Loving Again(69)

                “Look who was lurking in the yard, Drake,” he said.

                “Detective Richardson. To what do we owe this honor?” Vos said.

                “Amanda, are you all right?” Sam asked, walking to her and circling her shoulders with an arm.

                “I’m okay,” she answered. “Did he hurt you?”

                “Aww. This is so touching,” Matthews said. He pulled Amanda away from Sam by grabbing her hair and twisting it. Hard. She yelped. Matthews did it again, seeming to enjoy the pain he was causing. Sam took a swipe at him, connecting with his shoulder but without enough force him drop him.

                Regaining his balance, Matthews hit Sam across the face with the gun. “Touch me again, cop, and you’re dead.”

                “Touch her again and you’ll be singing soprano for your new friends in the pen. I imagine some of them will like that,” Sam responded.

                Vos stepped between the two men. “That’s enough. Focus on what’s important, Matthews — getting out of here.” He grabbed Sam’s arm and pushed him onto another plastic chair.

                “Which one are we going to take with us?” Matthews asked, waving the gun at Sam and Amanda. “We need insurance.”

                “No hostages,” Vos said. “It looks too suspicious leaving the house that way.” Before Matthews could object he said, “We take them upstairs, restrain them some way and then we leave one at a time. You take the money; I’ll take the other bags. We meet at the rendezvous spot in an hour and then take off from there.”

                It was apparent that Matthews didn’t agree but he gave in reluctantly, handed the bag with the money in it to Amanda, stuck his gun in her back and pushed her up the stairs. Vos followed with Sam carrying the bags of drugs, Vos’s gun against his side.

                When they got to the kitchen, Vos rummaged through drawers looking for something to use to restrain the two hostages. He found a plastic tie with which he secured one of Amanda’s arms to a bar stool while he kept looking. Finally he found a small roll of duct tape.

                “Here,” he said to Matthews. “This will do for a start. Get Richardson taped to a chair and then look for something more secure for Amanda. I’ll leave now; you get them tied up and leave in fifteen minutes.”

                “What’s the damn hurry?” Matthews said. “Help me with this.” He had pulled out a length of duct tape but was having trouble keeping it from sticking to itself.

                “The hurry is the business I have to take care of before we leave. Take care of this yourself.”

                “Why the fuck didn’t you take care of it before you came here?” Matthews asked.

                “You dragged me away from home saying it was an emergency. So you get what you get. Shut up and take care of them.” And he left.

                When Amanda heard the door slam behind Vos, she shivered. He may have been a bad guy but he had some regard for her. Matthews was another matter. She was sure both she and Sam were in more danger now than they’d been a minute ago. Who knew what his idea of taking care of them would be?

                As if to confirm her fears, Matthews grabbed her around the neck and pulled her against him. “So, cop, I have your girlfriend. You want her in one piece, find me some more tape or some rope.”

                “Leave her out of this, Matthews. She can’t go anyplace tied to that bar stool. Just deal with me and I’ll keep her from doing anything foolish.”