Whether or not the Canadian opposition parties voted to bring down the Conservative government last week would decide whether or not Mickey and Annie would be able to come to Luke’s rescue. Since the opposition parties did not defeat the government, Luke has been taken prisoner and his crew will not be able to save him.
***
For a minute Luke thought Annie had hit him in the skull with a flying rum bottle. Instinctively he made to move his hand to his injured head but found himself unable to do so. Through the cobwebs Luke realized he was sitting on a chair with his hands and feet bound.
Luke opened his eyes slowly and regretted the decision immediately. The room was dim but the one lamp on a steel case in the corner was enough light to make Luke’s head pound with renewed vigour. In front of Luke sat a man on another metal chair. He wasn’t tied up. That didn’t bode well for Luke. Though his vision was still blurry, Luke didn’t think he recognized him.
“Are you ready to talk?” said the man, his voice coming from what seemed to be the end of a large tunnel. Luke cringed and shut his eyes; the pain in his head escalating. “Where is she?” the man continued.
Luke opened his eyes again and attempted to speak. His mouth tasted like blood. Before his brain could formulate the words “what the hell are you talking about?” a man stepped from the shadows and clubbed Luke across the face with the back of his hand. Spots danced in Luke’s vision and the chair he was on teetered from the blow. Now his mouth really tasted like blood. He was in rougher shape than he thought if he hadn’t noticed the goon in the corner.
“You answer when the Governor asks you a question,” said the muscular soldier as he towered over Luke’s chair. Luke managed to grimace and give a nod that he hoped would satisfy the meathead for the time being. He punched harder than Annie, and that was saying a lot.
“That will do, Bryce,” said the Governor, dismissing the soldier back to the corner. Luke tongued a back molar that Bryce had knocked loose. “Play time is over, Haggert. You kidnapped my daughter and if a single hair on Gwendle’s head has been harmed, you will have more than Bryce to deal with.”
Pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. A Governor with a daughter named Gwendle... Governor Bonds... No, wait, that wasn’t it. Baines. Governor Jonathan Baines. Luke was being interrogated by Governor Jonathan Baines. Well, that just didn’t make any sen—
Before Luke could finish his thought, he was sent sprawling to the floor as Bryce delivered yet another backhand to the face. Coming back to his senses, Luke opened his eyes and saw his tooth a couple feet away from him. Bryce grabbed Luke by the shirt and lifted him and the chair back upright.
“I’m not a cruel man, Haggert,” said Governor Baines. Luke could barely hear him from the pounding in his head and ringing in his ears. “So I’ll give you a choice. You start talking to me or I hand you over to the Cobbler.”
Luke heard Bryce chuckle in the corner. The Cobbler. Luke knew the name. He was a freelance torture artist that Luke thought the military had locked up and thrown away the key. No one knew for sure how "the Cobbler" got his nickname, but some people believed it was because his favourite technique was hammering nails into the bottom of his victims’ feet.
What Governor Baines didn’t realize, however, was that Luke had known the Cobbler before he was a legend. He had known him when he was just Casper Pitt, a two-bit member of a little-known crew called the Pocket-change Gang.
Of course, Luke had kicked him out of the gang when Casper started getting a little nuts. In the last heist they pulled together, Casper ended up dragging the town Sherriff through the streets tied to the back of a truck.
They didn’t part ways on the best of terms but the Cobbler may be the closest thing to a friend Luke had at that moment and perhaps the only chance of getting out alive. On the other hand, the idea of having hot nails driven into Luke’s feet wasn’t all that appealing.
Choice
What should Luke do?
Option A – Stay and start talking to Governor Baines and hope Bryce doesn’t knock any more teeth out. The more Luke talks to Baines to closer he can come to figuring out what’s going on and how Jack Holley is involved.
Option B – Opt for being interrogated by the Cobbler and hope he doesn’t end up with nails in his feet. The Cobbler may be a deranged lunatic but his history with Luke could be his only chance to escape.
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