Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
“Frank, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. I don’t know if the manager knew what was happening or not, but this isn’t right.”
“You’re damn right this isn’t right,” Frank told him. Hearing his own words parroted back to him underlined how worthless Roman’s words were in this situation. Anger burst through Roman that his manager had handled this situation so poorly.
“Frank, Carol wouldn’t want you to do this to this young woman. Let her go. The police will have to address your actions, but I’m involved now. Can we work on this together?”
“You want to hold a gun to her head?” Frank said with a burst of laughter.
“No, Frank. You need to let her go. She didn’t cause any of this,” Roman told him. “Look at her. She’s petrified. How would you feel if anyone had done this to Carol?”
Frank turned to glance at the young employee. She whispered, “Please. I have a baby at home with my mother.”
Roman watched a dozen expressions rush across Frank’s face, alternating from steely determination to rage to sadness. Roman stayed quiet, letting him think. After several minutes, Frank lowered his arm away from the young woman, letting her dash away. He refocused the gun on Roman.
“Thank you, Frank. Can you set the gun down as well?”
“You talk a good game but will never think of Carol or me again. You’ll go on with your fancy life and all your property.”
“That won’t happen, Frank. I can’t shield you from the police, but I am going to do what I can to help. Testify for you. Investigate why I never knew this was going on. Find out what else has been kept from me…”
“Fire your manager,” Frank suggested.
“If he was instrumental in making your difficult situation impossible, he’s gone. I won’t have my staff treating people like they’re only dollar signs.” Roman saw the detective gesturing at others and knew they were preparing to move. “Frank, you need to put that gun down now. I don’t want them to shoot you.”
Frank studied Roman’s face for a few minutes before slowly lowering the gun and setting it on a table. He backed away. An officer immediately rushed over to confiscate the weapon.
Roman’s shoulders slumped with relief. No one had gotten hurt. “Hey, don’t hurt him,” Roman said to the police officers who swarmed around Frank, who lay unresisting on the ground.
It seemed to take forever to run through his statement with the police, even though they had witnessed the entire thing. Roman kept his composure and dealt with everything.
“We’ve got this, Mr. Amato. Thank you for coming in,” Detective Parks told him as he unfastened Roman’s borrowed body armor.
“My lawyer will meet Frank at the police station,” Roman told him as he handed over his helmet and saw the detective’s eyes widen. “This should never have happened. Frank did the wrong thing and needs to pay for that.”
Detective Parks nodded and walked away. Roman didn’t watch them haul Frank through the mall. He couldn’t. Instead, Roman walked to the food-court business where the shaken hostage had returned to get her keys.
“Tell me your name,” Roman asked gently.
“Kerstin.”
“Kerstin, I’m so sorry this happened to you today. Do you need to go to the hospital? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay. The paramedics checked me out. I’m sorry. I can’t stop shivering. They said it was a reaction to….” She waved a hand toward the center of the food court, and one of her colleagues stepped closer to wrap his arm around her waist.
“I’m going to have you driven home. You’re too shaken up to drive. If you’ll leave your keys with me, I’ll have your vehicle delivered to your house within an hour,” Roman told her.
“I need to stop and get some formula,” the young employee told him, rubbing her hand over her face as if to gather herself. “I’ll be okay.”
Roman looked at the manager, who stood with his staff. “Can you get me the details of her address, the type of formula she needs, and her car information?”
“Of course, sir,” the manager said quickly.
“Kerstin, a driver is going to pick you up at the west entrance in ten minutes. Let your manager walk you there. He’ll take all the information and take care of everything. Okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.” The pure relief on the young woman’s face told him a lot.
“Will there be someone with you?”
“My mom. She’ll stay.”
“Perfect. I’m going to get the ride set up while you talk to your manager and give him your keys. I promise to have someone treat your car with care,” Roman assured her.
“You’re wonderful. Thank you. I just want to get home safely to see my son.”
An image of Coco flashed into his head. All Roman wanted was to rush home to her, but he was trapped here for a while longer. “That is the most important thing to do.”