“Explain this,” Snake snarled, and I saw his arm fling out as he thrust the phone at Brody.
Brody took the phone and held it in front of him. Several seconds later, I heard the audio begin to play. I recognized the music as the intro for a local news station here in Raleigh.
…The robbery of Shaw Trust earlier today has rocked the city of Raleigh. Despite the refusal of the local law enforcement to comment, Eye on Five managed to uncover some information on what turns out to be a very involved theft…
“What the hell is this?” Brody asked, cutting off the babbling of the news anchor.
“Watch it,” Snake threatened, a gun appearing in his hand, pointed directly at Brody.
My breath caught and renewed fear took over my body. Once again, I found myself looking around the room for something I could use as a weapon. The audio filled the room once more and I listened as horror dawned.
…The only daughter of the prestigious Shaw family of Raleigh is said to have been in the bank at the time of the robbery and is now missing. We have learned from an unnamed source that surveillance footage shows Taylor Shaw being carried out of the bank, presumably against her will. Her father, Edward Preston Shaw, has put up a two million-dollar award for the safe return of his daughter…
Oh, this was bad.
…We have also learned that the man carrying her out of the building is police officer Brody West. Eye on Five learned his identity when his truck was left abandoned outside the bank and was eventually impounded by the very department he is said to work for.
Is this a case of good cop gone bad, or is there more to this case than meets the eye? We will keep you updated on this breaking case as details come in…
“I told you my name was Slater Bass. I don’t know no Brody West,” Brody said, handing the phone casually back to Snake.
How the hell could be be so calm?
They found him out! They found us out! I was literally trying not to scream like a hyena being chased by a lion (Do lions and hyenas even live in the same place?).
“You’re telling me the news is wrong?” Snake asked.
“Well, they ain’t right.”
Snake looked down at the screen on his phone and, with a few swipes and taps of his fingers, brought up an image. He turned the screen around so it faced Brody. From my place on the cot, I could see it clearly.
It was a picture of Brody… in his police uniform.
My stomach heaved and the impulse to throw up all over everything was so strong I actually started to gag. Another tap on the screen brought up a picture of me from several years ago, with my father, standing in front of the bank.
I sat up, leaning against the wall. My arm protested when I moved, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as before. The numbing injections were still dulling the pain and the pain medicine was doing its job throughout my bloodstream.
Brody could have kept quiet back there at the bank. He could have let me lie there and bleed (like Brandy). If he had, then none of this would be happening right now. His cover would still be intact and I wouldn’t be here.
I might be dead.
But maybe not. Maybe I would be at the hospital.
Either way, I couldn’t just sit here and let them kill Brody for slipping under cover to help protect me. Yeah, I knew this was about more than me. It was about bringing these guys down. It was about returning the money that was stolen from my father’s bank. I wasn’t going to be a hindrance to Brody. I wasn’t going to be some dead weight appendage that he had to drag around on his fight out the door. Injured or not, I was going to help him.
“You gonna deny it now?” Snake said, the other guys in the room taking a step closer to him.
I pushed up to my feet, swaying a little, like I just climbed off a boat and had a bad case of sea legs. I steadied myself and took a few steps toward Brody.
He tensed, the muscles in his back bunching. At his side and slightly behind him, he held up his palm, telling me to stop.
“It doesn’t matter what I say,” Brody replied. “Y’all have already decided what you believe.”
“Before I kill you, I’m going to carve that tattoo out of your back and hang it in a frame for everyone to see what happens to those who disgrace this crew,” Snake said, his voice oddly flat as he withdrew a knife out of the back of his pants.
A small sound of protest ripped from the back of my throat, and I couldn’t stop myself from going to Brody’s side. He held out his arm, tucking me behind him and using it as some sort of shield.
The tension in the room was so thick it was like smoke. It made it hard to breath and my eyes began to burn. Snake laughed, the sound doing nothing to dispel the heavy fog over us. His dark, callous eyes turned to me.