Hazel leaned close to whisper in my ear, “Corbin, don’t upset him.”
She had a point. It probably didn’t make sense to heckle the two men who had access to weapons, but they couldn’t kill me until they learned the password to my laptop, and no way would I give that away, so we had time to spare.
No one answered my question. I kept asking to their continued silence. It took a skilled person to ignore someone poking, and I was definitely poking the bear. From the way Thumbs lips twitched, he wanted to say something, but knew better. Reason number one why he wasn’t the leader of this operation. Bernard never once flinched, even when I asked if his enormous gun was his attempt to overcompensate for the length of something else attached to him.
While annoying the piss out of our kidnappers, I looked around the church, searching for an escape route. A bullfrog croaked outside the building, providing us with an eerie backdrop. Something thudded against the church’s main door behind us.
It rattled, sounding like someone kicked it with a boot and then flew open, banging against the wall. Hazel flinched beside me and ducked like she expected bullets to fly.
A new player entered the sanctuary of the church, my laptop bag wrapped over his shoulder. Hazel sucked in a breath at the sight of him. I laid a hand on her knee, squeezing it for reassurance. I didn’t know how much she’d put together, but if she recognized my bag, she’d understand what they expected of me.
She also more than likely realized there was no way I could give them the password.
It took the new addition to our crew walking underneath a light before I placed him in the organization. He was a heavy hitter in the Grandmaster’s crew. The Hulk, earned his nickname through fear and bloodshed.
He looked at me, walked over, grunted in my direction, and then dumped the laptop on the seat beside me. I cringed.
“Go easy on the merchandise, Hulk.” He was known for his temper, earning the nickname through years of violence.
“Did you get the images?” Thumbs asked, pacing around the row of pews. He stopped at every window to peer outside into the darkness.
The church was old, but the city maintained it. Basically the one large room had tall ceilings and low-hanging fans to make up for the lack of an essential air unit. Large stained-glass windows depicted various scenes from the Bible. The place smelled old, like time was picking away at the wood.
And now, to add to the church’s history, the stench of stale cigarettes from three mafia thugs permeated the air.
“No,” Hulk said, glaring at me. “It’s locked.” The way he looked at the two of us was as if I killed his favorite grandmother rather than just password-protected my laptop.
Thumbs motioned at the bag with his gun. “Open it.”
I didn’t have to ask who he spoke to, but I decided to anyway. “Has Hulk ever used a laptop? Does he know how to open it?” I kicked my feet out, crossing them at the ankles as if we were meeting in my office and I controlled the situation.
“I am just about sick and tired of your constant talking,” Thumbs said, holding his gun directly in line with my chest.
I shrugged. “Just want to make sure I follow the instructions correctly.”
He grinned, but it was full of malice. The man probably got off on causing harm and torturing others. “I can’t kill you right now, TerminalChaos, but I can kill her,” he said, moving the gun a little to his right until he had it trained on Hazel’s heart.
Every muscle inside my body clenched, but I refused to let it show on the outside. Now was not the time to let them see what she meant to me, even if our declaration of love in the woods gave it away. Those words were too important not to say, and I didn’t regret it.
“If you kill her, my life isn’t worth living and I’ll never give you the password to the laptop.” It was a stone-cold truth, and from the way Thumbs’ eyes flashed in annoyance, he saw it.
He leaned over, getting right into my face. “I’ll have Hulk torture you until you unlock it. You’ll beg me for a quick a death as a reward.” He sneered, the words barely above a whisper, but he was so close I heard every single one.
I leaned back, placing a hand in front of my face. “Harassment, dude,” I said, sounding like my brother.
We were twins, and I’d perfected my unaffected expression. It couldn’t fail me now. I needed everyone in the room to believe in my cool and collected personality, even though inside my bravado cracked a fraction.
Where the hell was Drake? Why hadn’t the cavalry arrived?
Soon it would be up to me to save Hazel and me both. Well, I needed to save at least her. What happened to me didn’t matter as much.
“Make a deal, Thumbs,” I said, staring right back at him.
I’d never give him the password to the computer, but I could do other things to buy us enough time.
“I don’t make deals with people like you,” he said, taking a step back.
Bernard invaded the space now. “I do. We need this computer unlocked so we can get the hell out of this fucking town.”