Soul Hostage Read Free

can make a huge killing.” 
    Joey grinned broadly but without warmth.  “Um, ‘a place where we can make a huge killing’?  I ain’t real sure ‘bout this we part, but you got my attention.  I wanna hear exactly what yer talkin’ about.”
    I took a few steps in their direction.  “Joey, you can’t be seriously thinking about what some old drunk is saying.” 
    Still grinning, he looked at me and said, “Thomas, I am shocked at yer lack of respect for yer elders.  I just wanna hear what mister … uh …”
    “Stoaffer.  My name is Louis Stoaffer.”  His whole body straightened with pride at the sound of his own name.
    “Okay, Mr. Stoaffer, let’s hear yer story.”          Joey’s voice suddenly had a tone of genuine concern    and interest.
    “Joey, we don’t have time for this.” I could see the start of something bad.  “Let’s just grab the money from the register and get the hell out of here.”
    “Uh … Thomas is it?”  The old guy, Louis Stoaffer, turned his unnaturally bright blue eyes on me.  “Thomas, if you just allow me a few minutes of your time, I am certain that you will find it worth your while.”
    I felt like this Stoaffer guy had changed right before my eyes. Seconds earlier he had been a barely coherent crazy old drunk with some kind of disturbing glow about him, and now he was coming off like someone who could be our key to the big time.  Of course, I was not ready to accept the idea.
    Joey was standing there with a big grin on his face.  I just started shaking my head.
    “So whadda yuh think?” He looked at me, and I knew he had already made up his mind.
    “I think you’ve already decided to follow a crazy old drunk on some wild goose chase.”
    “So whadda yuh think?”  Joey repeated with a wider grin.  “It ain’t like we got lotsa great ideas.”  
    He actually seemed to be enjoying the whole thing.  It must have been boyish enthusiasm for adventure or something.  It kind of made you forget that he had just beaten a man to death with a bag of coins.
    I glanced over at Louis Stoaffer.  He was no longer shaking like some speed freak.  If anything, he now seemed to be relaxed.  And the strangest thing was his face that had been pale and pockmarked now looked a lot more normal.  Any further consideration of the old guy’s change in appearance was pushed aside by a noise from our audience of hostages. 
    “Excuse me, gentlemen, but…” The businessman, who had been looking impatient at being delayed, was now walking toward us. 
    Before the man had taken more than three steps, Joey whipped around, raised the gun, and fired a bullet into the place where there had been a nose.  His body stayed upright for a few seconds.  Then his knees gave way and the body tumbled forward.
    All of this happened so quickly that the room was absolutely silent for a few seconds as the body twitched on the floor.  Then a scream from the young mother broke through.  Her scream was from being scared by the sound of the gun not from seeing what had happened. Luckily, an aisle full of bread and cookies blocked the view of the hostages. The last thing we needed was for the group to get hysterical.
    Right then I realized that Joey’s plan was to kill all of these people before we left the store. That actually made sense.  They had seen us very clearly and could give the police good descriptions.  Logically, killing them would be the way to go.  But I wasn’t here to kill people.  I could justify robbery, burglary, mugging, extortion, and a whole lot of other stuff.  But murder was different. 
    “Okay, if you think listening to some crazy old drunk is going to pay off, I’ll tag along.”  I said quickly to Joey.  My words were to distract him rather than show any true optimism about the plan of action.
    Before anyone else had a chance to speak, Louis Stoaffer cleared his throat and announced enthusiastically, “Great!  It’s settled then.