Page 26 of The Thief
I didn’t want to give my phone to them, though.
Why the fuck should I?
And then, we heard a commotion across the room between the young man who’d been in front of me in the queue and one of the gunmen.
“What’s the fucking problem, Five?” Number One shouted across to him, turning and pointing his gun at the young man. The mobile phone guy went silent, staring back at One with desperation.
“He said he hasn’t got a phone, but he has. I saw him with it when we came in here,” Five said in the same Scottish accent as Four.
“Then search him,” One spat back.
The young guy started shaking his head, telling them, “No. I haven’t got one. I swear. That wasn’t what you saw.”
The room seemed to freeze, everyone holding their breath, as Number Two marched across the floor and came to stand right over the young guy as he sat helplessly on the floor, looking back up at him.
“We don’t have time for this shit,” Number One cursed. “Just search him and be done with it.”
“You heard the man,” Two hissed. Then, reaching forward, he dragged the young man to his feet. “Empty your pockets. All of them.”
The guy just shook his head again. “You’ve got everything. That’s all I have. I swear.”
“No it fucking isn’t,” Two seethed, pushing his gun into the guy’s face. “Keep going.”
“That’s it. That’s all I’ve got,” the guy begged, and I found myself closing my eyes, willing him to play the game smarter. Because the one he was playing right now was fucking stupid.
Two stepped right into him, his balaclava-clad face pressed close to his as he hissed, “So, if Five checks every inch of you, he won’t find anything?”
“That’s right.” The guy’s voice was wavering, his throat bobbing, and his hands flexing as he tried and failed to hide his lies. I could spot it a mile away. They could too. This wasn’t going to end well.
I leaned my head to the side, ever so slightly, so that it wouldn’t alert any of the gunmen, and I whispered to Jess, “Cover her ears and don’t let her see this.” I knew how this was going to play out.
“Check him,” Two shouted.
Number Five grabbed the young guy, throwing him up against the wall and kicked his legs open. Then he frisked him, arms, body, legs. As he moved to the feet, the guy went rigid, and then, from inside the guy’s sock, Five pulled out a phone.
“I didn’t know it was there,” the guy pleaded, and the rest of them laughed.
“Fuck!” Two threw his head back in adulation. “I fuckinglove it when we get one like this.” He leaned into the guy, and with his teeth gritted, he hissed, “You just made my fucking day.”
They didn’t bother to cable tie him. Five forced him to turn around and face the room as Two waved his hands and announced to us, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is gonna be special. You’ll get to see what happens when you fuck with us. We told you to listen. To do as you’re told.”
He turned to face the young man just as Number One muttered, “Fuck,” under his breath and stalked over to us. Number One stood in front of Jess, positioning himself so she wouldn’t see the full horror of what was about to happen. But he needn’t have bothered. I moved to stand in front of her, facing him with my arms folded. Protecting Jess and Ava was my job. Not his.
As I stood there, staring him down, I felt Jess place a hand on my back, and whisper a low, “Thank you.” A thank you she didn’t need to give, because this was what I was here for, to shield them both.
“This,” Two announced, pulling everyone’s attention his way as he took a step forward. “Is what happens when you don’t do as you’re told.” He pushed the barrel of the gun right in the man’s face, as the man screwed his eyes shut and a dark stain appeared at the front of his trousers.
Number One hung his head, and I could’ve sworn I heard him whisper, ‘Sorry,’ as he stood there, in front of us. And then...
BANG.
Two shot the guy in the face, literally blew the back of his head off and laughed as he fell to the floor, leaving a bloody mess of flesh and brain matter on the wall behind him.
“Now, who’s next?” Two asked, like nothing had happened, moving towards us with a spring in his step to show he was enjoying himself way too much.
Number One spun around, stalking over to Two, hissing, “I know there’s gonna be collateral damage. This isn’t my first fucking rodeo. But next time, take them out the back or in the office, yeah? Don’t do the fucking shooting in here. There’s a fucking kid over there.”
But Two didn’t care, he just shrugged and said, “Not my fucking problem.”
