Let Me Go (42 page)

“Thanks for reminding me,” Archie said, his eyes flicking from Susan to Karim. The instant Archie looked at Karim, Susan saw all the warmth in Archie's face evaporate. “You're under arrest,” Archie told Karim. “You have the right to remain silent.” He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb. Susan could tell he had tried to do it casually, but he was clearly wobbly on his feet. Archie cleared his throat. “Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided at no cost.” Archie's gun started to drift toward the floor. Susan saw Archie notice it and jerk the weapon back up into the general range of Karim's head. “Do you understand these rights as I've explained them to you?” Archie asked Karim.

This wasn't good. Susan could see in Archie's eyes that this wasn't good. She glanced behind Archie, expecting Henry to appear, or Leo or Sanchez or … anyone. But there was no one else. Archie had come alone. What had happened to those sirens they had all heard approaching? Susan felt a knot of dread like a fist in her chest. Archie was bleeding badly. His face looked like her father's had in the hours before he'd died, like he knew, like half of him had already gone.

With a terrible sinking feeling, Susan realized that Archie couldn't save her. He couldn't even save himself.

“Can I ask,” Karim inquired of Archie, “have you ever been shot before?”

Susan watched Archie, riveted. His hand was now clawed around the doorjamb, supporting his weight. He blinked slowly at Karim. “Interestingly enough, no,” Archie said.

“You've lost half your blood, mate,” Karim said. “You're in shock. You can barely walk. Your brain's not getting oxygen. Your organs are going to start shutting down. You think you can shoot straight? If you'd stayed immobile and received treatment you'd probably have made it. But now?” Karim made a show of checking his watch. “Your golden hour is almost up.”

Susan swallowed a sob, and the blade stung at her neck. “Archie,” she said. She tried to smile through her tears. “It's okay.” She didn't want him to die, not because of her. “You can go,” she said. Her voice cracked as she said it. “Go back and get help.”

Archie gave her a small, sad smile, like he knew something she didn't. Then his eyes lifted back to Karim.

Karim tightened his grip on Susan's wrist, pulling painfully at her dislocated shoulder. Her eyes burned with tears but she didn't cry out, she didn't make a sound. She swallowed all of it.

“I have something that you want,” Archie said to Karim. He took his hand off the doorjamb, put his full weight against his shoulder, and dug his hand into his pants pocket. He wavered slightly on his feet, like someone who is drunk but doesn't want anyone to catch on. Susan willed him to stay upright because if he fell she had the feeling he wasn't going to be able to get up.

Archie extended his hand and jingled a large set of keys.

Susan felt Karim lean forward.

“Jack's keys,” Archie said. He indicated the damage-strewn room. “That's what you've been looking for, I assume? The key to the exit?”

Karim was breathing loudly through his nose. The keys glittered. Archie jangled them again like someone teasing a cat.

“Toss them to me,” Karim said.

Archie opened his hand and let the keys fall. They landed a few feet from his toes. His eyes stayed on Karim. “Oops,” Archie said.

Karim let go of Susan's wrist and she felt him reach behind her back and pull the gun from his waistband. The gunmetal scraped along her spine as he drew the weapon and pointed it at Archie. He kept it trained on Archie as he switched hands, exchanging the hilt of the knife to his off hand and the gun in his right. The blade itched at Susan's neck, and she tried not to swallow, her bad arm now hanging limply at her side.

Karim pressed behind her, forcing her forward, his body pushing her, the blade biting at her skin. Susan managed to take her bad arm by the wrist with her other hand to try to keep it steady, but she still winced each time they took a step. Her throat stung where the blade had nicked her flesh. She concentrated on Archie. Walking to Archie. If she made it, she told herself, she got to go home. She got to go home to Jefferson Starship and cherry incense and Bliss and her caramel apples. She got to sleep on her futon bed, and she'd take life more seriously, write a real book, and maybe she'd finally learn how to play guitar. She'd choose a direction, like Bliss had said. Susan didn't mind Jefferson Starship, really, she'd always secretly liked that band.

Archie nodded at her, coaxing her toward him. She wanted to believe that he had a plan—that he was stronger than he looked—but the closer she got, the direr his condition seemed. Karim was right. Archie could barely stand. If she made it to him, Susan told herself, she'd hold him up. That was all he needed, someone to lean against. They would both get to go home. The knife nicked her flesh again, and Susan winced, feeling a thread of blood trickle down her neck. Karim pushed her forward another step. They were still a few feet shy of Archie when Karim jerked to a stop, wrenching Susan's shoulder again. She bit her lip from the pain.

“Get them,” Karim said.

She looked at Archie. He gave her a slight nod. The ring of keys was on the floor. There were maybe forty keys affixed to a black horseshoe-shaped charm. Karim lowered Susan forward, the blade still at her neck, his gun still trained on Archie. Again, Archie gave Susan an encouraging nod. She extended her good arm, fingers straining for the keys. She recognized the horseshoe charm. It was Hermès. Jack had probably spent three hundred dollars on it. She told herself that if she could just touch it, she could keep it. It was a horseshoe. It would bring her luck.

She had to battle for every inch. Karim held her uncomfortably close, folding his body over hers as she leaned lower for the keys, his armpit at her ear, the knife at her throat. The smell of his aftershave had turned sour with sweat. As she bent over, her T-shirt and pants parted and she felt the bare flesh of her lower spine touch the buttons of his shirt and she flinched at the intimate sensation. She strained for that horseshoe. It was still beyond her fingertips and she stretched as far as she could, as Karim slowly extended the knife forward to allow her more movement. She sobbed, despite herself, and he laughed and pushed into her from behind, and she could feel the hardness of him pressing between her legs. She kept her head down, not wanting Archie to see her face. Her fingers touched the horseshoe. It was black rubber, with four little white squares along each side and a white squiggle at the top of the hump. It was the kind of squiggle that kids use to indicate a bird in a drawing. The white bird's wings were open. It was flying right at her. She just needed another millimeter and she'd have it. The blade pressed against her throat and she heard the chilling sound of the sharpened metal scraping against her own flesh. She felt something wet crawl down her collarbone under her T-shirt and into her bra, but she didn't know if it was blood or sweat. She had the keys in her hand. As her fingers closed around the horseshoe, she felt Karim's right arm brace against her shoulder. It was a tiny movement. Nothing anyone would have noticed. But their bodies were so close that Susan could actually feel him plant his stance, and adjust his shooting arm ever so slightly.

Susan didn't have time to think. She jammed her elbow back hard into Karim's solar plexus the instant before he fired. Karim grunted in pain and the knife dropped a fraction of a centimeter, but it was enough. Susan was able to duck out from under his arm. She lifted her head, to see if Archie had been hit. Archie was still in the doorway, gun raised. The moment she was out of Karim's reach, Archie fired. The gunshot reverberated off every concrete surface. Susan dropped to the floor. She was still on her hands and knees, her bad arm dragging on the floor, when Karim swooped behind her and wrenched her upward. She struggled to free herself but he took hold of her wrist and twisted her arm so hard she put her head back and yowled. She was still whimpering when Karim pushed her, face-first, into the wall next to the door, and held her there.

She glanced frantically to her left and saw Archie still in the doorway. He was even paler now, almost waxen. His gun was still trained on Karim—the end of the barrel close enough that Susan could have touched it—but Archie's arm had sunk from a ninety-degree angle to a seventy-degree angle. His eyes were anguished. Susan could see him straining to raise the weapon, but he didn't seem to have the strength.

“The gun's getting heavy, isn't it?” Karim asked Archie, his voice smug. “Your head's swimming. You don't have the strength to pull the trigger.”

Archie fired again.

Susan closed her eyes and braced herself. Karim's body jerked. But the knife didn't leave her throat. Then she heard the sickening sound of Karim's laugh. She forced herself to open her eyes. Archie was sinking to the floor. He'd used the last of his strength to shoot Karim, and he'd hit him—Susan had felt the impact. She strained around to see Karim, and he rotated her roughly so that they were face-to-face. Karim lifted his arm and showed her the tear and streak of blood where Archie had managed to graze Karim's bicep. Susan hated him. She could feel the contempt form on her face and she didn't try to hide it. She looked toward Archie. He was trying to stand again, then stumbled sideways, and leaned back against the wall to the left of the door and started to slide to the floor. The gun fell from his hand onto the concrete.

Susan's throat felt swollen, like it might close entirely.

Archie tried once more to stand, failed, and came to a rest in a sitting position, legs akimbo in front of him, back against the wall. He looked up at Susan and his eyes filled with tears. His lips were colorless and his expression was puzzled. “Sorry,” Archie muttered.

Susan was shaking uncontrollably now. Karim pulled her into the doorway and sandwiched her against the doorjamb and then, to Susan's horror, he pressed his gun against Archie's forehead.

“I could kill you,” Karim snarled at Archie. Then he bent his elbow and lifted the gun. “But instead I'm going to leave you here to die.” Karim's breathing came in halting rasps. He was pressed against her hard, worming his pelvis against her, trying to work her legs open, but Susan kept her thighs clamped shut. Karim holstered the knife into his waistband and socked her hard between her legs. Susan cried out and Karim forced his hand into the front of her pants. He grinned, his face glistening with sweat. But he wasn't even looking at Susan. This was for Archie. Karim clawed his hooked hand against her underpants, digging to get inside her even as she clenched her body tight to resist him.

He was going to hurt her badly, but what bothered Susan the most was that Archie would have to watch it.

“I want you to spend the next few minutes thinking about what I'm going to do to her,” Karim said in a low, nasty voice. “I'm going to take my time. We're going to have a lot of fun together.”

He grabbed her flesh through the underwear and twisted it, and Susan wailed in anguish. He grinned cruelly. This was what turned him on, not sex, but pain. “I'll fuck her raw before I gut her,” Karim said. Karim paused and cocked his head. Then he lifted a foot and gave Archie's arm a kick. “You still awake, mate?” he asked. Archie didn't respond.

This wasn't happening, Susan told herself. This was all a bad dream.

“I'll fuck her,” Karim spat at Archie, “and I'll make her say your name.” Susan felt his hand release her and then fumble with opening his own pants. She glanced down at Archie. She couldn't see his face anymore, but one hand was motionless, palm up on the floor, and one leg was splayed lifeless in front of him. Susan heard Karim unzip his pants and she sucked in a lungful of air, determined not to give him the satisfaction of crying. She looked up at the ceiling, bit her lip, and steeled herself against whatever was coming.

Karim pinned her against the doorjamb again. Archie was slumped on the floor just feet away. Karim lowered his face to Susan's shoulder and licked her. When he lifted his head, there was blood around his mouth. He scraped the knife down her throat, like he was giving her a shave.

“Say, ‘Fuck me, Archie,'” Karim said.

Susan was so horrified she couldn't even speak. For a second she thought she might throw up.

Karim frowned at her, his dark eyes murderous. Then he stepped back and gave Archie a kick.

Susan couldn't see Archie well enough from her position to see Karim make contact, but when Karim brought his foot back the toe was covered in blood. He'd kicked Archie in his wound. Archie hadn't even whimpered.

“Say it, or I'll kill him now,” Karim said.

Susan was sobbing. She didn't know what to do. But she knew that the sooner they got this over with, the sooner he'd kill her.

“Fuck me,” she said weakly. She could see Archie's leg, his dirty brown shoe. She hoped he couldn't hear this. She hoped he was unconscious. She hoped he was dead. She looked at the ceiling. “Fuck me,” she sobbed. The next word stuck in her throat, but she choked it out. “Archie.”

“Since you asked for it,” Karim said, and he jammed his hand in her pants again, his stiff fingers trying to penetrate her, his face a terrible snarl.

She heard herself moaning in pain.

She had to go limp. She had to force her body to relax. It wouldn't hurt as much that way. Not this part anyway. With a whimper of surrender, vomit rising in her throat, Susan made herself soft under his grip. She let her muscles uncoil. Karim saw it instantly. He grunted and started fumbling to get her pants down, as his erection pressed against her pelvic bone.

“Say it again,” Karim said, panting.

Susan would win in the end. She would show Karim. She was going to ruin this for him. She was going to die quickly. “Fuck me, Archie,” she said again.