The Mafia's Conman

Chapter Eight: Code Twenty- Two

Chapter Eight: Code Twenty-Two

   I bolt out of the door, laughing hysterically.

   People were chasing after me, and if I were sane at all I would have questioned the logic on punching a mafia lord, kicking him in the balls, then proceeding to run out the door into the resting place of dozens of criminals... then again, hi, I'm Chris.

   Taking an abrupt turn, I stumble into a dark room. Locking it behind me, I run my hands along the wall in search of a light switch. Finally finding one, I take a deep breath, nearly crying in relief when I noticed that I was in a supply closet. A really large one at that.

   With a head spinning with adrenaline, I tried my hardest to calm my beating heart. The pounding in my chest could rival that of the door.

   Oh god... oh god... oh god...

   Scrambling around the room, knocking down items as I searched for either a phone or a weapon, endlessly cursing my own stupidity.

   I may be an exaggerating, dramatic piece of shit, but I nearly thanked my parents when I found a really small flip phone stored all they way in the back of a shelf; near impossible to find. But I did.

   With shaking hands I flipped the thing open, finding it increasingly hard to punch in the numbers with my trembling fingers. But soon the phone was ringing in my ear, the door still pounding behind my back as I pushed back on it.

   "Derreck speaking."

   Never in my life have I ever been more glad to hear that drowsy, apathetic voice.

   "Derreck! It's me, Chris! Listen real close, I don't have much time-" I shouted into the phone, my voice frantic.

   "Chris? Is this another one of your stupid pranks? It's two in the goddamn morning." The sleep-deprived voice mumbled back, clearly not interested in what I was saying.

   "No! Dude, listen! We have a code twenty-two! I don't know where I am, but I've been-"

   "Code twenty-two? Come on, Chris. That was one of our dumb little jokes." His tired voice sounded irritated, irritating me further.

   "No, Derrick, listen-"

   "You mean to tell me, that after conning someone, you got on their bad side and earned a 'stalker', failed to notice, robbed someone and it backfired because they were tricking you to put a tracking device on you, then they tracked you back home and kidnapped you and forced you into a marriage? Really Chris? What are the chances of that?"

   "It's true! His name is Jackson Kaaz. Got it? Jackson Kaaz. Now-"

   "Jackson Kaas? Isn't that the-"

   "Yes! It's him! Now-" I was exasperated, practically shouting into the phone when the door clicked open, making my heart freeze in place.

   I slowly turned around, like a deer caught in the headlights, phone pressed into my ear and Derreck's alert voice shouted my name. Jackson glared down at me as though I were a child that did something he was deliberately told not to do.

   "You said you wouldn't run if I told you." Ripping the phone out of my hand, his glare hardened at Derreck's voice coming through the line. "Everything's fine." He growled into it, and I only heard Derreck's voice yelling back "Like hell it is!" before he slammed the phone shut and returned his glare back to me.

   "Oh no no no. I said I would run if I got any more confused. I got more confused, so I ran out the door. I was only keeping my promise." I said sheepishly, stepping back further into the closet, nearly tripping over one of the items I managed to knock down onto the floor in my frantic haze.