Not in my Job Description - Avery Clavens Book 1

Chapter 23 - Showing up with a knife to a gun fight is a bad idea

The way my life had been going, I should’ve expected the situation standing in front of me. I didn’t have time to be scared, or really gather any thoughts together at all. I took a deep breath and studied my opponent. Finding any weaknesses quickly was a better use of my time than throwing a fit.

With bronze colored skin, Olaf Schwartz towered over the frightened woman in his clutches. If someone was to ask me, I wouldn’t peg Julie as a high schooler; she looked closer to my age. Olaf was dressed impeccably in a shiny gray suit. He had beady black eyes and hair that was probably black, but it was hard to tell in the limited lighting.

To me he looked like the epitome of a bad guy. I could see him tying damsels in distress on train tracks and laughing sinisterly as he waited for a train to arrive on the scene.

“Mr. Schwartz, I’ve heard so much about you in recent days,” I said, still trying to decide what options we had. I assumed Jimmy and his sister weren’t packing any weapons, so we had my three knives against his at least one gun. Odds weren’t in our favor.

That didn’t take into account whether he had backup on the way. With presumably all the law enforcement in the general vicinity gathered in one location, I didn’t think we’d see any backup for our side. The pressure of it being up to me to solve the situation weighed heavily on my shoulders.

“I see you know who I am. That can only mean you’re with some government organization, Avery. I’ve been listening to some interesting conversations tonight while we’ve been driving around. I’m sad I didn’t take over the driving duties until after you arrived at the ball.

“If I’d have thought of the idea sooner, I might have been able to warn my friends at the docks. Sadly, I’m afraid they’re going to be captured and my shipment taken away from me. I, on the other hand, refuse to be caught, so I’m going to take you three as an insurance policy,” he replied, sounding a lot surer of his plan than anything I could come up with.

“Mr. Schwartz, please just let them go. I know that isn’t something in your code, but you don’t need them. I’ll go with you as a hostage if you release the others,” I said.

I’d be going with him if he didn’t release the others, but I could at least try to take them out of the picture. Without them, Olaf couldn’t use us against each other. Plus, I’d feel a lot better in a one-on-one fight.

“Have you forgotten so soon that I’ve been listening while we’ve been driving around? Now, no one mentioned any specific skills you have, but you and that other agent talked about killing, so I figure you have some kind of experience. I think I’ll keep you all together for now. When we get to the airport, there’s a chance I’ll let you all go, but not until I’m safely on my plane out of here. Now get in the car.”

He tilted his head in the direction of the car, but didn’t make any other moves. My bull detector was pegging, so I knew he had no intention of letting us go alive. After ruining all his big plans for his guns, I expected he wanted some kind of retribution and we were more than likely going to be the first casualties.

He had the upper hand, at that moment, and even though I knew you weren’t supposed to get in the car with psychopathic killers, I didn’t see a lot of choices. I was grateful there were no other sightseers out wandering, giving him more sheep to slaughter. Moving would hopefully ensure things stayed that way.

“Okay, we’ll go with you.”

The entire time Olaf and I conversed, Jimmy hadn’t stopped staring at his sister and I wasn’t sure he’d been aware of the conversation going on around him. Much like me making it clear I was a horrible spy, it was evident he wasn’t more than a bystander roped into doing business with the Schwarz’s. I highly doubted Olaf would be rendered speechless if his sister was in the clutches of a homicidal maniac.