Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,30

his hands up placatingly. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” He takes a small step toward me

“You do that a lot,” I note. I look back. I have nowhere to go. I don’t want him any closer.

He smiles. For the first time, the expression actually looks genuine. “You bring out the best in me.”

“I—”

“Just listen. The only reason you’re here is because these men believe you’re someone else.”

My eyes narrow. “Who?”

Rich shakes his head. “It’s a long story. There’s no time right now.” He looks over his shoulder, anxious. “We need to get out. I’ve distracted Tam, but Victor’s still around. We’re going to need to get past him.”

“Tam?”

Rich points to his scalp. “The bald one. You wouldn’t think it, but he’s the more dangerous of the two.”

“Actually, I had a pretty good idea,” I comment drily.

Rich makes a sour expression of disbelief. “Right. Whatever. Point is, we’re losing time squabbling over nothing. I came here to get you out. Until I do that, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“And if I refuse?”

“If you refuse,” Rich smiles, “I’ll give you another Pepsi and carry you out over my shoulders.”

***

As I follow Rich through the back corridors of the building, my mind teems with unanswered questions. It’s obvious from the surroundings that we are in some type of bar. We pass a storage room, a kitchen, and a peculiar looking closet stacked to the ceiling with unlabeled wooden crates. When I ask Rich about them, he shakes his head and tells me it’s better not to know.

So, I follow him quietly through the halls, trying to find the answers that would let any of this make sense.

Rich had said I wasn’t the one Tam and Victor wanted. That meant he knew about my mistaken identity, even though they did not. The only reasonable conclusion was that, for one reason or another, Rich had set me up. He’d pawned me off to the two men, misleading them to believe I was somebody else. But, who? And, why?

I look at Rich warily. I’m stuck with him for now, but have every intention of escaping from his company as soon as I get the chance. How can I trust somebody like him? I cannot.

He peeks around one corner, then recoils, cursing. “Shit!”

“What is it?” I whisper.

“Victor’s there. Between us and the doors.” He gestures for me to come and look. Carefully, I bring my head around the corner. We’re standing at the staff entrance to the bar. I can see the entire place from here. It’s dark, grimy, and empty. The chairs are stacked upside down on the tables, each a replica of the one I’d been tied to. Dust covers most of them. It doesn’t look like there has been a patron here for weeks.

My eyes move to the doors, obvious even in the dim light by the red “EXIT” sign above them. Sure enough, Victor is there. He’s seated at a table close to the doors, leaning his great bulk over a light in his hands. His phone.

He has a pitcher of beer on the table. I watch as he takes a bored swallow, wipes his beard with one hand, and turns his attention back to his phone.

I turn back to Rich. “Now what? We can’t just get by him, can we? Is there another way out?”

Rich shakes his head. “The back exit leads to an alley that’s fenced off. This is the only way in or out.”

“How did you get in here?”

“Through a window,” Rich shrugs. “But it’s a long drop down.”

I jump as Victor coughs, choking on a mouthful of beer. When he quiets down, my heart is beating so loudly in my chest that I’m afraid the sound will give us away. “Let’s do it,” I say, my voice unsteady. I take a breath to settle my nerves. “Try the window, I mean.”

Rich shakes his head again. “It’s too high up to reach from inside.” He gives me an appraising look. “Especially for you.”

I hit him on the arm playfully before I remember myself. I blush at my own stupidity. His eyebrows go up in surprise, but that’s all the reaction he gives.

“I climbed a gutter outside to reach the window,” he continues. “There’s nothing either of us can grab onto to reach it from inside. Our only option is in front of us.”

“Guarded by a bear,” I mutter under my breath.

“Right.” Rich smiles. “But you haven’t seen me in action yet.”

“What?” I ask. “What do