The Stakes by Ben Sanders

Author:Ben Sanders
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

EIGHTEEN

NEW YORK, NY

Miles Keller

On the freeway, the tracksuit man seemed to forget he was a hostage, settled into his driving with a nice low posture, holding the wheel with one hand like they were off for a weekend together. Miles was still propped against his door half-facing him, and the Glock hadn’t moved either. Every now and then he checked his mirror to see Lucy sitting two cars back. He thought he’d have to do a round of tough-guy talk back and forth, the driver asking who the girl in the SUV was, whether he was prepared to watch her back for the rest of his life. But there was none of that: they just rode in silence until about a mile before the BQE, when the driver looked across and said, “Would you really have shot me?” Trying to sound like it didn’t bother him one way or the other.

Miles said, “I’m still holding you at gunpoint. Why would I tell you anything except yes?”

The guy didn’t answer.

Miles said, “You trying to figure out if you died and gone someplace else? That’d be strange, wouldn’t it? Heaven and hell no different to where you were a moment ago.”

The guy took a minute and said, “Thought if you’re solving murders you wouldn’t want to make another one along the way.” Looking across with a smile starting in his eyes, like he’d figured all this out and Miles hadn’t.

Miles said, “I wouldn’t need to solve yours though, would I? Know it was me who shot you.”

The guy looked at the road and then looked back at him again, still with that look in his eye, but the smile not quite taking hold. He said, “How’d you get into all of this?”

Miles grinned. “You’ve got awful chatty, haven’t you?”

The guy didn’t answer.

Miles said, “You say that like I’m stuck in something that’s out of my control. But we’re doing okay, aren’t we?”

The guy said, “Yeah. We’ll see.”

The road was more congested now, southbound traffic out of LaGuardia slowing the flow. Miles said, “People end up on the wrong side of the law for all sorts of reasons—debts, extortion, I don’t know—maybe they take a risk somewhere and get in deeper than they wanted.” He shrugged. “I didn’t do any of that. I’m where I am because I made conscious decisions, and I knew what I was getting into. But you’re here because you went for a drive this morning and didn’t see me coming. I don’t know if that’s bad luck or if it’s like a common feature of your life. So you tell me: how did you get into all of this?”

The guy didn’t answer, and Miles felt the confiscated phone buzz again in his pocket. He said, “This guy doesn’t give it a rest, does he?”

He entered the passcode to view the text message: “Call in. I’m concerned.”

Miles thought about it. He could put the driver on speaker, but it would be hard to keep him on-message. He couldn’t really use force while they were doing seventy miles an hour.

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