“If you were, you wouldn’t have rescued me.”
“Very true. And we wouldn’t be sitting here sharing Chinese, we’d be in bed. Having spectacular sex,” I declared more loudly than intended.
Wouldn’t you know, that’s when the buzzer sounded downstairs. Rowena hopped up to answer. I put the wine away, and set up a pot of coffee. A couple minutes later, someone knocked at the door. A peep out the security viewer, and Rowena answered. Two men came in. One was tall, big boned, bald, black as night. The other was slight of build, younger, with brown hair, and a porn stash. I wasn’t sure what his particular job was. The big guy was in charge.
“Alexander Bailey,” he introduced himself, gripping my hand. “My assistant, Roy Rogers.”
“Really?” I asked the kid, when I shook his hand.
“Parents with an unfortunate sense of humor,” Roy said.
“I’m so sorry. I was named for Keir Dullea, but no one’s really heard of him.”
“Really?” Rowena said as she brought out the coffee. “I didn’t know that.”
“That’s because I didn’t tell you.” I winked at her.
“I wasn’t named after anyone famous. Were you, Mr. Bailey?”
He chuckled. “Alexander the Great.” His laugh filled the apartment. “I’m kidding. No.”
This guy sounded like James Earl Jones, his voice deep, rich and comforting. I would not, however, like to have him mad at me. He could smash me like Hulk. We settled in the living room with the coffee and cookies. I recognized them as coming from Arby’s shop, and I wondered when she’d visited him.
“Quite an afternoon you had,” Alexander began. “Was your cover compromised?” he asked Rowena.
“No. They took me to be any other employee. I didn’t engage directly. One of the men in the office talked to him, telling him the mail was already gone. That’s when he pulled a gun, his buddies came in, and things got ugly.”
“They let you all see their faces?” Roy said, puzzled.
“Yes. They didn’t wear masks, or stockings. That scared me worse than anything. Had they been in disguise, I’d have had a prayer of us getting free. I was sure we were going to die.” She sniffled.
I put my arm around her. I knew she had to talk about it, but she was clearly troubled.
“How did you come to be up there?” Bailey asked me.
“The security guard on the front desk, Greg, took me, and some friends, around back.”
“Friends? The report said that you went in pretending to be a negotiator, and you and the men in the office overcame the perpetrator.”
“That’s partly true.”
Rowena didn’t even know this part of it. She hadn’t seen Jake and the others. All eyes fixed on me, so I continued, explaining about the former military men. I pointedly did not mention them by name, pretending I didn’t know them.
“What made them decide to go in?” Bailey asked.
“They saw a situation they could help with, just like I did. After what they’ve been through, a hostage situation is a cakewalk. There was some gunfire exchanged. I don’t know what happened to those guys.”
“Killed?” Bailey said.
“Injured.”
“We didn’t find them. Could they still be there?”
I shrugged. “Doubtful. If I know—my companions, they were disposed of.”
“Do you mean killed?” Roy’s voice rose in shock.
“No. I mean taken to the hospital and dumped. One was simply knocked down, he had on a vest. The other was dumb, and didn’t have a vest. He took a round to the shoulder. You could probably locate them via the hospitals.”
Roy took out his phone, walked into the kitchen and, I assumed, calling hospitals. Wasn’t my problem, or my job to figure out. I’d done my bit. Now, I was taking care of loose ends, talking to Rowena’s boss.
“So, you operate a food truck,” Bailey said, sort of surprised.
“Yes, sir. Keir’s Kitchen.”
“No Special Ops, Recon, SEALS? None of that?”
I got the impression he’d already checked up on me, but I didn’t let on. Let him maintain that degree of anonymity.
“Nope. I studied martial arts for a while, but haven’t had time to keep up with the hours, here lately. Why?”
“Because that was either the bravest thing ever, or the dumbest.”
“It’s amazing how the two seem to overlap. He hit Rowena, Alexander. What kind of man lets his girlfriend take a hit, and does nothing?”
“Not a very good one,” he replied with sincerity.
“That’s why you came in?” Tears sprang to her eyes once more. “I thought…. I don’t know what I thought.”
©2021 Dellani Oakes
Dellani Oakes 