shined it on his face for Drake and Sarah to see him.
“Rod, he’s gone for now,” Sarah whispered. “But he’ll be back. And I’ve got a question for you.”
“Ask away,” Rod said.
“Why the fuck did you put one of those tracking devices in my neck? That’s over the top, you know? I should be seriously pissed at you — but I’m happy to see you because you’re our only chance out of here.”
“If I hadn’t stuck a VeriChip in you, I think the guy upstairs would be putting something else in you. You’re lucky I’m such a bastard.”
“He’s got a point,” Drake added. “He is our chance out of here.”
“Where are the keys for these cages?” Rod asked, spanning his flashlight around the basement and stopping on tables and shelves. “And how come my cell phone doesn’t work? Do either of you know what the reason is?”
“He always has the keys on him,” Sarah said. “It’s some kind of electronic device. He uses a cell phone signal jamming device. It’s plugged in over on the far wall.”
The flashlight raced along the far wall and found nothing.
“Shit,” Rod said. “He must have it upstairs with him.”
“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked. “This guy is seriously sick. These cages have a long history.”
“What kind of history?”
“A history of females, mostly late teens to early twenties. He’s been kidnapping girls and keeping them locked up here for his personal pleasure.”
“He’s lying. There’s no way anyone can carry on that long without any authorities getting suspicious. Impossible.”
“Do you really think it’s impossible or are you trying to convince yourself that it is?”
“From what we’ve seen,” Drake added, “we feel it’s true. He’s ruthless enough to’ve done it.”
Drake gave Rod an overview of what Elmore had told them about his photo studio and how he got the girls here.
“There is something to be said about a man who builds an observation point on his roof and hooks up machine guns to it to cut down anyone who enters his property. He just shot four of my best men. They’re outside either wounded bad or dead. For that alone, I will not let him breathe another day.”
Sarah stepped back from the bars of her cell to think. Too bad she had no way to write something. Maybe the recently quiet Vivian would tell her what to do if she could write.
“He’ll be back soon,” Rod mumbled to himself in the far corner as he continued to search the basement. “I’ll be waiting. Also, he can’t know that I don’t have backup coming. He will have to assume I do. This’ll be all over in no time.”
Somehow Sarah didn’t believe him.
Saul, Jonas
The Hostage
Chapter 28
Elmore had handled the four bodies. They were all stacked in his garage waiting for burial later that day. Elmore removed the belt from one of the men and took another wide walk around the perimeter of his property. Nothing unusual stood out. He’d deal with Rod and then come back up to bury his friends.
He reentered his house and pulled both Mambas from their holsters.
“Showtime,” he whispered to himself.
He shoved the cabinet away from the door and pushed the button on his key fob to unlock it. He moved to the side, in case his visitor stood at the top of the stairs, and opened the door, his weapon aimed to fire, the safety off.
But the stairs were empty.
He flicked on the basement light and got down onto his stomach on the cold tile floor of the hallway. He edged around the trim of the basement door and peeked down the stairs. From where he lay, he could see Sarah’s ankles and feet and Drake’s mid-thigh area. No sign of Rod. Elmore carefully aimed his weapon and fired.
Drake screamed as the bullet hit him in the thigh.
Perfect shot. Yes. Elmore did a fist pump and then shook his head. What is it with that stupid fist pump? Why people did it, he never understood.
He leaned a little farther in and saw Sarah at the edge of her bars, saying something to Drake as he lay on the floor, both hands covering his wounded leg.
He continued to scream as blood seeped out through his jeans.
“The next bullet goes into Sarah,” Elmore shouted loud enough to be heard over Drake. “Soon, the two people you came to rescue will be dead. That would make your rescue attempt a moot point wouldn’t it? Then I would have no use for my basement. This door will be shut and not reopened until next month, at which time you’ll have expired. Now, the basement is soundproof. There is no escape except through this door and your bullets won’t penetrate it.”
He waited a moment to see if Drake would quiet down, then he continued, “But you have a chance to do something good here. You can save Drake by reducing his blood loss. Here’s a belt.”
Elmore tossed the belt to the bottom of the stairs.
“If you decide to take the belt to Drake, I will open his cell door from here. You are to enter his cell and tie the tourniquet on yourself. Shut the cell door behind you. Do this and you save all three of you. Don’t do this and I will shoot Sarah and then lock this door and leave for a month. It’s your choice, Rod. Make it now.”
Elmore pulled back a little. He kept one of his guns aimed down the stairs and his left hand on the door knob, ready to shove it shut if Rod decided to run for the stairs.
“You’re down to seconds left here. It’s not a hard decision. Choose now.”
“If you unlock Drake’s cell,” Rod said. “I’ll be taking him out and up those stairs to seek medical treatment.”
Elmore clicked the button to unlock Drake’s cell. He turned and shouted down, “And you’ll both be shot before you reach the top. How far can you get with him bleeding like that? You think he could still run? You’re out of time. Decide.”
“Fuck you.”
Elmore counted three breaths. Drake still lay on his cell floor, by himself, bleeding out.
He brought his weapon up and aimed it at Sarah. He was out of options. Rod wanted to test him. He learned a lesson. His obsession had been too expensive. Sarah had cost him everything. There were dead men in his garage. An american cop challenged him from the basement. If it meant Sarah had to go, then Sarah had to go. He accepted that his whole operation could not be based on one girl.
He took an extra moment to be sure of his aim and fired in Sarah’s direction.
She immediately jumped back and yelped.
“Damn, I’m a good shot,” he said to himself while picking at the scab on his head.
“Okay, okay,” Rod yelled. “Stop shooting.”
Elmore could barely hear motherfucker mumbled too.
Rod stepped in front of the stairs and glared up at him. Elmore held his weapon steady. Rod picked up the belt and turned around to walk to Drake. Elmore waited until Rod entered Drake’s cell, and then he pushed the remote button to lock it.
“Now, discard all your weapons. Toss them away from the cell or I will come down there and execute all of you.”
Metallic sounds clanged as various pieces of weaponry were tossed through the bars of Drake’s cell. He got to his feet, took another deep breath and started down the stairs. Three guns and two knives lay on the floor by the far wall. Elmore looked at Rod’s back as he tightened the belt above the wound on Drake’s leg.
He turned to see how Sarah was doing. A small line of blood trickled down her left arm.
“I barely hit you. Damn, thought I’d done worse. Oh well, that works. We’re doing panty pics later so I’ll get
