Just Sacked by Elise Sax

Author:Elise Sax [sax, elise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Elise Sax

CHAPTER 9

Hank and I jump three feet in the air. I put my hands out in my best karate chop pose, ready to protect myself from the kidnappers, but it’s not them. Instead, it’s a small, elderly man holding a set of keys in his hand. He points to the truck and asks us a question. Obviously, it’s his truck.

“See?” I say to Hank. “Karma is a bitch.”

Hank ignores me. He points to the truck and the two of us. “North?” he asks the old man. “Can you take us north?”

The man nods, pointing to the sky. “Americanos?”

“Americanos,” I say, gesturing toward Hank and me. The man eyes Hank suspiciously. Who wouldn’t be suspicious of him? He looks like he’s escaped from the trauma ward. Couple his injuries with his gang-style tattoos, and Hank looks like he’s a big pack of trouble.

But the old man is looking at me, too. The dress Hank gave me is a flowery mini dress that cuts low on top. If Hank looks like bad trouble, I suppose I look like good trouble. The old man hedges his bets, and instructs us to climb into the back of his pickup.

We lie down low so we’re not seen, and the truck roars to life and bounces down the street and hopefully to freedom.

The truck bed is filthy with dirt, straw, and bits of machine parts. But we don’t dare sit up until we ride for an hour out of town. Hank has an eye on the sun. It’s rising on our left, which confirms that we’re driving north.

Every mile is a mile closer to home. Could I make it to sleep in my bed tonight? Do I even have a bed, anymore? Technically, it’s Hank’s bed, and I’m homeless. Technically, according to Hank, he’s homeless, too, with his empire stolen by his business partner.

“Hey,” I say. We’re lying on our sides, staring at each other. I’ve studied his eyes under the different kinds of light, as the sun comes up. He has beautiful eyes. I could stare at them forever. “So, were you joking about your business partner stealing all of your money?”

He grins. “If I had any money, do you think we would be riding in the back of a truck through the desert with all of my bones broken?”

“All of your bones aren’t broken.”

“Most of them.”

“A good percentage of them,” I say, giving in. I haven’t been exactly sympathetic about his injuries. He looks like he just lost the heavyweight championship fight against Godzilla.

“As soon as I get back to Esperanza, I’m going to break every bone in Harrison’s body, I promise you that.”

I believe him. He’s pissed.

“So what was the million dollar phone call about, then?” I ask.

“I had the kidnapper call my safety net.”

“Safety net?”

“Ronin.”

“Ronin, like the Samurais?”

“Ronin, like a guy I can count on to be there when I’m kidnapped or when I have other things that need handling.”

“Handling,” I repeat, rolling the word around in my mouth. “That sounds scary.”

“Ronin is scary.

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