Opie shook his head firmly, took the phone again and pressed the red button. "You're not takin' that call."
Dana jumped up, bent over the table and tried to snatch the device out of his hand. "You think this is a game?" she snarled. "This is serious, Ope! People die if I don't..."
"We will not participate in his games. We go back to the clubhouse." He stood up and gave the phone back to the waitress.
Tears jumped in Dana's eyes. He didn't get it, he didn't see the danger. She saw an image of Juice, tied to a chair with a gun pressed to his head.
Maddox would pull the trigger.
He would pull the trigger when he thought she was ignoring him.
She rummaged in her purse, took out the gun Happy had given her and pointed it to the waitress. "Give me the phone."
Her heart shrunk when fear skewed her sweet face. Her fingers were shaking when she handed Dana the device.
"Sorry," Dana muttered, and she gestured the girl to walk away.
She cast a glance at Opie who looked like a statue.
A very grim statue.
Of course they both knew she would never shoot at that poor blonde girl or at him, but Dana knew she'd damaged their friendship now, maybe even for good. She'd used a gun to get her way. Something dark, something unstoppable had awakened in her, the same darkness that had forced her to fire a bullet through Casper's head.
Not in his foot, not in his knee.
In his head.
"And now what?" Opie taunted. "Maybe this was the respons he was hopin' for."
"He will call," Dana grunted. Her eyes flashed through the diner. At least fifty people looked at her with pale faces, too scared to move.
Dana cursed under her breath. People were scared of her.
Of her.
She knew she had to leave, somebody might have called the cops. Perhaps Maddox himself had even done so. At the time regret marched through her body, the phone rang again. She pressed the device against her ear and breathed in and out.
"Are you having fun?"
His voice was drenched in mockery. It felt like the oxygen in her lungs froze, causing jolts of pain in her chest. Breathing was almost impossible. There were no doubts somebody told him exactly what was going on here. Her eyes wandered across the dinner guests, looking for the spy.
"I do," she grumbled. She didn't know whether she was encouraged by the gun in her hand or by the fact that it had been her decision to take the call, but she managed to shake off the fear that had almost taken over her body.
"Do you miss me yet?"
His voice sounded warmer than she remembered, creating a shiver creeping down her spine. "What do you want?"
"Come on, Dana, you know very well what I want. I want you to come home."
Dana kept silent, giving him the room to continue. That was the easiest way to find out if Juice was in danger.
"I'll play along, baby. I've decided not to come and get you. I will wait until you come back to me. But... I have created some obstacles to spice things up."
She heard a rattling sound, followed by a click.
"What about a round of Russian Roulette? Every thirty minutes you delay my assignment, we will take a guess." There was a sinister chuckle. "There are two nice obedient children on the couch in front of me. Could you tell her your name, darling?"
The phone cracked. "Elly..." a voice whispered nervously.
"Oh god..." The gun clattered on the ground. "Oh god. You can't hurt them, you hear me?"
"That will fully depend on you, my love."
Dana dropped down on her knees and started to sob. "I'll come back to you.... I swear... Please don't hurt them," she whimpered. "This has nothing to do with them, they..."
"Oh, I indeed expect you back soon. But you will still follow my rules. And for someone... for someone your return will be too late."
"What... What do you want me to do?" She fully focused on forming the words. As soon as her thoughts shot to other things, she would collaps. And if she didn't know what Maddox wanted, it could be too late for Opie's kids.
"I want this whining crybaby to disappear and I want bad ass Dana to shoot her new bestie through the head, just as he has done to mine." His laughter sounded hollow. "And I know you can do that. You've done this before, remember?"
Dana bit her knuckles so hard she tasted blood. She wanted to feel the pain that kept her focused, that prevented her from being swept away by the fear ripping through her body.
"You can do this, baby. Thirty minutes. Tick-tock. Oh, and... make sure the police can't identify you as the murderer. If you end up behind bars, I might become very unpleasant."
Again she heard the chamber of his revolver turn. The rattling squeezed her throat. She could clearly see how Kenny and Elly were sitting on the couch with pale faces, the Croweater who had been looking after them probably next to them.
Or maybe she was already lying in a pool of blood.
"Oh, and as soon as I see someone who even looks like a Son, these little kiddo's are done. But you know that very well, huh? Haven't we done hundreds of role playing games like these?"
The memories made her feel sick. Bile crept into her throat. Even then, she should have known he was insane. His fantasies had always been repulsive, but she'd found them exciting.
She was disgusted with herself now.
"Now, remember these numbers and send me proof as soon as you've accomplished your task."
A series of numbers followed and a click announced the ending of the conversation. Slowly Dana stood up, repeating the numbers in her head. It was the only thing that kept her from getting insane. Her legs were trembling, her whole body was shaking.
"We have to go," she whispered without looking at Opie. With a quick movement she grabbed the weapon from the ground and headed for the exit. With her other hand she took her own phone and saved Maddox' number.
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Counting in the prologue, this was part hundred! Hell's about the break loose now!