by James Hudson
Nobody replied.
“Hey, commander! Are you fucking deaf? Do as I say!”
“Let her go!” the commander hissed poisonously.
One of the guys nodded, helped Sarah get up, and pushed her toward the exit.
“Stop! Are you kidding me?” George exclaimed. “The police will shoot her behind the door. Everybody is leaving the room now, and we’re gonna walk her to the elevator.”
“Do as he said,” the commander said grimly.
“Go in front of me! Cover the girl!”
Suddenly, the cell phone of the commander rang.
“Pick it up!” George ordered.
That was Walter Schmidt. “Is he dead already?” he asked.
“Not yet, sir. You want me to do it immediately?”
“Not now. I need him alive for a while. Bring him to me!”
“Roger that, sir!”
“Over!”
George laughed. “You heard your boss? Now to the elevator!”
The guys slowly approached the door. One of them opened it, and a second later screamed, “Watch out! Grenade!”
30. No Way Out
Everyone saw a small metal ball flew into the room. Sarah squeaked and fell on the floor. George swallowed saliva. He was still holding the commander tightly.
“Hartley must stay alive!” the commander screamed in an inhuman voice.
One of the guys sighed and lay on the grenade, covering it with his body. George distinctly heard that the guy whispered, ‘Forgive me’ right before the explosion. Two other guys fell on him. Then the explosion thundered. The body armor didn’t save the life of the first guy – he was torn to pieces. Two other men were wounded but stayed alive. The fourth guy stayed safe and sound.
At the moment, a policeman entered the room and fired. The fourth guy was quicker. He emptied the clip into the officer. Then he reloaded his weapon. Two wounded guys were rolling on the floor.
“To the elevator! Crawl! You’ll be a meat shield!” the commander ordered through his teeth.
The guys obeyed. The fourth guy leaped out of the room. Sarah and George, holding the commander, followed in the rear.
There were no people in the corridor. Either the hotel was empty, or everybody had already been evacuated. One of the guys hit two elevator buttons. Tense silence seemed unbearable.
Finally, the doors of the elevator slid aside. Three women inside were frightened to death when they saw crawling armed guys and George, who put the pistol to the commander’s head.
Shocked Sarah jumped inside the cabin. The doors closed, and the elevator went down.
George sighed with relief.
“Your requirements were satisfied,” the commander hissed. “Now, release me!”
George had no time to think. He hit the commander several times with the pistol handle until he lost consciousness. The fourth guy jumped up to George and put his rifle to George’s head.
“I must stay alive, remember?” George grinned.
The guy didn’t move. The wounded guys crawled to George and squeezed his legs. The second elevator started opening its doors. George quickly hid his pistol in the pocket. The fourth guy took away his weapon too. The elevator was full of scared people – men, women, and children.
“A wounded man!” George exclaimed. The head of the commander was bleeding. “I have to go down with him!” he looked at the fourth guy. The guy hesitated. “Your boss is wounded!” George cried out. “No space! Meet us on the ground floor!” And he dragged the commander inside the cabin. The doors closed. George sighed. It’s almost done, he thought.
“What happened?” someone asked anxiously. “Terrorists?”
“Yeah!” George nodded. “On the fifth floor!”
“Thank God, we’re going down! Wait… where are you going?”
When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor to pick up more passengers, George pushed the commander back inside the cabin and darted out into the hall.
Saved! He thought and smiled. However, he still had no idea how to get out of the building. The video surveillance must’ve spotted me. The police are probably seeking for me. And after my video, they know I’m alive!
George was climbing up the stairs. He had to lie to several people who were going down that his baby was upstairs. They nodded compassionately.
George reached the eleventh floor and decided to stop. He walked along the empty corridor and found one of the rooms opened. He ran inside and locked himself. Then he managed to move the wardrobe to the door. Then he started shaking. Emotions overwhelmed him. He opened a mini-bar and found a small bottle of whiskey. He didn’t touch it. Right now, he couldn’t fail to escape. He realized that nothing would stop both Ross and Walter Schmidt from killing him.
George came up to the corded phone and dialed Sarah’s number. Fortunately, he remembered it.
“Sarah! It’s me, George! Where are you?”
“George! Thank God you’re alive! I’m all right!” Sarah cried out. She was obviously driving. “I’m moving across the city, as you told me. I picked up your documents and money. No tail. Everything is fine. Where are you?”
George breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m still here, in the hotel. But those thugs lost me. I’m alone in a hotel room.” George looked out of the window. “Surrounded by ten police cars at the entrance. I bet they are searching every inch of this place.”
“What about the armed guys?” Sarah asked. “Can you see them?”
“No. But I can see someone like a reporter. The last person whom I wanna see now,” George chuckled.
“You’ve never loved them,” Sarah grinned. “So, no way out, right?”
“Yeah,” George exhaled. “Any ideas?”
“No.”
“Deadlock.”
“Close your eyes, smile, and in a minute, a brilliant idea will flash into your mind,” Sarah said seriously.
“Wow!” George exclaimed. “What if I fall asleep?”
“Call me back when you give it a try,” she said.
George hung up the phone and fell on the bed. In a minute, he could see nothing except dead bodies. He remembered the guy who’d died twenty minutes ago, protecting everyone in the room. He remembered the innocent policemen who’d never come back home, who’d died because he, George Hartley, couldn’t die. Dead bodies again. Hartley must stay alive! George remembered the commander. Is he still alive? I didn’t hit him hard. That Pakistani maid must be telling the police how I wanted to bribe her… Blood… Petrified corpse of Emma Robinson…
31. Crazy ideas
George gulped down the small bottle of whiskey from the mini-bar. He took not less than eight slugs of whiskey. Terrible anxiety was relieved. And soon, he couldn’t restrain his laughter. He had two brilliant but crazy and dangerous ideas. He thought he couldn’t come up with better ideas of escape.
He called back Sarah. She answered the phone immediately. Her voice was full of hope.
“George? Did you leave the hotel?” she shouted. The traffic noise was deafening. Most likely, she was still driving her motorcycle.
“Not yet,” George muttered.
“Are you… are you drunk?” Sarah asked in a shocked tone.
“Listen… I’ve got two ideas of escape!”
“Yes… But are you OK?” she asked suspiciously.
“Please pull over and find some quiet place!” George barked.
“All right. Just a moment…” Sarah said. “I’ve parked. Wait… I’ve dropped into a grocery store. Talk!”
“At last,” George grinned. “So… don’t call me crazy, don’t swear, and don’t interrupt me. I’ve just realized that you’re the only person who could help me out of this goddamn hotel. I’ve got no cell phone, no money – you took it, no laptop – I left it in my room. But the main thing… no friends. You’re the only one.”
“Wow!” Sarah laughed. “A confession, huh? I think you have low self-esteem. Actually, you’re a very interesting person. People around you re
ally want to communicate with you, but you’re afraid to—”
“Sarah!” George roared. “Let’s leave psychology aside! You have almost 200 grand in your purse. You’re the only girl who could do that.”
“Do what?”
“Call in the fucking helicopter for extraction!”
“Where to?”
“Right on the roof of the hotel!”
“George, you’re really drunk!” Sarah exclaimed.
“I thought I could rely on you! 200 grand! It’ll be enough to pay the helicopter pilot. Find a company… I don’t know… tell them we’re YouTube-bloggers, and we want to shoot the video. Pay them 10, 15, 20 grand. Or even a better idea… Tell them a very important person got sick, and he needs immediate evacuation to the hospital. He can’t wait for a taxi and die in traffic jams.”
“What was the other idea?” Sarah asked quickly.
“If the police find me earlier, I’ll open the window and jump out.”
“No! You’ll plunge to death!” she screamed.
“Shush! You’re in the store, aren’t you? No need to shout!”
“It’s nobody here.”
“They’re always watching you.”
“You’re paranoid, Mr. Hartley,” Sarah grinned.
“I’m not gonna commit suicide. I’ll jump when I attract their attention. They will catch me with a life net.”
“Now, the helicopter plan doesn’t seem that crazy,” Sarah sighed. “If you jump, the police will arrest you—”
“Or they send me to the mental hospital!” George exclaimed. “And I’ll have to escape again! Anyway, if I jump, they won’t shoot me. I’ll have a chance to run away.”
Sarah chuckled.
“I have a weapon, by the way,” George muttered. “But I can’t kill anyone.”
“Really? Have you ever killed people, George? Please, tell me the truth!”
“Believe it or not, I can’t remember. I’d like to know it either.”
“I don’t believe you!” Sarah said in an injured voice.
“Call in the helicopter!”
“All right… but what if the exit to the roof is closed?”
George grinned. “If I die, you’ll buy a new motorcycle. Something expensive. Like Harley-Davidson.”
“Stop saying it!” Sarah exclaimed.
“By the way, regarding your advice to communicate with people. I met one interesting person a few hours ago. He wined and dined me. But after the dinner, he sold me! Ha, ha! Such a good friend! Everyone wants me dead now, Sarah! What about you? You too, huh?”
“No! I want to be with you! I wanna save you!”
“Wow! Another bottle of whiskey!” George exclaimed, having opened the wardrobe. “Someone must’ve forgotten it here!”
“George, I beg you not to drink!” Sarah said patiently. “You can’t think when you’re drunk—”
“Bullshit!” George exclaimed. “These two ideas of escape came like a flash.”
“The only reason you drink is that you’re lonely, George. And if we were together… you wouldn’t drink. If you loved someone, you’d be sober just to enjoy your senses fully—”
“I guess you should tell the chopper pilot that the building is on fire!” George exclaimed.
“Fire? What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to set this hotel on fire! The lower place will be burning. The police won’t be able to ascend to the eleventh floor. The helicopter will pick me up on the roof. If not, I’ll jump.”
Sarah sighed heavily. “How much have you drunk?”
“Sarah, whom are you working for?”
“What? Are you insane?” she cried out.
“Come on! Are you not going to call chopper? Who’s your boss? Walter Schmidt?”
“You’d better apologize, George,” she said coldly. “Don’t you understand what I’m feeling toward you? Are you pretending?”
“Look, what if I just fall asleep? Like if I hadn’t heard anything at all?”
Sarah sniffed. “Sleep?”
“Yeah. Why not? Maybe in the morning, everything will be straightened out. Am I unattractive now? Women don’t like indecisive men, do they? I’m going to bed and let the cards fall where they may.”
“Are you laughing at me?” she asked.
“No, no! I’m starting to contemplate my death.”
“What will you be thinking about before death?” Sarah asked thoughtfully. “Stocks, currencies, markets?”
“I will think about how I will fuck the world from Heaven!”
“Holy Molly!” Sarah exclaimed. “Tell me… why didn’t you ever call me after we broke up?”
“Let me think… Oh, I can’t remember!”
“You can’t remember how we broke up?” Sarah grinned.
“I must’ve drunk a lot,” George said slowly. “One day, after a big party I woke up and realized I’d lost my memory! My memory had been erased!”
“So, you replaced me with alcohol?” she asked indignantly. “Did you love booze more than my naked body?”
“Actually, I don’t remember your body,” George grinned. “Is it hairy?”
“Son of a bitch!”
“Sorry. It’s such a cozy room! Great panoramic view from the window... By the way, how many people liked and commented on my video on YouTube? Maybe I should ask them to call the helicopter?”
“Yeah, pay them in advance and start waiting,” Sarah grinned.
“Tell me, Sarah, why did I attract you? I mean, how did we meet each other?”
Sarah laughed. “What do you think? Would I spend my life with a boring office clerk? Never! I started riding motorcycles because I was so bored with dull London suburban life. I’ll never forget how we met each other.”
32. A Reckless Girl
“How did we meet? Let me guess! Bar? Club? Exhibition?”
“No!”
“Come on! Tell me everything!” George ordered.
“It was a Mercedes-Benz dealership. You were collecting a brand-new car for your girlfriend. I just popped in to have a free coffee at the dealership.”
George shuddered. He instantly remembered the audio recordings of admin Jason. He, George Hartley, purchased a Bentley Continental for admin’s ex-girlfriend Lana. But what about Mercedes? Was it another happy woman?”
Sarah went on, “You behaved like an owner of the dealership. You were so confident and tough that I couldn't resist getting acquainted with you.”
“So, what did you do?”
“The car you were buying was a white CL63 AMG Coupe. I couldn’t stop staring at it. Hell, I was jealous! Why was she your girlfriend at the moment?”
“I bet you did something extraordinary,” George grinned.
“Yes! I needed to attract your attention. I decided to make you feel sorry. If you had to apologize to me, I would probably win the first round.”
“First round?”
“Yeah, twelve rounds maximum.”
“And knockout?”
“Of course!” she laughed. “I just promised myself that I would return home sitting in the passenger seat of that Mercedes. And if hadn’t done it, I would’ve drowned my old Nissan in a swamp.”
“Wow!” George burst out laughing. “You’re a reckless girl!”
“You bet! First, I hid my cell phone under the passenger seat of your Mercedes. You didn’t notice that. You collected the car and left the place. I followed you. Fortunately, you didn’t spot me. Soon, you parked near an upscale residential complex. In ten minutes, your girlfriend appeared. She wore a very expensive dress. You opened the trunk and pulled out an exuberant bouquet of flowers. Your girlfriend was amazed. She kissed you, and you both hopped in the Mercedes. Yes! It was the best time to start…
So, I was sitting in my Nissan not far from you. I took my second cell phone and sent a short message to the first cell phone that had been hidden under the passenger seat of your Mercedes. I don’t know what actually happened inside the car, but a minute la
ter, I sent another short message. And I attached a picture as well.”
“What kind of messages?” George asked impatiently.
“As I remember, the first message was, ‘Hi, George! I wanna feel you inside me again. Come over ASAP.’ Then I sent another message ‘Can’t wait anymore.’ And I attached a picture of me, naked.”
“Holy shit!” George exhaled. “You fucked me over!”
“Sarah giggled. “I bet it was one of the most embarrassing moments in your life.”
“Probably. What happened then?”
“Your girlfriend acted like a stupid girl. She could ignore my messages, forget about jealousy, believe you, enjoy the moment. At least, she could pretend sitting in her own car for 150 grand that everything was fine. Hell, no! She wanted to be a single woman in your life. She hopped out of the car, yelling something nasty.”
“It was over?”
“Yes! Because then I appeared in your life,” Sarah laughed.
“Twist of fate! Actually, you created change in my life,” he said thoughtfully. “Was I furious when I called you then?”
“Yes, you were,” Sarah grinned. “But I pretended to be busy. I told you to call me back and hung up the phone. An hour later, you called me again, and I said that everything had been a coincidence that I’d sent a message to another George. Regarding the phone under the passenger seat, I told you that I’d left it at the dealership entirely by accident. I lied that I’d worked at the Mercedes dealership.”
“And what did I do?” George asked.
“Oh, I can’t believe you don’t remember,” Sarah moaned. “You went back to the dealership and showed them my picture, demanding an explanation.”
“The naked picture?”
“No, you told me later that you’d cut off my body in the photo editor and showed them my face, my lustful eyes…”
“Oh, I can’t believe that,” George giggled.
“Then I sent you another message from the third phone. ‘Honey, I miss you so much! You were fantastic in bed. I still can’t forget how I tied you… You were so wild, babe. Your Rick.’”
