Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 03 - Insatiable (19 page)

We walked back out to the street and stumbled on. My eyes darted through the crowd narrowing on every blonde head, every tall man. I didn’t see Blane. Jimmy pulled on my arm leading me down an alley shaded by the buildings on either side. There were still people here but not as many. And in the middle of the alley was a bar. A round marble bar with a bartender standing in the middle of it, smiling.

“How you doing, Jimmy?” he said, holding his hand out.

“All right, mon.” Jimmy wiped his hand on his pants before shaking. “Get me a drink, I’m going to use the bathroom.” I sat down on a stool and watched him walk into a restaurant clearly affiliated with the bar.

Stores lined the alley. A Talbots stood next to a hand-painted T-shirt store. Looking down at my dress, I decided it was time to go buy some pants. The bartender put a rum and coke in front of me as I stood to go.

“I’ll be right back,” I told him. The Talbots was in a building that had been standing since the 1600s. Its exterior was a mottled yellow stone that had seen hurricanes, earthquakes and many a drunken tourist. Inside was some ugly ass clothing. I bought a pair of gray slacks that fit, although they did have pleats in the front which made me look like I was carrying either a child or several years of over eating. I also bought a long lavender (ewww) shirt so that when I tucked my gun into the waistband of the pants, you couldn’t see it.

Jimmy was sitting at the bar when I came out in my new outfit. He smiled. “Nice duds.” He looked pale and was leaning on the bar for support. Before I could respond my phone rang. It was Easy; she, Dan and Ana Maria were in town. I told them where to meet us and then sipped at my drink. It was mostly rum, as are most drinks in the islands. The stuff is cheaper than water so the bartenders don’t bother to hold back.

Jimmy and I sat in silence while we waited for the rest of our crew to show up. I felt that he was on my side now. I think by not blowing out his brains I’d managed to make a friend. That’s a nice story, I thought, as I finished off my drink.

The bartender offered me another but I turned him down. “Come on,” he said. “It’s the islands, you have to drink.”

“Sorry buddy, I’ve got work to do.”

“Nonsense, no one works here.”

“Really, I’m OK.”

“I insist.” He started making me another drink and I figured I could just let it sit there. I didn’t have to drink it. My head was already getting soft and my belly was warm. The mix of adrenaline and rum in my blood could turn on me at any moment.

Easy was the first down the alley, Ana Maria was right behind her. Dan brought up the rear carrying a laptop case and a worried expression. They sat down and the bartender forced them all to take a drink. Dan leaned close to me and said, “I got into Mulberry’s email.”

“And?”

Dan bit his lip. “You’re the first person I’ve told.”

“OK?” I didn’t know what he was getting at.

“Blane is saying that you kidnapped Ana Maria.”

“Right.”

“And that you are asking for a ransom.”

“What?”

“A big ransom.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Shhh,” Dan warned. He looked around. The bartender was flirting with Ana Maria who looked annoyed; Jimmy was telling Easy what happened. “I think we may have a mole.”

I almost laughed. “A mole?”

“Look,” he leaned closer and I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck. “Mulberry is convinced of your innocence but he is the only one. The whole agency is out to get you. They think you kidnapped her. The ransom note was sent from here.”

“St. Thomas?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would anyone be stupid enough to post a ransom note from where they were holding the prisoner? That’s insane.”

“That’s what Mulberry said, but do you get what that means?” I stared at him blankly, my brain refusing to make the connection. “The ransom was posted the day you got here, Sydney. It was sent before anyone who wasn’t with you could have known about it.”

“What are you-”

“Hey, so what’s going on?” Ana Maria asked, leaning across the bar. I looked back at her, the hair on the back of my neck rising toward the sky.

“Blane’s here,” I said. She didn’t look nearly surprised enough.

CHANGE MY FRIENDS TO ENEMIES

Inside me a numbness was spreading like frost on a window pane. I knew someone had betrayed me, I was just wrong about who. As I looked into Ana Maria’s girlish face, at her long lashes and the roundness of her still so young face, I felt my brain clicking in place. That little bitch used me. She played on my weakness; knowing how I lost my brother, she killed off her cousin. This whole thing was a set up and it wasn’t Bobby Maxim or Mulberry or even Blane behind it. It was all Ana Maria.

“What are we going to do?” she asked. I just stared at her. Dan cleared his throat and turned to his drink. He knocked it over and Coke bubbled across the marble surface of the bar. I stood up and gently took Ana Maria’s arm. She looked down at my hand as I guided her away from the others toward a small opening in the walls. It was a small, dark and foul-smelling passage between the alley I was standing in and the next one over.

I pushed her into it rougher than was necessary. “Hey,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Kidnapping you.”

“What?” I pushed her forward making her walk through a stinking puddle in her flip flops. “Joy-”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her face close to mine. “Don’t fucking call me that. My name is Sydney.”

She nodded, her eyes big and growing wet. “What are you doing?”

“Cut the crap.”

She did, much more than I expected. She turned back at me and her eyes were dry and hard. “You’re already cooked.”

“Cooked?” I smiled, happy to have my adversary out in the open.

“You’re done. My parents think you took me, Bobby thinks you took me. You’re a common criminal and now everyone knows it.”

I laughed. “Honey, there is nothing common about the crime I’m about to commit.” I pushed her forward but she didn’t move.

“Blane will come for me.”

“This isn’t the Princess Bride.”

“He loves me,” she said. “He’s here to take me back.” She pushed passed me heading back toward the bar. I grabbed her arm and swung her around. I was about to say something really clever when Blue let out a bark, Ana Maria’s eyes focused on something behind me and she smiled.

I pulled out my gun and put it in her face at the same time turning my head to look down the passage. A figure who looked a lot like Blane was walking toward me, a pistol raised at my face. His arm was no longer bandaged and he looked ready for a fight. “What does she have a tracking device in her pussy or something?” I called down to him.

Ana Maria went for my gun. It was a clumsy attempt. She just grabbed my hand with both of hers and pushed the muzzle toward the patch of bright blue sky above our heads. I turned and punched her hard in the face. Ana Maria stumbled back with both her hands raised to her nose. I turned back to Blane while Blue covered Ana Maria.

“Drop the gun,” he said.

“You drop the gun.”

“I’ll shoot the dog.”

“I’ll shoot you.”

He was close enough now that I could see his face. There was a small red scratch on his right cheek that was beaded with blood. He smiled at me.

“Come on Sydney, it’s time to put the gun down.”

“I don’t know what makes you think you have the advantage. Just because you have a child on your side doesn’t make you the winner of this contest. I’ve got a dog. He’s smarter than her and a better fighter. So why don’t you go ahead and put the gun down.” I smiled at him. My arm tense, my finger caressing the trigger. I thought about just pulling it. Killing him was quickly becoming my only option. Then I wondered why he didn’t just kill me. Why not take me out and save Ana Maria? He could get rid of my body, tell Ana Maria’s parents that I got the money and disappeared. Instead he was standing there asking me to surrender. Why?

Blane’s lips tightened into a white line. He looked behind me to Ana Maria. I didn’t take my eyes off him. He was close enough to shoot but too far away to touch. That was an OK distance. If he came any closer I wasn’t going to have a choice. I was going to have to shoot him.

“How about you take Ana Maria and walk away, and I’ll walk away and we’ll all pretend like we never even knew each other?” I suggested.

“OK. That sounds like a plan.”

He started to walk towards me. “Stop where you are.”

He smiled. “What? I’m just gonna grab my girl and go.”

I waved for Ana Maria to walk past me with my free hand. “You guys can go out the other way. My friends are waiting for me in that alley. I’ve got a nice cold drink out there too.” My arm was getting sore holding up the gun and I crooked my elbow a little to alleviate the weight. I stepped to the side of the alley, pressing Blue against the wall as Ana Maria walked past me. She was so close I could see the sweat on her neck. Blane put his hand out to her and she grabbed it.

“I can’t let you go,” Blane said.

I smiled. “You don’t have a choice.”

I started backing down the hot, still alley toward my friends, toward the bar and the crowds. Blane walked forward toward me. I steadied my gun and prepared myself to shoot when a voice behind me said. “Sydney?” It was Dan and I fucking turned to look. Such a stupid move. Blane was on top of me in a second. He jammed the butt of his gun into my face knocking me to the ground. I heard Dan yell and saw through spotted vision Blane train his gun on Blue.

Blue has faced the open end of a gun before and he knows not to fuck with it. You don’t jump straight at that darkness. I reached up to touch my face and felt wetness. I pulled my hand back and saw that it was wet with puddle water. The stink filled my nostrils and I gagged. Blane grabbed me by the arm and hauled me to my feet wrenching my shoulder in its socket. He pushed me forward at a run, I stumbled but he carried me along.

“Now!” Blane yelled to Ana Maria as he forced me forward. An explosion ripped loose rock and dust and all hell behind us. I turned to see just a cloud. We left the small passage for a slightly bigger one. My mind was starting to clear as we hit the promenade that ran along the water. I wrenched my arm free from Blane and stepped back, almost losing my balance. He reached out and grabbed me again. I tried to pull away but he was stronger than me. He pulled me close and pushed something into my hand.

“Put in on Blue.” I felt a gun in my stomach and looking down I realized I was holding a muzzle. “Put it on,” Blane said through clenched teeth.

“Or what? You’ll shoot me. Obviously you need me alive for something or I’d be dead along with anyone close enough to that blast.”

“Put it on or I’ll shoot him.” Blane pulled the gun out of my stomach and aimed at Blue’s head. I weighed my options quickly. I could try to disarm him but it’s not like he didn’t know all my moves. I could try and run away from him but his hand was like a vice on my bicep. I could trying screaming for help but as I watched the terrified tourists running around us I knew it wouldn’t do any good. The bomb was taking up everybody’s mind. My problems were my own.

I muzzled Blue. Ana Maria came up to Blane. He pulled a small leather pouch out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. She unzipped the thing and handed Blane a syringe. Blane jabbed me in the arm with it. “OW!” I yelled. We started down the street. I walked next to Blane until my feet became too heavy to lift and the world became so colorful it was too hard to look at. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

WAKING UP

I woke up in first class sitting next to Blane with Blue at my feet. I looked out the window and saw a city filling a valley below. I was wearing a silk shirt and my head hurt. “Good morning, sleepy head,” Blane said. I looked over at him and tried to remember how I got there. What was going on? Wasn’t I on St. Thomas?

Ana Maria leaned across the aisle. She had a black eye. I looked down at Blue again, he was wearing a muzzle. Why would Blue be wearing a muzzle? “What day is it?” I asked.

“What day do you think it is?” Blane asked.

“What?”

The intercom crackled and a female voice told us to prepare for our descent into Mexico City. I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. Everything was so blurry but slowly my adrenaline started pumping. I remembered fighting with Blane in the abandoned building. Had he taken both Ana and I captive, but when? My veins were filling me with energy and my hands twitched on the arm rests as I remembered Ana Maria’s betrayal. What a fucking cunt, I thought, as the plane dipped toward the earth.

That little bitch sold me out and for what? That was the question wasn’t it. Why was I sitting here in Melanie Franks’s clothing descending into Mexico City? What were Blane and Ana Maria up to? With a tightening in my chest I remember the explosion in the alley, the suffocating dust, the flying bricks. I hoped that Easy and Dan were OK. I wondered if I’d live to tell them how sorry I was. How sorry I was that I failed them.

A tear ran down my cheek and I brushed it away quickly. I opened my eyes and looked out the window as the plane touched the tarmac with a reassuring jolt. We were on the ground. I didn’t join the enthusiastic crowd this time.