“You can call me Bruce,” he said, with a ghost of a smile. “And you might live through this yet,” he said. “You’re only a means to an end. We don’t have any beef with you. Best you not give us one.”
“So this is all just to get to Shane?”
“Absolutely,” he said, “and, after we’ve got him, you can leave. We’ll let you go,” he said. And, with a smile, he turned and walked out.
But absolutely nothing in that smile made her believe him. As a matter of fact, she was pretty damn sure he had lied. They wouldn’t let her go. No way.
Chapter 2
Shelly settled back in the corner. She’d been allowed to move over there, so she could rest her head back. Other than that, she was left in silence. She wanted to ask a million questions, but there just didn’t seem to be anything she could do. Her mind spun endlessly, figuring out a way to get out of here. Just then another woman was shoved into the room with her. She looked up to see Mary, an older coworker, her face flushed and her hands shaking, as she fell slightly, catching herself on the table. Immediately Shelly hopped up and hurried to her. “Are you okay?”
Mary looked at her worriedly. “What’s going on?” she asked. “What do these men want?”
“They want somebody I know,” she said quietly. “Apparently they took me captive in order to bring him here.”
“Why?” Mary wailed. “I just saw Mr. Markham. He was such a nice man.”
“I know, and he didn’t deserve this,” she said quietly.
At that, Mary started to cry. “It’s just terrible,” she said.
“Did they say why you’re here, Mary?”
“No,” she said. “I just wanted to go home.”
“Did you ask to go home?”
“No,” she said. “I didn’t think they would listen to me.”
“Probably not,” she said, her tone sympathetic. “They seem to be pretty gung ho on getting what they want.”
“What is that though?” she asked. “They’re not saying anything.”
“No, and it makes it that much harder to deal with them,” Shelly said quietly. “I just keep hoping that something will happen, and we can get out of this nightmare.”
“I don’t know how,” Mary said. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Neither did I,” Shelly said.
“But at least you know somebody,” she said resentfully. “That involves you more than it involves me.”
Shelly stared at Mary in surprise. “It doesn’t involve me at all, Mary. It’s somebody I grew up with,” she said. “And, as a matter of fact, he’s putting his life in danger to come here.”
“Well, if he’s got a beef with these guys, it’s best that they sort it out themselves and keep us out of it,” Mary said, sounding bitter.
“Well, I’m not at all sure they have a beef with him,” she said, and slowly she helped the older woman to sit down in a chair. The woman was shaky and distraught. Shelly understood where she was coming from, but it still didn’t sit right that she would blame her or Shane. “Let’s give the police a chance to sort this out,” she said.
At that, Mary looked at her in surprise. “Do they even know?”
“Well, I would imagine so,” she said, frowning. Then she stopped and winced. “It would be bad if they didn’t.”
“Of course it would,” Mary said, “but it’s bad no matter what. They came barging in here and killed the boss.”
“And I don’t understand that either,” she murmured. “What’s the point?”
“No resistance, I presume. He was the boss, and we all followed what he said. Take out the leader, and nobody knows what to do.”
“Well, that’s true enough to a certain extent.” Shelly studied the older woman. “How many are at the office today?”
“Only twelve,” she said. “I wanted to stay home, but I came in, not realizing what a mistake that would be.”
“Have you not been feeling well?” Shelly asked the older woman.
Mary shook her head. “I haven’t been feeling well for days,” she said. “I’m just getting really tired and worn down.”
“The office seems like it’s been really stressful lately, hasn’t it?”
“That’s to put it mildly,” Mary said. “Ever since Donnie quit, it’s been pretty rough.”
Donnie was the CFO, and he’d quit several weeks ago, under a cloud that had cast a pall over the company. “I wonder if he has anything to do with this.”
“What would that have to do with your friend? Does he even know Donnie?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, quickly dismissing the idea. It was something she would love to pull out and pin on him, but it really would have nothing to do with Shane.
“What does your friend do?”
“He was in the navy,” she said.
At that, Mary frowned. “What do they want him for then?”
“I have no idea,” she said. She sat back and yawned. “It’s really hard to just sit here and wait too.”
“Well, the rest of us were all sitting out there in the one room,” she said. “That’s not exactly a picnic either.”
Shelly smiled gently. “I know, and I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can only hope it’s all over with soon.”
“Ha,” Mary said. “I’m not sure we’ll ever get out of this.” She wrapped her arms around her chest and rocked herself gently on the chair.
“Have faith,” she said.
“What kind of faith?” Mary said suspiciously. “I used to go to church all the time,” she said, “until I lost that bit of faith too.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It sounds like you’re a lost soul right now.”
“I just wanted to go home, put my feet up, and visit with my cats!” she said.
“It’s been a tough adjustment since your husband died, hasn’t it?”
“Well, first my father, then my mother, and then my husband,” she said, “and all within eighteen months.”
At that, Shelly winced. “I’m so sorry. That’s got to be brutal.”
“It is. All I’d like to do now is go with them, but I can’t trust anybody to look after my cats.”
Shelly thought about that for a long moment. Is that all there was to life? To worry about who would look after your cats? Then again, she was a pet lover herself, and cats would be nice, especially now that she had a stable job. She almost snorted at that though, because she didn’t have a stable job at all. The way things were going, she probably wouldn’t have a job left by the time she got out of here. It was hard to say what kind of job she would end up with now. She shook her head, trying to clear it, but sleep and fatigue took over.
“Are you okay?” Mary asked.
“Yeah, just really supertired,” she said. “Nothing like being held hostage to raise you up and then drop you on the other side. I’m crashing, probably due to the adrenaline. I could really use a coffee.”