The Alibi Man

Chapter 59

“He’s going to kill us,” Bennett said, terror in his voice. “He’s going to kill us, isn’t he?”

“Shut up!” I snapped.

It was pitch-dark in the trunk. The smell of diesel fuel, sour sweat, and fear gagged me. I lay half on top of him. When I tried to move away, I cracked my head on the trunk lid.

“He’s a Russian,” he said. “He’s that gangster Irina talked about. He’s killed people.”

“Shut up!” I snapped again. My arm was burning like hell and still bleeding.

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Shut up!” I screamed, and kneed him as hard as I could. “Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Yes, he’s going to kill us! He’s going to kill you, and he’s going to torture you first, and I’m going to watch, you son of a bitch!”

“Jesus Christ, Elena! Do you hate me that much?”

“It’s nothing less than you deserve for the lives you’ve ruined.”

“Oh, my God,” he said again. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

To him.

“Can you move?” I asked. “Are your hands free?”

“No. They’re tied behind my back.”

“Roll over,” I ordered. “I’ll try to undo the rope.”

“It’s duct tape.”

“Roll over!”

Bennett struggled to move, to turn away from me. I struggled to get my hands in position. My injured arm was throbbing like the beat of a bass drum. I could move my fingers, but they felt swollen and clumsy. I couldn’t find the end of the tape. I broke a fingernail trying to scratch through it.

“Fuck!”

The hell with Bennett, I thought. He would be of no use getting away, because he would think only of himself and end up getting us both killed in the process.

I started trying to feel around the trunk for anything that I might be able to use as a weapon. There was nothing.

The car made a sharp left, then a sharp right, then sat for a moment as something rattled and screeched outside.

A gate.

The car moved forward. The gate screeched and rattled shut.

When the trunk opened, the first thing I saw was the barrel of Kulak’s gun. I held my breath and waited for Kulak to pull the trigger.

“Get out,” he said. “Get out!”

I got out, a little dizzy, legs wobbly.

Hands bound behind his back, Bennett struggled out and stood doubled over for a moment.

“Stand up!” Kulak ordered.

Bennett rocked once on the balls of his feet, then bolted forward, hitting Kulak like a battering ram. He knocked the Russian sideways and kept running for the gate.

Alexi Kulak very calmly got his balance back, aimed, and fired.

I watched, horrified, as Bennett’s right leg buckled beneath him, and he went down, crying out.

In the distance I could hear police sirens, but I knew with a terrible sinking feeling in my gut they wouldn’t be coming here. We were locked inside the gates of Alexi Kulak’s auto salvage yard, and we were at the mercy of a madman.