On the landing, Walter paused to shift Reggie’s weight. He was breathing heavily again, more animal than man. He had said very little on the drive over. They had not made a plan because there was nothing to plan. They would find the server. They would destroy the fail-safe. What happened beyond that was nothing that either of them was willing to say out loud.
Leigh rounded the landing. She thought about Andrew standing on this same spot three short days ago. He had been angry when he talked about losing his father. She had ignored the warning siren in her gut. She’d been obsessed with finding out what Andrew really wanted when he had told her straight to her face.
It ruined our lives when Dad disappeared. I wish whoever made him go away understood what that felt like.
This was what Andrew Tenant wanted—what was happening with Walter right now, their beautiful girl forced into hiding, Callie nowhere to be found. Andrew wanted everything Leigh cared about, everything she had ever loved, to be thrown into chaos the same way his life had been ruined when Buddy died. She had played right into his hands.
Walter had reached the end of the hallway. He leaned down. Reggie’s feet went to the ground, his back against the wall. Walter held him up with a fist to his chest. Reggie groaned, his head rolling.
“Hey.” Walter slapped his face. “Wake up, asshole.”
Reggie’s head rolled again. The light from the parking lot cut through the window, spotlighting the damage Walter had caused. The man’s left eye was swollen shut. His jaw looked unnatural and loose. The bridge of his nose was nothing more than a pinkish white bone where the skin had been punched away.
Leigh searched for the key to Reggie’s office, her hands trembling as she tried each one in the deadbolt.
“Come on,” Walter said, slapping Reggie again. “Wake the fuck up.”
Reggie coughed.
Blood sprayed onto Walter’s face, but Walter didn’t blink. “What’s the alarm code?”
Reggie’s jaw popped. He let out a low wheeze.
“Look at me, asshole.” Walter pressed his thumbs into Reggie’s eyelids, forcing them open. “Tell me the alarm code or I will beat the life out of you.”
Leigh’s skin prickled with fear. She looked up from the lock. She knew that Walter wasn’t making an empty threat. Reggie did, too. His wheezing spiraled as he tried to push out sound with a jaw that Walter had broken off its hinge.
“Th-three …” Reggie started. The number was awkward and muffled when it came out of his mouth. “Nine … six … three.”
Leigh felt the final key on the ring slide into the lock, but she didn’t open the door. She told Walter, “It could be a trick. It might make a silent alarm go off.”
Walter said, “If that happens, then we’ll shoot him in the head and take the server. We’ll be gone before the police get here.”
Leigh was chilled by the determination in his voice.
She gave Reggie a chance, asking, “You’re sure about the code? Three-nine-six-three?”
Reggie huffed out a cough. Pain etched lines into his face.
Walter told Leigh, “Show him the gun.”
Reluctantly, she lifted the Glock from her purse. She saw the whites of Reggie’s eyes as he stared down at the weapon. In her head, she told herself that Walter was bluffing. He had to be bluffing. They were not going to murder anyone.
Walter wrenched the gun from her hand. He pressed the muzzle into Reggie’s forehead. His finger stayed along the trigger guard. He asked again, “What’s the code?”
Reggie’s body convulsed as he coughed. His mouth wouldn’t close. Drool mixed with blood as it slid from his lip onto his shirt.
“Five,” Walter said, counting down. “Four. Three.”
Leigh watched his finger move to the trigger. He was not bluffing. Her mouth opened to tell him to stop, but Reggie spoke first.
“Backward,” he said, the word sloppy from the effort. “Three, six, nine, three.”
Walter kept the gun pressed to Reggie’s head. He told Leigh, “Try it.”
She turned the key in the lock. She opened the door. A beeping sound filled the dark outer office. She followed the noise down the short hallway. The keypad was inside the main office. A red button was flashing. The beeping sped up, counting down the seconds until the alarm went off.
Leigh entered the code. Nothing happened. She leaned down, trying to figure out what to do. The beeping got faster. The alarm was going to go off. The phone was going to ring. Someone was going to ask for a safe word and there was no way that Reggie would give it. If he was still alive by then because Walter had already told them both what would happen.