“This is my security to get out of here and that’s all you need to know.” He waved the gun at her desk. “What is this?”
“What? My desk?”
“What?” he mimicked. “Where did this new-fangled piece of ergonomic shit come from? The city council would never have approved this in the budget.”
“I paid for it myself.”
“What happened to my old desk?” When she didn’t answer right away, he aimed the gun at her head. “Tell me where it went.”
“Okay, but…you have to promise to leave right away.”
“I’m the one with the gun, remember? I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.” A trickle of sweat ran down his forehead. He wasn’t as confident as he wanted her to think.
“The desk is in the storage room in the back of the building.”
He stilled. “The one behind the employee break room?”
She nodded.
“Fuck!” He began to walk around the room, waving the gun in the air and ranting. “How the hell am I supposed to get in there without anyone seeing me? Everything would have been fine if your stupid boyfriend hadn’t poked his nose where it didn’t belong. I would have served another couple months, tops, for that burglary charge. But now I’m looking at a minimum ten years. Ten fucking years! There’s no way I’ll last in prison for that long.” He turned and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m going to have to take you hostage.”
Mimi and Pilar were waiting for her in the lobby. If she didn’t show up soon, they’d come find her and then Doug would have three hostages. She couldn’t let that happen. “Ten years does seem like a long time,” Jenna said, trying to sound sympathetic. “I mean, it’s not like you killed anyone.” Uh-oh. She shouldn’t be giving him any ideas. “Let me help you get to the storage room.”
The door to the office opened. “Jenna! Zeke just called and—” Pilar spotted Doug and for a second, she froze. Then she turned and tried to push Mimi back into the hallway to safety, but Doug was too quick. He shoved them both into the room and slammed the door shut.
“Well, well, look who’s joined the party,” he sneered.
Mimi’s gaze zeroed in on the gun. “Doug, please don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”
“Yeah,” said Pilar, “It’s not too late to turn yourself in.”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch.” He threw his head back and laughed. “Man, that felt good! Do you know how many times I used to say that to you in my head? All those city council meetings I had to sit there and listen to you go on about what I could and couldn’t do. I used to daydream of getting up in the middle of one of those speeches and strangling you.” He pointed the gun at Mimi. “Both of you as a matter of fact. Because whatever this one says, you just agree with.”
Mimi paled.
“If it hadn’t been for you poking around at my old job, none of this would have happened in the first place.”
“You’re right,” Mimi said. “I should have never done that.” She grimaced like she was in pain.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked her.
“I’m all right.” Mimi caught Jenna’s eye. Her gaze slowly made its way to the large handbag strapped around her shoulder. She was trying to tell Jenna something. What? Did Mimi plan to hit Doug over the head with her purse? Did she want Jenna to grab the purse? Jenna slowly shook her head signaling that she didn’t understand.
“So how are we going to do this now?” Doug asked. “I won’t be able to keep an eye on all three of you if we go to the storage room. And I can’t leave someone back here, or you’ll call the cops.”
“Maybe if you tell me what you want out of your desk I could get it for you,” Jenna offered.
“Right. Like I was born yesterday.” He grinned. “How long did you use my desk before you got this new one here?”
“About a month.”
“How does it feel knowing that all that time you were sitting there sweating your ass off crunching nickels and dimes there was over two hundred grand right under your nose?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars,” Pilar said incredulously. “Hidden inside your desk? You’re kidding. Where did you get that kind of cash?”
“Where do you think? The tooth fairy gave it to me.” He laughed at his own little joke. “That money represents four years of hard work, both here and at my old job. And I’m not going anywhere without it.”
“You mean four years of embezzling money and defrauding the p