It was an art show. How hard could it be? It wasn’t like we had to paint the damn things.
“Hey!” the chief idiot shouted. “You do remember who has the gun here, right?”
“Man, you screwed the pooch this time, dude.” I shot the gunman my dirtiest glare. “We tried to warn you, but you just had to go and prove how much of an idiot you were, didn’t you?”
“Who the fuck are you?”
I didn’t have the time to explain it.
“Give me my phone.” I held out my hand until the guy handed it over. I knew he expected me to call the police negotiator, blah, blah, blah.
He was in for a big disappointment.
I dialed the one person I knew who could save us all.
Sal was good like that.
“Lany.”
“Hey.” Crap, he was mad. I could hear it in his voice. “So, these guys in here are really stupid. They shot Eddie.”
I glanced up when Lyn came running back with some towels. The man slid to a stop next to us and dropped the towels into a pile on the floor next to Eddie. I immediately grabbed a couple and applied pressure to the bullet wound.
“Have you been injured, Lany?” There was a thread of violence in that question.
“No, I’m okay.”
Sal worried.
I frowned when my smile sent a wave of pain through my cheek. “The guy did pistol-whip me, but I don’t think anything is broken.”
“Which one hit you?”
“Um…” I glanced over. All of the gunmen were wearing the same gray zip-up overalls and black knit ski masks. I’m sure they felt that would keep their identities secret.
Like I said, idiots.
“I think he’s the brother of the chief idiot. He’s shorter than the main guy, but not the female, who is the mother of the chief idiot, so this might be a family endeavor.”
“I see.”
That was my Sal, a man of few words.
“He wanted me to call and negotiate, but I didn’t think that was a good idea. Then he shot Eddie, so all bets are off.” I glared up at the gunman who was staring at me with wide eyes. “You can come in and shoot them now.”
“We’ll be right in,caro.”
“Okay.”
I hung up my cell and slid it into my pocket.
“It’s okay, Eddie. Sal and the others will be right here.”
“Good,” Eddie gritted out through his clenched teeth.
“Lyn, would you make sure everyone is sitting on the floor by the wall, hands clasped on top of their heads? I don’t want anyone hurt in the crossfire.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Lyn said as he got to his feet and hurried over to where the other hostages were sitting. Within moments he had them moving back against the far wall.
