“Something salty?” he echoes dumbly.

“Water retention!” I bark. “Gradients… Glucose and sodium. Didn’t you go to fucking school?”

“We’re not exactly near a corner shop, Pierce.”

“We came here in a fucking limousine!” I yell. “You dumb fuck, there’s a bar in the limo!”

Fallon grins, and looks at Micky who promptly runs off. He returns with a pack of peanuts, some candy, an energy drink, and a bottle of water.

“Drink the energy drink,” Fallon says.

“Fuck that,” I tell him. “I don’t need caffeine or yohimbine or whatever the fuck is in there messing with my timing.”

“He’s right, boss,” Micky says. “Might not actually be the best idea.”

“But it’s got, what are they called, electrolytes, right?”

“No fucking caffeine!” I shout, glaring at him. He puts up his hands, as if to say, ‘alright’.

I tear open the pack of peanuts and shove them all into my mouth. I suck the salt off them before spitting the peanuts out, one by one, until the last few that I chew up and eat.

“What a waste,” Fallon grumbles.

Next it’s the candy. They’re the cola-bottle type with sugar stuck on the outside. Perfect. I do the same, suck the sugar off, and then take a big gulp of water and swish it around my mouth. It’ll absorb into my blood stream quicker if it’s dissolved in water.

I drain the rest of the bottle, and hope that it’s enough. The salt and sugar should help me keep water in my tissue, rather than my bladder. The water will regulate my body temperature, lubricate my joints, keep me from cramping.

“So where are we?” I ask. “Judging by the drive, and the roads, I’d say we went west.”

“You’ll find out after you win this fight.”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in me, Fallon, and I’m injured. You might just lose twice as much.”

“Well, then I’ll kill you and give your girlfriend to Mogilovich, and we’ll be even.”

“But you still won’t have your money.”

“This isn’t about the money,” Fallon says, and he puts the tips of his fingers together. “I’m like you. I want to win, and I’ll do it one way or another. Whether that means beating Mogilovich, or beating you, I don’t give a shit.”

“You’re pathetic.”

He laughs, winks at me. “So are you, mate. Now let’s go.”

Chapter Thirty Four

I can cut through the zip ties.

I suck in a deep breath of air, and begin to scratch the zip tie binding my wrists against the corner of a table. They are the thin sort of zip ties, and it shouldn’t take too long to file down the plastic.

It’s not easy work. The space between my palms is tiny, and I keep scratching them on the table. I’ve already torn the skin, and I’m dripping blood.

But I need to do this. Good thing I got a tetanus shot before coming out here.

At first I think the plastic-on-metal sound is too noisy, will alert somebody, and so I keep looking at the door, expecting a guard to burst into the small office at any second.

But he never does, and so I keep filing away. Grinding it down and down and down, until there’s just the tiniest thread of plastic holding my wrists together.

I can pull my wrists apart at any time now, but I keep them together. If I’m going to make a move, it’s best that I have the element of surprise. It’s best that I’m in a position where I can make a break for it, try to escape.

Or, if not, try to attack. I’m not going down without a fight. It’s something that I’ve decided. I will scratch and claw and punch and kick and gouge and tear and rip and bite.

I go back to the chair and sit down. I can hear voices from outside, but can’t make out what they’re saying. All I know is that I can hear Pierce’s voice. It’s deep, seems to vibrate through the concrete walls of the office I’m tucked away in.

I can hear that he’s in pain. His words are spaced, their intonation all wrong.

I know they shot him. I can feel it in my heart. I don’t know where, and I don’t know why, but I know they put a bullet in him, and it makes me furious.

They can’t just do this. They can’t torture us. It’s cowardly. It’s pathetic. These fucking mobsters are nothing but scum.

Looking at my wrists, I see my tattoo there. The Chicago skyline… as seen from the lake. It reminds me of Dad. It reminds me of home, and how, right at this moment, I’m realizing that I miss it. I miss it terribly.

I feel a surge of guilt, a pang in my gut. What if Dad knew what was happening to me?

Damn it! I promised him that I wasn’t going to get myself in trouble, and somehow, here I am, in trouble. I promised myself I wouldn’t get in trouble. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with Pierce.

How could he lead me anywhere else but trouble? That’s him, that’s who he is. A whirlwind, chaotic and unpredictable. He goes where he wants. I was stupid to think that I could temper that, could tame that.

And now I’m in trouble. Bad trouble.

Looking around, I realize I need more than just my hands as an exit strategy. I need a weapon, something sharp, something I can use to stab or cut.

I begin to search the small office, always keeping my ear faced toward the door. If someone is going to be coming in, I’ll need to dart back to the chair, make it look like I wasn’t up to anything.

The light overhead is mustard yellow, and it casts dark, black shadows everywhere. Everything I see is either rust brown or ink-black. I feel like I’ve stepped onto a movie set.

Frantically, I open all the drawers, trying to find a pen, or a metal ruler, something sharp that I can use. But the drawers are all empty.

Damn it! They’ve cleared the office of anything I can use. I can’t even find a pencil. The pen pot sits naked.

That’s when I notice the first aid kit on the wall. A light bulb goes off above my head. I run to the kit, open up the plastic box, and sure enough I see a pair of small scissors inside.

When they’re closed, they make a decent stabbing knife, and they’re small enough to hide. I pick them up, test their rusty blades. The scissors snap in half. The metal is so old, so rusty, it’s become brittle.