The Six: Complete Series (34 page)

No Irene, she said to herself, you’re not David.

There wasn’t much time.

She had to set them free.

David pulled open the door of the car as Milo parked. The garage was sealed tight but the smoke from the upper floors was still butting up against the door and small wisps of grey mist entered the room.

“What are we going to do?” Milo asked.

They would need to go on foot. There was no clear driving route out of the house. The police were in the front and there was no side route. “Grab your bags. We need to go out the hatch.”

Milo looked at him with a furrowed brow. “Won’t they be there?”

David shook his head. “Even if they are. We don’t have many other options right now.”

“What about the bikes? We could sneak out the front with them.”

“No. They’ll see use.”

Milo pointed desperately at the pair of Harley’s in the corner. “But they’re right there.”

Bringing him had been a mistake. David couldn’t stop himself from slapping the boy in the face. Milo’s face whipped back and snapped into place. “We’re walking out, you understand?” David said.

Milo simply nodded. The boy never had much of a backbone. He was all puppy dog loyalty and ignorance which made him the perfect ally.

The garage stretched much of the way under the house and butted up against the prisoner’s room. He’d made a pair of exits out in case Eduardo or one of the others needed fresh air or a quick undetected entrance.

“Out the back,” he said. “The green door.”

Another muffled blast went out above them. It must have been the one in Irene’s room, hidden under her bed. The one that would take out the garage ceiling was not far behind.

Robby had been the only child he’d had with his ex-wife. She’d been his make-up artist on the show for two years before they began dating. It was a short courtship, if you could call it that. Three months after their first date she announced that she was pregnant. David had been thrilled about the kid. He was thirty-seven and he figured this was his last chance to have a family. For the whole pregnancy he’d been uber-dad: taking trips to Target to get clothes, spending Super Bowl Sunday putting together a crib, and hiring a small army to make sure the whole set was baby-proofed.

But when the baby came, their relationship took a turn. His wife became someone he didn’t recognize. Gone was the cheery flexible party chick he’d fallen in love with. Now, she was constantly angry and annoyed and didn’t let him so much as touch the baby. He’d have to sneak into Robby’s room when his wife was asleep in order to give him a cuddle.

That’s when he double-downed on work. He bumped the production to six shows a week which kept him and his staff at the studio for 60+ hours. People quit left and right and by the time Robby’s first birthday came around the staff was down to a fourth of what it used to be.

Divorce was inevitable. He wasn’t surprised when she told him that she’d hired a lawyer. One day he had a home and the next she’d demanded he get out and into his own apartment. Robby was only four and she made a point of fighting in front of him to get the kid on her side.

For the longest time it worked. His custody was cut down in leaps and bounds during the first five years. At first he had better lawyers and got Robby on the weekends and after-school twice a week. When he seemed to favor his dad’s souped up apartment and big-screen TV over his mom’s endless series of rules and demands, his ex-wife put a second mortgage on the house and got the best lawyer she could find. He saw Robby less and less each month until he was given one supervised visit a month.

After all that, he wasn’t surprised that the kid called him up. He heard his ex scream in the background as they spoke. By the time Robby called David hadn’t spoken to his son for more than a few minutes in three years. Robby’s voice had deepened and he hardly recognized his own son. They talked about the boy leaving and coming to live with him. Robby said that he couldn’t stand it anymore and he wanted out.

He was just twelve but he heard all he needed to hear. There was a cold calculation to his boy that was just what he needed. The people he kept after Jameson were sneaky and tried to get out. Robby would keep them quiet and complacent without guilt or shame.

It didn’t take long to convince his ex-wife to arrange a quick visit. Within a few days she drove the boy to David’s apartment with enough clothes to last the weekend. Robby got out of the car without looking back at his mother.

That was the last time he’d ever see her and it still didn’t bother him that he didn’t say goodbye. When David chose the new guy, a serial domestic abuser from San Francisco, and gave him the job of burning his ex-wife’s house down, Robby didn’t bat an eye. He sat quietly in the basement and never said a word about it. Once he became Milo, his basement dwelling character, he lost touch with the world he used to know. He was more soldier than son at this point.

“They’ll see us,” Milo said.

David grabbed his son by the arm. “We don’t have a choice. Run.”

They raced to the green door which would take them out to the side yard. If the police were distracted by the house and not the perimeter they could sneak to the neighbor’s yard and make a break that way. He wasn’t happy with the plan but in another five minutes there wouldn’t be any home to hide in. If they wanted to survive this was the only choice. A cab ride to the airport would get them to Paris where he had a small home where they could start over.

Milo took the door knob and swung it open. A rush of fresh air flooded the room. His son began to run out but David grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back in before he got far out.

“What the—”

“We need to see if they’re out there,” he whispered.

David peeked his head out a few inches and immediately saw the police cars that stretched up and down the street. The sirens of incoming fire engines echoed in the distance and the sounds of shouting cops was barely audible over the roar of the flames spreading on the roof.

There were police stepping onto his yard and walking, albeit disorganized, towards his home. It wasn’t possible to get out without being seen, especially with the two of them.

Two of them...

David looked back at his son who stood stoically by the door and waited for his next order. One of them could go to the Yang’s house and hang out long enough to get away. Two of them would be hard. One would work better. If they caught Milo, then the heat would be off him. David could escape that way.

He looked back at his son and gestured him over.

“It’s clear,” he said. “You go.”

Irene had the key in her pocket at all times. No one else cared about these people like she did. They could all starve and die down there and David wouldn’t blink. He’d just go get six more.

She moved through the hallways towards their room. The bottom floor was scattered with bits of ceiling and dust and charred wood that swirled around her as she trudged on to them. As she got closer she heard the screams and shouts and her stomach fell.

They were terrified. Still alive but terrified.

Shrill and unhinged voices screamed for help as they banged helplessly on the door.

Irene ran the last fifty feet to the door with the keys jangling in her pocket.

“I’m here!” she screamed. “I’m letting you out!”

Her hands shook as she struggled to get the correct key out and into the lock. She’d done this exact motion hundreds of times but this time her hands couldn’t do what her brain so desperately wanted her to get done. “C’mon!” she said through gritted teeth as her sweaty palms jabbed the key into the lock. She grabbed the base with both hands and turned the key until the door clicked open.

Irene swung it open and was greeted with the face of the man from the backyard. “You...” she said. “You’re alive.”

He nodded. “Yup. Barely.”

She gazed in on the others. Simon was on his feet, as was Benjamin, and Marie had Dennis in her arms. “Marie, can Dennis...?”

Marie shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s very weak.”

She had to make a quick decision. David had told her about his self-destruct system but she never thought he’d actually use it. It was designed to demolish the building in less than fifteen minutes through systematic explosions. She didn’t know the logistics of it but the process had already begun and time was running out. Choices needed to be made.

“Simon. Benjamin. Grab him. We need to move.”

The two did as they were told. Marie released him and the pair grabbed either shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. She couldn’t hold back the shock she felt at the sight of his face. His color had faded to a bleached white and his body flopped and fell like an unmanned marionette.

She motioned for the others to follow. The route up to the front of the house was purposely meandering as to prevent any quick escapes. However, there were a few shortcuts for her behalf that would cut their exit time down. She hoped that there would be enough time.

“You know there’re cops everywhere,” the man said as they ran.

“I know,” she said. “They’ll understand.”

The man shook his head. “You think they will? They’ll understand this?”

“Of course,” Irene said.

The man motioned back to the five behind him. They limped down the hallway twenty feet back. “They’re on the news. Those people are criminals. I’m pretty sure
you
did something. They’re not just getting away with this.”

“No,” she said. “David will pay. They’ll arrest him.”

The man opened his mouth to speak again but her expression must have shut him up. David would take the blame. He led people against their will. Those five people did nothing under their own free will. They were helpless pawns in a game of sadistic chess and she was taken along for the ride. “Where next?” he said.

They hit the end of the hall and went up the short flight of stairs that led to the first floor. She touched the door leading to the kitchen and had to immediately pull it back. It was hot, too hot to go through. “We can’t go this way.”

Simon’s face fell. “Why not?”

“The door is hot. The kitchen’s got to be up in smoke. There’s another way.”

“And what if that one doesn’t work,” he said.

That was it. There were two ways out. “We’ll figure something out.”

Simon dropped Dennis’ side and stomped over to the door. “Bullshit. I’m not letting you do this to us.”

She went to pull him back but he was too fast. Simon put his whole hand on the doorknob and pulled it without flinching. She was sure he’d burnt his palm but the door was open and he hadn’t been engulfed in flames.

“It’s fine,” he said. “We can go through this.”

Once they got to the kitchen, they could go out the back door. It was a quick walk from the basement door to the backyard. “Get Dennis,” she said. Simon ran back down to his fallen friend’s side and lifted him up.

Irene walked up the stairs and peered out at what the boy had seen. The kitchen had not been touched yet but she could see that the foyer was crackling with flames that went up the front door and had eaten away the curtains. There wasn’t time to waste.

She put out her hand for Marie to grab. She motioned at the man with them to join her in the front. “Take him and get out of here,” she said.

Marie pointed at the trio next to her. “What about--”

“Marie,” she snapped, “now!”

The woman, still in her tight black dress and heels bounded up the stairs and into the kitchen. Irene scuttled down the stairs to make room for the three of them to get Dennis to the first floor. They took each step with a slow labored pace with Dennis’ feet trailing behind him and scraping against the concrete.

Simon grunted as they got up the last step and nearly collapsed onto the kitchen floor. Irene bounded up behind them. The heat of the room was suffocating and with the smoke that was quickly coating them it was hard to make out where everyone stood.

“Marie!”

“Yes?”

Irene reached out to where the voice came from. She caught the edge of her wrist and grabbed tight. “You have to go this way,” she said as she maneuvered her arm over towards the door. “Go out to the yard and just run. Get away from here.”

“Where?” she said.

“The door, Marie. And just get far away. Tell them all to get far away.”

The police could be crushed if the house collapsed. She couldn’t live with herself if another innocent was hurt because of David. Marie and the new man nodded and turned towards the door. It took them a few pulls but it opened. “I’ll tell them,” the man said. “And they can help.”

“Go!” Irene shouted.

And just like that they were gone. She’d been able to save two. Now the boys.

“Simon, Benjamin, get over here.” The two of them dragged Dennis over to the door.

“What about you?” Benjamin asked.

She waved them away. “I’ll be fine. He needs help. Find the police or whoever. They need to help him.”

Just as they took the first step to escape, the floor under them shook. For a brief second there was peace and then in a deafening boom the floor of the foyer cracked and fell from view and into the basement.

“Shit,” she said as the debris from the foyer exploded into the kitchen. A wave of wood chips and dust pounded her in the face. A crush of burning air knocked her to the ground with the men behind her being shoved against the wall.

The bits of charred furniture and paint filled her lungs. Each breath was harder and harder to take in. This was it. They were so close and this would be the end.

Kyle ran out with Marie. They made it all of fifteen feet out of the door before there was a guttural rumbling and the surreal sound of a thousand pieces of wood all snapping simultaneously.