“I don’t like this.”
“Did you think you would?”
“Come on Andy, you know what I meant.”
“Sorry, just trying to stay calm.”
“You and me both.”
They were talking under their breath not wanting to give the people watching them a reason to call off the deal.
Getting into the building had been surprisingly easy. Once inside, they had only made it down one hallway before they had promptly had their hands bound and had been frog marched into an elevator that took them to the twenty-second floor.
There Oliver and Andy had waited only a few minutes before a tall, thin man with a thick head of hair had appeared.
“Hello Anthony,” Oliver had said before the man could open his mouth. “Haven’t seen you for a while. How are things?” Andy had given his friend an exasperated look. He would never learn.
“Hello Oliver, Andy, what are you doing here?” Anthony had stepped directly before the two men though, Oliver noticed, remained a safe distance away.
“I got your note,” Oliver had stated. “‘Stop snooping or the girl dies’ it was nice of you to send, though I might have chosen a word other than ‘snooping’, sounds a little bit too much like an old spy novel.”
A flash of anger had flickered across Anthony’s face, but he’d quickly hidden it. Beside Oliver, Andy had whispered “careful” under his breath.
“I’m glad to see that you appreciated it. I am told you two were found downstairs snooping around, which I take to mean you aren’t going to heed my warning about the girl.”
At the mention of Clair, Oliver’s air of nonchalance had faltered for a moment. “Where is she? What have you done with her?”
“As if I am going to tell you,” Anthony had said smugly. “However you can tell me something. What are you two doing here?”
Andy had spoken up then. “We have some information that you might find pertinent.”
“Is that so?”
Reaching inside his shirt, Andy had pulled out a flash drive that was attached to the chain around his neck. “We have some rather alarming data here that will most certainly ruin your plans.”
Anthony’s expression had remained blank, but his eyes had showed a flicker of fear. “What do you expect to be able to do with that? Threatening us with data we already have? Do you expect to free your friend that way?”
“Not entirely,” Andy had said. “To anyone who hasn’t worked here this will simply look like nothing special. However, unfortunately for you, both Oliver and I have worked here, and we may have taken it upon ourselves to include an explanation of exactly what you have been doing here.”
Nothing in Anthony’s stance had changed, but some of the people around him had begun to shift nervously.
“What do you plan on doing with it?”
“We’re here to exchange it,” Oliver had said firmly. “For Clair.”
“And why would I agree to this?”
“Because we’ll send it to the authorities if you don’t.”
“And what makes you think we’ll let you leave here in one piece?”
Oliver had answered, “we’ve known you for years Anthony, we started this company with you. We know that you won’t hurt us, at least not seriously. We were friends before all of this started and no matter how bad you’ve turned you won’t hurt a friend, not when it comes down to it.”
“Are you sure about that?” he words had been strong, but a little uncertainty had begun to creep into his tone.
“We wouldn’t have come if we weren’t.”
Loving each entry of this series –
I’m glad!