Nothing But Thieves (English)

13 . Chapter

"Excuse me?" I asked, shocked.

"You understood correctly. We discussed it and came to the decision that we should let you go now," Brick assured me.

"I understood that, but how and why?" I asked, confused. They had told me that I would be dropped off tomorrow morning, but why did they bring it forward? Just because of Mr. Ugly Denim Jacket's visit?

Whiskey waved his hands actively in the air. "Leon, the situation has changed. Our partners are not so happy about the whole thing. By this they mean our little comedian. Although they put this in our hands, we cannot guarantee that they will not intervene. As I have already made clear to you, it was never our intention to harm you or even kill you. It is a long time until tomorrow morning. That is why we will show you outside in which direction to go to the next street. By the time you get there and have stopped a car, we will already be long gone. You will not interfere with us anymore."

Brick put his hands around my right arm and helped me get out of bed. Embarrassingly, my legs immediately gave way, and I was hanging in the ropes. Or rather, in his arms.

"Um, can you escape on your own or do we have to hold hands?" Stark asked doubtfully.

I nodded. "It will work out somehow. It has to."

Brick let go of me. With wobbly legs I trudged into the other room, which I saw for the first time. Living and dining area with kitchen. Just as you would expect from a forest cabin.

The gangsters followed me. Stark positioned himself in front of me and pointed to the left with his raised finger.

"When you leave the front door you have to go left into the forest. After several kilometers there is a slope that you have to climb up. Don't fall down again. Climb up. When you get to the top there is a winding road. You can go fishing for a ride there. Do you understand?"

I nodded slowly. "Keep to the left, climb the slope and flag someone down on the road. Understood."

"Okay, you'll be on the road for a while. Like I said, several kilometers. That gives us time to escape," Stark added.

"We'll miss you, comedian," Brick said suddenly. Again I nodded slowly.

"I'd say that to you, too, but I'll be glad when this is all over," I replied. "But you were good hostage takers. Four out of five stars," I added with a crooked grin. I could leave that to them, since I would probably never see them again.

They cheered in unison and clapped their hands together. How easy it was to please gangsters.

Then they opened the door and stepped outside with me. Dusk was setting in. Stark again pointed in the direction I had to take to flee.

Suddenly the area in front of the hut was as bright as day. I turned towards the forest path. Another black SUV was parked there. Three guys got out of the car. Brick was the first of the wise guys to react and pushed me behind him.

The other men came towards us, weapons raised.

"Police, stop! Get on the ground!" shouted the man in front.

My first thought should have been that I was saved one way or another. But that didn't occur. My instinct kicked in immediately. They were the corrupt badges. I was reluctant to use such a word as a police officer myself, but it was killing me. They positioned themselves as saviors, even though they were the ones who would rather see me dead. And the worst thing was that I had to admit, what I knew from their conversation. My gut was right. The bank robbers were working with corrupt cops. Colleagues who I recognized immediately when they moved into the beam of the spotlight. Sean Brooks, Alistair Summer and Devon Rivers. I was so fucked, a station prostitute would have been jealous. I suddenly felt sick.

Whiskey raised his hands. "We can work this out," he said confidently. I admired his strength.

"Unfortunately, that won't work. Give us your hostage and nothing will happen," Devon shouted. "Ashbury, get your ass over here. We've come to save you."

I didn't move, but noticed a change in the criminals' mood. Brick turned to me. "Leon, you can't go to them."

I looked at him in pain and whispered: "I know that your accomplices will shoot me follow their orders."

"You know about that?"

"That you got into the wrong patrol car? Unfortunately, your buddy in the cabin wasn't that quiet," I admitted.

Brick turned to Whiskey and Stark. "Leon knows. Fire at will."

How could I have missed that the jokers had brought their guns with them? They threw themselves behind their own SUV with me in tow and opened fire on the corrupt law enforcement officers.