"Victor, I'm not sure what you've been smoking, but what you're saying is complete and utter bullshit," I said as the elevator reached the ground floor and opened up into the lobby. I hesitated a moment, then pressed the button and decided to risk going to the basement.
"Where are you going?" he said suspiciously. "Get out of the building!"
"I'm getting out," I said, hoping that he didn't have the laundry room wired with cameras, too. When the doors opened, I stepped out and walked toward the back of the room. The two women who'd been doing laundry were still there, and I motioned for them to get out of the room.
"Where are you going, Connor?" Victor screamed into the phone. "You must get out of the building!"
"I'm getting out, you psycho son of a bitch," I growled as I pushed open the door to the back room and slipped through. "Don't get your twisted little panties in a bunch."
"I'm going to set this
place on fire, and it's all YOUR FAULT!" Victor yelled as he disconnected the phone.
"Not if I stop you first," I muttered as I backtracked to the outer door and called the crew on Engine 102 and alerted them of the possible danger since I had no idea what Victor was going to do. They assured me that they'd alert the Rogers Park Police and send a truck if necessary.
As I scanned the backside of the apartment building, I noticed the fire escape stairs climbing up the structure, and decided that there was no way Victor could have wired those stairs with a camera -- or if he had, I'd get a call letting me know.
I decided to take a chance and start climbing.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Alex
I could hear Victor talking on my phone outside the door of the room. It was muffled, but when I moved over and put my ear to the door, I knew he was talking to Cam. I listened and tried to gather information that would help me get us out of here, but after listening to the argument, I knew Victor had no intention of letting us go.
"You two need to come out into the living room," Victor ordered as he threw the door open and stood staring down at us. "Help her get up."
"What is going on?" I asked.
"None of your damn business," he said as he turned and walked halfway down the hallway. "Get up and get your asses out here now!"
I shook Liz and tried to rouse her, but she was out of it. I put one of her arms around my shoulder and lifted her up off of the mattress. It wasn't easy getting her down the hallway because her body was like dead weight, but I knew that if we could hang in there long enough, I'd get her out of there and off whatever drugs Victor had given her.
"What are you doing?" I repeated as I pulled Liz toward the sofa and lay her down. "This makes no sense whatsoever."
"What do you know?" Victor sneered. "You're just some stupid girl who’s fallen for Mr. Big Shot. You know nothing about him."
"Wow, you really have a grudge against him, don't you?" I said, shaking my head in disbelief.
"You would too if he'd tried to ruin your life the way he's ruined mine," Victor shot back. "He's a destroyer of worlds."
"I find that very hard to believe," I said, raising an eyebrow. "But why don't you fill me in? Maybe I'll see your point."
"Why the hell do I care what you think?" he sniffed as he walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet. I could see several large red cans lined up inside the cabinet, but it didn't dawn on me what they were until Victor pulled one down and opened the lid.
"Is that gasoline?" I asked as I realized that he'd stocked the cabinets full of it.
"Indeed it is, Sherlock," he said sarcastically.
"What the hell are you doing with all that gasoline?" I asked. "That's enough to burn an entire building down!"
"Indeed," he said with a malevolent smile as he grabbed the can and began pouring gasoline along the outer edges of the room. "You've got quite a mind, Miss Pierce. It's really too bad that it's not going to survive the fire."
"You're going to burn us to death because you've got a grudge score to settle with Cam Connor?" I said incredulously. "That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life!"
"Who are you to judge, bitch?" Victor said in a voice that suddenly sounded nasty and vicious. "I've had enough of being pushed around by that asshole. He's taken everything I ever wanted away from me and now it's my turn to take something away from him."
"Me and Liz?" I asked. "You think he's going to care if you harm me and Liz? Oh man, you're more deluded than I thought! You really don't get it, do you?"