Tall, Dork and Handsome

by Remy Richard

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lila remained frozen in place long after she heard Sabrina’s voice and that of her unknown assailant retreating down the hall. Thoughts were ricocheting wildly around her head and she couldn’t seem to grab hold of one to execute it.

  The sound of movement from the adjoining room made her jump in reaction before she realized that her dilemma had been answered. Sam would know what to do. Without another thought, she sprang for the doorway that connected their rooms and pulled the door open.

  Sam was standing next to his still unmade bed wearing nothing but a pair of jockey shorts. His eyes were blurry and he was displaying an impressive amount of tan skin stretched over taut muscle. She took a mental picture to savor the image when things were a little less dire and charged forward.

  “Lila! What the hell are you doing in here?” He snatched a pair of jeans off of the floor and shoved one leg into them.

  “It’s Sabrina. I think something bad is happening.”

  Sam stopped hopping around and froze, half-wearing his jeans. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  “Someone knocked on the door. I looked through the peep hole like you said to, and it was Sabrina, but she was looking down the hallway. When I tried to open the door, she held the knob and wouldn’t let me open it. She was talking to someone, but I couldn’t see who it was.”

  Sam finished pulling on his pants and shrugged into a t-shirt before heading to the nightstand. Lila tried to stifle her gasp as he pulled a revolver out of the top drawer. He started heading for the door before she realized his intention.

  “They’re gone.”

  He paused and looked back at her. She felt her lips trembling. If only she’d had enough awareness to come get Sam as soon as she realized something was wrong. Sabrina wouldn’t be in danger. “I’m sorry. I was just so scared.”

  Sam flipped the safety on and shoved the gun into the back of his waistband before walking over to her and briskly rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “You’re just in shock. You’re going to be fine.” She let him pull her closer and buried her nose in his t-shirt. She wished that she could just let him stay with her and comfort her, but Sabrina needed him. Holden needed him.

  She pulled back and gripped a handful of his shirt. “She called the man Mike and said that he had a gun. I heard her through the door. He told her that he wanted Holden’s program. He said something about being out of time.”

  Sam’s grip on her arms tightened and his face went dark. He pushed her gently back until she sat on the edge of his bed. “Okay. I’m going down there. You stay here and don’t open the door for anyone until I get back. Do you hear me? Not even Sabrina.”

  “Do you think she has something to do with this? She sounded pretty nervous to me, and she wouldn’t let me come into the hall,” Lila pointed out in disbelief.

  “I don’t know yet. But I can’t concentrate if I’m worried about you staying out of the way.” She watched Sam’s face as he checked his gun again and remembered his words from the day before. Because if something happened to you I couldn’t live with myself.

  “I’ll stay put, but there’s got to be something I can do to help.”

  Sam shook his head and walked toward the door.

  “Let me at least send hotel security to Holden’s room.”

  Sam paused to consider it before nodding. “Just let them know that people are armed in there.”

  He opened the door and poked his head out to look up and down the hallway. Lila’s heart caught in her chest. She’d been acting like this was some big annoyance when the fact of the matter was that someone could really get hurt. Sam could get hurt. Or Holden or Sabrina or even Lila herself. Her hands started shaking and a sob almost broke free but she choked it back.

  Sam needed to be able to help Holden and her falling apart wouldn’t make things any easier for him. She couldn’t stop herself from whispering one last thing right before he left the room. “Please be careful. Please come back to me.”

  He paused for just a moment and she saw him nod before the door closed behind him. She wanted to race to the door and stare out of the peep hole for just one more glance at him, but she had a job to do. She moved to the phone and dialed for security. And while she waited for someone to answer, she prayed.

  ***

  Holden stared at Sabrina, trying to wrap his mind around what she had just said. She’d totally contradicted his assertion that the program wasn’t finished. It seemed like she was willing to hand it over to her friend lock, stock and smoking barrel.

  He tried to meet her gaze but she wouldn’t look at him. No, her attention was all on the man with the gun. Mike, she’d called him. Her mentor and the man who had saved her from the foster system. Just whose side was she on?

  “No, I thought the algorithm was finished but it was just exhaustion talking. Now that I’ve taken a second look at it, I still have a long way to go.”

  The man with the gun stared at him reflectively before disregarding his bluff. “I think I’ll just take what you have now. I’m sure someone can fill in the holes. Besides, I don’t really care if it works. I just need to buy myself some time.”

  “I’m telling you, it wouldn’t even pass a first inspection. The thing’s a mess.”

  Mike pulled a flash drive out of his pocket and threw it to Holden. “Load up what you have. Last time I’m asking nicely.”

  Holden considered his options. Sabrina finally looked at him. She mouthed one sentence at him, “Just do it.”

  She was clearly worried. He could see it in her eyes and although he wanted nothing more than to keep her safe, the idea of handing over his work to this thug was more than he could take. He wasn’t ready to let it go without a fight.

  He clenched the flash drive tightly in his fist as he weighed his options. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any good ones.

  Finally, Holden gave a sharp nod and moved to stand in front of his computer. His mind whirled frantically as he plugged in the flash drive and waited for the hard drive to recognize it. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his full coffee mug and a crazy idea intruded. He couldn’t give Mike the program if there was nothing to give, could he?

  Before he could follow through on the logic, Holden picked up the full cup and dumped the contents on the keyboard of his laptop. A few click and whirls sounded as they all watched in horror. Finally, the screen went black and the sound of the fan died. He watched almost dispassionately as hours of work was lost. He was relatively certain that he could reconstruct it given half a chance but there was something so finite about the blackness.

  Mike was the first to regain his voice. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  Holden remained stubbornly silent as Sabrina gazed at him in confusion.

  “What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Mike asked through gritted teeth.

  “Keeping you from stealing my work.”

  “For a smart guy you’re really fucking stupid. Do you think I’m just going to walk out of here with nothing? You’re just going to have to come with me and redo it. I can’t leave here empty handed.”

  Holden was already shaking his head before Mike even finished speaking. “If you think I’m just going to walk out of here peacefully, you’re out of your mind.”

  Mike considered the situation and then pointed the revolver at Holden. “I know I’m not as smart as you, but from where I’m sitting it’s pretty simple. I need what’s in your head. You need to keep your head. Give me what I want and we can both leave happy. Don’t give it to me and…let’s just say of the two of us, I’ll be the only one making a Plan B.”

  Sabrina started to surge forward and Holden held out a hand to keep her where she stood and out of harm’s way.

  Mike made note of the motion before grinning. “And maybe I’ll just take Bree with us for some collateral. Incentive to keep you working.”

  Note to self: Never try to negotiate with people more ruthless than you. It too
k Holden no time at all to regret the impulsive destruction of the computer. He had clearly underestimated Mike’s determination to see the job done. And for sure he had overestimated the man’s attachment to Sabrina. Apparently the father-daughter relationship was a one way street with Sabrina being the only occupant.

  He risked a quick glance at her face and was unsurprised to see the horrified look on it. More than anything he wanted to keep her safe from hearing the man she thought of as her father basically threaten her, but he was more concerned with getting them both out of the hotel room in one piece.

  As he was trying to figure out his next move, Sabrina moved forward again. Before he could tell her to stay back, she spoke.

  “This isn’t necessary, Mike.”

  “I’ve already explained why it is,” Mike answered without moving the gun from its place, pointed at Holden’s head.

  “No, there’s no need to take Holden with you, because I’ve got the program right here.”

  Both men turned to look at her then. Holden was surprised to see that she held an envelope in her hand. She ripped it open and pulled out a small flash drive. One that looked completely different from the one that Mike had thrown to him.

  “I told you I would take care of things and I did. Now why are you here screwing everything up?” Holden struggled to make sense of the conversation going on in front of him. Sabrina didn’t sound frightened; she sounded impatient.

  “Forgive me if I wasn’t exactly ensured that you were going to do the right thing after our last conversation,” Mike sneered as he waved the gun. A gun pointed on him was never a good thing. A gun wielded by someone who wasn’t even paying that much attention seemed infinitely worse.

  Sabrina blew out a frustrated breath. “Why do you suddenly think I’d start turning my back on you? I said I’d handle it and I handled it. But now you’re here waving a gun around and making things all complicated. Aren’t you the one who always says that the simplest solution is the best solution?”

  Mike rolled his eyes and threw a sardonic glance in Holden’s direction. “Isn’t it just like a woman to start following directions at exactly the worst time?”

  Holden gave a half-hearted smile. “I’d love to be in on the joke, guys, I really would. I just have no idea what’s going on here.”

  Mike switched his attention to Sabrina. “Me either, to tell the truth. Why don’t you spell it out for us, Bree?”

  Sabrina took a deep breath and faced Mike. She held her flash drive out toward him. “I copied the program onto this flash drive. I was just about to call you to come get it when you showed up. Uninvited I might add.”

  Holden felt his breath burst out like he had been punched in the stomach. “Wait—you, you had already copied it…”

  Mike looked between the two of them with interest, but stayed silent to see what Sabrina would say.

  For her part, Sabrina refused to look at Holden, preferring instead to keep her eyes darting from the gun, to Mike, to the door and back again, but never veering in his direction. He kept thinking that this was all some trick. Some part of a plan that he wasn’t quite catching on to yet. He just wasn’t sure who she was tricking.

  Rather than answer him, she looked to Mike again. “You’re like a father to me. How could you think I’d just leave you high and dry?”

  Mike shrugged. “You seemed infatuated with him. How was I to know?”

  “So you don’t believe me because I’m too good at the con. That’s a new one on me.” Sabrina gave a harsh laugh that ripped through Holden’s heart. “Other than your impromptu breaking and entering the other night and your appearance here, everything has been according to the plan. I got in, earned his trust and got the program. If you had just trusted me, you’d be on your way to drop the damn thing off with Stiles and clearing your debts.”

  “Hey, don’t pretend like you’ve been by the book here. You’re the one who disappeared without a word to Stiles. You didn’t show up for the last meet and when they find you making nice with the mark, you pushed Harry down a flight of stairs. What were they supposed to think? If you had followed the plan, I never would have been called in to deal with you,” Mike shot back.

  Holden tried to concentrate on the gun that was still leveled at him, but it was hard when every word that passed between the two of them was like a knife to the heart. Everything had been a lie.

  Sabrina made a calm down motion with her hands. “Okay, so I may have veered from the playbook for a little while, but can you blame me?” She shrugged negligently. “That big of a score in my grasp, why shouldn’t I have tried to keep it for myself? I’d be set for life. You know you would have done the exact same thing if you were in my shoes.”

  Holden tensed and waited while Mike seemed to bristle at her words before he relaxed into a laugh. “You’ve got me there, girl.” He slapped a hand on his thigh and started to lower the gun. “Fair enough. Let’s just tie him up and get out of here.”

  Sabrina started to turn toward Holden and he held his breath, unwilling to give up hope until he saw the truth in her eyes. He never got to lock eyes with her though.

  A sound from the sitting room caused all three of them to look toward the other room. Holden was out of the line of sight, but he could see the flash of concern on Sabrina’s face before she masked it.

  Less hidden was the sight of Mike raising his revolver and taking aim at whoever was causing the noise.

  ***

  Sabrina felt her breath catch as Mike raised his gun and aimed it at Sam.

  Sam quickly reciprocated the motion and eased further into the room. “Holden?”

  “I’m fine,” Holden responded in a strangled voice that sounded anything but fine. At least to Sabrina’s ears. But then again she was the only person who knew what kind of body blow she had just dealt him.

  She’d tried to keep her gaze as far away from him as possible as she’d lied through her teeth about her motives and her betrayals. The truth wouldn’t help soften the blow. At the end of the day, she had been planning on turning over the program to Mike. She had hoped that Holden would never find out about it. Or, barring that, that he would find it in his heart to forgive her.

  But there would be no recovery from this. From having to sit and listen to her outline how he’d fallen for her plans and been part of her scheme from the beginning. A convincing lie she’d needed to tell to get Mike out and Holden to safety as quickly as possible.

  Unfortunately, there was no way to tell Mike the lie and Holden the truth. It was a sacrifice worth making to ensure that Holden was safe.

  Sam eased into the bedroom, his gun trained on Mike. Sabrina fought to keep her composure. Things were spiraling out of control and she needed to break up what was sure to become a shit show.

  “Let’s all just keep calm here,” she said in a soft voice to avoid startling anyone. “Mike, you got what you came for. Let’s just leave.”

  Mike just laughed and shook his head. Sabrina turned pleadingly to Sam. “I’m sure that in the interest of everyone’s safety, Sam and Holden would be willing to let us walk out without any interference.”

  It was Sam’s turn to shake his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t let you do that, Sabrina.” The look he shot her made her think that he really was sorry but it was so quick she couldn’t be sure of it.

  “Please—” Sabrina heard her own voice break and struggled to get her emotions under control. If any of them were hurt, she would never forgive herself. She had to keep it together if there was any chance of talking the men out of a useless stalemate. She sensed that one wrong word or movement would send the whole situation hurtling in a very bad direction.

  “Mike, Sam, be reasonable. If he puts the gun down, will you let us walk out of here, Sam?”

  Sam glanced at Holden for some direction but only got a blank stare in return. Sabrina was starting to get concerned about the lack of response from Holden. It was as if he were frozen, in a state of shock. She understood the impulse, b
ut it certainly wasn’t helping the situation any.

  She watched in horror as a scenario she had never envisioned played out in front of her. They were deadlocked, none of them willing to give in and none able to make a move. Mike and Sam continued to keep their guns locked on the other and both seemed ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

  More noise from the sitting room pulled Sabrina’s attention from the tense scene in front of her. A man she didn’t recognize, dressed in black pants and a white button down shirt, had opened the door to the hotel room and was slowly creeping inside. His hand was ready at his side to grab what could have been anything from a gun to baton. Two more men crept in behind him, one staying behind to keep the door propped open. He seemed to be gesturing to someone in the hall.

  She tensed, sure that Mike would see them, but it seemed that all of his attention was on Sam. She was the only one with a vantage point. Sabrina’s voice felt stuck in her throat. She was unsure whose side these men were on. Frankly, she was a little unsure whose side she was on at this point. Part of being a good con was never to get so caught up in the story that you were no longer the one telling it. But that was exactly what had happened.

  Before she could make up her mind who to warn, the first man pushed forward and shouted, “Everybody drop your weapons.”

  Startled, both Sam and Mike reacted to the sound. Sam turned partway to face the new threat and Mike squeezed a little too hard on the trigger and let a bullet fly.

  Out of instinct, Sabrina hit the floor and was stunned to feel the weight of someone landing on top of her. She couldn’t see anything, but she heard more shouting from the intruders and the buzzing of electricity. She couldn’t hear Holden’s voice at all.

  Fear gripped her and she struggled to push the weight off of her. Almost from far away she heard her name being called.

  “Sabrina! Sabrina!”

  She blinked her eyes and found that Holden was hovering over, concern in his eyes and his hands tracing frantic paths up and down her body. She could almost fool herself into believing that they were alone together in the room they’d shared for the past few nights if it wasn’t for the sound of Sam’s cursing and Lila’s screeching, Mike’s moaning and the chatter and static of several walkie-talkies.