Truth or Lies?, A. Gomez [reading an ebook .TXT] 📗

They were muttering something to each other in Chinese. The driver, Tony, looked in his rearview mirror at me. “You ask too many question.”

“Well, it is what I do for a living,” I said. “How about this, let’s make a bet. If I can guess who will be at the house then you have to tell me where the house is.” I eyed them, hoping they would take the bait. “Of course, if I can’t guess then you win and I stay quiet for the rest of the ride to… wherever. Deal?”

They looked at each other and both let out a snort. Frank shook his head. They didn’t answer. I looked down at Betty Lou, stroked her hair and stealthily glanced at my phone to make sure Josh was still on the line. He was. I tried a different tactic.

“I see, so you two are a couple of pussies,” I declared, stooping to their level. “Y’all are afraid of losing to a girl. You’re right to be afraid of losing to me. I was able to slow Frank down, pretty good, and I could’ve killed your other friend back there when I shot him but I decided not to.” My heart was pounding at my audacity. I was either going to get them so enraged by my smart mouth they would kill me or they’d take the bet to prove to themselves they were better than me.

Frank started yelling something in Chinese, pulled my gun out and aimed it at my head. “Shut up, bitch! I kill you with your gun!”

Tony grabbed the barrel of the gun, yelling at Frank and shoved it downward away from me. I gave Frank a sardonic grin. “That’s right, Frank, listen to your babysitter.”

“Shut up, girl! You have a big mouth,” Tony shouted.

“Maybe,” I retorted, “but that doesn’t negate the fact that y’all are afraid of a girl beating you on a bet.”

They were talking rapidly with one another. It seemed they were discussing it. Please take the bet, please take the bet, I chanted in my head, holding my breath and praying I didn’t get caught with my phone. They weren’t smart enough to take my purse away from me or even check the contents so I was hoping they were just as dumb at this game to let something slip.

“Guess!” Frank shouted.

“Awesome! So, we’re going to play,” I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice light and even. “Now remember, if I guess correctly, you have to tell me where the house is.”

“Whatever.” Frank sounded perturbed, “Just guess so you can shut-up!”

I cleared my throat. “So, as I said before, we’re going to a house and we’re heading east.” I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and continued, “At this house we’re going to, there are a lot of girls. A lot of young girls.” I saw them visibly stiffen but they didn’t react. “At this house there’s also a woman named Debbie Danhour. Debbie takes care of the girls.” My eyes were darting between Tony and Frank. Their expressions were unreadable; however, I was only able to see their profiles. “There’s also another Asian man there keeping watch. I don’t know his name, though,” I said.

Everyone was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Frank turned to glare at me, Tony looked at Frank out of the corner of his eye.

“You cheat, Dr. Langley,” Frank said flatly. “Your doctor boyfriend tell you all this because Ginger friends with Debbie.” He paused, taking my gun out once more and aiming it at me. “I kill you for cheating.”

Tony pulled the car over and put it in park. He was shouting at Frank in Chinese and grabbing the gun by the barrel, shoving it down and away from me. The two men were yelling so loud they startled Betty Lou awake. I looked at her and put my finger to my lips for her to be quiet. She nodded and kept her head on my lap.

“I’m right, aren’t’ I?” I yelled so they could hear me.

“No, Dr. Langley, you only fifty percent right,” Tony answered. “We head north not east, but you are right about girls.” He turned to Frank and took my gun away from him and placed it under the waistband of his pants.

“Hey,” I griped, “What about the bet we made? You owe me an answer as to where this house is. I got more than you care to admit right or else Frank, here, wouldn’t have gotten so angry.”

“We go sixteen miles north of the city,” Tony said, flatly. “Frank is stupid. He don’t see you try to trick us for information. You get no more information.” And he got back on the road.

I sighed. Well, at least I got them to say what direction we were headed and how many miles out of Chicago. I just hoped it was the truth. Betty Lou started tugging on my pants trying to get my attention. I looked down at her and she was trying to talk to me with her hands. She held her hands as if she was gripping a steering wheel and then mouthed the words, “talk about the car,” then pointed to my phone. She was brilliant! I winked at her and smiled.

“So, this is a super sweet ride you have, Tony. What is this a two-door Dodge Charger?” I looked at Betty Lou and she gave me a thumbs up. “I love the color too, bright yellow with a black stripe down the center. It sounds like you souped it up, too.”

Tony eyed me from his mirror, giving nothing away. I kept talking.

“What did you do to it?” I asked. “Did you punch out your cat?”

They glanced at each other and then to me. Are they surprised I can speak car? I