The Advocate - 02 - The Advocate's Betrayal (33 page)

Sabre darted out of the storage unit, running as fast as she could with her sore feet to the end of the row. As Luke chased after her, she skidded around the corner and dodged behind his car. She could hear his footsteps pounding on the blacktop, getting closer and closer to her. She had to run to her car. There was nowhere to hide, just locked storage units one after another. Unfortunately, there was enough light from the distant lamp poles that Sabre could be seen. Running anyway, she reached her car, her keys in her hand ready to start the engine. She looked up. Luke had just turned the corner, gun in hand. He was just a few feet away. She jerked open the car door so hard, the pain surged in her chest. In the moment she took to catch her breath, Luke slammed the door into her sore rib, thrusting her against the car.

“O-w-w-w…,” Sabre yelled out in pain.

Luke shoved the gun in his waist band. He put one hand on each of her shoulders and turned her around. “Come on, Sabre.” He shook her. “Listen.” She struggled to get loose, but he held her tightly. “Please, you need to hear me out.”

“What’s to hear?” Sabre tried to break loose, but his tight hold remained. “You have my two best friends tied up and locked in a storage unit. And you killed John.”

“I love you, Sabre.” He shook her desperately.

“You love me?” The absurdity of what he said nearly knocked her off her feet. Her face wrinkled in disgust; her head shook in disbelief. “You love me?” Her voice escalated. “You just had a gun pointed at my head! That’s not love.”

“Please.” He stroked the side of her face. Sabre jerked her head away. He put one hand on each side of her head, pulling so tightly he pulled her hair. She tried to bury her fear, but even in the dim light Sabre could see the anguish mixed with anger in his eyes. “I really do love you,” Luke told her. “Come away with me. We’ll go far away from here, to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. I own a villa there. It’s the most beautiful place on earth with white houses set in the cliffs.  My villa overlooks the most amazing deep, blue water, and you’ll have servants and luxuries like you’ve never known. No one will know where we are and your friends can go free.” He released her arm with one hand and stroked her face. “You’ll see. We’ll be so happy.”

Sabre felt his tender touch and for a moment almost felt sorry for him. She thought about how good things had been between them, how perfect everything was just days ago. She stared into his eyes. He leaned in to kiss her, holding her gaze. She waited until his lips almost touched on hers. Then she raised her knee and kicked him as hard as she could in the crotch. Her mother would be proud. He doubled up, loosening his grip, and his hands reached for his groin. She shoved him as hard as she could and ran back toward the open storage unit. She went in and grabbed a broom she had seen near Bob. She had to step over him to get it. She accidentally stepped on his foot, and tripped, catching herself before she hit the ground. Bob groaned. She grabbed the broom and by the time she was at the door of the unit, Luke was there, with his gun in his hand once again. Sabre swung the broom at him. He dodged it. She swung again. She had been held captive once before, and she swore she’d never let that happen again. Luke smiled at her, escalating Sabre’s anger. She charged at him with the broom, screaming like a mad woman, tears rolling down her cheeks. Luke grabbed the broom and whipped it out of her hands. It fell to the ground. Sabre lunged at him, her face red with anger, fists in the air ready to pound. She could taste the salty teardrops on the side of her mouth. He grabbed her by the waist and threw her down to the floor, her legs and arms flailing in the air. She fell on top of JP, sprawled across him face up. She tried to push herself up, but Luke pulled his gun from his waist, knelt, and pointed the gun at JP’s head.

“Another move and I’ll kill him.”

Sabre raised her hands slowly, palms open, fingers spread apart. “Ok. I’ll stop. Don’t hurt him.” She rolled off JP and scooted herself up to where she could lean against a box next to him. JP didn’t move. “Is he alive?”

With the gun still held to JP’s head, Luke felt his chest with his other hand. “His heart’s beating.” Sabre just looked at him. “Feel for yourself.”

Sabre reached over slowly and felt JP’s chest. She could feel the beat. She sighed.

“If you want him to stay alive, you’re going to do what I say.”

Sabre nodded her head.

“Go over there, and bring me that duct tape and rope on top of those boxes.” He gestured with his head toward some boxes behind Bob.

Sabre stood up, took three steps, and retrieved the items for Luke.

“Now, tape his mouth.”

Sabre did as she was told. “How could you do this? And how could you kill John?”

“You have no idea what that man did to me.”

She tried to make her voice sound sympathetic. “So tell me.”

Luke took the rope. “Come here. I’m going to lay the gun down and tie your hands. If you try to run, I’ll pick up the gun and shoot both your friends and then come after you.”

“Okay. Okay. I won’t run.” Sabre stood still while he tied her hands in front of her. At least he was kind enough to not put them behind her.

“Now, sit down,” he commanded. She sat down next to JP and leaned against the boxes, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible. She shook with the fear of being in captivity again, but she feared more for the lives of her friends. Luke tied her feet together.

“Please, Luke. I need to know why,” Sabre pleaded.

Luke took a deep breath, blowing it out with an exaggerated sound. “He took everything from me…my father, my mother, my brother.”

“You mean he killed them?”

“No, but he betrayed my father and broke my grandfather’s heart.”

“How did he do that?”

Luke’s eyes looked almost tearful. “John worked for my grandfather from the time he was about fourteen years old. My grandfather took him in and raised him with his own son. When John was subpoenaed to testify against my father and grandfather, he sneaked off in the night like a common thief with his girlfriend and her precious baby boy.” He snarled when he said “precious.”

Sabre was confused. “Wasn’t that a good thing if he left without testifying against them?”

“It would’ve been if he hadn’t squealed like a pig first, giving the prosecutor plenty of information to put my grandfather in prison for life and my father for the first five years of my life.”

“But, Luke, that was such a long time ago.”

“The Pacecos don’t forget a betrayal.”

“Who are the Pacecos?” Silence. Sabre looked him in the eyes. “That’s you? That’s your name? Luke Paceco?”

“No, it’s Tony Paceco.”

“Talk about betrayal. You betrayed me. I didn’t even know your name. Everything about you is a lie,” she spat.

Still kneeling in front of Sabre, Luke reached up and cupped her face in his hand. “No, not everything. I really love you,” he said softly.

Sabre yanked her head away. “You make me want to vomit.”

Luke pulled back. “I’m sorry you and your friends are involved, but the rest is as it should be. John is dead. Betty will pay for it.”

“Why should Betty pay? She was nothing but good to you.” For a second, Sabre thought Luke looked sad. Maybe it was guilt. Then the look was gone.

He shook his head and said, “Right.”

Luke picked up the duct tape from the floor, tore off a piece, and leaned down to Sabre. “It didn’t have to be this way,” he said, as he stretched the tape across her mouth. Sabre struggled, flipping her head from side to side. Luke pushed her head against the box, holding it with one hand, and smoothed the tape down across her mouth with the other. He picked up the flashlight and walked out.

“Someone will be here shortly to take care of you. I have to go find an alibi.”

The door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

39

In the total darkness, Sabre scooted over to JP and tapped him with her tied hands. He made a grunting sound through the tape on his mouth. She rolled over him and positioned herself behind him. JP rolled to his left, exposing his tied hands. Sabre felt around for the scissors. She picked them up, placing three fingers of her right hand in one hole and her thumb in the other, and slid down where she had a better angle at the rope. With the scissors slightly open, she tried to wedge it between the knot on JP’s hands. She poked his wrist with the point. JP jerked. “Mmm…,” she tried to apologize.

“Mmm…, mmm…,” JP responded. Sabre assumed he meant it was okay. It didn’t matter; she had to do this. She could apologize later. While JP held his hands steady, Sabre tried again. She pushed until she had the scissors lodged into the knot, but when she tried to cut it, the rope was too thick. Using her left hand to push against her right, she pushed the scissors off the knot.  Then, Sabre opened and closed the scissors repeatedly, gnawing at the rope. The scissor was dull, the rope thick, and her bound hands were weak, but she continued to apply pressure; finally, she felt the rope start to give way.

Her hands needed to rest. Her fingers cramped, and her thumb was sore from the pressure. Stopping, Sabre pulled her fingers out and stretched out her hand, keeping the tip of her thumb in the hole so she wouldn’t drop the scissors. When she resumed, she could only move the scissors about a quarter of an inch at a time. Open, close. Open, close. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, she felt the rope break through. She dropped the scissors, and helped JP get the rope off his wrists. As soon as she freed his hands, he pulled the tape off his own mouth and then reached out in the dark to find Sabre’s face. Holding her head with one hand, he pulled off the tape with the other.

“Ach…,” Sabre squeaked.

“Sorry, there’s no easy way to do that.”

“We have to get out of here. Luke said he was sending someone ‘to take care’ of us,” Sabre said.

“I know. I heard him. Where are the scissors?”

Sabre patted the floor until she found them and picked them up. “Here,” she said, handing them to JP.

“Ok. I’m going to cut your wrists free.” He held her hands steady, careful not to hurt her when he slid the scissors under the rope and cut her loose.

“Thanks, JP.”

JP cut through the rope on his feet, and then groped around in the dark to find Sabre’s so he could cut hers. Then he helped her to her feet. “We need to get Bob loose,” JP said. He put his arm around Sabre and they walked slowly across the floor, JP running his hand along the boxes to guide him.

Sabre dropped to her knees, feeling in the dark until she reached Bob’s face. He wiggled when Sabre touched him. “Hmm…,” he said. Sabre yanked the tape off.

“Damn,” Bob bellowed. “I won’t have to shave there for a week.”

“You goofball.” She reached her arms around him and gave him a quick hug. JP cut his wrists and feet loose.

“Now, we just need to get out of here,” Bob said. But JP was already looking for a way. He stepped toward the door counting the steps until he smashed into it. The metal door clattered in the silent dark room. “What the hell?” Bob asked, reaching for Sabre.

“I found the door,” JP said.

“No kidding. You moron. Did you think it had moved?” Bob said. “You scared the crap out of us.”

“It’s three running steps. We can ram it and get an opening.”

“What?”

“These doors are set between two metal pieces. The door rolls down a slot between them and it isn’t very deep. I think if we ram the door it will pull away from the edge and we can get out,” JP explained, as he walked back to Bob and Sabre, taking small steps with his arms out in front of him.

“Ok,” Bob said. “I’m game. How do we do this? Do we do it together?”

“I’ll help,” Sabre said.

“No,” JP said quickly, “you just stand back. Bob and I’ll do it, but we need to go one at a time until we get a little light coming in. Otherwise we’ll be crashing into each other. I’ll go first.” Before Bob could object, JP ran full force toward the door, turning his body slightly to the left just before he reached the door.

Crash! His body against the metal rang out in the quiet night. The door pulled away from the edge, creating an opening about six inches in length and illuminating their cage enough to see where they were stepping.

“Wow, that was great.” Bob tapped JP on the shoulder. “You’re a real cowboy, you know it?”

“Hmpf….” JP flinched to avoid the tap and the compliment. He hadn’t yet recovered from the beating in Chicago and now he was tender from the whack against the door. He shrugged it off, picked up the broom Sabre had used to attack Luke, and started hitting at the opening on the door. He tried working his way down the door, but it wasn’t making the hole any bigger.

“My turn,” Bob said, as he prepared to run at the door.

JP stepped back and let him go at it. Another crash. This time it separated the door farther from the edge, exposing about two feet. JP stuck the broom in the edge of the opening and pushed it to the right, trying to pry it open. The opening grew a little wider and longer. Continuing to pry, he created an opening about three feet long that was a couple of feet from the floor.

“Ok, Sabre, you can fit through here.” JP took a hold of her arm. “I think it’s best if you back out. Just be careful you don’t cut yourself on the metal. Some of it may be sharp.”

Sabre lifted her leg back behind her, stepped through the hole onto the ground, and then started to pull herself through, guarding her face with her hand.

“Watch your arm,” Bob yelled.

“Ow! Dang.” Sabre tucked her arm in but she had already scraped it on the metal protruding from the wall. Her body was outside. She pulled her other leg out. “I’ll go get the car,” she yelled, as she ran off.

Bob rummaged through a pile of wood alongside the wall opposite the opening and found a three-foot-long two–by-four. “Here, use this.” He handed it to JP who dropped the broom and used the board as leverage to pry the metal apart. It opened enough for any grown man to pass through. Bob stepped out, followed by JP, just as a black Chrysler Sebring turned the corner at the west end of the lot. It was heading toward them. Bob glanced to his left. “Sabre’s down there.” He pointed toward her. “Run!”