The Millionaires - Brad Meltzer [48]
“Charlie, listen to him!” I plead, my voice cracking.
“Finally, someone with some sense,” Gallo says, turning his gun toward me. He steps in close and shoves the barrel into my cheek. “Now I’m going to ask you again, Oliver. You know what we’re after. Just tell us where it is.”
Unable to move, I stare over Gallo’s shoulder. Behind him, Charlie’s still down on his knees, primed to explode. Scouring the room, he searches for another out. But no matter where he looks, he still sees Shep. So do I—which is why I’m not letting it happen again.
“Don’t be stupid, Oliver,” Gallo warns. “Give it up and you can walk out of here.”
“Don’t tell him squat!” Charlie shouts. “You give him a dime and he’ll leave us lying here with Shep.”
“Shut your mouth!” Gallo snaps, pointing his gun at Charlie.
Stiffening with fear, I’m completely paralyzed. Charlie slaps me awake with a look. Don’t say it, he warns. Don’t give him anything. The problem is, no matter how good my poker face is, Gallo already knows my weakness.
With a ferret’s grin and his gun still pointed at Charlie, Gallo pulls back the hammer and studies my response. “How much is he worth to you, Oliver?”
“Please don’t…!” I beg, barely able to get the words out.
Leaving nothing to chance, DeSanctis moves in behind me, his gun digging into the back of my neck.
Behind Charlie, Gallo flicks his finger against the trigger. The gun’s pointed at the back of Charlie’s head, but Gallo’s watching me. Still kneeling next to Shep’s body, Charlie cranes his neck around and fights to get my attention. My eyes glaze and a hot spasm scratches up from my throat. We both know the outcome. No matter what we give Gallo, he’s not letting us leave. Not after everything we’ve seen. Still, Charlie searches my face, looking for something… anything… to get out of here. It doesn’t come.
Stubborn to his last breath, he turns away and stares back at Shep’s broken body. But it’s not until I notice Shep’s blood seeping down through the wood in the floor that I actually see it—our one way out. Charlie has his back to me, but I spot the sudden pitch in his shoulders. He sees it too. Hunched over as if the pressure’s too much, Charlie kneels in close to Shep’s body… and carefully wedges his fingers around the edges of the loose wood plank that’s in the floor.
“You know how to save him,” Gallo warns, still focused on me. “Just tell us where the money is.” From where Gallo’s standing behind Charlie, he can’t see a thing. Three feet away, I see it all. As quickly as I can, I angle my body so DeSanctis can’t get a clear view.
“Please don’t hurt him,” I beg. “The information’s all yours—I just need to get it from the bank—I don’t have it on me.”
It’s all I can do. Keep trying to stall.
Pretending to brace himself for the gunshot, Charlie curls down even tighter—and curls his fingers around the sides of the wood. It wobbles slightly, but not enough. There’s still a nail barely holding it in place. Focused on the thin gaps between the planks, Charlie wedges his fingers in as deep as they’ll go. If he digs any deeper, his knuckles’ll bleed. He doesn’t care. He needs the leverage. With one final shove, his skin is rubbed raw. The tendons in his forearm twitch, and I can tell his fingers are wrapping around the bottom edges of the plank. Almost there—keep going, bro. He pulls as hard as he can without revealing himself. It quickly starts coming loose.
“Oliver, you’re too smart not to’ve memorized it,” Gallo warns as he takes aim at my brother. “Do better.”
Behind Gallo, Charlie turns just enough to shoot me a look. Don’t say it, he tells me. The wood’s about to give way.
“Three seconds,” Gallo says. “After that, you sweep up his brains yourself. One…”
Just give me another second, Ollie. That’s all I need.
“Two…”
Just one more second…
Gallo’s finger slips around the trigger. “Thr—”
“Please—don’t do it! If you want it, it’s in an account in An—”
Ollie, move! Charlie motions with nothing but a