Page 104 of Take Her

I texted Sable once I was around the bend.

Long enough to make popcorn!

Sable texted back—which was her way of saying yes.

Four minutes and fifty seconds later, I leaned in and tapped on the driver side window, scaring the shit out of him. He startled, dropped his phone, then recognized me—at the same time as I made out a ski mask and a gun on his passenger seat through the tinted glass.

He was reaching for the keys to drive off as the doors unlocked. I whipped his door open and lunged in to slam the hammer down on his outstretched arm, his sudden panic illuminated by the overhead light.

“Boy, did you fuck up,” I told the kid and hit him in the head.

The only reason Bobby was still alive was because I’d used the hammer’s wooden handle—and because the gun was empty, which explained why he’d gone for his keys first.

If he’d been trying to do anything around Lia with live ammo, not a force on earth could have stopped me from killing him.

After that, I got my truck, pulled it alongside his car, and hauled him into the cab for some light bondage: a little tape across his mouth, both hands and ankles hogtied.

When we got where we were going, I wanted to be able to take my time.

I set the scene for him in a small metal box—in its own way, just as elaborate as my apartment had been for Lia—and then waited for him to wake up.

He did so slowly, and with increasing horror, as he realized he was injured, taped, and tied, and I squatted on my heels in front of him so I would be the first thing he saw.

“Good morning, Bobby. Remember me?”

His eyes went wide and he tried to shout.

“Go ahead,” I said, reaching up with a gloved finger to rip the tape off his mouth.

He yelled and all it did was echo around the metal walled room we were in. I waited until all of it was out of his system before explaining. “We’re in the heart of a locked storage facility and it’s two in the morning.” I stood and loosened my neck. “I was getting worried you weren’t going to wake up—that there wouldn’t be anything fun to do here.”

“What the fuck?” he shouted at me.

“Indeed,” I said with a laugh. “So, tell me what your grand plan was, and whose idea it was,” I said, holding the head of the hammer in my hand and pointing at him with the handle.

“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re crazy, man. People will be looking for me?—”

I leaned forward and tapped the end of the handle meaningfully beneath his chin to shut him up. “Let’s be clear about some things here, Bobby. First, I am crazy. Of course.” I took a moment to look around our enclosed surroundings. “Most people don’t do this kind of thing. More importantly, most people don’t enjoy this kind of thing. But I do, and I want you to know that, going forward.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered to himself as I continued.

“Secondly, why the fuck do you think you’re Junior’s friend?” I asked, and he whipped his head up to look at me. “I’ll tell you—it’s because you’re not a threat to him. You’re just his ass kisser, so he can feel important. But no one’s looking for you. Junior’s probably cursing your name for having let him down—I can see him blowing up your phone here,” I said, tapping the pocket which I’d put it in, “but he’s stopped now. He just assumes you flaked. He’s not calling the cops. Which means no one knows you’re here but me.”

“Shit—what do you want?” he said, still trying to wriggle free.

“You don’t actually want to know,” I said, and eyed him coolly. “But I can promise you, you’ll survive the night if you just tell me the truth. Why the fuck were you down the street from Lia Ferreo with a gun and ski mask?”

He started taking panicked breaths. “It wasn’t armed! There weren’t any bullets!”

“I know. That’s the only reason you’re able to talk to me with any teeth left in your mouth.”

I heard him gulp at that. “I was just waiting for him to text me when they left—I was going to pretend to be a mugger and he was going to save her from me.”

“Why?”

“Because Junior wanted to seem like a big man, and she’s not used to the city?—”

“That’s fucking dumb,” I said. It did seem on the level of Junior’s level of intelligence, however.