Page 53 of Finish Line
“Calm the fuck down. We’re almost there,” Kevin tells the guy.
I still feel queasy from the smell of the vehicle and now my vomit, but I have nothing left to throw up. Could Kevin have given me a concussion when he hit me?
The vehicle starts turning and it feels like we’re going in a circle. We finally come to a stop and the engine is shut off. Multiple doors open and close before one to my right opens and a hand grabs my arm.
“Scoot to your right,” Kevin says to me. I do as he says, scooting until my shoulder hits his stomach. His hand comes to my head and the blindfold comes off. “You have puke on your pants and shoes, so you’ll have to walk on your own.”
He takes a step back to let me out. I swing my feet out of what I now see is a rusty old van and hop out. Kevin grabs my shoulders to steady me before grabbing my arm and forcing me to walk.
We’re in what looks to be a parking garage. There are a handful of cars around us, but for the most part, this place is deserted. Looking out onto the street, that’s when I notice the time of day it is. It has to be late evening as the sun is starting to set. Which explains the lack of cars around. I’d guess we’re on the third or fourth floor.
Kevin guides me through a set of doors, following one of his guys with another one right behind us. To our right are some stairs leading up and down. To our left is an elevator. In the corner, just above the stairs, is a security camera. Kevin nods to one of the guys and the guy lifts his gun, shooting the camera before the four of us walk into the elevator.
“There aren’t any cameras in here,” the guy who shot the security camera tells Kevin.
“Good. Basement level,” he says. The guy presses a button and the elevator doors close. I watch the number above the doors count backward.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Error.
Ding!
Why the hell are we going past the main level of a parking garage and why is it saying error? The doors don’t open right away, and my heart starts beating faster. I take a deep breath, attempting to calm myself down.
When the door finally opens, it’s dark. The guy who was walking behind us upstairs walks out first, triggering lights to turn on. The cement walls and a cement floor give this place a dungeon feel. Not that I would know what a dungeon is like except for what I’ve seen on TV and movies. There are five doors. Two on the left, two on the right and one at the end of the hall, which happens to be the one we’re going to.
The guy leading the way opens the door. I glance around the room, which looks like an ordinary office. A giant wood desk sits in the middle of the room and bookshelves line the walls to the left and right behind the desk. Kevin walks us into the room, and I notice a couch to the right of the door. He shoves me onto the couch then walks toward the desk. Picking up the phone, he dials a few numbers, but not enough to be a phone number. More like for an extension. Holding the phone up to his ear, he turns his back to me. He whispers something into the phone before hanging it up.
He walks to the bookshelf behind the desk, browsing the books like he’s looking for a specific one. He finds the one he’s looking for and pulls the top of it out. The bookshelf slides to the right, opening to a long tunnel with lanterns along the walls.
“Let the fun begin,” Kevin says with an evil grin. “Julio, grab her and let’s go.”
The man I now know as Julio grabs my arm, pulling me to my feet and damn near shoves me through the door. The other henchman follows behind us, with Kevin coming through last. He hits a few buttons on a keypad and the door slides shut.
“Let’s go,” Kevin says, walking past us and we start our trek down the rabbit hole. Though, where we’re headed won’t be anything like Wonderland if Kevin and the cartel are involved.
The only things on the walls are the lanterns. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say we were walking in a giant loop, passing the same lanterns over and over again. A light, different from the lanterns, appears in the distance, letting me know we’re finally coming to the end of this never-ending tunnel.
When we walk out of the tunnel, we’re met by two more men. These two are scarier than Julio and his friend. They’re more muscular, covered in scars and tattoos. The one on the left eyes me from head to toe.
“Undo her wrists.El Jefedoesn’t approve of that shit here,” he says in a thick Spanish accent.
Julio pulls a knife out of his back pocket, flipping it open and cuts the zip ties binding my wrists. I let out a sigh of relief and rotate my hands around, stretching my wrists.
“Follow me. I will take you to your rooms,” the man says, then walks out of the room. The man on the right stands as still as a statue as we walk by, following the first guy. This area is identical to the place we came from, only it’s not as cold. There are five rooms total. Four rooms surround the one we came out of. All have their doors closed, so I can’t tell if they’re just more offices or what.
At the opposite end of the hall from the room we came out of is an elevator. The man presses a button and we wait for the elevator doors to open. As soon as they do, the five of us walk in. The keypad is different from most elevators. With this one, the man inserts a card before pressing a couple buttons. The doors close and the elevator lifts us. Again, I watch the numbers.
B2.
How many floors does this place have?I think to myself.
