“The stone is blocking cell signal,” he said.
“Surely Mannie is on the way,” Gertie said.
“There are two shooters,” I said. “The first shot was probably fired at Mannie.”
Little nodded. “I think it hit him in the leg. I saw him go down and was trying to locate the shooter when the second shot came. No way the same person fired both shots. There’s no line of sight for both of them.”
“What do we do?” Ida Belle said.
I blew out a breath. With only one way out of the crypt, we were sitting ducks. The shooters could simply position themselves at the edge of a couple of nearby crypts and pick us off when we stepped outside. But on the flip side, no one could enter the crypt without us taking them out. It was officially a standoff.
“Get as close to the front wall as possible,” I said. “Two on each side, next to each other. If someone steps in, identify and open fire if it’s not one of our party. Do not shift your position to the side or you risk shooting the person next to you.”
If Little was surprised by my handing out orders like a military commando, he didn’t show it. I grabbed the bag and moved to the side next to Gertie and put the bag in front of her. “Give me your gun and check the inside pocket,” I said.
Gertie handed me her pistol and crouched down to unzip the pocket. She dug around for a bit, then pulled out a USB. “Pay dirt,” she said. “Maybe they were telling the truth.”
“Maybe,” I said.
I handed her gun back to her and took the USB, tucking it in my jeans pocket. Assuming it was the Seal brothers outside, maybe they would be happy to take the money and leave, thinking the evidence was still inside the bag. All we needed was a small window of opportunity to escape the crypt.
“We know you’re inside,” John Seal’s voice sounded outside the crypt. “If you come out, we’ll shoot. We’ve already shot one of your guys.”
Little’s jaw clenched and I knew he was worried about Mannie. So was I, but the quickest way to help him was to get out of here alive and get help.
I stepped to the edge of the crypt door. “What do you want?” I asked.
“Throw the money outside and to the left of crypt,” John said. “Lean just far enough out to toss it. If we see a gun, we open fire.”
“What if there hadn’t been any money?” Gertie asked.
“Then we’d have been in a world of hurt,” I said, and reached over to zip up the bag.
Gertie’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to give it to them, are you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I said. “The only way they’re leaving is with this bag. If they leave without engaging, we can get out of here and get help for Mannie. Otherwise it’s a shoot-out, and I don’t like our odds.”
I picked up the bag and stood at the edge of the doorway. Little moved up beside me, his pistol in the ready position.
“I’m about to step into the doorway to throw the bag,” I yelled as I shoved my pistol in my waistband.
“Just do what I said,” John said, “and no one else gets hurt.”
Praying he was telling the truth, I stepped into the doorway and swung the duffel bag back, then slung it out of the crypt as far as I could. The instant the bag left my hand, I ducked back inside the crypt and pulled my pistol out.
A couple seconds later, I heard footsteps outside the crypt, then they grew more faint. I counted to ten and listened again, but this time, it was silent.
“Do you think they’re gone?” Ida Belle asked.
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I pulled my gun up to ready position and swung around the doorway, ready to fire. I scanned the aisle and the nearby crypts but didn’t see any sign of movement. The duffel bag was gone and not even so much as a leaf stirred in the heat.
I turned around and looked at them. “Go find Mannie and get him help.”
“Where are you going?” Gertie asked.
“After the Seal brothers,” I said.
“Why?” Gertie asked. “You have the USB.”
I nodded. “And when they don’t find any evidence in that bag, they might come looking for it. I really don’t want to play hide-and-seek with them any longer.”
“I’m coming with you,” Ida Belle said.
“Fine,” I said, “but Gertie, you go with Little. He might need help.”
I took off in the direction I’d heard the footsteps go, Ida Belle right behind. A couple crypts away from where I’d thrown the duffel bag, I spotted a shoe print in the dirt.
“This way,” I said, and slipped in between the crypts to move to another row. When I got to the end of the crypt, I paused and peered around it. About fifty yards away, at the end of the row, I saw John Seal round the corner with the duffel bag.
“I see him,” I said. “Come on.”
I took off at a dead run for the end of the row and could hear Ida Belle behind me. When I got to the end of the row, I slid to a stop and looked around the last crypt as Ida Belle ran up beside me.
“The fence runs as far as I can see,” I said, “but there’s a gate about twenty yards up. I don’t see him anywhere, so I’m guessing that’s where he went, but there’s a tall hedge blocking my view of what’s on the other side of the fence.”
Ida Belle nodded. “What about Bart?”
“No sign of him, but he might be ahead. Keep your eyes and ears open.”
I slipped around the crypt and hurried to the gate. I looked over the gate and saw a small parking lot and the Seal brothers standing next to what was likely another stolen car. Two other cars occupied the lot but both were empty. I took all of this in with a single glance and whirled back around behind the hedge, signaling Ida Belle next to me.
“They’re about twenty feet away,” I said. “It’s a parking lot.”
“You got the money?” Bart said.
I heard the zipper on the duffel and a couple seconds later, John said, “Yeah, it’s here.”
“How much?” Bart asked.
“Enough to get out of here,” John said. “It has to be.”
“What about the evidence?” Bart asked.
“I don’t know,” John said. “We’ll look later. It doesn’t matter anymore. There’s too many people after us and if we don’t get out of here, we’re going right back to prison because they’ll pin Willie and Hot Rod on us.”
I looked at Ida Belle and lifted one eyebrow. She knew exactly what I was asking. If the Seal brothers were going to take the money and run, maybe we just let them go. I didn’t think they’d killed Willie or attacked Hot Rod, and we were safer if they left. I could find a way to get the evidence to the proper authorities, and if a story broke, maybe they’d see it on television and wouldn’t come back. If not, maybe the threat of the Heberts looking for them would be enough. They had shot Mannie.
Which was a whole other problem.
“What about Big?” I whispered.
“You’re a librarian. I’m a senior citizen. They got away.”