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Trustworthy

Dan Maltbie

    “This place stinks like shit,” Jane said. “I have no idea why kidnappers don’t have the class to send us to a nice place.”
    “For God’s sake Jane! We are trying to save your brother’s life here. Please keep the negative comments to yourself.”
    “Whatever Sam!” Jane said.
    “Mind your own business Jane. Or we can start to have some conversations about you,” Sam said.
    “We can have all the conversations we want about me, but we aren’t going to get anything done that way.”
    “Can you go through it one more time? To make sure we aren’t missing something.” Sam said.
    “Jeremy and I went out for dinner and drinks three nights ago. While we were out at the club he met some friends of his. He followed them outside for a while, came back in and we left. When I woke up the next morning he was gone.”
    “Why did you wait two days to contact me?” Sam said.
    “I thought he was just holed up with some new fling. A man toy he didn’t want anyone to know about.” Jane said.
    “Does he do that a lot? Meet some new guy and spend the next few days hid out in some cheap dive?”
    “He has been known to” –she stubbed out her cigarette- “but never like this. Never for this long.”
    “How did you find out that he had been kidnapped?”
    “I got a phone call from them. I didn’t believe at first but when he got on the phone I knew he wasn’t joking.” Jane said.
    “What were their demands?”
    “Fifty thousand in cash to be delivered by me to this dive called Vic’s. I go in to the back booth and order a drink. Finish it and leave the money under the table.”
    “What next? When and where are you supposed to pick up Jeremy?” Sam said.
    “They told me to come here and they would be in touch.”
    Sam moved from the patio to the bed and opened a small suitcase. Jane followed refilling her glass with ice and vodka.
    “Do you think he’s worth that much?”
    Jane fired up another cigarette.
    “I guess that answers my question,” Sam said.
    “Do you want to count the money or not?” Jane said.
    “I’ve counted it three times. It’s all here. There’s only one thing about all this that smells funny, me. Why am I here?”
    “I went into Jeremy’s room. He had your business card in his journal. There was one word written on the back ‘trustworthy’. So I looked you up, and here we are,” Jane said.
    “Hmm, that’s a glowing recommendation I guess,” Sam said.
    Taking a drag from her cigarette, Jane said “Hardly.”
    “It’s almost time to go, give me that drink.”
    “You don’t think I can make it to the drop?”
    “I don’t want your brother’s welfare to depend on how well you can drive drunk,” Sam said.
    Jane snatched the suitcase and headed for the door.
    Sam took advantage of the shower and even caught some of the game on television. He was startled awake by the opening door.
    “What happened?” Sam said.
    “She made the drop. Then she got so drunk she passed out in the booth.”
    “Jeremy! I told you not to come here, what if someone sees?” Sam said.
    “It doesn’t matter now. Now that we are together and have the money we can go anywhere. Do anything,” Jeremy said.

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