. All that time you were stalking me?” I asked. “Why not confront me?”
“Charlie was having fun and you weren’t going anywhere.” Gunner handed me more papers. “This is a complete background check on you.”
“Who are you guys?” I looked at page after page of details of my sad life. “Who do you work for, again?”
