The older man decided to take a stroll through their apartment, and Noah followed him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get out.”
“Not yet.”
Noah didn’t like violence. He didn’t want to get into a fist fight, but these two guys weren’t giving him much of a choice. He followed the man into the kitchen. The guy spotted his phone on the kitchen counter and grabbed it.
“Hey. Give that to me.”
The bastard smiled wickedly. “I don’t think so. I think there’s something on here you don’t want me to see. Maybe you had the book digitized?”
“Unless it’s an ebook, I don’t have it on there. I’ve never had a book digitized, and may I remind you, I don’t know what the fucking book is,” Noah yelled.
“Open this!” the man demanded.
They stared each other down for several moments. Sick of this idiot making demands, Noah said, “I’ve had enough of your shit. Get out, or I’ll escort you out.”
At that moment Dante appeared, cinching up his belt. The younger guy followed close on his heels.
“I’m telling you to get out,” Noah yelled.
“Interesting. He didn’t get riled until I picked up his phone.” The blond man, speaking evenly, as if noting the results of an experiment, tipped the phone back and forth in his hand.
“I think anybody would feel that way about a phone they kept their contacts in,” Dante said. “I’ll bet you wouldn’t want us calling any of your friends.”
The guy tucked Noah’s phone in his inner jacket pocket. “I’ll just keep this. Unless you want to use it to call that girlfriend of yours. She knows where the book is.”
Dante looked at him imploringly. “Is this something Kizzy could tell them over the phone?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Yes,” the older one said. “Call your girlfriend, and ask her where the book is. If she can tell us, then maybe we can avoid harming you two.”
Dante laughed. “How are you going to harm us? I haven’t seen a weapon.”
The guy pulled something out of his boot. “Oh? You mean this?”
He had some kind of pistol with a long, thin black barrel, and now it was pointed at Noah.
“Don’t tell him anything, Bro,” Noah said. “I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, and Kizzy probably doesn’t either. Leave her out of this.”
The younger guy looked surprised. “You were there this morning! She had the book and tossed it to you. How are you claiming neither of you know where nor even what the book is? Liars!”
Dante looked from the pistol to Noah and back. “I don’t know, Bro. I think you’d better tell them something. Or get Kizzy on the phone. Maybe she knows enough to get them off our backs.”
Noah noticed the guy who wasn’t holding the pistol moving toward Dante. Unfortunately, a wooden block with a butcher knife was closer to the guy than to his brother.
“Listen to your brother. He’s making sense,” the elder one said.
“Fine. I’ll call my girlfriend. But let’s all leave the kitchen.”
“Okay.” The older guy nodded to the younger.
The young guy lunged for the knife and grabbed it before Dante could. Then he moved behind Dante and, with the blade pointing at his back, said, “March!”
* * *
“Kizzy? It’s Noah.”
She was glad to hear his voice, but something was wrong. It was higher pitched and seemed to tremble a bit. “Noah? Are you okay?”
