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“This is good,” Vinnie said. “Marcus and Luther are in there organizing the latest batch of workers. That means they aren’t going to be on the fifth floor.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
We ran up to the fifth floor and discovered that a large part of the space was unused storage. It would have made an amazing loft but currently it was a depository of mouse droppings and cobwebs. The open storage backed up to a hallway that contained the windowless rooms being used as dorms and cells. The freight elevator was positioned in the middle of the long hall and there were stairs at either end.
We started at one end of the hallway. I tried the keys on the guard’s key ring and found one that opened the door to the first room. No one there. The key worked on all the other doors, but Lula wasn’t in any of the rooms.
“Now what?” Vinnie asked.
“We try the other floors.”
We went into the stairwell and heard shouting and people running up the stairs.
“They’re looking for us,” Vinnie said.
We exited the stairwell and ran down the hall to the stairs at the other end. We burst into the stairwell and stopped and listened. Nothing.
“I vote we go to the garage and get the hell out of here,” Vinnie said. “We’ll get the Marines and the cavalry and come back for Lula.”
“Agreed!”
We bolted down the stairs. I was behind Vinnie, and Vinnie was flying with a ten-foot lead on me. I reached a landing, a door suddenly opened to the side of me, and I was grabbed and yanked inside. It was the room with the long tables and laundry carts. The women from the truck were huddled together at the far end of the room. One of the armed guards stood next to them. Luther had wrestled me into the room, and he kicked the door shut and threw me onto the floor like I was a rag doll. I hit the concrete hard and the Glock flew out of my hand and slid across the floor.
Luther came at me, grabbed the front of my sweatshirt, and dragged me to my feet.
“In the beginning I just wanted my money,” he said, “but now I hate you.” He made a fist and pulled his arm back to hit me.
“Not in the face!” I said. “My eyes are still black and blue from when I tried to shoot you.”
“I want my money.”
“I keep telling you. I don’t have it. I don’t know where it is. I was lucky to find the coin. I had no idea it was associated with a lot of money.”
“Where did you find the coin?”
“I got it from one of the street vendors on Wheaton Street. It was just dumb luck.”
“You’re lying. It’s not even a good lie. I know you have the money. You’re driving a brand-new Discovery.”
“My boyfriend gave it to me.”
“Your boyfriend is a cop. He doesn’t have that kind of money. He drives a crappy green SUV.”
“It was my other boyfriend.”
“You have two boyfriends? Sweetheart, you aren’t that hot. You’re lucky the cop likes you.”
“I know,” I said. “I can’t figure it out either.”
“Where’s Jimbo?” Luther yelled at the guard.
“He’s in the kitchen icing his gonads,” the guard said.
“I need someone to take Miss Plum upstairs,” Luther said.
“I’ll take her,” the guard said. “I was going upstairs anyway. I was going to show the girls their room.”
“Cuff her,” Luther said. “And shoot her if you have to but try not to kill her.”
