Trust Me

22

When Eric got the flashlight, Luke realized. Aubrey had a gun hidden in the apartment and Eric grabbed the gun when he got the flashlight.

‘Aubrey, come here,’ Eric said.

Aubrey stayed put. ‘This is insane, Eric. Just – stop it.’

‘He’s going to force my hand. I’m not going to the police. Neither are you. If he’s gone, we’re free.’

‘Free?’ Luke said.

‘They’re not here for us. They’re here for him.’

‘Bull. They’re here for Eric and their fifty million bucks, and he knows it,’ Luke said. ‘That’s why he offered to go talk to them. Unless that was just his way of abandoning you, Aubrey, and he was going to run for his own sorry life once he hit the front door.’

‘That’s a lie!’ Eric snapped.

‘Eric, stop it,’ Aubrey said.

‘Don’t you switch sides on me, Aubrey, not after all I did for you.’

Luke shone the light on her face and her expression had turned angry. ‘You’re an asshole,’ she told Eric. ‘I should have broken up with you ages ago. You are not a hero.’

‘Stop this, we need each other,’ Luke said.

‘Spare me the idiotic let’s work together sentiment,’ Eric said. ‘Aubrey. Move away from him.’

‘And go where?’ Aubrey stayed at Luke’s side. ‘Where are we supposed to hide? How are we supposed to live that way? There’s no rock quite big enough for us to set up housekeeping.’

‘I could have left you to die, Aubrey.’ All the warmth bled out of Eric’s voice. But it wasn’t replaced by anger. Luke heard anguish and bitterness. ‘I gave up everything for you. Even after you dumped me.’

‘Eric, it’s not too late.’

‘I killed a man for you! Jesus, you don’t get a do-over. I killed him.’

‘Under coercion. Under stress.’ Aubrey’s voice went soft, cajoling. ‘You could get everything back, but this is not the way to save our lives.’

‘Give me the gun,’ Luke said.

‘I know you’re a good man at heart, Eric,’ Aubrey said, ‘I know you’re scared. I know what you wanted for you and me. But this isn’t the way…’

Luke moved the light towards Eric’s face, thinking he could blind him, break his resolve. ‘We have to get out of here. Assume they want to flush you out of hiding, force you to tell them where the money is. That means they might be waiting down in the lobby, or the street.’ It wasn’t so different he thought, when he stole food in his runaway days. If you had to hide, you did not hide in an obvious place. ‘We need another way out; we need to hide where they won’t expect us to be.’

‘I have an idea,’ Aubrey said.