Learning to Trust: Curtain Falls (5 page)

"Get the hell back in the car or I'm going to actually point it at you." I turned around and saw Frederic standing there with a shiny silver pistol in his hand, his outline illuminated by the bright headlights of the ca
r. "Hurry up!" He looked like a
glowing executioner.

I had been so gung ho about running away, so ready to flee with my dignity intact—but the taste of impending doom had paralyzed me. Honestly, I didn't think he'd actually shoot me if I did run, but I didn't want to test that theory anymore. Tears streamed down my face as I shamefully walked back to the car.
Such an
anticlimactic
event.
I
felt like a dog,
disciplined by an owner that had been pushed too far. My head hung low as I climbed back into the car. I was
embarrassed and
bleeding, but thankfully
my
wound was just a scrape.
The emotional damage was something else entirely.

"Why did you do that?" Frederic asked.

Honestly, I didn't even want to respond, but my words came out anyway. "You're just taking me to die anyway."

"Nothing is that simple, Marisa." He pressed the button and the doors locked with an audible click. Yes, I could still just lift the lock, but that didn't mean the gesture lacked significance. He didn't trust me, that was clear.

"What the hell is that even supposed to mean? I don't know who anyone is anymore," I said with pure exasperation.

Frederic turned and faced me, presumably the last pause before we'd start driving. "You know that things are different here, totally different than the
real world
. I don't want you to get hurt, but as far as I know, Roland has no reason to hurt you. Is there something I should know about?"

"No," I managed to choke out. "Nothing makes any sense. It hasn't for days."

He shifted the car into
gear
and nodded silently. "We'll be there soon."

Whoa, was I really being that overdramatic?
Something seemed to tell me that everything was an illusion at this point, nothing but smoke and mirrors. I had slept with—and felt very close to—two different men in the last forty-eight hours. I had dropped off a briefcase containing a bomb and killed another billionaire, along with a number of innocent people. I felt at least a little psychotic, like
I was going crazy—
literally.

Was this just another thing that I could misinterpret, another thing to throw onto the pile of
confused ideas
?
I had nothing definitive, yet everything to consider.

He fired a gun, Marisa, to herd you back in the car.
Would Frederic really go that far for just Roland alone?
Was I here to serve some
other
purpose? I couldn't fathom what that might be.

I clutched my purse the rest of the way, wishing desperately that it was one of those
squishy
stress balls. They always seemed like such a gimmick until you really needed one.
The purse was not an adequate substitute.

We only drove for about ten more minutes, entering the city and immediately heading to the warehouse district by the river. It sprawled a long way, the docks filled with barges that were making gigantic scale deliveries. The area was
well illuminated
and we drove past countless identical looking buildings on a quest to find whatever happened to be the
right location
.

There were a number of fancy cars and vans parked in a disorganized mess next to one of the buildings; I guess that was what happened when there weren't lines painted on the ground. We pulled up and joined the chaos. Frederic killed the engine and sat there, the silence returning once again. Neither of us said anything.

Finally he spoke. "Listen," he said quietly, "just stay calm, okay? It could get rough in there. When so much is on the line, people get crazy. Believe me."

"Okay," I said. I had no idea how
crazy
he actually meant, but if the bombing of a competitor was any indication,
crazy
could surely mean a lot of things. "You're sure I can't just leave? I won't tell anyone a thing. My lips are sealed. Just let me go." I was absolutely certain it wasn't going to work—I was correct.

Frederic gave a nervous chuckle. "No way," he said. "You know it's not so simple anymore. Nobody just
walks away
from this."

"It just doesn't make any sense," I remarked. "I just came out here to get a story, and now I'm stuck with
this
, whatever
it
is."

"That happens to a lot of us. Just be brave."

I didn't like those words one bit, e
specially not after Roland had said them to me before.
I wasn't privy to any information
, and it made me sick to my stomach
. T
his was like someone blindfolding you, telling you to walk forward, and then informing you that y
ou may or may not fall right off a cliff
.
Just be brave, okay
? It was so stupid and irrational. But then again, so was being shot because you tried to run from someone with a gun.

"No more waiting. I know you're nervous. So am I." He straightened out his shirt and double-checked the pistol in his pants, patting it as if his gesture meant something. "Let's go."

I
grabbed my purse and got out of the car, following
Frederic's lead, the hum of machinery almost overwhelming while we were outside. If I had my phone, I would have snapped photos of all of these license plates and given them to
Ramón
.
That'd show 'em
. It was gone, however. Years of photos and texts and phone numbers. All gone. Maybe
Ramón
had actually received my calls, but he'd be driving to a random spot in the woods to find me now. It was no good.

Out footsteps echoed against the concrete, the ominous, tall buildings looming around us. I couldn't believe how big, yet
hollow
everything felt. The water sloshed up against the docks as the wind whistled around us. It was chilly and I really hoped that the inside was heated. If I could have one last request before I los
t it all, it would be adequate warmth
.

I tried to look for a number on the building, but Frederic kept me moving, presumably to prevent me from doing so. He opened a side door and led me inside. I was blasted with a gust of warm air and felt overwhelmed by excitement. The first positive thing to happen in hours! We continued down a hallway until we reached a large door that led into the actual warehouse space. It was propped open and Frederic motioned me forward. I stepped in and then paused.

"You go first now. I'm kind of freaked out."

"We go at the same time," he said, taking me by the arm.

We walked forward, my legs struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. He kept me moving, however. The rows of lights hummed above, a cacophony of mechanical noise that ensured that everything would feel
unsettling
going forward. Forklifts were littered around the room, along with other random pieces of machinery that I couldn't identify just by looking at it. We continued walking.

"Okay," Frederic whispered, "here goes nothing."

There were a number of men standing around in a circle, a business huddle of crooks and rich folks that were somehow getting along. I guess they were more similar than their appearances sugges
ted. It was a gradient from
suits to leather jack
et
s, a bizarre juxtaposition of the
underground
with
the top floors of skyscrapers
.
It was a meeting of the executives and the guys that did the dirty work.

"Ah, my friends!" Roland shouted, his voice perpetually echoing through the hollow space. "So glad you could join us. My, you look lovely, pet!"

I scowled at Roland
as Frederic kept me moving forward. We got close to the circle, but never actually entered it. He let go of my arm and I straightened out my shirt.
I recognized some of the
thugs
that I had seen
coming and going
at the mansion.
I'd keep my distance from them, that was for sure.

"Pet, why don't you come join me?" Roland asked.

"No, I'm just fine here, thanks," I said, staring down at my feet
, hiding my rage from the group
.

Roland paused. "Very well then." He smiled. "Big things are happening here,
my friends
. Things that will change our lives forever."

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Frederic suddenly piped in.

"We'll get to them in a minute," Roland said, shrugging off Frederic's concern like it was nothing. There was no response, so Roland continued. "We've
brought together some great men
here. It's unfortunate that it's taken so lon
g to make this happen because of certain...
obstacles
." The way he said it sent chills down my spine. It didn't seem to faze anyone else.

The monologue continued, despite the fact that no one seemed to be paying attention. "As you know, Roland Starland doesn't do business unless everything is impeccably planned out. Precise and consistent. Working out the kinks until there
is
a perfectly working machine. We've had to make some adjustments—and there will be more very soon—but things ar
e functioning very smoothly now, especially thanks to the brilliant efforts of my dear pet over here. Won't you take a bow, Marisa?
"

"No," I said. "I won't. I still can't believe you used me for—"

"Where is Dallas?" Frederic suddenly shouted. "Where the fuck is Dallas and the others?"
Who was Dallas
? Whoever he was, Frederic was pretty serious about him being here.
Yet another significant person I had never met.

"Ouch," Roland said. "So feisty tonight. That hurts." Roland's wicked smile, the one I remembered from our many times together, spread across his face. Circumstances were totally different, and now I loathed it. "They've been dealt with," he said matter-of-factly.

"What the fuck, Roland?" Frederic
was
noticeably upset. "Those were good people! What the fuck were you thinking?"

The smile seemed to be permanently etched on
to
Roland's face. He was deriving incredible amusement from this
"
Business is business," he said nonchalantly.
"
Ah, but there's still a traitor in our midst. A dirty little rat
, even after we've done our spring cleaning
."

Oh my god!
I was cooked. This was it. Everybody was about to turn and face me, a relentless firing squad
prepared to carry out their execution.
Should I run
? No, I couldn't outrun these bullets, not these trained killers. My body would vanish and my parents would never hear from me again. My heart pounded so hard that I feared it might burst out of my chest
and tumble to the floor
. I was totally frozen.

"Someone I thought I could trust has been working for someone else. My, so
bold
to think that
you could pull a fast one on old
Roland!"

After so many flare-ups of paranoia, this was it.
I was actually about to
die
, to be riddled with bullets and torn to pieces. These would be my last thoughts, my last flashes of consciousness before I faded to black. Yet, here I was, thinking about
thinking
rather than anything that mattered. It had been a good run, one that was—

I felt my body
being pulled abruptly
to the side by Frederic,
cold steel against my head.
Wait, what was this
? "Don't fucking come any closer or the girl gets it!" Frederic had taken me hostage—
he
was the rat!

"Fuck!" I shouted, suddenly overcome by nervous rage. "Let me go!"

"
Shut the fuck up
!" he
hissed. Frederic
had pulled me back and was keeping me
strategically positioned
in front of him. I had become
Marisa the Human Shield
. This posed another problem: If these guys were as ruthless as they looked, they'd just
shoot through me
to get to Fred
eric anyway and just consider my death
collateral damage
. What
difference did it make to them? And when I saw a flurry of guns rising to the occasion, I realized I my gut feeling was probably correct.

"Gentleman, keep calm," Roland said. "We need to stay level-headed. Where do you intend to go, Frederic? What if I said I'm not concerned with her one bit. That you could kill her and we'll just kill you anyway?"