The guy stood behind Dax and Dax felt the barrel of the gun against his skull. “Do it.” Although Dax had visions of taking this douche out and fighting him, he really didn’t want another accidental shot to go off while the gun was aimed at his head. He picked up the tape and did his best wrapping it around each of the employees’ ankles. “Okay?” Dax sneered at the guy. “Where do you think they’re going? Huh?” “Shut up. Take that black suitcase. There.” The man pointed to a large leather case that Lenny had used previously to transport jewelry. “Take it!” Using his good arm, Dax reached for the empty case and cringed at the pain in his shoulder. “Out.” The man stepped back and pointed to the shop. Dax ground his teeth as he walked by the jerk, thinking about head-butting him, but this moron would probably kill him, even if it was accidentally. There was no doubt in Dax’s mind this man was out of his element and already in over his head. The two of them were now alone in the showroom. The guy pointed with his gun to the windows. “Pull down the metal gates.” “You don’t ask much.” After placing the black bag on a counter, Dax held his wound and walked to the window. “You make a face or yell for help, you’re dead.” “Look, buddy. If you think I want to die for diamonds, think again.” Dax cringed as he pulled down the metal gates, which hid the store’s interior. “Now the door.” Dax turned to look at him. “How are you planning to get out?” “You think I don’t know there’s a backdoor? Shut the fucking thing!” “Fine. You did your homework. Good for you.” Dax closed the metal door and now from the street, no one could see in. “Shut off the interior lights. All but that one.” Dax looked at the guy. He really had cased the place, done his homework. Dax made his way to a wall switchbox and began shutting the lights, making it appear as if this was a normal working day and the shop was closed. The leather case was tossed near Dax. “Fill it. And I want all the big shit; the diamonds and watches. Don’t fuck me up with the cheap crap.” “I got news for ya, bud, nothing in here is cheap.” Dax picked up the bag and started filling it. “So? Are you working alone?” “Shut up.” “Guess so. I doubt with the ego on you, anyone could stand you.” “I said shut up!” “I’m shutting up.” Dax exhaled and kept trying to fill the bag, going from case to case. He stopped and looked at his shoulder. Thankfully the bleeding was letting up. “Keep moving.” “I am! Jesus! You fucking put a bullet into my shoulder. I’m doing the best I can.” Dax moved on to the watches. He held one up. “Ya see this one?” He showed him an eighteen carat solid gold Rolex covered in diamonds. “Nearly a hundred grand.” “Put it in the bag.” “A hundred grand.” Dax looked at the watch. “Who the fuck makes that much fucking money that they can buy this?” He tossed it into the bag. “Here’s the lady’s version. Aww, only eighty-thousand. Poor thing.” The man looked at his leg for a moment then kept pointing the gun at Dax. “Guess I’m a lousy shot, huh?” Dax continued to put the watches into the bag. “All those years of practice, and I wing you. Whoopee.” “The diamonds.” The man used his gun to point. “Of course!” Dax carried the case to the next counter. “See these?” He held up large canary yellow diamond earrings. “Some woman bought a pair just like it today. Can you imagine spending a hundred grand? On these?” He held them next to his ears. “What a fucking waste.” Dax tossed the diamonds into the bag. “I hope you got a good place to fence these. I have no doubt you do.” “Why are you talking to me?” Dax smiled wryly. “Sorry. I’m bored. I don’t have any friends.” “Just keep going.” Dax held up his hand. “I’m doing the best I can. You do realize I have a bullet wound in my shoulder.” “It’s your fault. I wasn’t going to shoot anyone. You took the first shot.” “You were scaring the hell out of Cali. What did you think I was going to do? Let you hurt her?” Dax tossed more diamond rings into the bag. “Is she your girlfriend?” Dax narrowed his eyes at the man. “No. She’s a kid.” “Keep going.” The man pointed the gun at the next case. Dax placed the black bag on it and filled it. “I wish you didn’t involve her. Ya know? She’s probably traumatized.” “She’ll get over it.” “How do you know?” Dax met his gaze and could see his eyes through the sunglasses. “No mask? Are you really that stupid? You do realize this place has security cameras.” The man looked up. He aimed his gun and shot the camera, unloading three rounds into it. Dax flinched at the noise. “Not bad. You can hit a barn wall. Are you keeping track of your bullets? Like Dirty Harry?” “You talk too much. Keep going.” Dax continued to fill the large black bag. “So, you’ll be rich. What then? Huh? Tahiti? The Cayman Islands?” Dax held up a bracelet. “Do you want this one? It’s called a tennis bracelet. You wanna know why?” “No.” The man pointed to the bag with the gun. Dax tossed it in. “Chris Evert was in the U.S. Open. When she realized her diamond bracelet came off. She had them stop the game and wait while she looked for it.” Dax smirked. “But that was in the eighties. Were you even born?” “I was born in the eighties. So were you, weren’t you?” “Me?” Dax laughed. “I was ten. My mom and dad thought it was funny. I guess it stuck with me.” He threw more jewelry into the bag. Dax held it up. “More? Gonna clean them out?” “What do you care?” “I guess I don’t. It’s probably insured. I’m just jealous you get the loot.” ~ Corey watched this man in uniform as he complied with his directions. “Why are you jealous? Are you broke?” The man in uniformed laughed sadly. “Oh, you have no idea.” Corey took a quick look in the back room. All three hostages were sitting still, looking alarmed when he poked his head in. He said, “Just keep cool and you’ll all be fine.” He looked back at the man in uniform. “That girl. She called you DJ.” “What about it.” The man continued going from case to case, dumping gold into it. “Is that your name?” He got a strange look from the guy. “Are we friends now?” “No.” “Are you going to tell me your name?” DJ laughed and said, “Gee, how about after this, we go out to dinner?” “All right. Don’t get stupid.” Corey looked at his leg but other than a dull ache, it seemed to have stopped bleeding. “Maybe I’m serious. After you cash in all this crap, I’ll be asking you for a loan.” Corey looked at the man’s hand and didn’t see a wedding ring. “Why? Do you have debts?” DJ looked at him like he was crazy. “Do I have debts?” “Yeah.” “Buddy, you don’t wanna know.”
