“U.S. Marshals Office,” a man answered. “This is Carl Lungen.”
“Mr. Lungen, this is Eric Stroman-Ben Addison’s roommate.”
“How’d you get my private line?” Lungen asked, sounding annoyed.
“I stole it from Ben’s Rolodex-you never know when you’re going to need a marshal,” Eric explained. “I’m only calling because it’s an emergency. I think Ben’s in trouble.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, without getting into the whole story, Ben was being blackmailed by this guy named Rick. A few hours ago, I got a call from Ben telling me to get out of my house because Rick was after us. A half hour after that, Lisa called and told me everything was okay. Maybe I’m just being neurotic, but I think something happened to them.”
“Eric, I’m very glad you called,” Lungen said. “Now start from the beginning and tell me the whole story.”
At ten o’clock that evening, Rick and Claremont sat in the center suite, picking at the remains of their room-service dinner. “Only twelve more hours,” Rick said, nibbling on a french fry. “We’re almost there.”
“You promise we’ll cash in the options by noon?” Claremont asked.
“How many times do you need to hear it?” Rick asked. “It’ll all be done by noon.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” Claremont said. “If you were in my position, you’d be just as concerned. It’ll only take a few hours before the SEC realizes that an American Steel executive cashed in all of his stock and risked it all on a long-shot bet. This deal is going to raise one hell of a lot of eyebrows over there.”
“We’ll be long gone by the time they put it together,” Rick said. “Don’t get crazy over it.”
“I’ll just be happy when it’s over,” Claremont said.
“You’ll be more than happy,” Rick said. “You’ll be rich. Those options will be worth millions.”
“What if Ben’s lying and Steel actually loses?”
“Don’t worry,” Rick said. “After what happened with Grinnell, I’m not putting a dollar down unless I know he’s telling the truth.”
“Nathan, will you stop it already?” Ben begged. “Talk to me.”
“Leave him alone,” Lisa said. “He’ll talk when he’s ready.”
“Silence doesn’t help anyone at this point,” Ben said. “Get over it.”
“Get over it?” Nathan asked, looking up and facing Ben. “Ober is dead. That’s not something I’ll just get over. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.”
“Enough with the fighting,” Lisa interrupted, pulling on her restraints. Leaning to her left, she peered over the armrest and saw that her handcuffs were attached to the wooden supports that connected the front and back legs of the antique chair. “I say we focus on getting out of here.”
“Let me guess,” Nathan said. “You have a bobby pin in your hair and you’re a master lockpick?”
“I wish,” Lisa said, tipping her chair forward until she could stand. Hunched over, she shuffled toward Ben. She then lowered her chair, sitting in front of him. “See those supports?” she asked. “I bet if you kick them hard enough, they’ll break in half.”
Ben looked at the width of the supports. “There’s no way,” he said. “It’ll never-”
“Don’t give me that,” Lisa demanded. “Try. Kick the shit out of it. Just don’t kick my hand.”
Ben jerked his chair into position and prepared to kick the support. “Hold on a second,” Lisa said, waving her handcuffed hand. “Give me your other foot.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, the moment you kick this chair, you’ll go flying backward.”
Nodding, Ben let Lisa get a good handhold on his left ankle. With his right leg primed for impact, he counted, “One, two, three,” and slammed his foot against the support.
“Again,” Lisa said as Ben hit the support. “Keep going.” Wildly kicking over a dozen times, Ben felt the wooden support start to splinter. “You’re almost there,” Lisa said. After one more blow, the support snapped, allowing Lisa to slide the handcuff off the chair. With one arm still tied down, she turned her chair around. “Do the other one.”
“Quietly,” Nathan warned, carefully watching the door that connected to the other suite.
When Ben had kicked through the other support, Lisa was free. With the handcuffs still dangling from her wrists, she walked to Ben’s chair and prepared to start kicking.
“Screw the chair,” Ben said. “Run and get help.”
“No way,” Lisa said.
“Don’t argue, just go,” Ben said as the handcuffs pulled against his wrists. “There’s no way we’ll all get free without them hearing.”
“They didn’t hear you, did they?” Lisa asked. “Besides, if I leave and they find out I’m gone, who knows what they’ll do to you?”
“We’ll be fine,” Ben said. “Go get help.”
“I’m not going,” Lisa said. She started kicking at Ben’s supports. “I don’t need your death on my head.”
“They won’t kill us,” Ben said.
Lisa stopped to look Ben in the eye. “Are you kidding me? You think they’d beat us, kidnap us, and chain us up, but not kill us?”
“Go get help,” Ben said.
“Nathan?” Lisa asked.
“Kick the chair,” Nathan said. “I watched them dance on my face. Rick enjoyed it.”
Standing on one leg, Lisa slammed her foot against the support. It refused to buckle. “Damn.”
“Get out of here,” Ben said.
“Shut…up,” Lisa said, pounding the support. Slowly, it began to fracture. After six more kicks, it broke in two. Lisa ran to the other side of the chair.
“Hurry,” Ben said.
“What do you think I’m doing?” she asked as she started working on the other side. Within a minute, the second support broke. Quickly running to Nathan’s chair, the two clerks each took a side and kicked the old wood.
Nathan’s adrenaline was pumping. “It’ll give,” he said. “It’ll definitely give.”
Her legs tired from the attack, Lisa stopped to catch her breath.
“Keep kicking,” Nathan said. “You’re almost there.”
As Ben shattered the wood on his side, Nathan pulled his arm free. Running around to help Lisa, Ben heard a quiet click.
They all looked up.
“Shit,” Nathan said.
“Why do you even bother?” Rick asked. Standing in the corner of the room, he pointed a gun at the three friends. “I want them separated,” Rick demanded as he and Claremont walked toward the large glass table. He pointed the gun at Lisa. “Put her in the bathroom. Lock the cuffs to the pipes under the sink.”
As Claremont grasped her left handcuff, Lisa swung her right one through the air, smashing him in the side of the head. Gripping both her hands in one of his, Claremont smacked Lisa in the face and sent her flying to the floor.
“I’ll kill you!” Ben screamed, racing toward Claremont.
Rick pointed his gun at Ben. “DON’T MOVE!”
Suddenly frozen in fear, Ben stared down the barrel of Rick’s gun.
Just then the door that connected to the second suite crashed open.
“EVERYBODY FREEZE! U.S. MARSHAL!” Carl Lungen screamed as he ran into the room, erratically pointing his gun in every direction. Ben’s mouth dropped open.
“You’re all under arrest!” Lungen yelled.
“Where the hell have you been?” Rick asked, unfazed by the entrance. “You were supposed to be here hours ago.”
Lowering his gun, Lungen looked over at Ben and started laughing. “Oh, man, you should see your face,” he said. “You really thought I was coming to your rescue, didn’t you?”
“Help us tie them up,” Claremont said. “They almost got out.”
“How’s it feel to be the fool, Addison?” Lungen asked, pointing his gun at Ben. “Now get your hands up.”