She nods slightly in comprehension. I hug Winnie tighter, praying this will all be over soon.
“This is taking too long.” Vanessa huffs, still glaring at Ralph. “Sixty-forty. That’s my final offer. You don’t like it, leave!”
“I’m the one with the gun!”
“Do you even know how to use that thing?” She taunts, leaning forward with her hands on her hips. I watch as Ralph processes her words, his face turning mottled red with anger.
Oh, no.
I know from experience, if there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s having his ego questioned. Especially by a woman.
“I don’t know,do I?” he yells, swinging out his gun-hand and firing off two rounds. As soon as I see his finger on the trigger, I turn to face the wall, shielding Winnie with my body. The loud bang of the gun echoes through the entire space, ringing in my eardrums long after the bullets are embedded in cement ten feet to our left.
When I finally peel my eyes open, all I see is the gray wall in front of me, and all I can hear are Winnie’s wails, each one louder and more heart-wrenching than the last.
“Shhh, honey,” I breathe against his hair. “It’s okay. It’ll all be over soon I promise.”
“You’re crazy!” Vanessa’s shouting, behind me. “What the hell is wrong with you, firing a gun in here? Do youwantto get caught?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I see her charging toward Ralph, a murderous look on her face. Despite the fact that he’s got a gun, Ralph does the smart thing for once — and backs the hell off. He retreats until he’s nearly at the Mercedes and she follows, screaming at him the whole time. I couldn’t care less, about their idiocy — notnow, when there’s a clear shot between my position on the wall and the front door of my car.
I swallow, hard.
“Back off!” Ralph demands, his voice whiney. “Let’s just call Croft already, tell him we have her, and see what he says.”
“You’re an idiot if you want to be anywhere near here, when that call is made.” She scoffs.
“Then let’s shove her in the trunk, and be done with it!”
I try to tune them out as I hug Winnie closer and begin to edge along the wall. Thankfully, his cries have died down to a low, steady whimper that calls little attention to us. My steps are small, hesitant, as I move ever closer to the car.
“And what are we going to do with her friend and the fucking baby, huh?”
“More to bargain with!” Ralph is getting defensive — his face is red with rage and his hands are shaking by his sides. “We can get an even bigger trade, for the three of them.”
A phone starts to ring. I hear rustling, as someone pulls it from their pocket, and a second later, Ralph’s angry voice shatters the silence.
“Why the fuck is Brett calling you?!” he barks. “You told me you weren’t working with him, anymore, Vanessa!”
“I’m not!”
“Then why is he calling you?” Ralph’s voice gets louder, crazier, with each passing second. His very, very small brain is only now putting it together that Vanessa has most likely double-crossed him — and he’s not happy about it.
“Just calm down,” Vanessa says, but even she sounds shaken at Ralph’s sudden turn toward crazy-town. “We’ll sort this out, Ralph, you just have to trust me—”
“Trust you?” His words are a little hysterical, now.
I edge closer to the car.
“What was the plan?” he continues. “Pin the kidnapping on me, while you collect all the money and get off scot-free?”
“No, of course not!”
I angle my body, so my back is to them and my front is facing the car. If anyone’s getting shot when I make a run for it, it’s not going to be the little boy in my arms. My eyes catch on Chrissy’s, through the back window, and I see hers are full of pain and fear. Heart pounding in my chest, I dart a glance back at the kidnap-twins and see Ralph advancing on Vanessa, until she’s pinned against the wall.
By my guess, there’s about twenty feet of space between us.
How long does it take a bullet to travel twenty feet?