se he was fast, it didn’t mean he could outrun bullets.
When they got to their car, Shave Head ordered them to empty their pockets. He crushed their cellphones with his steel-toed boots. Ponytail took away their shoes, bound their ankles and then bound their wrists behind their backs with zip ties. Their mouths were covered with duct tape when Sookie started asking questions. She and her brother were then crammed into the back of the van.
Ponytail sat with them. Shave Head made a quick phone call before he entered then van, sitting shotgun. They waited quite a long time before the two other men returned. One slipped behind the van’s steering wheel and the other went to the Escalade. Sookie assumed they must have filled in the hole that she and Jesse had dug. Her feet and hands felt numb from the ties that restricted her blood circulation. Her legs cramped and her nose was itchy just because she couldn't scratch it. The men were no longer pointing their guns at them, but she felt even more terrified than before. Jesse was too. She could see it in his eyes.
They drove for what seemed an eternity.
Sookie gazed outside the windows. The dark night danced beyond the glass. The men didn’t talk, didn’t offer any explanations. She couldn’t speak a word through her taped mouth. It seemed they were headed away from the city from the lack of buildings and inhabitants. Shadows of trees replaced the urban scenery and the road became uneven and bumpy. They travelled on the gravely dirt for a while before they finally stopped.
Shave Head barked some orders. Ponytail grabbed them by their collars and yanked them out of the van. Sookie wildly scanned her surroundings. These men had taken her and Jesse to some kind of dilapidated factory in bum-fuck nowhere. He cut the ties on their ankles so they could walk. Shave Head marched them inside an old warehouse.
The sharp smell of chemicals assaulted her nostrils. It seemed the offense came from the pails of farming fertilizer stacked tall in narrow rows. Shave Head urged her to keep up by shoving the barrel of his gun on her kidney. Sookie yelped. It fucking hurt. She cursed under her tape.
A pair of heavily-armed men greeted them with death stares as they rounded the corner. A few words exchanged between Shave Head and the guards before one of them opened another door deep into the recessed area of the building.
As soon as they passed, the surroundings changed drastically: the corridors and labyrinth of rooms looked new and high-tech. The walls were plastered with metallic chrome. Gone were the dingy and noxious environments. It was clear to her that the old decrepit warehouse was only a front for some kind of sophisticated operation. Dark thoughts spun in her head. Did Jesse and I stumble into an organized crime affair? Or a meth lab? Human trafficking? She glanced at Jesse, fervently praying that they would be spared from whatever fate awaited them.
People swathed in lab coats bustled through the corridors, consumed with their own thoughts and barely gave them a glance. Sookie stole a glimpse into a room when a man exited a door; chimps’ screechings reverberated, rattling in their cages. It alarmed her. What kind of place is this? She had no doubt that these people conducted illegal experiments on those poor animals. What the hell did we get ourselves into?
They were herded into an expansive room where a group of men seemed to be waiting for their arrival. The room itself was only furnished with a table with two folding chairs facing a plush office chair on the opposing side. A twenty-something man dressed in a sleek business suit occupied the comfy one. Shave Head seated her and her brother on the folding chairs. Ponytail replaced Jesse’s ziptie with a pair of handcuffs. He also put a manacle on his neck with the chain bolted into the concrete. Jesse protested behind the duct tape.
For some reason, Shave Head released her ties. He then tore the tape from her mouth.
“Fuck!” Sookie cursed. She was pissed by their treatment of Jesse. “Is that really necessary? He isn't going anywhere. We're cooperating."
Ponytail jabbed her side with the butt of his gun. Sookie flinched in pain. Jesse struggled against his ties and Ponytail moved to discipline him as well.
“Stop it!” Sookie begged him desperately. “Don’t hurt him. Please.”
The Suit observed her in silence. She didn't like the look in his eyes. The man was calculating her worth. “What’s your name?” he asked. His tone was indifferent.
“Susan. Susan Alkin. And this is my brother, Jesse. Sir, this is all a misunderstanding—“
The Suit held up a hand.
Sookie quieted.
“What were you doing in Marcus’s grave?” he asked.
Sookie gulped nervously. “You see, sir, my brother works at Burke’s Funeral Home. He accidentally left an important package inside the expensive casket, so regrettably, we had to retrieve it. We didn’t mean disrespect in any way toward your family, sir.”
“A package?”
Sookie traded a gaze with Jesse. “The package doesn’t belong to my brother. Jesse’s only holding it for the boss’s son.”
“What’s in the package?”
Sookie hesitated to answer. “It might be marijuana.”
Laughter exploded unexpectedly. “You dug up Marcus’s grave because your brother stowed some weed in his coffin?” He looked amused. His scary henchmen let out obligatory grins.
“Yes, sir, please let us—”
Suit cut her plea short with a wave of his hand. His Rolex watch glimmered under the bright fluorescent light. “Did you open Marcus’s coffin?”
“Well, my brother did.”
“Did you see Marcus’s body?”