Big boy nodded silently and carefully as Rocky patted him down, removing a pistol from his waistband.
“Good,” I said. “Now, using your fingers, show me how many of your guys are on the other side of that door.”
He held up three fingers and I jammed the gun further in his mouth, before quickly changing his answer to five.
“Five? Not including you?”
He nodded.
“Everyone have guns?” I added.
“Hey, Dog, you’d better just be taking an extra-long shit and not hanging out in the back room,” a voice called out from the other side of the door.
I placed my finger to my lips, instructing him to remain silent. Rocky gave us the signal to stand by, taking a step away from the door but keeping both his gun and flashlight on it.
“I mean, if you’re that horny,” the voice continued. “You could come push Chucky’s shit in. The punk don’t even got any teeth right now. He’s perfect for you.”
I turned my captive around with my gun to his back, using him as both a hostage and shield.
“Yo, Gus. Seriously holmes. You better have remembered to lock the hall door behind you this time. And I mean it. You’d better not be fucking one of the....”
The second the doorknob rattled, Rocky kicked it open, causing whoever was on the other side to go flying backwards on his ass.
Rocky and Wrath rushed the room, and I followed directly behind, with Gus as my bargaining chip.
“Anyone makes a move, and this guy eats a fucking bullet,” I yelled as Rocky took control of door guy and Wrath covered the two guys on the couch.
“We know there are five of you here. Where’s the last man?” I asked to silence around the room.
“Jekyll, get us the fuck out of here, man,” Leo begged.
“Sit tight and keep cool. We’ll be outta here in no time,” I said calmly.
We zip-tied each guy and laid them face down on the carpet.
“Even if you make it out of here alive, you’re still a dead man,” door guy said from the floor, blood pouring from his face, his nose, clearly broken. “All of you.”
I pressed my gun against my hostage’s knee. “Your name’s Gus, right?”
He nodded.
“Gus, I won’t ask again. Where’s the fifth guy?”
“He’s on a beer run,” he grunted out.
“You need to figure out what’s more important to you,” I said, pulling the hammer back. “Protecting your boy or walking again.”
“Man, I told you. We sent him out for forties and shit and he ain’t back yet.”
“What the fuck you guys want, anyway?” Couch guy number one asked. “You think we got money stashed here or some bullshit?”
“We’re here for him,” I pointed to Leo.
“You’re doing all this shit for these little shit stains?” He laughed.
“Notthem. Just Leo.”
“They’re gonna fucking kill me,” Chucky whimpered through his mush mouth.
