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“CASS!” I YELLED, DESPERATE.
“Just kill him,” she hollered back. “It’ll make everything easier.” The floor creaked as she shifted above me, and I heard the thump-thump-thump of her departing steps.
“Cass! Come back!” It was pathetic, but I had no other plan. I tore my attention from her and spun to face the outer door.
The Dragon himself stood framed in my doorway, silhouetted to smoky shades in the sunset light and blowing like a mad bull. His shoulders surged up and down, and his voice came out a bellow. “You? You little piece of —! You were working for her this whole time?!”
On instinct I raised my hands defensively, but I still held the brown bag in my right hand. I dropped it on the bathroom floor, and even from knee-height it made a sound like a handgun denting cheap linoleum. If it had been ceramic tile, he would have heard for sure. As it was, he didn’t seem to notice.
I finished the motion as smoothly as I could, showing him two empty hands and a submissive crouch. “I’m not working for her! I’m not working for anybody!”
Derrick moved the rest of the way into the room, then slammed the door closed. The latch was busted out, so it bounced in the frame and ended ajar. Derrick was only focused on the violence, though.
He towered over me. “Where’s the gun?”
“I don’t have it!” I cried. “S-somewhere safe.”
“You little —! Where’s Cass?”
I tried to lie again. “I don’t—”
This time something exploded inside my head. Sudden black, then a flash of light, then ringing in my ear and stinging in my cheek. Then pain like hammer blows slamming through my ear to flood my skull.
He hit me. I’d never been hit in the face before. And —!, if you’ll excuse my language. He hit hard! I staggered sideways and a whimper leaked out of me.
“Don’t lie to me, —er! Where’s Cass?”
“I don’t know!” I yelled, hurt and angry. “She ran away! She left me to distract you.”
“She what?!”
I regretted saying it. I hadn’t had a moment to think. I was scared. And none of this was the plan.
But saving Trina was the point, right? And if Derrick was here, it was because Cass was trying to do my part of the plan. If we had pulled the guard off the backrooms—
The door burst open again, and this time it was the Big Bad himself. Big, ugly Hauser crowded into the small space. Several of his thugs were gathered outside now, lounging beside the door. Watching.
Great.
This was our chance. Cass had time to search the backrooms. As long as I could stall—
“She’ll be heading for the holding cells,” Hauser barked, stepping straight into our conversation. “Go find her.”
Derrick threw a frown at Hauser, but kept his attention on me. “You sure? I’ve got this little —er—”
“I can take care of Dave,” Hauser said. He chuckled like I was a puppy or something. Then he turned hard eyes on Derrick. “But if Cass has gone rogue, she could ruin us all. Find her.”
“She’s here!” I shouted. “She’s hiding in the apartment!” It maybe would’ve bought her two minutes while they searched the place, but Hauser smirked.
“Admin building,” he said, sharp. When Derrick hesitated, he bellowed, “Go! And take the goons with you. Don’t let her get away.”
Derrick huffed out a frustrated breath, then peeled away with resentful reluctance. He slammed the door again on his way out, then raised his voice in anger as he passed his orders to the loitering lookouts.
Hauser paid Derrick no mind at all. He drew himself up to his full height and cast a searching gaze over all the exposed surfaces. I could tell what he was looking for.
“The gun isn’t here,” I said.
“But you do know about the gun,” Hauser said. His gaze came to rest on me. “I’ve gotta tell you, kid, it’s been the weirdest damn week for me.”
“Listen, I never wanted to be any part of this—”
He snorted. “I believe you, kid. You’re too smart for this life. Bein’ smart gets you killed in my line of work.”
I kinda wanted to banter with him, because I’d seen too many movies. But I could feel the threat to my life. My heart was hammering, and my thoughts came flying in fast and knife-edged.
I mostly wanted to survive. Yet some shred of pride in me snapped back anyway. “I don’t care about your line of work. I care about Trina.”
“Trina?” he said, eyes narrowing. “You know a lot. You’re smart, kid.”
“You already said that.”
“I keep thinking about it,” he said, and I realized for the first time that he was trying to transition into a little speech. I bit my tongue, and sure enough....
“Someone like you would get killed in my business, but I’ve been doing it for a long time. And business is good, kid.”
He leaned on that, like it was a compelling point.
“I don’t care about your business,” I said again.
He glared at me but kept the salesman voice. “Hey. Hey. Look who you’re talking to. I cash your rent checks. When you can write them. I know you’re tight on money. Imagine if you weren’t.”
“Mr. Hauser, I just want to get out of this alive.”
He smiled at that. “That’s good! That’s good. I said you’re smart. So here’s the deal: You can get out of this alive and rich or dead and broke. Which one do you want?”
I stared at him a moment while that registered. At last, I asked, “Are you... are you offering me a job?”
“How many times do I have to say, ‘You’re smart, kid’?”
Never had I planned for this. I never even imagined it. I.... “What?”
“Look, you’ve caught my attention, right? You’re tangled up in stuff you know nothing about. And yeah, sure, you’ve caused me more than a little trouble. But I’m good at managing trouble. That’s what I’m good at.”
“But...what would I even do for you? Do you need a better website?”
He frowned at me like I was the jerk for refusing to play along.
“Kid like you,” he said, obviously improvising, “we’d find work for you. Optimize our systems. Synergize... something.”
I was trying my hardest to think how I could help a property manager be better at human trafficking and drug smuggling. It made no sense. But then I got it.
“You’re going to pay me to go away?”
“I told you you was smart.”
“But—”
“Here’s how I see it,” Hauser said. “You already live here rent free. Maybe I stop hassling you about that. Maybe my boys make sure you don’t have any trouble. And maybe first of the month they leave an envelope full of cash at your door.”
That last caught me off-guard. “Cash! How much would be in it?”
A smile touched the corner of his mouth. “Depends, doesn’t it? You’re smart. We know that. But are you loyal?”
I nodded. “When I give my word—”
“Good. Smart’s good for five hundred. Loyal’s good for a thousand. But here’s what I need to know....”
He didn’t tell me right away. He left it hanging, reveling in the drama of the moment.
I was already reeling. Free rent plus a thousand dollars a month? That was life-changing for me. Especially with the new gaming service. Even if my first game was a flop, that would give me enough time and money to figure it all out and get something going.
He was watching my eyes. He waited long enough for me to get it, and then he finished. “Are you useful, Dave? Because useful is worth more than smarts and loyalty combined.”
But that’s what I’d asked from the first! I shook my head. “How can I be useful to you, Mr. Hauser?”
He rubbed his chin as though he was considering, then made a big show of having a sudden insight. “Help me catch Cass. I don’t know what story she told you, but that little slut could ruin my whole business.”
“She says you’re a bad guy who hurt a lot of people.”
“Me and the president and the pope. So what? I take care of my people. That’s what I can offer.”
He was being very forthcoming. I wished I was wearing a wire like in a cop movie. I thought about recording him on my phone somehow, but how to keep it secret? I guess keep him talking....
“It’s a tempting offer, Mr. Hauser. But what happens to Cass? What about Trina?”
He snarled a little. “You want to know every detail of the business? You think you’re that smart? It pays real well to be the boss. But you’re not boss material, kid.”
“Okay, but—”
“You gotta know? Trina’s nobody. She’s handled. But Cass could kill us all. Help me get her, and we’re golden.”
I couldn’t give him what he wanted. It was tempting. Turn over Cass for abandoning me, and get Trina and a handsome stipend in payment? Yeah, I would have considered it.
(No, I wouldn’t have.)
But it didn’t matter. He already had my best intel. He knew exactly where Cass had to be. And he’d sent Derrick right to her.
And then on cue, Derrick knocked once and came into the room. “No luck, boss.”
Hauser frowned, surprised. “No sign of Cass?”
“Oh, I saw here. She almost stabbed me outside 503. But then she ran for it.”
Hauser went pale. He croaked out, “Upstairs?”
But Derrick shook his head right away. “Nowhere near your place. She was definitely searching the holding cells.”
Hauser breathed a sigh of relief, while my mind was racing. Upstairs of the holding cells was Hauser’s private residence. “Your place,” Derrick had said. Had they moved Trina up there after I raided the backrooms?
Hauser was still thinking about Cass. His momentary relief passed, and he grabbed Derrick’s shirt in a knotted fist. “You had her? And you let her go? Is she gone?”
“Sounded like it. On her bike.”
“—!” Hauser turned back to me. “Guess it all comes down to you, kid. Help us catch Cass, and you’re a rich guy. Let her go, and you show up dead on the morning news.”
I really wished I had my phone recording for that.
“I don’t... I don’t...” I stammered, trying to invent something.
Hauser sighed. “Not so smart after all.” He leaned into my face and roared, “Where is she? Where’s she gone? Where’s the gun?”
I couldn’t answer that onslaught, and instead of waiting for me to catch my breath, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Useless. Derrick, take care of him.”
That was it. He said it like a death sentence, and I saw understanding in Derrick’s eyes. He was going to kill me.
“Wait!” I shouted. Hauser was already turning away, but he came back to me with a satisfied smile.
“I knew you’d crack, kid. So where’s the girl?”
“I don’t know,” I said, earnest.
“Then Derrick has to kill you.”
I flinched like he’d hit me. “But you don’t want a corpse here when the cops show up.”
That paused him. He froze a moment, then came back to me. “Why would the cops be coming?”
“I came here to rescue Trina. That’s my only goal. And I knew I might fail. So I have cops on the way just in case.”
He frowned. He looked at Derrick. “Is this true?”
Derrick shrugged. His face said he was baffled by it all.
“It’s true,” I said. “They’re already on their way.”
He stood a moment undecided. Then he sighed. “Fine. I can handle cops. It’s what I’m good at. Derrick, handle this.”
With that, he headed for the door.