Bennie and the Ace of Hearts

Chapter 9

Bennie

I asked, “hey Gavin are you still with me?”

He said, “yeah, I’m ok.”

“Would some mints help you?” I asked Gavin.

He shrugged, “maybe, I usually keep some snack bars and fruit juice with me, but I think the mints may help.”

I said, “I have some in my coat pocket, let me try to get them out.”

I stood and tried to pull my jacket off of my shoulders, I was able to get it low enough to reach my pocket and pulled out the breath mints and dropped them to the floor. I sat next to them and was able to get the package open. I pushed them to Gavin, he leaned forward picked one up with his mouth. He seemed a little more alert after he ate it, I hoped it would buy a little time so he could get the help that he needed.

I tried to keep him talking, “so Gavin, how did you get here?”

He answered, “I was playing basketball with my friend Josh, I got a call from a guy that works with my dad, he told me dad wanted me to pick him up here. When I got here, my dad wasn’t here, and those two big guys tied my hands and threw me in here. They said that I wasn't going to get hurt as long as I cooperated, I was just a little insurance, whatever that means.”

“Your dad? Who is your dad?” I asked.

“John Cabot.” Was his reply.

I thought to myself, shit, I knew Cabot was a jerk, but surely, he wasn’t stupid enough to get his kid involved in his illegal dealings.

I continued, “have you ever seen these guys before?”

He shook his head, “no, but I think I have seen you before. You’re Bennett Harlow, right?”

I turned to look at him, “I am, how did you know that?”

“I’ve seen you in pictures with my dad, in the newspaper. They always take pictures at those fund raisers, of all the biggest donors.”

I thought back, that’s true, I had been in many pictures from those events. It would only make sense that I would be in a picture with Cabot.

I smiled, “that’s right, you are very observant.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, I asked, “are you feeling any better?”

He nodded, “yeah, a little bit.”

I said, “ok, we need to figure out a way get out of here. Do you see anything in this room that we could use to cut through these ropes?”

Gavin looked around, “there is a nail that is sticking out a little bit on the shelf in the corner, would that work?”

I looked at the shelf, “it might, good eye Gavin.” I stood up and moved to the shelf. I found a position to rub the rope against the nail. Thankfully it was a cotton rope and it started to fray, I knew I needed to hurry. Guido was coming to check on us about every 15 minutes, he was due anytime. I heard a door slam down the hall, I quickly sat back down next to Gavin just as our door opened.

He said, “good news, the boss says the big boss is on the way, they’ll decide what we are going to do with you two, shouldn’t be much longer.”

I snarked, “that is good news Guido, we need…”

He turned back to me, “my name is Reece, not Guido so quit calling me that, you little pissant.”

I countered, “relax Reese’s Pieces, Gavin here needs something eat or drink, his blood sugar is low.”

He fumed, “it’s just Reece, and what the hell do I look like a 7-11.”

I kept up my sarcasm, “ok, ok, don’t get excited Peanut Butter Cup, but if this kid gets sick it’s on your head.”

He pointed his finger at me, “I hope the boss lets me have you, because I want to kick your ass.” He slammed the door as he left.

I went back to the shelf and a few minutes later I had the rope cut. I quickly untied Gavin and had him eat a couple more mints.

I explained, “ok Gavin, we have about ten minutes before he comes back, I think I have a plan. You stay sitting right here with your hands behind your back, so he thinks you are still tied. I’ll be waiting behind the door and when he opens it, I will push it back as hard as I can and hopefully it will knock him over.”

He looked nervous, “ok, but what should I do when he comes in?”

“When he opens the door and sees I’m gone, just look over at the shelf, don’t look at me behind the door. Hopefully he will think I am hiding in the shelves. Ok?” I told him.

He nods. I get in position as Gavin stares at the shelf. We only had to wait a couple of minutes when I heard Guido, er I mean Snickers coming down the hall. He opens the door, and he sees that I am gone.

He yells, “where is he?”

Gavin plays his part perfectly as he continues to look at the shelf. Milky Way looks to the shelf as he pulls a gun out of his jacket. I push as hard as I can and the door flies, hitting the thug square in the back. He falls to the ground, his gun flies across the floor. I jump on top of him, hoping I will be able to hold him down. He, of course, had other ideas, outweighing me by about 100 pounds, he pushes up and sends me sailing into the wall behind me, knocking the wind out of me. He starts toward me as I try to catch my breath, just as he is about to take a swing, that I am sure will knock me out, I see Gavin dart across the room.

He grabbed the gun and pointed it at Twix and yelled, “don’t move.”

The thug turned to see the barrel pointed right at him, “listen kid, just give me the gun back, don’t be stupid.”

Gavin got a strange look in his eye, “shut up asshole.” He kicked the rope that was used to tie us toward me. “Tie his hands, make sure they are as tight as he tied me.”

I quickly grabbed the rope and did as I was told. I am really starting to like this kid, he is becoming an animal right before my eyes. Gavin continued to hold the gun as I used the second rope to tie M&M’s legs as well.

I walked to Gavin, “good job kid.” He started to shake, I saw the relief in his face as I took the gun from his hands. He took a deep breath.

I asked, “are you alright?”

He sank to the floor, “I think so, I don’t know how I did that.”

I patted him on the shoulder, “your instinct kicked in, it’s called survival mode, it was what you had to do.”

I looked across the room, “well Skittles, if you let us walk out of here, I’ll be sure and send the cops to rescue you.”

He was pissed, “the name is Reece, quit calling me all those candy names, and you will never get out of here. Smitty will be coming to look for me in a few minutes, you aren’t going anywhere.”

I smirked, “well Mr. Goodbar, I don’t think you and Smitty have half a brain between you. We will be out of here before he knows we’re gone.”

He started to cuss at me and struggle against the ropes, his pant leg began to ride up and I saw a second gun. I rushed over and said, “damn, I forgot to frisk you, do you have any more guns on you Kit Kat?”

He growled, “stop calling me that, and fuck you if you think I will tell you anything.”

I handed the second gun to Gavin, “keep this pointed at his head and don’t worry if it goes off accidently.”

I frisked him and rolled him on his back, he struggled. I decided to leave him that way, it would be harder for him to get up.

I went back to Gavin, “stay here, I’m going to check things out to see where Tootsie Roll’s buddy is and see if I can find a way to get out of here. And I wasn’t kidding, if you accidentally shoot him, that’s ok.”

Gavin nodded and I slowly opened the door and peeked into the hall. I went into the hall and headed in the direction that I heard Twizzler coming from when he checked on us. I was about halfway down the hall when I heard voices coming from one of the rooms.

I heard Smitty ask, “so what are we supposed to do?”

Boss said, “if you fucking idiots had grabbed the right guy we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

To my surprise, I heard a female voice, “and if you would have followed the original plan, John would be in jail right now, but no, you had to get greedy.”

Boss retorted, “oh quit your whining, you made a lot of money too, it didn’t take much to convince you to keep things going.”

The lady said, “well it’s over now, we are no longer working together, get rid of the last of the merchandise and I never want to hear from you again. If you get caught, I have no idea who you are, you have no idea who I am, and if you even think of my name, you will never see the sun rise in the morning. I will see to it.”

I heard the click of her heels as she walked away in the opposite direction, I heard an outside door close. She must have left out a back door.

Boss said, “take care of the guy in the tux, but remember don’t hurt the kid.”

I heard footsteps leaving the room again out the back door. I rushed back to Gavin, he was still standing there holding the gun on Rolo. I chuckled to myself at the sight, somewhat relieved that they didn’t want to hurt Gavin. My mind started to race, I saw Adam, God, I love him. That perfect smile, those brown eyes, Jesus he was gorgeous, now I may never get to see him again, shit I bet he looked stunning in his new tux.

I looked down at the thug on the floor, “ok Almond Joy, we are getting out of here now, your buddy is going to be looking for you soon, it’s going to be really embarrassing for you when he sees you like this, but that feeling will go away when the police get here.” I looked on the shelf and found an old dirty rag and stuffed it into his mouth.

I grabbed Gavin and turned back to our kidnapper, “see you at the trial Hersey’s Almond.”

I listened at the door, and I heard no footsteps. I led Gavin down the hall, we went in the opposite direction, away from where I heard Smitty and the boss. We were about halfway to the door that I was hoping was an exit when I heard a door open behind us.

Smitty yelled, “hey, get back here.”

I looked back and saw him drawing his gun, I pushed Gavin into an open doorway, as I heard a shot ring out. I turned the gun I had in my hand and returned fire, I have no idea if I hit anything. I felt my gut start to burn, I pulled the trigger again and saw Smitty dive into a doorway. I grabbed my stomach as the pain started, I brought my hand up covered in blood.

This is it, I will never see Adam again, I hope he takes care of my T-Bird. My vision started to blur, I fell to the ground. I heard some more gunshots as everything went black.