Brew or Die

by Caroline Fardig

  I had to hand it to Pete. He had done his homework, and he was hell-bent on getting a confession out of Rex, who unfortunately was equally hell-bent on evading Pete’s questions.

  Rex shrugged. “I made a few bad judgment calls. So sue me. Oh, wait.” He nudged Xander with his foot and laughed. “It’s your precious company that’s getting sued for it—not me.”

  Xander said, “You know, it seems like everything Josie did lately got messed up somehow. My mother was on the verge of firing her several times, and I had to intervene.”

  Rex said bitterly, “She was certainly your little pet. I thought she of all people wouldn’t sink to sleeping her way to the top.”

  Xander started to say something, but Pete interrupted him. Pete said, “I bet you hated that, Rex. Having to watch the woman you loved—who was already engaged to another man—give it up to your boss to keep the job you deserved in the first place.”

  “Shut up,” Rex growled.

  “You also probably hate it that all your female coworkers have to do is sleep with Xander and they get anything they ask for. But you, gay or not, don’t have the same luxury.”

  “Hey, now wait a minute—” Xander began.

  Pete cut in again. “Just sit there and look pretty. I got this.” To Rex, he said, “Right, Rex? You just couldn’t get ahead, could you, buddy?”

  The end of Rex’s gun was beginning to waver. They were getting to him. Rex bellowed at Xander, “You’re either too arrogant, or maybe too stupid, to notice those whores are only using you to get what they want! They keep moving up in the company and getting handed the good clients, but I couldn’t catch a break—that is, until I made myself indispensable your mother.”

  “You’re sleeping with my mother?” Xander cried.

  “Gross,” Pete added.

  “No, you perverts. I’m her right-hand man. All the ass-kissing and dog walking and scoring coke for her has finally paid off now that she’s given me Josie’s job. But now that I got what I wanted, I’ve realized I deserve more. A lot more. When your mother wakes up and realizes that you’re the loser everyone else knows you to be, she won’t waste any time in handing your job over to me.” Rex stormed over to Xander’s desk and grabbed something, then came back to Xander and threw a pill bottle at his face. “I want that job now, so you’re going to OD tonight like the pathetic user you are!”

  Xander glared at him. “You’re going to kill me just like you killed Josie.”

  Rex laughed—a little crazily, I thought. “No, I made sure her experience was quick and painless. You, on the other hand, are going to suffer.”

  Pete exclaimed, “So you did kill her!”

  Rex ignored Pete, his focus still on Xander. “I’ve got a nasty cocktail in mind for you, boss. Uppers, downers, psychedelics. It’s going to be one wild ride. One of the perks of having to make a weekly buy from your mom’s drug dealer is that I’ve learned a lot about drugs. Let’s finish this oxy first, and then we’ll move on to the hard stuff.” Gesturing with his gun at the pill bottle that had fallen to the floor, he added, “Bottoms up.”

  “Hey, you’ll have to help him take those pills, genius. You held a gun to our heads and made us cuff ourselves, remember?” Pete said. He turned to Xander. “Why you feel the need to keep sex cuffs in your desk is beyond me, man.”

  “I’m tiring of your nonsense,” Rex barked, picking up the pill bottle and opening it one-handed. “Let’s get your friend here dead and then I’ll figure out something to do with you.”

  Pete’s voice lost its bravado. “Wait. Come on, Rex. Don’t do this. We can work something out. I was holding this back, but since you’ve forced my hand…I do have some actual dirt on you. I have a photo that proves you drugged me and my friend at the expo and put us in a couple of laundry carts. I’ll trade that for you letting us go.”

  Rex didn’t readily reply, but I noticed that his gun was wavering again, bordering on shaking, even. He finally said uncertainly, “I’m going to have to see this to believe you.”

  “My phone’s in my pocket. And don’t get fresh with me while you’re pulling it out.” Pete’s comment earned him a kick to the stomach from Rex.

  I had to cover my mouth to stop a sob from sounding. If only Pete weren’t such a smart-ass sometimes.

  Rex retrieved Pete’s phone and tapped the screen. “Who’s Jules?”

  “Wrong number,” Pete said, panting.

  “She’s the one who sent you the photo.” Rex’s voice had become panicky and his movements were jerky. “Who is she and what does she know? Is she that redhead?”

  “She knows nothing. You leave her out of it, you sick bastard.”

  “Oh, I see. Must be someone you care about. I’ll call her and find out.”

  Shit. I debated if I should answer or let it go to voicemail. I didn’t have enough time to decide, because just then I received an incoming call from Pete’s phone. I scrambled up and hurried down the hall to answer it.

  “Hello?” I breathed.

  Rex said, “Jules, I have your friend Pete.”

  “Who’s this?”

  “You have five minutes to get your ass to the Leonidas Luxury Events office or I start putting bullets in him.”

  “Wait, wait. Five minutes? I need more—” I began.

  “Five minutes. Let me know when you get here,” he barked, ending the call abruptly.

  I dialed Ryder. My voice shaky, I said, “What’s your ETA? Rex called me and gave me five minutes to show up at the Leonidas office or Pete gets shot.”

  “We’re here. Coming up now.”

  Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I sprinted to the elevator. I only waited for a moment before I was nearly bowled over by Ryder and a dozen SWAT and MNPD officers pouring into the reception area.

  “Give us an update,” Ryder said, in full, serious cop mode.

  I cued up the video and handed my phone to Ryder so he could play it as I spoke. “They’re in Xander’s office at the end of this hall. Rex has Pete and Xander cuffed and on the ground, and he has a gun on them. We have about four minutes left before he said he’ll start shooting. He seems to be getting more and more unstable by the minute.”

  The SWAT captain said, “You heard her. We’ll go in on my command. SWAT is on the door. Unis will clear the rest of this floor. Move out.”

  Ryder stayed with me as the law enforcement officers surged past us. He took me by the shoulders and sat me down at the receptionist’s desk.

  His expression was not happy. “I thought I told you not to do anything stupid.”

  “I was on the other side of the closed door when I took that video.”

  “What if you’d dropped your phone or brushed against the door and made a noise? You could easily have given up your position.”

  “But I didn’t. And I called you first instead of trying to take care of things on my own. I’m learning. Slowly.”

  I could tell he was trying not to crack a smile. “Okay, I’ll give you the fact that you did better than usual. But that’s not saying much.”

  “Hey—”

  My feeble protest was cut off by the sound of gunfire from down the hall. I gasped, clutching at Ryder, who kneeled down and hugged me tightly to him.

  “I know where your mind is going. Don’t let it.”

  After the longest minute of my life, one of the SWAT team members came toward us and said to Ryder, “All clear. Suspect down. No other injuries.”

  I let out a long breath and allowed my tears to flow. Ryder continued to hold me until I saw Pete coming down the hall. Xander was behind him, being helped by an MNPD officer. I broke away and ran to them, nearly tackling Pete in a hug.

  He groaned. “Ow, Jules, let up. I got kicked in the gut.”

  Easing my grip but keeping my arms around him, I cried, “I was afraid it was you who got shot in there.”

  His face was grim. “No, Rex lost his crap when SWAT ordered him to come out. When they opened the door, he went guns blazing at them,
and they put him on the ground. I was not expecting to witness something like that tonight. Or ever, actually.”

  Xander was visibly shaken as well. “How did the police know what was going on and where we were?”

  Pete smiled at me. “I’m betting you had something to do with that.”

  I nodded and finally let him go. “I did. I overheard you talking from outside the door. I called Ryder, and he brought backup with him. For what it’s worth, I was there with you the whole time, staying out of sight so I could be free to do something to help you if things got out of hand before the cops showed up.”

  “Wow. Levelheaded Jules saves the day instead of inserting herself in the middle of the shitstorm. That must have taken all the self-control you have.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Seriously, though, thanks, Jules. I thought for a minute there that we were goners.”

  I squeezed his hand and tried not to think about it too much. “I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know I had your back. But let me tell you—I was super impressed with the way you got Rex to talk.”

  Pete smiled. “Not bad for my first hostage situation.”

  Ryder came up to us. “We’re going to need statements from you three, but I’ll make sure it’s done quickly so you can be on your way. I’m happy to see you made it out of there relatively unhurt, Pete.” He held his hand out to Pete.

  Pete eyed Ryder warily as he shook his hand. “Thanks for bringing the cavalry.”

  I chuckled. “Aww, look at my boys talking to each other without yelling and name-calling. I could get used to this.”

  They both threw me a dubious glance.

  Chapter 35

  After Xander, Pete, and I were interviewed separately by the detective assigned to investigate tonight’s incident, we were allowed to leave the scene. We still had to go to the station in the morning to talk to Cromwell, who was reopening Josie’s case, about Rex’s involvement in her death.

  As Pete, Xander, and I headed for Pete’s car to take Xander to rehab as promised, I spotted Ryder and realized I’d forgotten to thank him for everything he’d done for us tonight.

  I said to Pete, “I’ll catch up.”

  When I approached Ryder, he broke into a smile. “Now will you go home and stay out of trouble?”

  I smiled back. “As soon as Pete and I drop Xander at the nearest rehab facility. Now all I have to worry about is your big bust tonight.” I shivered as I thought about Ryder and Stafford taking down Wonderlich’s drug operation later. Both of them were going to be in danger.

  “Don’t worry. We have everything planned out.”

  “Still. Call me when it’s all over.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “In the middle of the night?”

  “Like I’ll be sleeping. Don’t you know me by now?”

  Grinning, he said, “Right. I should have known.”

  I put my hand on his arm. “Be careful.”

  “That’s my line.”

  “And thank you for everything you did tonight. Without you, this could have ended very badly.”

  He shrugged. “Well, it did end badly for Rex.”

  Groaning, I said, “Ugh. I did not miss your gallows humor.”

  —

  After Pete and I took Xander to rehab, I could think of nothing more wonderful than crashing once I got to my apartment. Even though I was still nervous about Ryder and Stafford’s impending showdown tonight, I was tired as hell and thought I might actually be able to get at least a little sleep. More than anything, I wanted to put on my give-up pants and get comfy. Every muscle in my body ached from spending the last few hours being tense.

  I went inside, tossing my purse onto the closest chair and heading to change my clothes. I had one leg into my sweatpants when I heard a knock at my door. Quickly pulling them the rest of the way on, I hurried to answer it, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t take up too much of my time. I had some serious resting to do.

  Upon opening the door, I found Jensen, Wonderlich’s muscular henchman, standing there. Panicking, I tried to slam the door shut, but he forced it open and came at me. The last thing I saw was the butt of his gun coming toward my face.

  —

  “Juliet. Juliet, come on. Wake up.”

  I opened one eye slightly, only to have a wave of pain shoot through my head, forcing me to close it again. As I began to come to, I noticed that the entire right side of my body was numb and started freaking out. Wrenching open my eyes, I saw a filthy floor at an odd angle and realized I was lying on my right side, which was likely causing the numbness. My panic subsided until I tried to get up and couldn’t move any of my limbs. My arms and legs were bound.

  “Juliet, it’s okay,” Stafford’s voice said from a few feet behind me.

  Rolling onto my belly and turning my throbbing head toward the sound, I found Stafford in the same position, bound and lying on the floor near me. He looked like someone had used him as a punching bag.

  “What’s…what’s going on?” I whispered, my head aching too much to speak any louder.

  His swollen eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. Somehow Wonderlich found out I was cooperating with the police and thought it wasn’t enough to simply kill me. He wants to make me suffer first.”

  “Sorry, but my head is…fuzzy from being pistol-whipped. I don’t get it.”

  Stafford looked away. “His goons were following me when I went to your apartment last night. That’s how they know about you…and why they decided to use you to get to me. They said if I help the police in any way, they’ll hurt you and…make me watch.”

  My headache began to wane in the wave of anger building inside me. I said, “Damn it, John, you led them right to me! Why do you have to keep dragging me back into the mess you made?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. The last thing I wanted was for you to be involved in this.”

  “Yet here I am.” I struggled against the ropes, but they were tight and had no give whatsoever. Whoever had tied us up had done a good job, and we weren’t getting loose without the help of some kind of sharp object. Looking around, I asked, “Where is ‘here,’ anyway?” It was a big empty structure, the only thing in it being a Wonder-Gen box truck parked near a garage door.

  “One of those run-down warehouses by the river.”

  “Great.”

  Stan used to own this building and a string of others like it in the area. His grandmother, who didn’t like him too much, upon her death left him several warehouses that had all fallen into disrepair. Even worse, many of them had been taken over by feral animals and squatters and a few were even being used as meth labs. Stan sold them the first chance he got. Judging from how nasty this place was, the new owner hadn’t bothered to do anything to clean up.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. They took my phone.”

  “Are you not wearing the new watch I gave you?”

  He hesitated. “No…I had to pawn it. I lied when I told you my old watch stopped working. I had to pawn it as well to pay off some debts.”

  I groaned. “I can’t even…” I turned away from him. As I lay there steaming, I had an idea. “John, roll over toward that wall with me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think I see some broken glass. Maybe we can use it to get out of these ropes.”

  “Why bother? They’ll be back soon, and it won’t matter if we’re tied up or not. They have guns.”

  His demeanor worried me. It was as though he’d given up. Granted, the only thing he had to look forward to was jail, but still, he had to have some shred of self-preservation left.

  “Just do it,” I ordered.

  We both began rolling, grunting as we went. His must have hurt worse than mine. Judging from the bruises, cuts, and blood on his face, he’d been hit way more times than I had.

  I spied a decent-sized shard of glass and inched closer to pick it up. “You first,” I said, thinking selfishly
that I didn’t want a big gash on my hand if our first blind attempt at cutting these ropes went south.

  He wriggled around and got into position facing away from me, and I felt around until I found the ropes binding his hands. I began sawing away at the ropes, poking him with the sharp end of the shard just a couple of times, based on the number of muttered curses I heard. After what seemed like forever, I was sweating like a pig and had cut only partway through the rope’s width, at least according to what I could feel with my fingers.

  He sighed. “It’s hopeless. Just give up.”

  “Do you have something better to do?” I griped, getting back to work on the rope.

  “Look, no matter what happens, my life is over come morning. I’m either dead or in jail.”

  “Last I heard, if you cooperate with the cops, they’ve promised to go easy on you. If we can manage a way out of here, maybe you won’t get dead. Not every outcome is doom and gloom. And you could always look at it as doing your good deed for the day by helping me get out of this alive.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve ruined everything,” he said quietly.

  I rolled my eyes. “Knock off the pity party and think of a way out of here. There’s no one in the building with us, but is there anyone outside guarding the door?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Exasperated, I snapped, “What do you know?”

  “I know that they know the police were planning to raid this drop tonight. Earlier today, they purposely gave me bogus information on the new location for the drop, which is where the police are now. I got orders at the last minute to come here instead, and they said if I breathed a word about this location…they’d kill you.”

  “Shit. You think the police have figured all that out yet?”

  “I have no idea. We may be on our own here.”

  I felt the rope give a little. “Am I through the rope?”

  He wiggled behind me. “I think so. It feels looser.”

  I put down my piece of glass and began tugging at his ropes with both hands, trying to unwind them from the frayed ends. After a minute, his hands were free.