Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

better than terrified. Maybe the
     rest of what Friar said about it was true, too. Jasper had to act as if it was. He
     had to act as if the girls could be saved. Somehow.
    Friar stood beside Jasper’s chair. He was a middle-size, middle-aged man, slim and
     healthy, so deeply tanned he looked Hispanic, though he wasn’t. He was a good-looking
     man who had aged well, even to the silver streaks in his dark hair. His clothes—pressed
     khakis, loafers, a royal blue cotton shirt—were expensive but not ostentatious. He
     wore a Rolex on one wrist and an earbud in one ear. He would blend in most places,
     dressed like that.
    Had he come to Hammond Middle School in those clothes to choose his victims? The school
     was in a prosperous neighborhood. He would have looked like any other parent. Older
     than some, but not enough to stand out.
    Jasper searched the gym with his eyes yet again. It was two stories high with a bank
     of windows set along one wall just under the roof. The bottom of those windows was
     about eight feet from the top of the bleachers—a distance he could leap. He could
     get out that way…if he broke the window first. If he weren’t tied up. If the gun-wielding
     thugs would both decide to go take a piss at the same time.
    Aside from the less-than-useful windows, there werethree exits. Two led to locker rooms—one for boys, one for girls. One led to the rest
     of the school. All three were impossibly distant from where Jasper and the girls sat
     in their respective spots in the middle of the shiny wooden floor.
    Lupi were fast. Jasper had some idea of how fast. He’d barely gotten away from them
     last night in spite of everything he could do to stop or slow them. For several terrible
     seconds he’d thought they were going to catch up with his damn motorcycle. But no
     one was fast enough. No one could cross that floor faster than the thugs could spray
     those girls with bullets.
    This was not going to end well.
    Friar glanced at the Rolex on his wrist. “Your brother is ten minutes late.”
    “He’ll be here.”
    “He agreed to come at eleven forty-five.” When Jasper didn’t respond, Friar gave him
     a sharp glance. “He did agree, didn’t he, Jasper?”
    “He agreed.”
    “Then it appears I need to teach him the value of punctuality. Which of these pretty
     little darlings should I use for that lesson, do you think?” Friar smiled his shark’s
     smile. “You choose. Shall I use the little redhead or one of the pretty señoritas?”
    “Rule will be here,” Jasper said forcefully.
    “Oh, I’m sure, I’m sure. But he isn’t here on time. He’s violated our agreement already.
     Choose one for my little lesson.”
    “I’m not playing your games.”
    “Of course you will. If you don’t, I’ll hurt all five of them.”
    Jasper swallowed. There was no answer, no possible response, he could give.
    “Choices, choices,” Friar said amiably. “I’ll just get started now to encourage you
     to make up your mind. We’ll call your brother in a moment and let him listen in.”
     He knelt beside the nearest girl. The redhead. She wore a thin gold charm bracelet
     on one wrist. Her hair was short andcurly. One of her shoes had come untied. She looked about ten.
    The spell might keep her from remembering what had been done to her. It wouldn’t keep
     her from hurting.
    “Hurt me instead,” Jasper said quickly. “I’ll scream, if you like. Sob. Make all kinds
     of noise and beg Rule to hurry. That’s better because he’ll know it’s happening right
     now. He might think that—that whatever sounds the girl makes is from a movie or something.”
    “That’s clever,” Friar said approvingly. “I like to reward cleverness, so I’ll let
     you have it your way this time. I think you should use your own phone to call him.”
     Friar took Jasper’s phone out of his pocket.
    “I’m kind of tied up at the moment.”
    “Do you enjoy those action shows where the hero wisecracks while the villain does
     dreadful things to him? I can’t say I do. So unrealistic. Not just the fight scenes—one
     makes exceptions for that sort of thing—but those ridiculous heroes. No one behaves
     that way in such situations. You can trust me on that,” he added. “I’ve had experience
     with would-be heroes. They don’t make jokes for long.”
    “The villains aren’t realistic, either, are they?” Jasper said. “Always so one-dimensional.
     Greedy bastards with small minds and