“Calm down, boy. I’m on your side. I’m with the Mafia.”
Josh faltered, and his gun lowered slightly.
“What?”
“It’s good that I’m on your side. You’re a complete amateur. You let your hostage run free.”
Josh’s fake gun went to his side, and the shopkeeper relaxed as well, taking off most of the pressure off my arms. Big mistake.
I twisted my hips around, banging them into his chest. I slammed his arms down, pinning him to the table. He tried to kick me, but I kneed his crotch, and he stopped fighting back.
The phone lay beside his hand. I could still here the beeps that meant it was connecting. Before I could hang up, it connected.
“Hello? Hello?”
I froze. My Dad’s voice.
“London? Is that you? Where are you? Are you okay?”
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. My tongue was suddenly dry. It was my Dad. He was the only relative I had left in this world. How could I just run off and leave him like that?
“I’m here, D –”
Josh hung up the phone. I looked at him, more out surprise than anything.
“Why did you just do that?”
“You’re my hostage,” Josh said, calmly, looking at me in a cold, detached way. “I can’t just let you talk to your Dad.”
Suddenly the shrill sounds of police sirens rang through, breaking the tense air. Josh looked down at the “shopkeeper”, as if asking if he was the one who called the cops.
“I didn’t call them,” the guy gasped. I pressed on his neck, briefly cutting off his air supply, testing him. “I’m telling the truth! I’m on Josh’s side! I want him to get the money!”
I looked at Josh. He nodded.
“Why would the Mafia call the police? They don’t want to seem to be involved in this either.”
I released him, rubbing my temples. How did the police constantly know where we are?
“What are we meant to do?” Josh asked.
“Ditch the car. They know that we’ve stolen it, now. Hey, Mafia guy,” I said, looking up. The Mafia guy looked back.
“Yeah?”
“Do you have a ride?”
***
【Josh】
London wrapped her arms around my waist, and I twisted the grip towards and applied throttle.
“You know how to ride a bike?” she asked (well, yelled over the noise. There were no helmets), sounding surprised.
“Hell, yeah,” I yelled back. “I’ve not always wanted to be a kidnapper, you know. I used to want to be a biker.”
“A biker?” she snorted. “I think you’d be a better actor. I mean, I’ve seen –” Her arms suddenly constricted.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just swallowed a bug!” she screamed.
I started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. Even though the police siren was still in our ears, and the Mafia somehow knew where we were, I had to laugh.
“What?! It’s not funny!”
“I just found out there’s something you wouldn’t eat, after all.”
(Chapter 11)
Start from the beginning
