“The Rescue” – Part 4

Mr. Smith led Colin into the study, motioned for him to sit in one of the two leather arm chairs. Colin hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do right now was to sit and have a chat with this sick fuck. But he did as he was told and quietly took a seat.

“Scotch?” Mr. Smith asked him, holding up a large crystal bottle full of the amber liquid.

“No thanks,” Colin replied, looking uncomfortably around the room. He shifted in his chair, his leg throbbing from all the walking on it he’d had to do that day.

“Suit yourself,” Mr. Smith said, pouring himself a glass and taking a seat across from him.

Colin watched the man sip his drink, tried to keep his face blank from the anger and emotion that was seething just under the surface. How long was he supposed to just sit here, pretending everything was fine? He despised what he was doing here, despised the man sitting across from him. He just hoped Adam would wake up soon and they could get the hell out of there.

“So, Colin, your employer told me that once I was satisfied with my... purchases, I was to give you and Mr. Laughlin this,” he pulled out a small folded slip of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Colin.

Colin stared at the man a moment, then unfolded the slip of paper. On it was written an address, nothing more. He looked up at Mr. Smith, questioningly.

“I’m guessing that has some significance to you and your partner?” Mr. Smith said, nonchalantly. “Your employer had me write it down, no other detail was given. Said you’d know what it meant.”

Raine. That had to be where they were holding here. Colin clutched the paper in his hand a moment, his eyes closed, then cleared his throat and shoved the paper in his pocket. “Yeah, I do,” he told Mr. Smith, staring into space. He grabbed his crutches, using them to push himself to his feet, “Perhaps we should check on my friend then?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Mr. Smith replied, “most likely he’ll be out for a while longer. Please, sit down. What’s the rush?”

Colin clenched his jaw, “Got another...um... job to do,” he said, trying to keep his temper at bay, “like to get a head start on it before it gets too late is all.” Reluctantly, he sat back down in the chair, filled with nervous energy.

“Believe it or not, I too am most eager for the two of you lads to leave as well,” Mr. Smith told him, pouring himself another glass of Scotch. “But, as you are still here in my company, you might as well enjoy yourself.” He picked up another glass, poured a bit of the amber liquid into it, held it up for Colin to take. “Here, drink up, I insist. It will calm your nerves.”

Colin hesitated, then reached out and took the glass from him and pressed it to his lip and let the Scotch roll down his throat.

“There, that’s better,” Mr. Smith told him, smiling, “Never trust a man that won’t share a drink with you, I always say.”

Colin managed a slight smile, nodded, took another sip. He casually glanced down at his watch – they’d only been sitting there a mere 10 minutes or so. If what Mr. Smith had told him was correct, Adam would be out for quite a while longer. Colin was concerned that even then he may not be in any condition to drive them out of there. He mentally cursed himself for allowing Adam to go through with it and not standing up to Mr. Smith. If nothing else, he should have just sucked it up and let the man inject him instead of Adam. At least then perhaps they could already be on their way to Raine.

Down in the basement, Adam slowly opened his eyes, trying to focus on his surroundings. His head was throbbing, not the usual side-effect he was used to. He lifted his head, noticing he’d apparently slipped from the chair he’d been sitting in and fallen to the floor. He lay there a moment trying to will his limbs to move, finally managing to push himself into a sitting position.

He lifted his fingers to his forehead, finding something wet and sticky there. Blood. Shit. He must have cracked his skull a bit when he hit the floor. He sat there a moment, still trying to focus his eyes in the dimly-lit room.

“Colin? Mate?” he called out, wondering where his brother-in-law had gotten off to. Surely he hadn’t just left him down there, had he? Nah, couldn’t have, not with that bum leg of his.

Adam pushed himself up to his feet, holding on to the chair for support. His knees nearly gave out more than once as he tried to steady himself. He stood there a moment, sweat pouring down his forehead, then wobbled over to the stairway, stopping every couple of steps to regain his balance.

Once he reached the top, he slumped against the doorway, resting a moment until he could until he could get his bearings. Colin and Mr. Smith were no where in sight. He swallowed, his mouth dry, then weakly called out, “Colin? Mr. Smith?” as he stumbled through the hallway towards the front of the house.

“In here, mate!” Colin called back to him, as he hopped up out of his chair and started for the door.

Hearing his brother-in-law’s voice, Adam turned, following the sound of it. Finally, he found himself standing in the doorway to the study where a worried Colin was checking him over.

“Mate, sit down, let me look at that forehead,” Colin told him, helping Adam to a chair. Colin frowned, as he brushed back the hair on Adam’s forehead. The cut wasn’t too deep, a lump formed and was already starting to bruise. “Think you can get away without any stitches,” he told him, then took a wet cloth that Mr. Smith had fetched for them and held it to Adam’s head to stop the bleeding.

“I’m fine,” Adam told him, swiping Colin’s hand away and taking the cloth. “Just help me to the truck and we’ll get going.”

“You sure you wouldn’t rather rest a bit longer here?” Mr. Smith asked him, worried the lad might not be in any condition to drive. He didn’t like the idea of them getting into an accident while on their way off his property, didn’t like the attention that might arise to himself if that happened. No, no, that wouldn’t do one bit if the authorities began snooping around.

“I’m fine, really,” Adam assured them both, “Perhaps a bit of water, though?” He looked up a Mr. Smith.

“Water? Oh, yes, yes, I’ll just fetch you a bottle then,” he said, then quickly headed out of the room.

Once he was out of earshot, Colin leaned in to Adam and whispered, “Mate, I got the address... the sooner we’re outta here, the sooner we can get to Raine. You sure you can manage the truck in your condition?”

Adam looked at him, “Get me to the truck, I can manage,” he said again, more urgently this time.

Colin took Adam’s hand and helped him to his feet. He wobbled a bit, used Colin’s arm to steady himself, then began to make his way towards the front door.

“Forgetting something?” Mr. Smith called out to them, as he suddenly appeared behind them.

Adam and Colin looked nervously at each other, then let out a sigh of relief when Mr. Smith held up the bottle of water and handed it to Adam.

“Ta, mate,” Adam told him, opening the lid and taking a sip. “We’ll, um... just be going now if its all the same to you. Another job to do, ya know.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Mr. Smith said, opening the door for them, “do be careful.”

Colin nodded at him and quickly followed Adam down the steps and scrambled up into the truck. Once they were safely off Mr. Smith’s property, Colin handed Adam the slip of paper with the address Mr. Smith gave him.

Adam looked at it, clenched his teeth. He knew the place, knew it well. . The last time he’d been there, he’d seen his family killed. Fuck if he was going to let the same thing happen to his wife. He handed the paper back to Colin, quietly staring at the road in front of him, praying he’d get there in time, praying it wasn’t already too late.

TBC...