Oops

Chapter 14

                                                                                   Maya

                “You!” I exclaimed, hearing the other four echo me.

                The man from the warehouse tipped his ridiculous brown fedora in our direction with his free hand. “Nice to see you boys again,” he told Blake and Shane.

                “Dawson?” Blake inquired, disbelief coloring his voice. “What are you doing here?”

                “What’s with the gun?” Shane asked flatly, crossing his arms.

                The man—Dawson?—looked at his gun like he was surprised it was still there. “Oh, my bad,” he said, smiling. His smile looked all wrong—not happy, really. More like the kind of smiles you found on mannequins. “Didn’t realize I still had this.”

                He didn’t put it down, though. He kept it aimed at my head, and only mine. He must remember that blow I gave him.

                “Don’t arrest them, Dawson,” Blake said, oblivious to the danger unfolding. “We think there’s a reason that they kidnapped Rocky. The least we can do is hear them out.”

                “Actually, no, Blake,” Dawson said, swinging the gun to point at the kid’s chest. Blake took a step back and Rocky moved to place himself between the gun and his brother. Dawson looked amused. “Well. Maybe you can hear them out, but I’m not going to arrest them.”

                “How do you guys know this creep?” I spoke up then, ignoring Dawson and staring at Shane and Blake.

                “He was a private detective,” Blake said darkly. “Or at least, we thought he was.”

                “No, I do have a detective’s license,” Dawson said idly, “but, as you know, people can wear many hats.”

                “Enough games,” Rocky said, keeping a fixed glare on Dawson’s face and ignoring the gun, like I was. “What do you want?”

                Dawson shrugged. “It’s not important. You should be used to it by now—Rocky, isn’t it? We’re just going to take a little walk back to that hideout you guys were in. And we’re going to stay there. For a long while.”

                “That’s not happening,” I growled, leaning forward. The gun came back around towards me again.

                “Ah, ah, I wouldn’t,” Dawson said mockingly. “I won’t make the same mistake twice, Princess.”

                Rocky inched towards me. I could see from the corner of my eye he was trying to tell me something in sign language, but I couldn’t decipher what he was saying from this angle. Instead, I glared at Dawson, giving no indication of the plan forming in my mind.

                “What?” Dawson’s eyes swept over the five of us and I took that time to glance sharply over at Rocky. “Nothing smart to say?”

                Split up. Rocky wanted us to split up, unless I’d read wrong.

                “Oh, I have plenty to say to you,” I said, returning my attention to the man with the gun. “Eat dirt, asshole!”