What Tom saw nearly made him vomit.
Suspended by a wire cable attached to a chandelier on one end and wrapped around the wrists of his outstretched arms on the other was, or what used to be, Erin’s boyfriend Kyle. He was totally nude and covered from head to toe in crimson trails of blood. His skull was shattered in several places, swollen to twice its original size and horribly disfigured-presumably Bummer’s handiwork.
Kyle had been used as a human pinata and now resembled a slaughtered animal hanging in a butcher shop.
Tom stared for a moment in horror then turned away. Chappy immediately pushed him into the room so hard that he fell to the floor.
“Take a good look at this luckless wretch, Tommy-Boy! Now you see what happens to intruders to our domain! And this piece of crap actually had the nerve to call me a ‘limey asshole’-imagine that! Before I could recover from this untimely insult Bummer was on the bloke quicker than flies on shit, worked him over real good with his crowbar. Couldn’t bring myself to stop him, actually.
I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t enjoy watching this worthless shit being turned into hamburger by my loyal mate. Loved every minute of it, in fact!”
Tom’s shoulder winced in pain from the fall. He sat for a moment and stared up at the three misfits standing before him, wondering where Erin was at this moment. The last thing he wanted to do was let on to them that he knew Kyle and Erin; that much he was sure of.
“Why is he-” Tom began to ask.
“Strung up?” Chappy finished the question for him. “Let’s just say that we had a little fun with the bastard before Bummer finished him off and leave it at that. You’ll know the rest soon enough.”
Tom gulped. He had nearly forgotten that he was a condemned man-or maybe he didn’t want to remember after seeing Kyle hanging from the ceiling like a sacrificed animal.
Have to find Erin and get the holy hell out of here! he thought. He did not want to stick around long enough to find out ‘the rest.’
“Well Tommy-Boy, I’m getting pretty hungry so we’ll leave you here so you can and your new friend can ‘hang out’ together until we finish eating. When we come back, you are in for one big surprise!”
I can hardly wait, Tom thought. Chappy led the other two out of the room and the doors swung shut behind them. He heard the click of a deadbolt and the muffled sound of their chuckles as they left him there in this death chamber.
Tom tried not to look up at Kyle as he got to his feet and began casing out the room for some way out.
CHAPTER 10
The room was cavernous and may have been used for banquets or as a meeting room-he’d never been in the Waldorf and could only guess the room’s purpose. He was aware that the historic site had a rich past and had played host to a number of balls and similar get-togethers for socialites and countless big names throughout history.
Tom knew he didn’t have much time-Chappy and the boys could be back any minute-so he sprinted along the perimeter of the room, checking every door for a possible escape route. He was forced to turn with his back toward each door in order to turn the doorknobs since his hands were still cuffed behind him. It didn’t take long for to discover that every door in the huge room was locked securely.
Since he was trapped inside, his only chance for survival would be to make a break for it through the main doors when the lynch mob returned. He may need a weapon, though If he could just get these fricking handcuffs off…
He stored this fantasy away on his wish list and looked around for a weapon, well aware that there was little he could do without the full use of his hands and arms. Noticing how the silverware was wrapped inside the neatly folded linen napkins, he went over to one of the tables and turned his back against it, managed to grasp an enveloped silverware packet in his left hand and pulled out a serrated dinner knife with his right. Pretty weak defense against a. 44 magnum or a crowbar but better than nothing.
Next, he looked around for a suitable table to hide under. Fortunately, they were all large with white tablecloths draped over them that fell nearly all the way to the floor. This would enable him to conceal himself fairly easily under any one of them. He moved toward the entrance and searched for the best vantage point. If he were to hide under a table perhaps fifteen feet away and to either side of the door, he just might be able to sneak out past the punks before they had a chance to realize what was happening.
Which he realized was a long shot at best.
Suddenly, he heard voices outside that were getting louder. He scurried over to one of the tables, crouched down onto his knees, fell onto his right side, then scooted in under the table. He noticed in despair that the tablecloth was still flapping in the breeze when he heard the sound of the doors fly open.
“We’re back, Tommy!” Chappy shouted in his signature cockney accent. “I certainly hope that you and our- What’s this? I don’t see you Tommy-Boy! Oh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy-it’s really not a good idea for you to try to hide from us. It is definitely going to make your demise all the more painful!”
Tom could see two pairs of feet from his vantage point under the table. Where was the third set? he wondered. Please don’t tell me that one of these cutthroats is still outside in the lobby! If that were the case, he didn’t have an ice cube’s chance in Hades of A shot suddenly fired out. It sounded like a cannon going off.
“Frick an a, Tommy! You’d best be giving yourself up this very moment or you are going to regret it! I’m going to make it a point to yank off each and every one of these bloody tablecloths until I find you. Then, I shall proceed to make you a very, very sorry bloke!”
There was a short pause.
“Okay, mates, let’s do it!” Chappy cried, followed by cheers and the shuffling of feet.
Mates, he had said, as in plural!
Tom peeled his eyes to locate all three pairs of feet. A second later, he saw the third set walk directly past him toward the far side of the room. He held his breath and paused a moment, then quietly backed his way out from under the table.
After he had cleared the tablecloth and found himself out in the open, Tom glanced around and saw Chappy working the tables toward the far end, Bummer to his left and Hoops immediately behind him. All three were yanking the tablecloths off the tables with a flourish, like aspiring magicians. Miraculously, none of them had yet spotted him nor were any of them facing his way at that particular moment.
Tom hunched forward as far as he could and hurried toward the doors on his knees.
“I’m gonna get you, Tom-Boy!” he heard Hoops cry from behind. With his heart in his throat, Tom stood up and ran toward the doors as quickly as his legs would carry him. He reached the entrance, shoved one of the doors open with his shoulder, slipped through and turned his back against the doors. He heard Hoops holler “he’s escaped!” as he fumbled anxiously with the dead bolt, trying desperately to slide it home. Finally, he heard a metallic clack as he managed to lock the door.
One to go He fumbled with the other bolt as he heard the boys running toward the entrance. He was able to slide the bolt home an instant before he felt the weight of the door smash against his back.
“Open this door, motherfucker!” Chappy snarled from the other side. A shot rang out and Tom saw the hole where the slug had torn through about an inch from the handle.
Tom sidestepped the doors and ran across the lobby toward the Park Avenue entrance, spotted a ring of keys lying on a table between a Heinekin and a plate of French fries, managed to snatch them up just as he heard two more shots ring out.
They were going to shoot their way through that door any second He needed to make a quick decision: either bolt out onto the street and run as far away from these crazy shits as earthly possible or stay in the hotel and likely become a piece of dead meat. The decision was a no-brainer. Erin was somewhere in here and he had to find her.