Pandora's Box

by Camilla Porter

  We enter through the back door and he shoves the gun in her ribs as we enter the living room.

  "Stop playing blondie and get that laptop now," he says with his voice full of irritation.

  "Alright! It's in the back room. Over here."

  And she starts walking us over to the back of the house. I've never been in this part of her house before but I'm pretty sure she had mentioned that this was where her panic room was and a lightbulb goes off as I figure out her plan.

  "It's right in here," she says pushing a button on the side of the wall. Reading her body language I turn and push him as hard as I can, knocking him off balance as she pulls me into the room and hits the button to close the door. Quickly she punches in the code and the door seals shut.

  My heart is racing as I lean against the wall and wipe my mouth with my hand and I turn to look at her.

  “Where’s Lancelot?”

  “My mother took him to the vet for his wellness checkup. Horrible timing, huh?”

  “Jesus Christ,” I say with a sigh as the silence once again settles between us.

  "What now?" I finally ask.

  "What now? Now, you tell me the fucking truth."

  --

  Her panic room is good sized but it feels like there's no air. It's hot and I feel a fine sheen of sweat start to form on my forehead and we've only been in here for about ten minutes or so.

  She's waiting for an answer and I'm avoiding it as best I can.

  Why?

  I don't know. I haven't lied to her. Everything I have told her is the truth. Except for one thing: I did know Isaac. Very well in fact. He was one of the best hackers, but I was quickly overtaking his spot, and he didn't like it. And neither did those that he worked with.

  "Can we uh, sit down?" I asked indicating the small table set up in the kitchen area. "Do you have anything to drink?"

  "Of course. Isaac made sure that this was fully stocked. Water? Whiskey? Wine? I'd love a whiskey myself, but with what's going on right now I think I'll stick with water. How about you?"

  "I'll take a water please," I answer following her into the small kitchen area. She hands me a bottle of water and then we sit at the table and I chuckle at the awkwardness of being cuffed together.

  "This is weird," I try to joke, but she doesn't smile back at me and it bothers me.

  "First of all, I have never lied to you. Everything I have ever told you is the truth. Except for one thing. And there are some things I may have left out."

  She leans back as far as she can in her chair and sighs. I have a hard time reading her expression and it makes me more unsettled than I already am. I put my other hand on the table and absentmindedly play with my fingers as I clear my throat nervously.

  "I told you that Isaac was the best hacker any company in this state has ever seen. He could crack anything, and his skills earned him a lot of money. What I didn't tell you was that I was his biggest competition. The few things he couldn't crack I could, and he and his "people" saw me as a threat. Then one day Isaac comes to me..."

  "Wait, I thought you said that you two never met?"

  "This is the one thing I wasn't completely honest about. Our communication was mainly through emails and messengers. But we did meet in person. Once. He came to me at work. I had just started at Juniper Davies, and he had a file that he needed help with. Said it was worth thirty grand if I could help him with it. That file that this guy Timothy wants? Pandora's Box? It's a list of every single city official that has ever taken a kickback. But that's not it. That's the easy part to crack. There's a hidden file embedded inside of that file. Supposedly it lists account numbers for offshore accounts of the Los Desviados gang, but I'm not sure if that's true. I’ve also heard that they have ties to the Mexican drug cartels, and that file is worth at least thirty mil on the black market. But that's just a rumor I've heard. And that disc I gave you? That was the copy I made at your house when your mother stopped by. I never looked at it before so I was just as surprised as you were that it turned up blank. There must be something protecting it from being copied. And I'm kind of glad it turned up blank. Because all I know is that I helped Isaac break into that second file, and then he ended up dead."

  She is not looking at me as I finish telling her what I know. She is staring at the table, but her eyes are moving back and forth and I can tell that she is thinking.

  "If you helped him hack the second file then how come you don't know what's on it?"

  "Because once we got it to the point you could open it he wired me the money and told me that my job was done. I never got the chance to see what it was and frankly, I was just so happy to have the money to pay for my mom to get into her new nursing home I didn't care. None of that was bullshit. She was in a place with security so lax that there were no bells or alarms on the doors on the dementia floor. And after she ended up on the interstate in her bathrobe and slippers I was willing to do anything to get her out of there."

  "So if that's all there is to this story than why didn't you tell me? Why keep it a secret?"

  "Because I thought... "

  I swallow hard and then pause as I try to find the right words.

  "What? What did you think Elena?"

  "I thought you would blame me for Isaac dying. If I hadn't helped him he would probably still be alive today and your son would not be without a father."

  I feel my eyes start to tear up and I do everything I can to not let them fall. I don't want her sympathy. I just want her to know the truth. But I can't help but feel overwhelming guilt. Like I took something away from her. She still won't look at me, her eyes focused firmly on the table. I search her face for anything but, save for the tears in her eyes, her expression is impossible to read.

  Finally, after a long silence, she says "Isaac was a grown man. He made his own choices. Whatever he did with that file after you helped him was on him. Who he took it to or who he gave it to...that was his choice. I mean I'm not happy with how things worked out. I would give anything for Travis to have his father back, but... we all make our beds. And we all have to lie in them. He did what he had to do for whatever reason, for Travis I suppose. And you did what you had to do for your mother. I mean, how can I find fault with that?"

  What do I say to that? I can't argue with it. I can't add to it. So I just look away from her.

  "But I still have a feeling that's not everything," she says as she gets up.

  "Where are you going?" I say jiggling our arms indicating we're still cuffed together.

  "I'm going to lay down. Looks like we might be in here for a while," she says as she nods her head towards the monitors that show Timothy still outside the door on his phone.

  "Shouldn't we call someone?" I ask.

  "Like who?"

  "Oh, I don't know... the police?"

  "We can't trust anyone Elena. Not even the police. Now I'm going to go try to figure this shit out, and I can think better if I'm resting. Now let's go," she demands as she pulls me with her towards the back of the room which connects to the bedroom and the bathroom.

  This room is about half the size of the other room we were in and it has a double bed and a single bed along with a dresser, a closet, and a door that connects to a bathroom.

  We walk to the other side of the bed and she gets on first and scooches over to the side nearest the door. Laying on her back she takes her left arm and places it over her face as I sit up against the headboard.

  I'm not really tired. I'm too amped up to rest. How she can be so relaxed is beyond me. I take my phone out of my pocket and see that there's no signal anyway, and I sigh as I shove it back in. I look around and notice that there's not even a television in this room.

  "I don't know how you can be so calm," I finally say looking down at her. "Aren't you mad at this? Aren't you mad at me?"

  She doesn't say anything as she takes her arm off her face and just slams it on the bed next to her. Pulling herself up with her arms she sits back on the headboard next to me
and says, "Of course I'm fucking mad! But being mad isn't going to get us out of this room! Being mad isn't going to bring Isaac back! And being mad isn't going to fix the fact that I can't trust you! Or the fact that despite all of this I still want you..."

  She looks at me, breathing hard, and I'm not sure how I should respond.

  I was not expecting that at all. I thought she hated me. I thought that part of us was gone. At least until I could prove to her that I'm not what she thinks I am or what she's being led to believe I am.

  "Sam, I..."

  And then she is kissing me. Hard. Fast. Deep. Her free hand tangles in my hair as she shoves me on my back and pushes herself on top of me. And I can't think. All I can do is feel.

  --

  I wake up with her half on top of me and my blouse and pants are undone. Her shirt is up over her stomach and she is just in her panties. We must have fallen asleep. I have no idea what time it is, if it's day or if it's night. I go to move and my body aches in soreness as flashes of her pinning my arms above my head as she fucks me go through my mind. The memory of her hot mouth causes my middle to ache, and I can't believe that after she made me cum five times I still want her even though this was unlike any of the other times we'd been together. It was hard and rough and physical. I look down and see the bite marks on my thighs and the hickeys on my breasts, and sigh. I never wanted it like this. Not that I was complaining, but it was so angry, brutal almost, and I knew it was because she didn't trust me but she wanted me anyways and that was making her crazy. I needed this to be over and for her to know the truth. All of it.

  I look down and see that she is awake, her eyes half open and I see tears sitting in the corners, threatening to fall.

  “Sam, I…”

  I don’t get a chance to finish as Timothy’s voice calls out her name over the intercom startling us apart.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I don’t know,” she says wiping her eyes. “Come on.”

  She moves off the bed and I follow behind her, stopping only so she can grab her pants off of the floor and for me to adjust my clothes. We walk out into the main area and jump as Timothy says her name again.

  “Samantha, it would be wise of you to open this door. I believe that I have something you want.”

  “How the fuck did he turn the intercom on? You need a code to do that,” she says quickly as she pulled on her pants.

  “He must’ve have hacked into the system somehow. He’s always been…shit.”

  “What?” Sam asked looking up. “Jesus Christ, no! They’ve got my baby!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sam

  “What are you doing?” she asks as she pulls me back as I try to move towards the control panel near the door.

  “I’m opening the fucking door! Travis is out there, and that lunatic has a fucking gun!”

  I pull away from her and lunge forward, momentarily forgetting that we had been cuffed together and getting away from her to do what I want to won’t be that easy. I jerk back as she refuses to budge, and I turn around to face her.

  “I’m opening the damn door, Elena now let me go.”

  I move to pull back from her again, when the voice over the intercom interrupts us again.

  “Ladies, you have exactly five minutes to open the door. If you do not open it in the allotted time…well, let’s hope that it doesn’t get that far. The countdown starts now.”

  I stare at the screen, my eyes frantically taking everything in. Timothy is standing next to a man that I am only vaguely familiar with. I don’t know his real name, but his street name was “Sangre Fría” which translated to “cold blooded” in English. He was a slight Hispanic male with skinny arms and large hands whose appearance didn’t seem like much, but whose reputation was far fiercer.

  Known for killing without remorse or discrimination, he was the Los Desviados gang’s number one assassin, but the authorities could never get him on anything because he was smart and clean with his disposals.

  His large hand sat heavily on Travis’ shoulder, and I knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him. I look at Elena, pleading with my eyes, and finally she just nods knowing that I’m not going to back down. I punch in the code and the lock hisses open, and just before the door slides open I hit the audio record button.

  As we come out, Travis rushes into my arms, but as I pull him towards me he is roughly pulled back.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  “I’m fine, mom. I just really need to use the bathroom.”

  I look at Timothy, who looks at the gang member who rolls his eyes but then nods as he leads him to the bathroom.

  “That was a very wise decision,” Timothy says as he raises his gun at me. “Now, Javier won’t have to show your boy his special set of skills.”

  “You son of a…” I lunge at him, but Elena grabs me by the waist stopping me.

  “He’s not worth it,” she says quietly as she holds me against her.

  “Now, now Elena,” Timothy reprimands. “That’s not what you said when we set this plan in motion.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Oh Elena, has Samantha’s oral skills given you temporary amnesia? Come now, let me refresh your memory.”

  My eyes settle on hers as I look for some kind of sign that what this man was saying is bullshit, but I don’t find it. Her bottom lip is quivering and sweat runs in thin lines down from her hairline.

  “This is bullshit. Right Elena? Please tell me it is.”

  She turns her head and looks down as she opens her mouth, but no words come out.

  “Come on, Elena. Tell her all about Pandora’s Box and who the Black Hat really is. Go on, tell her.”

  She turns her head to look at me, but before she can say anything a loud pop explodes, followed quickly by a second one, and I instinctively fall to the floor as Elena collapses, her head smacking against the wood floor, next to me.

  Chapter Twenty

  Sam

  I look at Elena and my heart begins hammering in my chest. She’s not moving, and blood begins to seep from her hairline and pool on the floor.

  “Elena,” I say as I reach out and nudge her shoulder. “Elena,” I say again as fear strangles my voice.

  “She’s fine. Maybe a minor concussion,” a familiar voice says. I lift my eyes and immediately recognize the medium framed body and golden brown eyes. But there was something different about him. There was a scar that slid along his right temple and under his eye. It was still pink, and very angry, looking like it had just recently healed.

  “Isaac? What…how…I saw your body in the casket. It’s not possible. How the hell…”

  “Wax dummy. It’s amazing the services you can find on the dark web. Only cost me twelve grand and it was worth every penny.”

  “What? Why?” I ask as I lift myself up to my knees.

  “I had no choice. When you have two rival gangs that would rather see you underground than above it you have to take drastic measures. This scar? It’s real. Had to make it look good. And I have that bitch to thank for that,” he says pointing his gun at Elena’s motionless body.

  “Why her?”

  “I’ll explain later,” he says as he puts his hand out and offers to help me up. I ignore the gesture and get up, taking a few steps back and kneel back on the floor, still cuffed to Elena. This is all just too much to process right now. “I need you to come with me now.”

  “I can’t,” I say turning. “Travis…I need to get Travis,” I say urgently as I move to get up but he puts his arm on my shoulder stopping me.

  “Travis is fine. I had one of my associates take him, and they’re going to meet us by the pier. But I need you to come now. We’ll go out the back towards the beach because they’ll most likely be coming from the street. And these men,” he says pointing at Timothy, “there’s going to be more, and we are not going to want to be here when they get here.” He finishes saying this as he leans down and unlock
s the cuffs on our wrists.

  “What about Elena?” I ask rubbing the line on my sore wrist. “We can’t just leave her here.”

  “Elena will be fine. Especially since the men that are coming work for her.”

  “I am so fucking confused,” I say. Nothing that is happening makes any sense to me.

  “Trust me. Please. Now let’s go,” he says holding out his hand.

  I look down to her and back at him.

  “Trust you? You’ve come back from the dead and you want me to trust you?”

  “If you want to live you have no other choice.”

  I look into his eyes, unable to read them, but realize I really don’t have any other choice as I walk out ahead of him and down towards the beach.

  We walk about a quarter of a mile towards the pier, and I start walking towards the road when he calls out stopping me.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Under. It’s better if we go to the other side and then head up to the road. I have a car parked at the diner. We can leave from there.”

  The cop in me screams that something about this is off, but despite my instincts I head under the pier.

  “So what exactly is going on?” I question as I turn around to talk to him.

  “Do you have the flash drive?” he asks stopping just inside the entrance to the pier.

  “Come on, Isaac. They’re going to find us here. We’re like sitting ducks. Let’s go. We can talk on the way.”

  “Do you have the flash drive?” he asks again more forcefully.

  “Why are you yelling at me? I don’t like it,” I say, his tone of voice making me uncomfortable.

  “Look, I’m sorry. My nerves are completely shot. I have been…through…so…much. You have no idea.”

  “I’m sorry, Isaac. I…”

  “It’s fine. Seriously. There’s nothing you could have done. It’s not your fault. I promise. There’s literally so much shit it’s impossible to keep track of. Now…do you have the flash drive?” he asks.