Chapter 6: Sideways
Hailey set the bag down on the crate in front of her and looked up at Jay. "This will definitely be the best birthday present I've ever received," she sighed with a content smile as she slowly inched her heels out of her pumps, ready to kick them off at any moment and run if she had to.
Jay's expression changed ever so slightly at her use of their safe word, and he squared his shoulders, getting ready to react.
"That's great," Hansen grinned, unaware of the tension building up in his counterparts as the unfamiliar man reached them and came to a stand between him and his cousin. "Can we agree on the prices that I listed on the website?"
The man had given Jay a quick once over, and now his eyes lingered on Hailey's face. She could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out where he'd seen her before.
Jay nodded, keeping his attention on Hansen and their act going for the moment. "Yeah, the price-"
"I know you," the new man spoke over him in a deep voice, his pale, blue eyes still fixed on Hailey.
"I'm sorry?" she asked, smiling innocently.
"I've seen you before," he simply stated.
Jay and Hansen looked back and forth between the two of them, confused.
"Um, okay. Maybe you've seen me dance before? At the White Rabbit or the Venus Club maybe?" Hailey suggested, trying to steer the bald man's mind towards a conclusion that he might believe and be content with.
"Maybe she's given you a lap dance before, man," Hansen spoke up, annoyed by the interruption. "Does it matter? We're trying to make a deal he-"
"She's a cop!" the man suddenly bellowed and reached behind his back.
Hailey had seen the recognition enter his face before he'd opened his mouth, and by the time the word 'cop' had crossed his lips and he reached for his gun, she had already kicked off her heels and lunged for Jay to push him behind a large crate that stood close to them.
Asher, who had been standing behind her and Jay with the driver, reacted the quickest out of all the other men and managed to grab Hailey before she could duck behind the crate too. As chaos erupted around them and the other four men drew their guns, Hailey made short work of Asher by elbowing him in the ribs and throwing her head back to smash it onto his nose. The surprise and subsequent pain caused him to release his grip on her arms enough so that she could free herself. He clawed at her, trying to get hold of her again but only managed to get his hands on the necklace which ripped off as Hailey flung herself behind the crate.
The tall and wide crate stood close to the left-hand shelf which was tightly packed with boxes, containers, and cans of paint and chemicals.
Hailey hit the ground hard behind the crate but scrambled to her feet quickly. Jay had already pushed a row of boxes out of the shelf's bottom cubby through to the next aisle, had crawled through and was just getting to his feet on the other side. He held out his hand and helped Hailey make her way through the gap too.
Behind them, they heard angry yelling, and a shot was fired off which echoed through the vast space of the warehouse. Jay kicked over a stack of containers that stood next to the gap he'd created and effectively blocked the opening so no one could follow them for the moment while Hailey's eyes frantically scanned the aisle in search for a possible escape route. She ran towards the shelf across from then and ducked through an empty compartment into the next aisle, then did the same again with the next shelf as Jay followed. They had to get as many rows of shelves between them and the men before they could move up or down the aisles and look for a way out of the warehouse.
"Door!" Jay hissed when they had reached the fourth aisle and pointed towards a door in the wall at the end of the aisle.
Hailey nodded at him and they quickly, but stealthily, moved towards the door with their backs pressed against the shelf. When they reached the end of the shelf, Jay shot a quick look around the corner into the wide walkway, and when none of the men was in sight, he motioned for Hailey to run to the door. She sprinted towards it with Jay close on her heels just as the bald man emerged from between the shelves a few rows down.
Hailey and Jay halted their sprint and took cover behind a forklift that stood in the middle of the walkway when he shot at them.
"They're here!" the man roared.
Jay dared to peek his head out from behind the forklift to find the man quickly approaching them while Hailey inspected the load on top of the palette the forklift was carrying. She ripped a hole in the plastic film wrapped around stacks of teacup-sized paint cans, pulled two cans out, and handed one to Jay and kept another one for herself. With a few quick hand gestures, she conveyed her plan to her partner, and he understood immediately. Hailey counted down from three, then threw her paint can at the concrete wall of the warehouse. It cracked open, splattering green paint all over the wall, floor and crates in the vicinity. When the man jumped at the sudden noise and movement next to him, Jay took half a step out from behind the forklift and hauled his can of paint at the man like a baseball, hitting him square in the chest at a high velocity. The man roared in pain, and the sudden impact made him drop his gun. Immediately, Hailey and Jay ran out of their cover and sprinted towards the door.
They heard multiple voices yelling behind them, and someone fired off a handful of shots which missed them by a few feet and hit a crate near the door, shattering the wood and sending splinters flying through the air.
Hailey gripped the door handle, and to her relief, the door was unlocked, but to her dismay, it didn't open up to the outside but to a barely lit staircase.
"Down," Jay decided, and he and Hailey raced down the stairs, taking multiple steps at a time.
Behind them, the door blasted open and more, deafening shots rang through the concrete staircase. One bullet ricocheted off the banisters and grazed Hailey's ankle as she hurried down the second flight of stairs. She let out a soft, pained yelp but didn't halt her movement. Jay reached the bottom of the stairs first where he found nothing but a dead end with one door. He held it open for Hailey, then closed it behind them, and when he discovered that it had a massive, iron bolt on it, he slid it shut to lock the door.
It wasn't long before they heard voices and banging on the other side. Jay turned around to find Hailey standing in the middle of the room they were in. Her eyes were wide with fear and stress. The big room had concrete floors, brick walls and was completely empty. It had only one door leading in and out which was the one they'd just come through. Sunlight was shining in through two narrow basement windows at the top of the far wall, but there were metal bars in front of them. They were trapped.
Jay's expression mirrored Hailey's as the gravity of the situation sank in. The banging on the metal door subsided and was followed by regular slamming as the men tried to kick it in. Jay pressed his back against the wall next to the door, and Hailey hurried to do the same, leaving behind bloody footprints on the smooth floor as she walked. Both of them were breathing heavily, their chests heaving from the physical exertion and the adrenaline and fear pulsing through their veins.
Jay turned his head away from the door to look at Hailey, and she stared back at him. He didn't care if he got hurt, but he couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. She could read his thoughts in his blazing, green eyes and slid her trembling hand along the wall until it reached his and they intertwined their fingers holding on to each other tightly. Regardless of what happened next, they'd face it together.
The slamming on the door stopped, and a moment later, a shot was fired off, followed by the sound of metal hitting metal and then an exclamation of pain.
"Don't shoot, you idiot!" a voice roared. "The door is too strong!"
"Open up!" the bald man yelled and someone started kicking the door again while groans of pain were audible in between the thuds.
"Stop. This is useless," Hansen spoke up, and Hailey and Jay heard the sound of metal sliding against metal. "Come on. Let's just leave them. No one will find them down here. You just shot Asher, we need to get him to a doctor."
"Is there another way in?" the man demanded to know.
"No," Hansen reassured him. "You're injured too. Let's go."
There was a short moment of silence before the man replied. "Fine," he grumbled, and one last slam sent the door rattling. "Let them rot."
Asher's groaning picked up as he was presumably being helped up the stairs, and eventually, the sounds and steps on the other side of the door faded away.
Neither Hailey nor Jay moved. Even when they were enveloped in complete silence which was only broken by their ragged breathing, they stayed where they were and silently waited for a while longer before they dared to move again and were certain that the men had left.
Reluctantly, Jay removed his hand from Hailey's and inched towards the door. He knocked on it once, then waited and listened for a reaction from the other side, but when everything stayed quiet, he took hold of the bolt and carefully slid it back. He looked back at Hailey who nodded, then pressed down on the handle and pulled on the door. It didn't move. Jay pulled harder, but the door stayed in place. Confused, he rattled the handle.
"They must have locked it from the outside," Hailey reckoned quietly.
"Damn it!" Jay exclaimed and hit the palm of his hand against the door.
"The unit should be here soon," his partner said, trying to comfort herself as much as him.
Jay sighed and closed the lock on their side of the door again before he turned around. "If they had followed us and had been able to hear us, they would already be here! Something went wrong."