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Rachel sat on a bed and stared without emotion at the television screen. She flicked through each channel on the television without taking full notice of what programs were on. Mick paced around the room like a very angry tiger in a cage.
“I know it’s easier said than done. But I really think you’d be better off just trying to relax a little”– Rachel knew she was risking Mick’s wrath as she spoke.
“It is funny. Being held hostage by a mad man is not proving conducive for me to relax”– Mick snapped back.
At this point the door swung open for the first time since the two of them had woken up in that room.
“Now I think that is a bit unfair”– the voice was heard. Then the man walked into the room, holding a hand gun. “I wouldn’t call this being held hostage.”
“I might want to look up the word hostage some time”– Rachel surprised herself with her defiance.
“Come now! I’ve provided you with a bed each, a TV with cable and a meal each.”
“I notice you’re not arguing with me calling you a madman. Wait a minute”– Mick said and pointed at the man. “I recognize you, you’re the brother of Mike Jensen. I spent five years trying to catch him. Finally I put him away after his sixth bank robbery. That must have been about four years ago. He never trusted you to be strong enough during a robbery. So he never took you along, fearing that your lack of nerve would ruin things. Is that what this is all about? You woke up one day and decided to get revenge on all the people who put your brother behind bars?”
“If you want to put a label on it, then I suppose you could say that’s what I’m doing.”
“Let me guess, the prosecuting lawyer and residing judge in your brother’s case died back at the dinner table”– Mick said.
“Clever aren’t you Mr. policeman. No wonder it only took you five years to catch my brother.”
“Err, hello? So why am I here?” Rachel asked. “For visual affect maybe?”
“My dear I’m disappointed. You don’t remember me. You refused to dance with me. Very impolitely too I might add.”
“Oh my God!” Rachel exclaimed and jumped up off the bed and put her hands over her mouth. “I remember that. So let me get this straight, I refuse your very sleazy offer to dance and now you’re planning to kill me? And why is it we keep referring to you as insane?”
“Does seem a very harsh punishment”– Mick said.
“This can only be referred to as a perfectly sound judgment call. No one of you is in any position to mock.”
“How have you been able to afford such an elaborate scheme?” Rachel asked.
“Well a couple of months or so ago, there was a very big lottery win in New York. Guess who that was?”
“You”– Mick said, sickened.
“Yes, was that not clear? I can see the newspaper article, now. ‘Well Jack I spent some of the money on ruining eight people’s lives. The rest of it I just wasted.”
“So what are you planning to do with us next?” Mick asked.
“The simple answer is: I do whatever I want with you.”
Rachel despondently sat back down on the bed and ran her hands through her hair.
“My dear, you must be wishing you’d done the decent thing and danced with me.”
“Funnily enough I’m not.”
“You really shouldn’t insult me so much, in your circumstances.”
“Oh yeah sorry, I keep forgetting how to behave. You see I’ve never been held hostage by a sick psychopathic freak before. So I guess my inexperience is showing”– Rachel was determined to not show her fear.
“Yeah I must say how well you are doing at this evil game, considering how pathetic a bank robber you were”– Mick went on the offensive.
“You know full well I never got the chance to show how good a bank robber I could have been.”
“Of course, you weren’t allowed to come along. Bret, that’s it, that’s your name isn’t it? Your older brother didn’t trust you to go along on the bank jobs. That must have hurt.”
“I warn you to stop these insinuations!”
“Can’t imagine how bad that must have felt to be constantly reminded by your brother, and that you didn’t have the nerve to do a bank robbery – a brother who you completely idolized. You must have felt like a big let down to the family. I’d go as far as to say you must have felt inadequate. When we caught your brother and his gang, we had the feeling that you were involved in the planning. But we didn’t have any proof. So we just left you as a loose end. That’s all you are: a loose end.”
“You were warned. You didn’t heed the warning. And now you’re going to pay for it”– Bret held the gun up and pointed it at Mick.
“Don’t worry Rach, this guy hasn’t got the nerve to shoot anybody himself. Even his own brother knew that.”
Bret started to shake all over, especially the gun holding hand.
“Look at him, he can’t even hold a gun without losing his nerve, let alone shoot someone.”
“I’m not like that!” Bret shouted with a hint of a stutter for the first time.
He pulled the trigger three times and all three bullets went into Mick’s heart.
“No!” Rach screamed, held her hands to her face and curled herself up on the bed.
Bret was shaking now even more than he was before he pulled the trigger. “Oh...my...God. I’ve just kee... kee... killed a man. I’ve actually taken someone’s life”– he said slowly whilst looking genuinely remorseful.
“Oh well, can’t be helped, can’t be helped”– all of his nervousness disappeared and his normal voice was back.
“What?” Rachel spoke quietly from her curled up position.
“You see your friend was only partly right. I wasn’t allowed on the bank jobs. It was not because I didn’t have the nerve. It was because they considered me a loose canon, unreliable. I never really understood why.”
Rachel lay down and began to cry into the pillow.
“Don’t worry my dear. I’m not going to kill you, at least not yet. Cheer up. How about you and I having a little dance.”
“Just leave me alone”– Rachel said quietly but with an intense feeling in equal measure of defiance and fear.
Bret walked out the door, threw up his arms, shook his head and said:
“Women!”
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