Survivor: 1 (23 page)

When Al rounded the comer where the darkroom
flanked the rear of the print shop, he saw that Tim Murray
and Animal were there. They were leaning casually
against the printing equipment. Rick was seated on a skid
of computer paper that had been carted back there for
storage. He smiled at Al. "Nice that you could join us." His
teeth were very white, and Al felt his limbs go numb.
There was something about the look on Rick's face,
which was usually happy-go-lucky, bright and cheerful,
that was sharply different. Now Rick's Slavic features
were dark, with a hint of menace swimming beneath his
blue eyes.

"What's up?" Al asked, trying to sound casual.

"We need to talk," Rick said.

Al glanced at Tim quickly. He couldn't tell if Tim was
nervous, but he guessed the man was; he could tell that
last job had been too hardcore for him, and during the
drive to Los Angeles Al had soothed whatever worries
Tim might have by telling him how much money they
were all going to make. That seemed to work at lifting the
man's mood. Now Tim wouldn't meet his gaze. Only Animal looked indifferent. He looked bored.

"Okay, let's talk," Al said.

"What did Sam tell you to do when he gave you this
last job, Al?" Rick asked.

Al felt the blood drain from his face. He looked from
Tim to Animal, who refused to meet his gaze. "He said
that ... that ..

"When Sam called and said that Tim had our star, I related this news to the ddnt," Rick said, smiling calmly.
"He was very pleased. Very pleased. Then, when Sam called a few days later and gave us the news about the
other one and the baby and what had happened,
well ... I wasn't happy, but I saw the potential. I ran it by
our client. Personalty, he wasn't interested in a baby. But I
knew some in the group would be. I knew they would
pay a lot of money for it. I made the arrangements for it
not knowing ... what?"

Al was mortified. He swallowed a dry lump. "I don't understand. Everything-"

"No" Rick leaned forward and smiled. He looked like
a Great White Shark; his teeth were white and long, his
eyes dull and emotionless, like a predator's. "You replaced the star of our film with a baby. You let her con
you into giving you money and you let the bitch go."

"I gave those two fuckheads orders to bring that bitch
back when she led them to the homeless chick and the
baby!" Al protested, his voice rising. He was getting
pissed now.

"Bullshit," Tim muttered in a low voice.

"You fucking me?" Al turned on Tim, feeling himself
grow hot with anger and agitated from the cocaine he
had snorted a few minutes ago. "Yau back-stabbing fuck,
you fucking with me?"

"Who instructed Mr. Murray to release the star of our
film?" Rick Shectman grinned casually at Al.

"his goddamn sonofabitch-" Al pointed at Tim.

"You made the call to Sam," Tim said, trying to look
casual. He looked nervous, and Al knew immediately
that the fat fuck had squealed the minute Sam began
sniffing for holes in the story he'd told him. "You told
him we'd gotten hold of that homeless chick and the
kid-"

"And I told Sam that there was the potential for more
money and-" Al protested.

'And Sam told me he never received a phone call from
you," Rick replied.'Bad move, Mr. Pressman'

Al turned to Rick. He was instantly sober. "Now wait.
TbUs--"

Tim interrupted. 'You said that it was a go. I thought
you'd talked to Sam and the plans were changed. You
told me to take Lisa and drive her to her bank and make
her find the chick and the kid. And I did'

"And I also told you to bring that cunt back!" Al yelled.

1 bat's not what you told me," Tim said quickly.

"Bullshit!" Al felt hot with anger. Tim Murray was lying
to save his own fat ass. He'd been called on the carpet
by Sam and Rick, and now he was backpedaling to save
himself. He knew he had fucked up by letting Lisa escape, and he was doing everything he could to shift the
blame to Al.

Rick hopped off the skid casually. He looked at Ani-
mal.'1 don't know" He shrugged. He looked at Tim and
Al.'I don't know what to make of this shit, personally. All
I know is, my client is fucking pissed. You know how
much business I get from this guy?"

Al opened his mouth to respond, then dosed it. He
had no idea how much money Rick made from this faceless client, whoever the fuck he was. Probably just another closet pervert like the rest of them, but what did he
care? Closet perverts usually had money falling out of
their assholes.'ihat's all that mattered to Al.

'You know what matters the most in all this?" Rick was
addressing Tim and Al. He took a step forward. Tim automatically retreated back, his face showing the slightest
registration of fear. Al forced himself to stand his ground.
Let that fat-ass fuck Tim Murray cower with his tail between his legs. He was the one that fucked things up.

'You deaf?' Rick asked, taking another step toward them, leaning forward as if he were straining to listen to
them. "What the fuck did I just say?"

"You asked if we know what matters most," Al said.

"Bravo!" Rick Shectman clapped his hands, applauding. Al Pressman does have acute listening skills! Let's put
them to the test. What did Sam tell you three weeks ago
when he gave you the job?"

"Shit," Al said. He felt his limbs grow tingly. He knew
where this was leading.

"Wrong answer," Rick said, and then he hit Al so hard
and so fast that Al didn't even see it coming. He caught a
brief flash of the fury in Rick's face, felt the sudden
whoosh and saw the flash, and then he felt a freight train
crash into his face and he knew no more.

It was the pounding headache that brought Al Pressman
back to consciousness.

The cool air prickled gooseflesh on Al's bare skin. He
groaned. His head felt like a sledgehammer had split it
open. He was almost afraid to open his eyes.

He was lying on something cool. Concrete? Steel? It
was hard to tell.

The cool air against his skin told him he had been
stripped of his clothes.

He opened his eyes. A wave of pain broke out across
his forehead and eyeballs.

"I think our star is waking up." Rick's voice.

Fuck. Al struggled to open his eyes. Fuck no, luck no,
luckno-

He got his eyes open and tried to sit up, but the rope
binding his arms to his sides prevented him from doing so.

At first he couldn't see much; his vision was blurred
and doubled. He blinked and the first thing that swam
into his vision was Rick Shectman, leaning forward, grin ning at him. "Well, well! You're awake! Good, good! Now
maybe we can proceed further, yes?"

A wave of nausea washed over Al and he felt the urge
to vomit. He could hardly breathe; his nose was clogged
with mucus and dried blood; it felt broken, too.

Rick turned to his right. Tim?"

Tim stepped forward and headed to Al's feet. He
wouldn't look at Al. Tim reached down and picked up
Al's feet by the ankles. Al saw that his legs were bound,
too.

"What. . " Al croaked.

"Save your voice and your energy," Rick purred. He
leaned over Al's head as he gripped him under the
armpits. Rick and Tim hoisted Al up and carried him to
the other side of the print shop and laid him down on a
sheet of black plastic.

"What..." Al started again, realization setting in.
"No ... what ... what's going.. "

Then Al saw Animal.

While Al had lain unconscious, Jeff had slipped into
the role of Animal. He had shed his casual attire and now
stood in the corner, completely naked except for his
black bondage mask.

And the tremendous strap-on dildo that he had fastened around his waist at the groin.

With the seven-inch steel blade affixed to the plastic
phallus.

Al sucked in air and began screaming, wiggling like a
fish out of water as he tried to escape. His throat was
dry, so his screams came out sounding like raspy
squawks. Rick and Tim held him down while Animal
stepped forward. Al's eyes bugged out of their sockets.
"No, please don't, please don't do this, nopleasedon't-
dothis-"

"I just have two questions for you, Mr. Pressman," Rick
Shectman said. He stood up and planted one booted
foot on Al's chest. He pressed his weight down, pinning
Al to the floor.

Al didn't hear him. All he could see was Animal standing behind Tim, who held his feet down. Animal's eyes
were indifferent, without compassion. It was almost as if
he didn't even know the man behind the mask anymore,
as if five years of working together side by side had all
been obliterated.

"'IWo things," Rick said, peering down at Al. "The
woman. He pressed more of his weight down on Al's
chest. "She left vital information: Social Security card, driver's license, credit card, checkbook, wallet, photos of
her husband and family. Her purse, perhaps. Where is it?"

"My bag," Al said quickly, huffing for breath. "Front seat
of my car."

Rick turned to Tim. "Get it."

Tim left his position and went to get Al's bag.

Al ceased struggling for a moment and tried to make
eye contact with Rick. "It's there," he said. "I can get her
easily. Animal and me, we'll get her."

"I'm sure you will." Rick smiled.

Al's thoughts were racing. He swore to -God that he
would never fuck up again. Christ, when this was all over
he was never going to work for Rick Shectman and Sam
Bash again, period. All he had to do was stay calm and
when Tim came back with the purse he would show Rick.
The Ruskie would see that nabbing Lisa would be easy.
Shit, he'd do it tonight if Rick wanted him to. He'd go
down to Orange County and snag the bitch himself. He
didn't care if anybody saw him or not. He didn't give a
fuck if he had to face jail time-doing time was preferable than facing Animal.

"When Tim comes back, I'll go down and get her," Al
said, putting a plan to action. He licked his lips. "Let Animal come with me, we'll get her. She's probably still traumatized by what happened anyway. We'll go down there,
case the place out, break in this evening when her and
her hubby are asleep. We'll kill the husband first thing,
get him out of the way and then-"

Tim returned with the bag. "Here it is," he said, handing
it over to Rick, who opened it and began rifling through
the contents.

"Ah," Rick said, smiling as he lifted a yellow bulky wallet out of the bag. He flipped through it. His features
beamed. "Ah! Wonderful! Driver's license, credit cards,
pictures, the whole works! Wow!" He peered at Lisa's
photo on her driver's license. "Pretty lady."

Tim retreated out of Al's line of vision for a moment as
Rick looked at the contents of Lisa's wallet. Al didn't
know what he was doing, but he could hear the fat man
fiddling around with something. Animal stood in front of
him, looking psyched up for bloodshed.

"Wonderful!" Rick set the wallet down on a workbench. The room grew brighter and Al felt the temperature grow slightly warmer. He immediately recognized
the source of both the light and the rise in heat; Tim had
turned on the lighting equipment he used during shoots.

Al craned his head around, trying to see where Tim
was. His panic was rising. "Hey, come on! I told you
where the wallet was-"

"One more thing," Rick said, ignoring him as he
stepped into Al's line of vision again. "What were the instructions Sam gave you?"

Al felt his stomach muscles clench; his balls wanted to
crawl up into his groin. He licked his lips and tried to
keep eye contact with Rick. He wanted to show the man that he was beat. He had learned his lesson. "He said to
film Animal doing whatever bitch Tim brought, then get
rid of the body and deliver the tape."

"Exactly!" Rick said, leaning forward. "And what happened?"

"1 fucked up," Al said, admitting his mistake. Maybe if
he admitted his mistake and took responsibility for it,
Rick would give him another chance. "1 know I fucked
up. I shouldn't have done it. What I did was stupid, but I
was thinking of how much we would all benefit from it. I
wasn't thinking. I should have. I'm sorry I fucked up, and
I'll not only make sure it doesn't happen again, I'll do
whatever it takes to fix it."

Rick nodded, seemingly satisfied with Al's confession.
"Good for you. I admire a man who admits his weakness."

"It won't happen again, I swear!" Al reiterated.

"I'm sorry, Al," Rick said, kneeling on the floor in front
of him, "but I can't take the chance anymore. You're lazy.
You're a weak link. I can't afford laziness."
"

"/ told you it won't happen again!" Al's voice rose in
panic.

Rick shook his head. "How many times have you told
me that, Al?"

"77iis is the only time!" Al said, feeling his panic rise.
His eyes darted from Tim to Rick, then rested on Animal,
who had taken a step forward. The steel blade affixed to
the dildo jutted out like a cruel penis. "1 swear to God, it's
the only time!"

"You are right about that," Rick said, standing up. 'Ibis
is the only time. And it won't happen again."

*1 know it won't happen again," Al said, trying to sweettalk Rick again to convince him that he should be released. "I swear to God it won't happen again, so-"

"Unfortunately, one slip is all it takes for the whole scene to collapse," Rick said, now towering over Al. "Do
you know what could have happened if Lisa had been
able to lead the police to you? That would have led directly to me! Do you understand?"

"No!" Al protested, his heart hammering in his chest. "I
swear to God, I won't say anything!" "

"Bullshit! You'd fuck your own mother over. I know you
too well, Pressman.*

.No, no, I swear to God, I won't say anything!" Al was
frantic now. He began wriggling again and Rick stepped
on his chest, driving Al down to the floor with his weight.
"Please," Al begged. "Please, I swear to God I'll make it up
to you! I won't-"