What have I done?
Well, let's see, Lisa. In order to save your own hide and your's and Brad's unborn child, you willingly turned this No of murderous psychopaths on to a woman you not only don't know, but you also told them they could rape, torture, and murder her infant daughter. Gee, that's a really nice thing to do to somebody, don't you think?
What else could I do? They were going to kill me? They were going to kill me knowing I'm pregnant?
Yeah, and in the process, you've managed to sell a woman you don't even know and a baby to them. Your own baby isn't even born yet and Mandy's, what, a month? livo months old maybe? And Alicia? What about her? You' l be helping kill two people here, Lisa.
But they were going to kill my baby! They were going to-
Can the save your baby crap. You just want to save your own skin. Isn't that right?
No! Mat's not true! Mat's-
Bullshit! Why else would you do what you just did? Oh please don't torture me to death in a snuff film! I don't want to die! I know somebody else you can kill instead. And while you're at it, you can have her baby, too! Just don't kill me.
And as the tears spilled down her cheeks, she realized that the part of her that was telling her this was right.
And that only made her feel more ashamed and disgusted with herself.
Tim's voice cut through the din of her sobs. "Shut your fucking trap back there!"
She hitched in a breath at the bark of Tim's command and tried to hold back the sob that threatened to spill forth. Don't fall apart now, she thought. You've got to be strong if you want to get through this. You're going to need a dear head if you want to save not only yourself, but Ali cia and her baby. Because you owe it to her-you owe it to them. You know that, don't you?You are going to get out of this and you are not going to let them take Alicia and Mandy.
And as the van sped down Interstate 10, she began to try thinking of a way out of her predicament.
They were on the 57 Freeway breezing by Anaheim Stadium when Animal popped back into the rear of the van. He held a nasty-looking knife in his hand. "Hold still," he said. "I'm just cutting you loose so you can get dressed."
"And don't try anything," Tim warned from the front seat. "Animal's killed eighteen people. You try anything, he'll gut you faster than a rat can shit"
Lisa's skin tightened as she felt Animal cut the rope that bound her wrists together. She felt him work the lock that held the handcuffs together and then she was free. Then he was in front of her, holding the knife to her menacingly as he held her clothes out to her. "Put your bra and shirt on first, then I'll uncuff your ankles."
Lisa rubbed her wrists, then did what she was told. She dressed slowly, her mind racing. She had been thinking about a thousand possible scenarios for the past hour and none of them appeared promising. In the first she saw herself enter the bank, most likely with Animal, then suddenly making a break for it and diving over the teller's desk. That would cause a scene; Animal would surely get the hell out of dodge. And she would be safe… but not for long. Al had her and Brad's photographs. He had her address and phone number, which he had taken from one of her bank slips. Hell, he had her social security card. With all that information, he could probably find her pretty quickly.
Another scenario saw her getting the money, then making a run for it out the front doors. But then that would end the same way.
She tried playing different scenarios out all the way till the end, to their final destination in Burbank. What would happen? Suppose Alicia and Mandy were gone? How would Tim and Animal get them in the van without attracting unwanted attention? The more she thought of it, the more volatile Alicia's abduction would be. Lisa had the feeling Tim knew this, which was why they were going after the money first.
The only scenario she really liked had her lunging for the armed security guard at the bank. If she could surprise him and get his gun, she could maybe shoot him (in the leg, of course; she didn't want to kill him), then maybe shoot Animal (again, in the leg; she wanted him alive to confess to the police. On second thought, maybe she'd shoot his balls off. Shooting a man's balls off wouldn't kill him, would it?), then rush outside and surprise Tim in the van, holding him at gunpoint until the police arrived.
There were several problems with that scenario. Suppose there was another guard at the bank and she was shot first? Suppose she couldn't get the gun, and in the struggle for it Animal escaped? Suppose the police arrived too quickly and shot her? All these problems flashed through her mind in seconds as she slipped into her bra and shirt.
"Slap some makeup on your face," Tim said. "We're almost there."
Lisa looked out the front windshield. They were on the 22 Freeway heading north. They were getting close to their exit. Let's take this one step at a time, she thought as she put her shoes on.
By the time they reached the bank, she had put some makeup on and inspected herself in her compact. De spite all she had gone through in the past three days, she didn't look that bad. Tired maybe, but not that bad.
Tim swung into a parking space near the bank's entrance, cut the engine, and turned around. Animal's goin' in the bank with you. If you try anything like screaming or something, Animal will just dash out here and me and him are off. You won't know when we'll get you next, but we will. And we'll get you and your whole fucking family, and we'll film Animal torturing and killing all of you, you got me?"
Lisa nodded stoically.
"Is this savings account a joint account?" Tim asked.
Lisa nodded. "Yes."
"Do any of the tellers in there know you and your husband?"
"No.
"So they won't know Animal here from Adam, right?"
She nodded, straightening herself up. "'They won't know him."
"Good. Animal will play hubby for today. Animal, give your wifey here a kiss."
Animal grinned, leaned toward her, and licked the side of her face. She grimaced as his tongue lapped up her chin, across her cheeks, then over her lips, pausing at her nose. She felt her revulsion rise, fought the urge to gag and push him away. Animal's teeth nipped the tip of her nose playfully, like a lover. "Mmm. Tastes good. Never tried ripping a chick's nose off with my teeth before."
Tim laughed. "Remember… you fuck up, Animal will do it next time we get together."
"I won't fuck up," Lisa said, slightly defiant as Animal moved away from her and began inspecting his looks in the vanity mirror.
"Do you need both parties to sign to take money out of your account?" Tim asked.
"No." Lisa wiped Animal's saliva off her face with her palm in disgust and wiped her hands off on her jeans.
"Good. You are very lucky, my friend. Very lucky. What about your IRAs?"
"'They're individual IRAs, from our own separate retirement accounts," she said, reaching for her purse, checking to see if she had everything in place.
"'then what you're going to do is go to the teller and withdraw the money from your savings account, then you're going to tell them you want to cash out your IRA. They'll probably have you fill out a bunch of forms and shit, so that may take a while. Make sure you get everything you can out of the IRA; don't have them take any taxes out of it. You can eat that later. Just take your cash out of your savings account, fill out whatever forms you need for the IRA, get the money, and get the fuck back out here. How much is in your IRA?"
"Thirty grand."
"They'll probably hold back a few grand for penalties and shit. That only leaves us with eighty-five grand or so. What about your ring?"
Lisa looked at her wedding ring and began to pull it off her finger. It was a five-carat diamond ring, the stone set in a nice gold band. It had cost Brad almost six thousand dollars when he bought it for her three years ago, and she later had diamond studs embedded in the gold band. She pointed this out to Tim as she handed the ring to him. You could probably get ten grand for it if you sold it on consignment'