Willow Pond

title of your story or chapter

Chapter Thirty-Five

Erich was just tugging on his jacket, ready to leave for work, when he heard a ferocious knocking on his apartment door. He tugged the door open and found himself face to face with three men, all of whom he knew to be members of the gang of bootleggers he had been trying to infiltrate. He stood frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. He was entirely aware they could just kill him right then and there.

The men pushed into the room and the youngest of the three kicked the door shut. The other two shoved Erich toward the sofa, and when he landed on it one of the men practically sat on top of him. In the next instant Erich flinched, feeling the cold pressure of a gun to his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard, certain he was about to die.

Then the pressure was gone. Erich’s eyes popped open and slid to the right. The gun now sat patiently on the couch between him and the bootlegger.

“Hans Kohl or Erich Muller?” the bootlegger demanded.

Erich didn’t answer, and the bootlegger sneered his displeasure. “Did you really think we wouldn’t find out who you were?” The man chuckled. It was a low, nerve-wracking sound. “You know something? It just so happens who you are is gonna save your life.”

Erich glanced up. The other two bootleggers were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking the coffee he’d just prepared. They were watching him and chuckling. He had never felt more inept in his whole life.

“I don’t understand,” he managed, hoping he hadn’t said the wrong thing.

“You don’t understand?” one of the men asked. He looked like the oldest of the three. He was stockier, with more gray around the temples. “Let’s see if I can explain it to you. It would be so easy for us to take you for a one way ride and get things over with. Do you know what that means?”

Erich nodded, then realized he was no longer quite as frightened as he had been. Maybe it was because the three men who now surrounded him looked angry, but not murderous. Or maybe it was because the whole situation was nuts, just like Dan and Peter had said. Whatever the reason, Erich had to follow this thing through to the end. To do that, he couldn’t show any fear.

“I’ve heard about those kinds of car rides. To be honest, I’d rather skip that,” Erich said. “I really have to get to work so …”

“You may be late,” the bootlegger with the gun said. “But I got a feeling you’ll come up with a good excuse. Remember what I said before about who you are being the one thing that saved your life? Well, here’s the thing. You’re also going to save your girlfriend’s life and get the cops off our backs.”

“Laura?” Erich asked, feeling suddenly sick. “Is she in danger?”

“She will be unless you do what we ask you to do.”

Erich glanced from one bootlegger to the other, wondering whether he had ever seen any of them before. He had met others in Montauk and at the Canoe Place Inn, but no. These three hadn’t been there.

“What do you want me to do?”

The man chuckled. “This isn’t something we want you to do. This is something you will do.”

“What if it’s something I don’t think is a good idea?”

This time all three men laughed. “You’ll do it anyway. If you don’t, well, it’s sad to think of something so beautiful as dead. So sad.”

A chill spread like ice through Erich’s body. “What do I have to do?”

“We want you to get the cops off our trail. We didn’t kidnap your girlfriend’s kid, and you’re a bigger fool than you seem if you think we did. We don’t kidnap babies for ransom, and we ain’t got no idea who did. We want you to put the heat on someone else. Virginia Kingsley would be a good choice. Everyone thinks she was involved anyway.” The man narrowed his eyes and put his face right in Erich’s so he couldn’t avoid his hard stare. “So, Hans Erich, you have seventy-two hours to get the article in the paper and on the newsstands. If you don’t, you won’t get an opportunity to kiss your girlfriend goodbye.”