Hold On

Chapter 33

"You've just killed your partner."

Juliet froze when she heard that. Those few words made her body go numb to such a great extent that she couldn't move neither her legs nor her hands. It seemed like the whole world suddenly stopped, everything became deathly quiet as if it was waiting for something terrible to happen and she was just about to find out what that thing would be.

"Well, Mr. Magnum, it was really nice to meet you but unfortunately, it's time to say goodbye. Guys, you know what to do." Burns said.

Higgins was watching with pure terror as the two men standing by Thomas looked at each other and smiled wickedly.

The PI was trying to stand up but didn't have the chance to do it as he received a powerful blow to his jaw which sent him back to the floor with a loud thud. And it was just the beginning as the other man kicked him in the ribs. That was even more painful and for a moment there, Thomas could swear he saw hundreds of stars in his vision. With every breath he took, he felt excruciating pain in his rib cage that's why he tried to take shallow breaths and hoped that in case some of his ribs were fractured, and there was a high probability of it, it wouldn't puncture his lungs. If that happened, he wouldn't have much of a chance to survive or help his partner.

Thomas was ready to take another blow and he braced for it but surprisingly, it never came. Suddenly, the door burst open and a young man, who was evidently out of breath, stormed inside.

"Boss! Boss!" He shouted, startling everyone in the room.

"What the hell? Don't you see I'm quite busy here? I said loud and clear that I don't want to be disturbed." Burns growled menacingly.

The young man froze and his face became even more terrified. He opened his mouth, evidently trying to say something but nothing came out.

"Well?" Burns snapped. "What is it? I don't have all day. What was so important that you dared to come here?"

For a few more seconds the man just stood there, trying to gather his thoughts and decide how to tell his boss the bad news. Finally, he won the battle with his fears. He looked around the room briefly and noticed Magnum on the floor and Higgins being held with her hands behind her back. He wasn't sure whether he should reveal the information in front of the prisoners so just in case, he came closer to Burns and whispered it in his ear.

Juliet noticed that after hearing the news, Peter's face became almost white.

"What?! Are you sure?" He asked the young man and he sounded really surprised.

"Yes, it's true." Came the answer.

For a moment there, Burns seemingly didn't know what to do. All his men in the room held their breaths, waiting for their boss' decision. It didn't take him a lot of time though to decide what to do in this situation.

"Change of plans, I'm afraid, my dear." He told Juliet and then turned to Thomas.

"You're lucky, Mr. Magnum. Unfortunately, we'll have to postpone our meeting. Hopefully, you won't have to wait long."

"Take him downstairs and lock him in the basement." Burns ordered his two men who immediately grabbed the PI from the floor.

Magnum managed to cast a look at his partner before he was taken away. It was evident that he was in bad shape – there was blood and red bruising on his face and his walking seemed very heavy. Juliet could only imagine how much pain he was in when it came to his ribs. She swallowed hard. She had to admit that things were looking pretty bad. She wondered what news made Peter change everything so suddenly.

Meanwhile, Thomas was walking slowly down a long hall. "Walking" was a strong word – after being beaten, it was quite hard for him to move so he rather dragged his feet. However, he was doing it too slowly for those two tall men who were guarding him so they pushed him time and again until they got to the basement. They stopped in front of a solid-looking metal door.