The plan had never been to stay at the safe house long. A few hours, Mason had said. They had brought no food at all. At least they had water from the taps, but by the following morning Angel’s stomach was cramping like crazy and she was seriously tempted to jump in the car and head to the nearest town to buy some snacks.
Not yet.
She’d slept on the floor of the unfinished kitchen, using her backpack as a pillow. Everything ached as she stood up and refilled her plastic water bottle from the only tap in the house in the downstairs bathroom. She downed nearly the whole bottle and filled it again then moved to Mason’s room, hobbling on her injured foot which throbbed with pain. The door was already open and she paused in the doorway a moment. He looked… brighter. If that was possible for someone who was curled up on the floor, eyes closed. Some color had returned to his skin, at least.
‘Mason,’ she said. He stirred. Opened his eyes. Groaned.
She crouched by him and pulled on his shoulders to help him upright. He locked onto her gaze and then groaned again.
‘You OK?’ she asked.
He shook his head.
‘You want more water?’
‘Yeah.’
She’d managed to get him to drink two full bottles last night, the fluid at least enough to start replacing the volume of blood he’d lost, if not yet the blood cells necessary for life. A blood transfusion would be a more direct treatment, but she wasn’t about to stick a needle in her arm and drain her own out, so unless she went to a hospital to get them to do it the right way, transfusion wasn’t an option. His body would replenish its lost supply over time. If she could keep him alive.
She spent several minutes with the water at his lips, a few splashes at a time until the bottle was empty.
She looked at his phone on the floor next to him.
‘Have you heard anything?’ she asked him.
He shook his head.
‘Who do we call? We need to get this done. The longer we keep him here—’
He had the audacity to put a finger up to her lips to stop her talking.
‘I need… I’ll call them,’ he said, his voice strained, a grimace with each elongated word.
‘When?’
He closed his eyes.
‘Mason, what the hell happened? Who was that other guy?’
He only shook his head in response.
‘How did that happen?’ she asked, pointing to the bandaged wound on his side.
He opened his eyes a little more widely. A threat of some kind, perhaps. Accusatory.
‘Tell me what happened in the van,’ Angel said, unfazed. ‘With H?’
‘I… I’ll get this… sorted,’ Mason said. ‘Just need… time.’
‘Or you could tell me who to call and I’ll do it,’ she said.
He looked away, then closed his eyes.
‘Mason… If you try to screw me… Just don’t.’
He kept his eyes closed, didn’t move or otherwise respond as she got up and left the room.
‘Has he admitted it yet?’ Karaman called out.
Angel sighed and went to his room.
‘Of course, he hasn’t,’ Karaman added when she reached the doorway. ‘Because he knows he’s in no position to fight you right now. Waiting only benefits him. Not you.’
‘What would you have me do?’ she asked. ‘You want me to call 999 and get you sent back to prison?’
He slumped a little, perhaps at the mention of the police.
‘Do you even know who I am?’ he asked.
She didn’t answer.
‘Let’s say, even if you’re just some dumb mercenary with no soul or conscience, taking on jobs for big paydays, you still probably know something about me. Because why would you take on such a risky job in the first place without knowing. So you’re aware I have money.’
‘Why are you so sure this is all about money?’
‘Because I heard your friends arguing. Remember? And it’s the only explanation that makes sense to me given the position we find ourselves in. My point is that I can get you money, more money than you were promised by your friend. You just need to help me get back to my people.’
‘That’s not happening.’
She turned to walk away.
‘You want to know the code for his phone?’
Her heart thudded a little harder in her chest, then ramped up even further at his taunting laugh.
‘Yeah. I get it. You’re thinking, how could I possibly know?’
‘You couldn’t.’
‘Just like I couldn’t know what you look like with this sack over my head. Or what your friends look like. And I couldn’t have seen you push that knife into the driver’s neck. I couldn’t have seen your friends wrestling and then pull guns on each other and…’
‘And what?’
‘And maybe you should have got a better sack.’
She turned and moved a little more cautiously toward him.
‘You have hair the color of hay,’ he said. ‘Dark brown eyes. I think… you’re quite pretty, actually. In a plain kind of way.’
She only half paid attention to his words, instead staring closely at the sack as she neared.
‘And the code for his phone is nine–two–four–nine–one–seven. You can trust me, or you can just go into the room next door and find out for yourself.’
She crouched down by his side. Her face only inches from his. Now she saw it. She really should have done before. And so should Mason and H. The sack had a tiny hole in it. She had no clue how. Maybe it’d been there all along. Maybe Karaman had bitten through it. Maybe the hole had opened up in the melee. It was small, really small. But so close to his eye, it was easily big enough to give him at least glimpses of what was happening around him. Big enough to see everything he claimed? She didn’t know.
She whipped the sack off and tossed it and had to work hard to show no reaction when she noticed his wide grin.
‘That’s better,’ he said taking in a huge inhale of air. ‘I can breathe properly now. And I can see your face properly too. Actually, you’re prettier than I thought.’
‘That means nothing coming from you.’
He didn’t look in the least put off even despite her harsh tone. ‘I know you,’ he said.
He looked so damned pleased with himself. Kind of like how he’d looked when he’d visited her in prison.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘It’s been a while.’
‘A lifetime for me.’
‘But you must be pleased at least that you’re free now. That wasn’t my choice for you.’
Although he really didn’t sound too bothered. As though he already knew of the pain and torment she’d suffered because of him, not just in prison but after too.
‘You really hate me, don’t you?’ he said.
‘The question is irrelevant here.’
‘Maybe. So you’re going to go get his phone now?’
She didn’t move. How the hell had she got to this position where it felt like Karaman – her prisoner – was the one calling the shots?
So she reached out and grabbed his bandaged hand and squeezed as hard as she could until the smile had dropped away from Karaman’s face, which twisted into a grimace. He eventually let out a harrowing scream.
‘Yeah. I’m going to go check his phone,’ Angel said. ‘But not because you said so. And if you continue to try to play me—’ she stood up and drilled her heel into his gut and he doubled over in pain ‘—this will only get much, much worse for you.’
She walked out tall, confident, but it was all a show because despite her bravado, inside the turmoil continued.
Mason’s eyes were closed. She tiptoed to him, unsure if he was asleep or dead.
Definitely not dead, as she noticed a small rise and fall to his chest, his breaths slow and shallow. But he was breathing, at least.
Only she didn’t know if that was a good thing or not anymore.
She crouched down by his side and inhaled slowly, a strange odor tickling her nose. She took a few moments, not making any noise as she breathed in and out, her brain processing the scent. Not a good scent. Pungent. Acidic. Infection. Most likely the big cut on his side. She had no medical training, but she knew that smell. So soon after the event it perhaps wasn’t too late to turn things around, but she’d need medical supplies, antibiotics. Which meant she’d need to leave the safe house. Leave Mason and Karaman alone there.
She closed her eyes and thought.
No. She couldn’t do it. Not yet. And how would she get antibiotics anyway? She’d have to steal them and that would only create more problems.
She reached forward, hand outstretched. She pushed the tips of her fingers into his pocket, being careful not to disturb him, the maneuver of taking his phone feeling more dishonest this time compared to earlier.
She grasped the cold device and slid it out then let out a long and almost silent sigh. Mason hadn’t even flinched. A coma? No. She really didn’t think so. He’d been lucid – relatively, at least – not long before.
She thumbed in the passcode Karaman had given her… The screen remained locked. She typed it in again. Still locked. A third time. Nothing.
‘What the hell?’ she whispered. Karaman was playing her. Again. How did he still wield so much sway over her even in his current predicament? She jumped in shock when she realized Mason’s eyes were open and he was staring at her.
‘What are you… doing?’
‘It fell out of your pocket,’ she said, holding the phone out to him.
She knew he didn’t believe her, but didn’t question her answer as he took the phone back and clutched it close to his belly.
‘What are we doing, Mason?’ she asked.
He didn’t answer.
‘You know you’re only here because of me,’ she said. ‘If I hadn’t got to the van… What do you think would have happened to you? You certainly wouldn’t have come away with Karaman, if you’d come away alive at all.’
He still didn’t say a word and she once again struggled to contain her growing anger at the thought of being duped.
‘H shot you,’ she said. ‘Because he realized you were trying to screw us.’
‘No,’ Mason said, shaking his head.
‘It explains the fourth guy, too. You used me and H to get to Karaman, but you’d never intended on us reaching here with you. Either you hoped the police would kill us or you would have, right?’
‘It’s not… true. H… He’s the one.’
‘You want me to believe you?’
‘You have to.’
‘Then put the call in. Or let me do it. Why are we waiting?’
‘We wait for them. That’s the deal.’
‘You’re telling me you don’t even know who to call.’
He nodded. She was fifty-fifty on whether she believed him.
‘We wait for them,’ he said again. ‘It’s taking… more time. Probably… because we messed up. Too much heat.’
He winced and writhed in pain and his phone dropped to the floor as he clutched at the bandage on his side.
‘I think it’s infected,’ Angel said. ‘Let me see.’
He reluctantly held his hand in place but didn’t have the strength to stop her from pulling it away. She lifted the corner of the dressing for the long entry wound and the pungent smell ramped up. The flesh beneath was a mix of red, yellow, and white pulpy mess.
‘Shit,’ she said before she could catch herself.
The expression on Mason’s face said it all. He knew it was bad too even if he hadn’t looked.
‘You want to wait?’ she said. ‘Honestly? I don’t know how long you’ve got.’
‘Help… me,’ Mason said. ‘Please.’
‘You want me to go get some supplies? Leave you here with Karaman? Do you really think I’m that stupid?’ However, the reality was that she really didn’t think he had the physical strength to make a sudden play on her, run away with Karaman, or anything like that.
‘Please,’ he said again.
‘No,’ she said. ‘You already told me, we need to wait. So waiting is what we’ll do. Even though it might kill you.’ She stood up. ‘Unless, of course, you do know who to call after all.’
She walked out without waiting for a response.