The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 18: Pistol Whipped

I couldn't drag on with the charade any longer. "No, Rockie, I am not who I said I was. I'm a cop. My real name is Daniel Healy." I lied again.

"You're a cop? What about the medicine? What about Jacob Scholtz?" Rockie had a lot of questions.

"Jacob Scholtz is fine. He's here with me, in room 637. Bring me my bags and you can see for yourself."

"I don't know. This sounds shady."

"Two hundred dollars!"

"But,.." Rockie began to argue.

"Three hundred and that's my final offer Rockie."

After a long pause, Rockie agreed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do." Three hundred proved to be the magic number.

"Okay, good. Oh and Rockie, one more thing."

"What's that?"

"Bring me some food! I'm starving."

Rockie didn't acknowledge my request and hung up.

Once again, we played the waiting game. Mark stood by the window, peering out, beyond the hotel parking lot, where our freedom awaited. He was quiet, surely filled with grim thoughts, thoughts that would torment any other man, but not Mark. Mark is a rock when he needed to be. Negative thoughts bounced off his brain, like bullets off of Superman. He is a problem solver; assess the situation, devise a plan and execute. Accept nothing less than total victory. Marks military life had opened his mind to these thoughts. The desperation of our circumstances had caused Marks instincts to take over.

I, on the other hand, had to keep myself occupied so I didn't go crazy thinking of all the bad things that could happen to us. I returned to the hand cuffs. Picking up the hanger, I felt I was wasting my time, fighting an already lost battle. The hand cuffs had already won the war.

I had some fight left in me. I took Jacob's wrist in my left hand, took long deep breathes and began to once again pick at the lock.

About twenty minutes passed, it seemed like an hour. I tried and tried, but it was just no use. Mark hadn't budged from his position at the window. I took a break from the tedious task of lock picking.

"You okay over there?" I asked Mark from across the room.

He looked to me and smiled, "I'm good, just thinking."

Being trapped in a hotel room didn't leave your mind many other things to do. "Mark, are we going to die today?" I don't know why I asked my brother that.

"Do you want to die today?" He answered my question with a question.

"No!"

"Ok, then that's your answer."

Not the response I was looking for, but, I understood why he answered, the way he did. Keeping a positive mind set when dealing with the unknown is important. Somehow, your subconscious thoughts play a role in your fate. If you think bad things, you are bound to get bad things. The opposite is true as well. If I could believe in my heart and mind, then everything would work out in the end.

November 27th 2005, 1:26pm

There was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Mark didn't dare open the door.

"Room service." The familiar voice confirmed, it was Rockie.

I told Mark, "Open the door."

Mark was still cautious, "Are you alone?"