Chapter 8

“Sheriff’s department, open up”

Anna ran harder than she ever had in her entire life. Dodging past pieces of old machinery and broken crates along the way, she sprinted towards the main entrance of the warehouse where she knew there was a door. Carlos shouted from behind her, cursing as he called for her to come back but it was already too late. If she could just make it outside to where the police were then she would be safe. Feeling the air rush past her face, she suddenly felt like laughing out loud. After an entire week of slavery, her freedom was finally here.

Her dreams were short lived however as caught up in her haste, she failed to see the figure standing in front of her until it was too late. By the time she realized he was standing there, she was going too fast to stop and crashing together they tumbled to the ground. Rolling over, Anna scrambled to get back on her feet but by the time she was up again, the other person was already there.

“Going somewhere?”, asked Eric.

There was a cut on his face where he had scraped it against something on the way down and Anna froze, unsure of what to do. Compared to his usually stoic personality, for the first time since Anna saw him Eric looked tense and wound up with a hint of uncertainty in his eye. Despite the emotion on his face, with the tension of the current situation it only made him seem all the more dangerous instead. Looking down, Anna saw he held something in his hand and instantly took a step away. She swallowed hard as she recognized it at once. Her father had kept one next to him while he slept in his nightstand drawer.

Colt 1911, Government Model, 45 ACP.

It was a big gun with big bullets designed a hundred years ago for men about the same size. With eight rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, it was more than enough to kill anything currently alive. Every muscle in her body stopped in place as Anna stood there, too afraid to move. The first time her father let her shoot his, the recoil had almost thrown the gun from her hands. In the hands of Eric, it looked little more than a toy.

From outside the warehouse, the pounding grew louder upon the door.

“Stay there and don’t move”, said Eric.

He walked over to the door and peeked through the slit outside. Gently placing his hand upon the handle, he threw it open in a single movement shoving the gun forward before him as he did so. Caught by surprise, the officer on the other side froze with his right hand still held up in the air. For a moment, nothing happened as the two men stared at each other and Anna squeezed her eyes shut clamping her hands down over her ears. To her surprise, instead of the gunshot she had been waiting for, the officer frowned and glanced down in annoyance at the gun barrel thrust into his face.

“Hello Eric”, said the officer.

“Hello Tom”, said Eric, “We had an agreement, why are you here?”

Slowly, Eric lowered the gun though not all the way keeping it in a low ready position as he stepped back from the open door. Tom glanced over at the weapon with a warry eye as he stepped inside.

“That’s an interesting way to welcome a friend”, he said.

“Sorry, we ran out of invitations for the party”, said Eric, “Didn’t expect any unwelcome guests”

Closing the door behind him, the officer stepped into the light and Anna got a good look at him for the first time. The first thing she noticed was his age, white streaks of silver scattered like straw between the grey of his hair. The chevrons on his shoulder told her he was at least a sergeant or above, probably in a management position behind a desk when he wasn’t in the field. Seeing her stare, he glanced over to match her eyes and Anna looked away.

“I’ll keep it short”, said Tom, “Your boy Mark, he messed up”

“What do you mean”, said Eric, caution still in his voice, “What happened to our deal? I pay you an early retirement and you get the authorities to fuck off”

“Well, things got a little bit- ... complicated”, said Tom.

The officer sat down on a nearby crate and leaned back against the shipping container it had been placed against. Taking off his cap, he rubbed his forehead and sighed. Under the light of the dim lamps above, he somehow seemed to grow even older than Anna thought he was.

“One of our undercover guys saw your boy Mark go for a girl”, he said, “He was a rookie, barely two or three years on the force. Decided to play cowboy right there and then”

“Where is Mark now”, said Eric.

“Unconscious, in the back of my squad car along with the girl he tried to grab”, said Tom, “According to reports, the officer approached the suspect just as he was about to drive off and got tagged in the throat with a nine. Your guy must have panicked then since I found him a few miles away with the engine of his car wrapped around a tree. Eric, I’m not one to tell others how to do their job but this is the biggest fuckup I’ve ever seen. The entire force is out tonight looking for blood”