The Swap
The Swap
He stayed on the line and had warned me to never ask him to repeat himself. The phone had been pressed against my ear for over an hour. Whenever his croaky voice vibrated through the phone, I’d stop walking and listen.
“Now. Walk west.”
I dropped the suitcase and switched the phone to my left ear. A sigh escaped. My eyes traveled from one tree to another, and then an ear-splitting screech made me dart a glance up. “Damn!” Flapping of wings followed, but I saw nothing. I snatched the suitcase off the ground, picturing the cardinal points. West is right… no east is left… west is left. Left.
A stench hit me. An army of ants was feasting on a large, dead rodent. Holding my breath, I increased my pace and strode across. My boots crushed dried leaves with every step; I leaped over a fallen tree and exhaled. He started talking again. I stopped, but he was speaking Spanish. Someone in the background also spoke Spanish. A few seconds later, she screamed. He giggled and then coughed. The line went silent.
I pressed on, switching between walking and running.
A gust of wind raised dust, and visibility was poor. I kept going, navigating poorly, stumbled and caught my balance a few times. Objects hit my face, but luckily none was hard enough to cause harm.
The wind roared a little louder. Then it calmed. Everything floating around settled.
All sorts of crazy thoughts invaded my mind, and my heart banged against my chest. Will I ever see the sun rise again? They may take the money and put bullets in our heads.
Lost in thoughts, looking but not seeing, I was inches away from stepping into a stream when I realized I wasn’t surrounded by trees anymore. Morning sunlight caressed the side of my face.
He cleared his throat. “Look left. You’ll see us.”
I walked for about three minutes until I was standing opposite them—four of them. They had masks on. Lisa had been blindfolded. A guy on the extreme left, holding a laptop, closed it once I placed the suitcase on the ground. Another on the extreme right, wearing a white shirt with a skull art on the front, pointed a rifle at me. Slowly I dropped the phone from my ear, and the chubby man on her left took a few steps forward.
“Throw the phone.” He coughed twice. “If it drops in the water, you’ll have to get it out.”
The only black among them jumped and caught it like a pro even though I threw it too high. “I’m sorry,” I heard myself say.
“Tracking you cost us a lot of time.” He turned to the guy holding the laptop. “This gentleman over here hasn’t slept for days. I’m a trustworthy man though. I won’t ask for more money. I’ll stick to our agreement.”
For a few seconds, he looked down at the glistening flowing water. Then he raised his hand. “Take it off.”
The black guy put his hand behind Lisa's head, and the blindfold dropped.
She squinted. I wondered if she had seen light since she got taken away. Her hair was rough; her white T-shirt had turned brown. She looked frail. When her eyes fell on me, she looked nowhere else.
He glanced back at her. “Show me the money. How much is in there?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
"Open it."
I dropped to my knees to unlock the suitcase, but my shaky hands made it seem like I was unlocking a casino vault.
“Cool, cool—dollars,” he said. “We’ll send you guys to a happy place soon. Can you throw it? Do you want one of my men to come over?”
I locked the suitcase and stood up. “I can.”
The black guy motioned for me to throw it.
He caught it, put it on the ground, and opened it. In no time, he'd transferred the money into the backpack he was carrying. He kicked the suitcase away.
“I wish we could shake hands. Thank you for your cooperation. But. We can’t let you guys go. We’ll have to use our guns.” He sighed and pursed his lips. “I don’t want to be direct and say we’ll kill you and your beautiful girlfriend. Anthony, I promise to explain my actions when we meet on the other side.”
My heart froze. I tried to beg, but fear had sealed my lips. The chubby man said something in spanish to the guy holding the rifle before leaving with the black guy and the guy holding the laptop.
Let me cross and plead with her to forgive me. It was all my fault.
I took a step forward, and the guy cocked the rifle. “Whether you walk, run, sit, or stand, you’re still gonna die, amigo.”
I turned toward the morning sunlight and closed my eyes. All hope was lost, but its glow was soothing.
A moment later—the deafening sounds—bullets penetrated me. Falling to the ground, several shots rang out. And after I’d hit the ground, the shots continued. There was a splash. I managed to say a prayer.
The gunfire seized, and I was still alive. He was probably aiming a final shot at my head.
I opened my eyes.
Lisa had knelt, looking down, covering her ears with her hands. But the guy was floating on the water.
I raised myself, groaning. A tall, thick-bearded man was walking toward Lisa, and he had guns in both hands. Behind him, I sighted the lifeless bodies of the remaining three. I couldn’t support my weight and lay back on the floor.
“Hey man. Hey!” He tapped my arm. “Help is on the way.”
I tried to keep looking at him, but my vision blurred out.
originalworks
This was great. Your stuff has a nice, clean style. It's refreshing. I look forward to reading more.
Thank you @jordan.lesich :-)