Gold Teeth paused, leaned in close, and whispered into Do-rag’s ear. He turned and pointed at Cathy and the others.
Do-rag puffed on the joint and nodded, shifting his gaze from Cathy to Max, then to Russell and Clyde. He listened for a few seconds, then hammered his fist against the stairwell door.
The entrance creaked opened, revealing more beams of light slicing through the black void. Another armed man stood behind the door with the barrel of his piece sticking out past the edge. He gave a single nod to Gold Teeth as he walked inside the hollow, warm space.
Cathy and Max funneled in behind Gold Teeth with Russell and Clyde staying a few paces behind them. Do-rag eyed the two men and puffed on the half-smoked joint as they vanished inside the stairwell.
The foul stench of the drug and body odor made Russell’s stomach churn. He held his breath for as long as he could then released it, low and subtle.
The footfalls of everyone echoed through the stairwell. Cathy used the handrail and worked up the flights of stairs as quickly as she could. Each floor they passed, Gold Teeth nodded at the armed sentry standing at the entrance, then did some sort of handshake with him.
He led them up a total of seven flights before stopping.
Cathy’s pace slowed, but she pushed on despite grunting under her breath.
“To be honest, I thought for sure you weren’t going to make it this far,” Gold Teeth said, training the light on Cathy’s sweaty face. “I imagine that hole in your leg is making this a billion times harder.”
“Are we… almost… there?” she asked, brushing the loose strands of hair away from her face and panting.
Gold Teeth turned and pointed at the door. “Right this way.”
The armed man nestled in the corner opened the door, allowing them to pass through to the hallway. Gold Teeth led them out as Russell helped her to the landing, then out of the stairwell.
Max growled the entire time, but didn’t snap at the armed men who lingered in the darkness.
The low, subtle sound of chatter and other odd noises loomed from the darkened hallways. More shadow figures lurked in the ether. Their footfalls played off the tile floor, telling Russell where they were.
“The boss man is down this way.” Gold Teeth waved them on. “Remember, you bought five minutes worth of time. I’d use it wisely.”
Russell helped Cathy down the hallway with Clyde flanking them. He scanned both sides of the corridor. Some of the doors were closed while others sat wide open. Light from outside funneled into the spaces that had an array of people lingering inside. Each looked at them as they walked by, flashing the hardware they carried.
Gold Teeth stopped, then faced one of the closed apartment doors. He hammered the outside twice, then turned the doorknob. “Come on.”
A plume of smoke escaped the room. Gold Teeth walked through the door, waving them onward.
Russell allowed Cathy to go in first along with Max. He stayed on their heels. A large, sliding glass door on the far wall and two smaller windows on either side gave light to the stench-ridden dimness of the dwelling. It smelt of body odor and weed, among other various scents he couldn’t put his finger on.
A number of unsavory folks milled about the apartment in front of them, smoking and staring at them. Russell counted six but heard additional voices from other parts of the space that mixed together.
The walls within the ramshackle abode had been knocked out, widening the footprint. Rich, brown leather furniture covered the space. A massive seventy-inch TV sat on a tv stand. Cables dangled from outside of the windows and ran inside.
Max growled at the people conversing with each other. His head moved in every direction. He lowered to the floor and crept closer to Cathy’s side.
A bald-headed, dark-skinned man sat in a brown leather recliner in the middle of the room, facing the sliding glass door. More armed men stood watch around the periphery of the dump. They held their weapons close and stared at the group with emotionless gazes.
“How much longer until we have power coming in?” the bald-headed man asked in what sounded like a Jamaican accent. “Those solar panels should’ve been easy to install and setup. We have business that still needs to be conducted.”
Gold Teeth leaned over the leather chair and whispered in his ear while glancing back to Russell and the others.
Max stayed in front of them, watching each of the armed men who stood about the derelict space. His growling grew louder with each step made closer to his handler and friends.
“Shh,” Cathy said, bending down and rubbing his head
Max lifted up to get the full feel of his handler’s loving touch.
The bald man nodded, then stood from his chair. He adjusted the stark white shirt and turned to face them. His bony frame skirted the side of the leather recliner. He moved across the open floor toward Russell and Cathy with his arms tucked behind him.
Gold Teeth flanked the bald man about a foot or so back.
“My associate tells me that you paid for an audience with the Sandman,” he said, standing before them. “What can I do for you?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SARAH
A rush of adrenaline pumped through Sarah’s veins, hard and fast. It kept Sarah alert, focused for any more threats that loomed around the blind bends of the winding road.
The Chevelle left the city the same way it came, tearing through the residential neighborhoods and narrow roadways
