Chapter 3 - THE HIGH-STAKES BARGAIN
Hook: 'You have three minutes to choose,' she whispered. 'Your freedom, or his life.'The sound of distant sirens began to wail in the night.
Upstairs, chaos erupted.
"Sirens!" Tanner screamed, his voice reaching a pitch of pure hysteria. "Victor, the cops are coming! We have to go! We have to leave!"
"Shut up!" Victor barked. "Marcus, get the car started!"
"I can't!" Marcus’s voice echoed from the backyard. "The tires are slashed!"
I smiled, clutching the small pocket knife I had retrieved from my father's old key box. Before Tanner had shoved me down the stairs, I had managed to slip out the back door for a split second, disabling his truck's tires and slashing the front right tire of Victor's SUV. They weren't going anywhere fast.
"Tanner," Victor growled. "Where is the ledger? The one she was talking about? The financial records?"
"I don't know! I didn't know she had one!" Tanner cried. "She's just a waitress! She told me she was a waitress!"
"She lied to you, you absolute moron!" Victor slammed Tanner against the wall. I heard the drywall crack. "She’s the reason my brothers are in federal prison! If she has that ledger, I'm going away for life."
I knew I had them cornered, but the pain in my stomach was becoming unbearable. A warm, terrifying sensation began to pool between my thighs. Blood.
No. Please, no.
I couldn't let them know I was failing physically. I had to use my brain to dominate them, even as my body collapsed.
"Victor!" I shouted through the floorboards, my voice strained but firm. "The ledger is digital! It’s on a secure server, programmed with a dead-man's switch. If my heart rate drops, or if I don't enter a code every twelve hours, the entire database is automatically sent to the federal prosecutor's office."
This was a bluff, of course. The ledger was actually on a simple USB drive hidden inside the hollowed-out handle of the shovel Tanner had thrown at me. But Victor didn't know that.
"What do you want, Maya?" Victor asked, his voice tight.
"I want Tanner," I said.
A heavy silence fell over the kitchen.
"What?" Tanner gasped. "Maya, no! What are you saying?"
"You wanted to sell my life to save your kneecaps, Tanner," I said, cold as ice. "Now, I'm buying your freedom. Victor, let me out of this cellar. You take Tanner. Do whatever you want with him. He’s the one who owes you twelve thousand dollars. You leave me, my baby, and my house alone. In exchange, I will delete the database. You'll walk away clean."
"Maya, you can't do this!" Tanner screamed, banging on the kitchen floor. "We're married! We're a family! I made a mistake, I was desperate! Please, don't let them take me!"
"A mistake?" I laughed, a bitter, dry sound. "You forced pills down my throat to kill our child. You threw me down a flight of stairs. You aren't a husband, Tanner. You're a liability."
Victor stayed silent for a long moment. I could hear the sirens getting closer, their red and blue lights starting to flicker through the cracks in the cellar window.
"How do I know I can trust you, Maya?" Victor asked.
"Because unlike my husband, I understand business," I said. "You want your money and your freedom. I want my life and my child. Tanner is worthless to both of us. Make your choice. You have thirty seconds before the police arrive."
"Victor, please!" Tanner sobbed. "She's lying! She'll lock you up anyway! Don't trust her!"
"Shut up, Tanner," Victor said.
A loud thud echoed above. Tanner screamed in pain.
"We have a deal, Maya," Victor said. "I'm taking him. But if that database leaks... I don't care where you run. I will find you."
"Goodbye, Victor," I whispered.
I heard the sound of dragging footsteps, Tanner’s pathetic pleas fading as they ran out the back door.
I collapsed onto the dirt floor, my hand clutching my bleeding stomach. The sirens were right outside.
"Maya!" Reyes's voice boomed from the front yard. "Federal agents! Breach the door!"
May you like
With the last ounce of my strength, I dragged myself to the cellar door, reached up, and turned the heavy steel deadbolt.
The door swung open from the outside, and the world went black.
