Page 40 of Devil's Deal

“You haven’t told me where we are,” I said gently, hoping to calm him down.

He scoffed. “You know exactly where we are.”

“Huey, I swear. How did we get here?”

He waved the gun haphazardly. “I rolled you down in your chair.”

Downwhereis what I wanted to know. Why wasn’t he answering the question? “So you knocked me out and brought me…” I trailed off, praying that he’d pick it up and finish.

“Yeah, so I rolled you in your chair down through the tunnels to under the hotel.”

What was he talking about? Tunnels? Under the hotel? This place didn’t have a basement. How could we still be in The Gin Mill? “So just to be clear, we left through my office?”

“Yes,” he spat out, exasperated. “How else would we have gotten down here without being noticed? It wasn’t like I could waltz you through the lobby.” He scoffed. “Between that big security guard and your shadow, boss’s little pet, Harlow, they’d have called the cops or something. Now shut up while I think.”

That was fine. He could take all the time he wanted. I needed to figure out how to either calm him down or regain my strength enough to get past him. Think. Think. Think.

How was it that my hotel had tunnels, and I didn’t know? Where did they run? How did you get into them? How the hell did Huey know? After a few moments of his muttering to himself, I took a chance and asked, “So are you the one who’s been going into the rooms?”

He faced me, puffing up his chest with pride. “That’s right. It’s been me this whole time, and you never knew.”

He waved the gun up and down between my head and chest. Now that I wasn’t so scared, fear started to creep in. I didn’t see how he’d have a choice but to kill me. Well, unless I convinced him that he could go and I wouldn’t report him for this. With the crazed gleam in his eyes, I didn’t think he’d believe me.

“Why didn’t you ever take anything? Why were you just rifling through their clothes?”

He snorted. “At first, I wanted to see if I could get away with sneaking in and out. When I decided I might be able to make a little money, I used my brain.” With the hand holding the gun, he tapped the side of his head. He was stressing me out with his lack of thoughtfulness while handling the damn weapon.

“I decided to wait. All these rich shits put their good stuff in the room safe. I hadn’t figured out how to get into those yet. So, I waited. I knew one day some rich asshole would either leave out enough money to make it worth taking or something valuable enough to sell that I could get out of here.”

Thinking quickly, I tried using his endgame in my favor. “What if I help you, Huey? What if I give you some money, and you can run?”

He thrust the gun back in my direction. “Like I can believe you. The minute I let you out of here, you’ll turn me in. No, I’ll think of something. I don’t need your lies.”

The more aware I became of my situation, the more my head throbbed and my heart pounded. Sweat prickled my forehead and underarms like I’d jogged the length of the hotel. Since I didn’t even know there were tunnels, I’d never told Dante or Harlow about them. Were they looking for me already? How long had I been unconscious? How would they ever find me? All these months of break-ins, and we’d never figured it out, so the chances of them finding me were slim to none.

“Huey, please,” I begged.

“No!” He screamed. “You don’t get to plead with me. It’s the wealthy who put me in this situation in the first place. Before I was even born. My grandfather said.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw motion. It was like one of those phantom impressions of a person that wasn’t there. Like when you wondered if you’d seen a ghost.Applesauce. Was I going to pass out? I needed Huey to calm down. I didn’t want to die down here.

I didn’t want to die at all. If I was gone, who would look for my nephew? Who would take care of my employees? My hotel? Then there was Bosley. He wouldn’t be here forever, but if I got out of this, I’d ask him to stay with me until he left Takoda. I’d ask him to be my sounding board, my Daddy, for as long as he stayed. I choked again, but it was on a sob.

“Huey, I’m sorry for whatever troubles you’ve had. I don’t know what your grandfather told you, what happened to him or you in your life, but I promise, all I’ve ever wanted to do is help you. I care about you. I won’t call the police or anything if you’ll just let me go.”

He glared daggers at me. “Sure, you will. Will you let me keep my job, too?”

Was this guy fucking kidding me? He was completely unhinged. Like I’d leave him amid my other employees and guests. What did he think? That I’d let Harlow be his bitch and pay him anyway? Screw that. On the other hand, to spare my life, I’d act my ass off. “We can work something out,” I said in the most reassuring voice I could muster.

“Bull shit.” He moved closer, aiming the gun straight at my chest, the sound of him clicking the hammer as he cocked the gun echoing through the room. “You’re a liar. Everyone with money lies. I’m going to do the world a favor, and?—”

He cut off when a deadly roar filled the room. It sounded inhuman. Huey spun, and his arm jerked up, firing to my side, as his chin jerked backwards, and a line of red appeared across his neck, and Bosley’s hand came up with the sharpest knife I’d ever seen in his hand.

“You fucker! How dare you hurt my boy!”

Face so red it was almost purple with rage, Bosley threw Huey’s body to the ground and kicked him in the side, in the arm, then the side of his head before stomping his face repeatedly. He was pure fury. “He’s mine! How dare you touch what’s mine! I’ll kill you for taking him from me!”

Dante slid in behind Bosley, his gaze swept over me, cold and appraising, then he raised his arms like he was contemplating grabbing Bosley in a bear hug. “Bosley. Bosley, man, calm down. Bosley, you’re scaring Cory.”

---