Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
They all took turns smelling the drink, were concerned when I explained that there was brine in it, and I was going to go on about the onions instead of olives when three men walked out onto the patio. I noticed them because, of the twenty tables, only fifteen were seated, and the one they went to was closest to ours.
As I glanced over, one of the men pulled a gun and shot into the air four times, another went to the double doors that led into the main part of the restaurant, slammed them shut and locked them, and the third guy ordered everyone down onto the floor. He wanted us sitting in a big circle with all our cell phones out in front of us. I told the kids to put their masks back on before they did that. He came back moments later to collect the phones in a garbage bag.
As soon as he turned his back on us, Hannah, who was sitting beside me, took the rose pin off the lapel of the suit jacket she was wearing and popped it into her ear. It was a bit concerning that my daughter had so many opportunities to use her custom-made earpiece with built-in GPS and cellular.
“Call Dad,” she muttered under her breath, sounding miserable, looking down, seemingly having a hard time keeping it together.
“It’ll be all right, honey,” a man sitting across from Hannah assured her, his gaze flicking to me. “Promise your daughter that everything will be all right.”
“She knows that,” I soothed him as I heard her, arms around her knees now, face buried, giving answers to her father.
“She doesn’t fuckin’ know that,” the guy who took our cell phones yelled, kicking me in the thigh.
“Don’t do that,” Kola ordered sharply, and the man squatted down beside me and pointed his gun at him.
“No,” I rasped, moving fast, wedging myself between the firearm and my kid, the muzzle against my chest. “Please don’t hurt my son.”
“This is your son?” he asked me.
I nodded quickly.
He pointed the gun at Hannah then, who still had her head down. “And is this sweet little piece of ass your daughter?”
She snorted suddenly, which startled him.
“Hey!” he yelled at her, and very slowly she lifted her head, then her eyes, and met his gaze with her own solid, unflinching one.
Standing slowly, clearly unsure, he took a step back, holding the gun on her. “What the fuck is so funny?”
Her long exhale made him scowl. “It’s not funny, or, yeah, it is funny for you and your buddies over there––” She motioned at the other guy, who was in possession of what looked like a small locked briefcase the size of a lunchbox, which, I could only assume was what they had come for, “––but for us, not so much.”
“What?” he snapped, and I noticed the guy from the door turn to look our way.
“This was our big foray back out into the world, and you ruined it,” she whimpered in frustration. “I’m so pissed at all of you.”
“Oh yeah?” He crouched down beside her, leering. “You’re mad at us?”
Hannah sat up straighter and scooched just a bit closer to Jake, and I realized that he’d probably tensed when the guy got close to her. “Yeah, but you didn’t just ruin this day for me,” she told him, brows furrowing. “It’s going to be forever until he lets us all out of the house again, and ohmygod, why aren’t you wearing a mask?” She raised her voice at him. “Do you think the pandemic just went poof into the ether?”
He stood up again and took several steps back.
“Who’s not gonna let you out of the house?” the guy who was supposed to be guarding the doors asked Hannah, turning to look at her.
“My father,” Kola answered, groaning, leaning forward so he could see his sister. “God, I didn’t even think about that.”
“Yeah,” she said irritably, indicating all three men. “He’s worried enough about Covid, and now we finally come to one of our favorite places and these guys are here.”
“Well,” Kola began, sighing deeply, “at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that they'll either be in the hospital or jail.”
There were gasps from all the hostages in the room.
“The fuck did you just say?” the guy who’d been sitting at the table barked at Kola, crossing the room to hover over him.
In his haste, he’d left the case, as well as the garbage bag that he’d collected wallets and phones in from everyone there.
“Jesus, Andy,” the guy who’d been with us snapped, charging over to the table and grabbing the bag and case. “Focus. Don’t get distracted. That money is gonna set us up right.”
“I’m not fuckin’ distracted. I just wanna know what this asshole meant by that.”
“I didn’t mean anything,” Kola placated him. “You’re leaving now, aren’t you?”