“Fuck!” Todd cursed, yanking the steering wheel with a savage tug.
The car limped off the highway, bounding down a frontage road. I don’t know how long he drove. It could’ve been a minute or ten, but it didn’t matter, because with each turn of the rapidly deflating tires we lost speed.
Soon, the damage grew too great. The tires exploded into shreds, thumping along the road beneath us. I grabbed hold of the door handle while the powerful vibrations of the wheel’s steel grinding on the dirt road’s surface rattled the teeth inside of my head.
Todd drove on as long as he could, until at last he came to a stop. A huge dust cloud swallowed us, blocking my view of the surroundings. Without thinking, I turned towards him and, making a fist, punched him in the shoulder with a series of quick strikes.
“What the hell is going on? Who is shooting at us?”
After the third blow Todd snatched my wrist, wrapping his fingers around it and squeezing, shaking it back and forth for emphasis.
“Calm the fuck down. Be quiet!”
He never blinked. I don’t think he even took a breath. His stare went straight through me. Stunned, I looked at his hand when a horrible realization hit me.
He knew exactly what was happening.
With all of my strength, I yanked my hand away from his grasp. “Don’t tell me what to do!”
He shook his head and leaned in towards me. “If you don’t listen to me, you will die.”
His words hung in the air but didn’t hold my attention for long. The sound of a clacking noise against the window shifted my focus. I swallowed hard and looked towards it. Just beyond the thin plate glass stood a man wearing a ski mask and pointing his gun directly at me.
“Get out,” Todd began, breaking my attention. “Keep your mouth shut.”
With that, he unlocked the door, and before I could even reach for the handle, it flew open.
“Relax, chica. Get out slow,” the gunman said, a thick Mexican accent hanging on every syllable. He motioned for me to approach him. “Come stand next to me. Don’t say a word.”
After a couple of cautious steps, I looked towards Todd. The gunman who pointed a pistol at him was not as polite.
“Where is it, homes?” he asked, shoving Todd with his free hand.
Todd scoffed at the question.
“Where’s what? Who the fuck are you?”
Without a word, the man stepped forward and pressed his pistol against Todd’s temple.
“Only someone as stupid as you would take the money he got for transporting stolen shit and spend it on a ride like this.”
Todd turned his head to say something, but before he could the man spoke again.
“We don’t have time to fuck around. Five seconds. Open the trunk or you’re dead.”
Todd raised his hands in mock surrender, trying to reason with the man.
“Look, I don’t know who sent you, but what’s in there doesn’t belong to them. I’m telling you, you are making a big mistake by…”
The gunman pulled the pistol away, and with lightning-like reflexes punched Todd across the face.
“That’s where you’re wrong – you’re the thief, esse! You don’t have to tell me anything. Do what I said. Open the trunk. Last chance!”
No sooner had he spoken those words than he confirmed my suspicion. Todd knew exactly what they were after, why they’d chased us down. Confused, I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening.
The Todd I knew wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t a thug. He wasn’t like all the guys who came into the casino – the tourists, the addicted gamblers, the middle-aged businessmen desperate to drown their dissatisfaction with life with cheap drinks and a weekend getaway in Vegas from the hellish obligations of home.
I refocused my attention on him.
Who was Todd?
For all I knew, he was a mild-mannered stockbroker with a slightly-higher-than-average-five-figure income. He’d come into the casino trying to get new business for his company. Imagine being so desperate for clients that you want to sign up cocktail waitresses!
Most of my coworkers laughed in his face and so did I, at first. But, I’d been around the game for a couple of years by that time. I knew my days as a server were numbered. Sure, I made a bunch of money, but so did lots of the other girls.
What did they have to show for it? The same as me.
Nothing.
So I decided – what the hell? I might as well do something productive with my cash. Who better to help me with that than Todd? Later, the other girls joined in. He’d made them money, too. Quite a bit of money, actually.
What reason did I have not to trust him? Hell, date him?
Fast forward to now. All that history rushed into the forefront of my mind. The money, the car. I looked down – the ring. Where had it all come from? It was obvious now that Todd was involved in some shady, shady fucking shit.
Just then, the gunman yelled at him, snapping me out of it.
“Open the fuckin’ trunk or so help me to fuck you’re dead, you piece of shit!”
I looked on in disbelief. None of this could be happening, should be happening. Insanity seemed like an understatement. Todd nodded his head, reached for the trunk and opened it. Stepping away, he raised his hands in the air again and pointed towards the back of the car.
“There it is, okay? Just take the case.”
The man shook his head. “Open it.”
Todd didn’t say a word, only shaking his head in response. Again, the gunman moved in his direction and jammed the pistol against the side of Todd’s head.
“If you don’t open it… she… dies.”
I die? Me!? Why do I have to die?
The thoughts came quickly to me. Todd closed his eyes for an instant while I fought my panic. He opened them again, only this time he stared right through me like I didn’t exist, muttering a sentence I’d never forget.
“Go ahead. I don’t care what you do to her.”
My knees wobbled. Lightheaded, I caught a glimpse of the engagement ring still on my finger while the callousness of my would-be-fiancé echoed in my ears.
It got worse. He didn’t stop. Not even close.
Pointing at me, he continued. “Go ahead and do it. She doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“You…!” I yelled, about to unleash hell on him.
But before I could say another word, the gunman pulled the hammer back on his pistol and pointed it at Todd.
“Have it your way, shithead. Enjoy seeing the whore in hell.”
Bang!
I staggered backwards, raising my hands towards my mouth and covering it. Todd’s head exploded. Blood sprayed in a wave across the roof of the Mercedes, a few drops of it splattering inches from my feet.
Holy shit! I shook. Quaked. Fuck!
What remained of Todd’s semi-headless torso disappeared behind the outline of the car with a sickening thump.
The man behind me groaned.
“What the fuck! That’s not what we were supposed to do! To get the bounty we had to bring his ass in with the case – alive. Now look, you…”
The other gunmen waved him off.
“That thieving shit was going to die one way or another. Don’t worry about the bounty. We’ll still get it. The only thing that matters is what’s in the case.”