A Crooked Waitress

Chapter 30

After ditching her pursuer, Christina went to the park. It was pouring down sheets, and not a soul was in sight. A gnarly oak stood tall among the untrimmed bush. She picked up a stick and dug a hole under one of its roots that stuck out of the ground. Then she threw away the piece of wood, put her locker key and fake ID in a plastic bag, and buried it.

Drenched in rain, she returned to the motel, changed, and dropped in front of the TV. As she flipped through the channels, what had happened at the pawnshop set in.

Eric and Natalie worked for themselves. So it wasn't them; that left only one other party interested in the heist; the police. The man who chased her had to be a cop. Fences often have connections with the law, and Paul had tipped them off.

That rat!

She wished she had put a bullet into him. But taking the ten grand and keeping the jewel was enough revenge on its own. Were the police searching for her, or were they just following up on a case?

Nice! Now besides a couple of armed robbers, a loan shark, and his henchman, the cops are after me.

Her phone flashed and slightly moved before it stood still on the bed. She picked it up. It was a message from Toby's phone: "He's with us. You know what to do."

"Yes, I know what to do."

She put her 9mm Beretta in her pocket, got out of the motel, and drove to Eric's home. On her way, she bought a pair of binoculars and near the house, parked her car across the street. The storm was clearing up. The lights were on, and a boy about ten years old was sitting on the couch, playing video games.

Through the binoculars, she checked every window in the building. No one was home except for the child.

The text message meant Toby was still alive and in that house. She had come here to watch the place and find a way to release him. But when she saw the boy, realized her brother wasn't there. Nobody kept a hostage in his home where his son lived—assuming that child was Eric's kid.

But the boy offered a different kind of opportunity.

They had Toby. And now she could have him, and trade him for her brother.

She thought about it for a few minutes but the idea was risky, and many things could go wrong. She shook her head and drove off but stopped after a couple of blocks.

That was it; her only solution was to take that kid and do it fast. If Toby wasn't in that house, she didn't have any chance of finding him. He was alive for now but didn't have much time left. If they didn't get their jewels back, they killed him. To free her brother, she needed a bargaining chip.

She wanted to wait more and ponder the situation. But Eric could show up any minute, and she would lose the opportunity. It was now or never.

She bought a prepaid phone at a convenience store, then drove back to the house, and watched it for a while to make sure the kid was still alone. The boy played his video game and no one else was in sight. She wrote a note, put it in her pocket, walked to the door, and rang the bell.

The child opened the door as far as the security chain allowed. "Yes?"

"Is this Eric's house?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"You're his son, right?" She moistened her lips with her tongue. Everything depended on his answer now.

"Yes, I am."

"Open the door, please."

"No."

Easy. Earn his trust first.