Experiment X-One-Six

Chapter One

Chapter One

Gina stared through her reflection in the front window of the bookstore to the people outside. People who had more sense than to be stuck inside when it was a summer day made for a trip to the beach. She sighed. She’d been ready to head to the beach with friends. Then her sister had rung. The girl rostered to work today had called in sick.

Yeah, right. Probably sick of being inside and dying for a day at the beach. Too bad she’d made plans. According to her parents, family stuck together. So she was stuck working in the bookstore instead of going to the beach.

“Gina? You going to daydream all day or are you actually going to earn the money I’m paying you?”

Gina turned to face her oldest sister. Leona was twenty-six and had the same olive skin as Gina and her twenty-two-year-old sister Renata. The straight black hair, which all three sisters had inherited, was worn short to bob around Leona’s face. Gina, like Renata, preferred hers long, all one length and pulled back into a ponytail, leaving her forehead visible. She stared into the dark brown eyes of her sister, identical to her own, and sighed again. It was the last week of the school holidays. Could they blame her for being annoyed she had to work? Didn’t they care she had plans of her own?

“It’s not like we’ve got any customers in here at the moment. Or anything that needs doing.” Gina’s gesture swept the store. The aisles were empty of people, the books on the timber shelves neatly arranged and the beige carpet was clean.

“Then you won’t find it too taxing to take care of things while I dash out to the loo.”

Gina shrugged. “Whatever.”

Leona stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed. “I can’t wait until you’re past these drama years.”

Gina managed not to fling a reply at her sister’s back. Only because she was looking forward to a few minutes by herself. She clearly remembered what her sister had been like as a teenager and she certainly hadn’t been mellow.

Leaning her elbows on the counter near the cash register, she went back to gazing wistfully outside. Less than one week and she’d be in year twelve. There wouldn’t be much time for going to the beach then. Her last year of school and she didn’t have a clue what she was going to do with the rest of her life. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to take Nonna’s advice. She wasn’t about to find a nice Italian boy and settle down. No way. Nonna was so last century. She wouldn’t be seventeen for another three days. Weddings were a long way off, if ever. Look what had happened to Leona. She used to be fun, now she sounded like their mum.

She straightened as the door swung open and a boy walked in. He blinked as his eyes became accustomed to the dimness of the store. He was tall and slim and his brown hair had been tossed carelessly about by the breeze outside. When his gaze landed on her he smiled, losing the slightly lost look he’d worn.

Gina couldn’t help admiring his smile as he strode towards the counter and his smile became a grin. “Hi. Can I help you?” Her own lips curved into a smile. That wasn’t all that was worth admiring. Maybe the day wouldn’t be a waste after all. She wondered if Leona would go mad at her if she asked him for his number.

“I hope so.” He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his jeans’ pocket. “One of my mates swears I have to read this book.” He glanced down as his fingers smoothed the creases from the paper.

Gina opened her mouth to comment on how blue his eyes were then quickly closed it as she reminded herself she wasn’t amongst her large, noisy and vocal family right now. She reached for the piece of paper instead. “Let me see.”

Before she had a chance to look, the door burst open again and another boy strode in. Gina nearly groaned as she recognised him. All round athlete, overly sure of himself, in your face and didn’t know the meaning of the word no, Connor Davis. Dark brown hair always perfectly styled, square jaw line and a body that most of the girls at school obsessed about. You’d think someone who was kept back in primary school would have been tormented, but not Connor. Everybody loved him. Which was part of the reason she avoided him. People like that expected others to fawn over them and she wasn’t very good at hero worship. She tended to say the wrong thing and often struggled to be tactful. Like right now. She was pretty certain her sister would get mad if she told Connor to come back later.

“Gina.” Connor leaned on the counter, ignoring the other boy already there.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment.” Gina made her voice as frosty as possible and turned pointedly back to her first customer.

“Come on, Gina. I’m running late. I need to pick up a book for Mum. It’s her birthday tomorrow.” Connor reached out, resting his hand on her arm.

Gina looked pointedly at where his hand continued to rest on her. “I will be with you in a minute, Connor.” She made her words slower and more precise.

Connor chuckled and, removing his hand, turned to the other boy. “You don’t mind do you, mate? I’m in a bit of a hurry.” He turned back to Gina before the boy had a chance to speak. “I don’t care what you pick out for Mum. She’s into true crime. Something not long out so she’s less likely to have read it.”

Gina opened her mouth to tell Connor to wait, but the front door swung open and her gaze was drawn to a man in a crumpled suit. As if she didn’t have enough customers already in the store. Knowing her sister, she’d probably run into one of her friends and was chatting away instead of hurrying back, thinking the day had remained quiet.

Both boys turned to see who had entered the store and the three of them stared at the man who staggered in. His hair was thinning and his forehead was beaded with sweat, his face flushed. He glanced around the store and took several steps towards them. The door swung shut behind him and he drew a g*n from the pocket of his jacket.

“Stay calm. I don’t want to hurt anyone. You, girl. Is there another way out of here?”

Gina’s mouth remained open and she could only nod. The piece of paper slipped from her fingers and drifted to the counter as she struggled to grasp what was happening. It was all too surreal.

“Lead the way then. All of you. And put your hands on your heads. No sudden movements.” The man gestured to each of them with the g*n.

They put their hands on their heads and Gina led the way to the storeroom in a daze. She was surprised at how hard her body trembled. Each step an effort. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Things like this didn’t happen to ordinary people like her. Her family had lived in Brisbane for decades. Ever since Nonna and Nonno had come out from Italy. And nothing like this had ever happened to any of them.

“Hurry up, girl. If another person comes into the shop, I’m shooting them.”

Gina went light headed and stumbled forward quickly. Don’t come back. Don’t come back. Stay away, Leona. She chanted the words over and over in her mind as her trembling fingers opened the door at the back of the store and she stepped inside the book-strewn room. She slid through the towers of books and boxes and opened the rear door.

“Outside. All of you. Put your hands down first. But keep them in sight. And remember, even if you can’t see it, I’ve got my g*n pointed at you.” The man slid the g*n into his jacket pocket.

Gina blinked rapidly as she stepped outside. She looked at the short shadow she cast on the bitumen of the car park and wondered what her sister would think when she returned to find her missing.

“Any of you have a car here?”

“I do.” Connor’s voice was almost a squeak. He cleared his throat and shot a hasty look towards Gina.

She almost shook her head, unable to believe he was worrying about his image at a time like this. Then her gaze returned to the gunman and she swallowed hard. She wasn’t seventeen yet. Three more days. She wanted to live to see her seventeenth birthday. This wasn’t right. Nothing about this day had been right. It should have been someone else here today. Not her.

“Where is it? Which car?” The man pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his forehead. A shudder went through him and he started coughing.

Maybe he’d shoot himself. Gina sent quick looks in his direction. No such luck. The coughing fit subsided along with her hopes.

“Lead the way, boy. No time to waste. Come on. They’re getting closer. I can hear them.”

Gina glanced around. Hear them! The man was a lunatic. She couldn’t hear anyone. But she wasn’t going to argue with him. Instead, she forced herself to follow Connor, who now led the way. She glanced towards the other boy. His skin had lost what little colour it had and he looked as ill as she felt.

Connor pulled keys from his pocket as they approached a four-wheel-drive parked crookedly in two parking bays. He unlocked the doors with a push of a button and looked towards the gunman.

“Get in the car, boy. You’re driving. You can get in the front too.” He pointed towards the other boy before he turned to Gina. “You’re in the back seat with me.”

Gina’s mouth dried at the thought of sitting next to him. Instead she focused on the vehicle. She opened the door, the new car smell hitting her. Nothing like the worn sedan her parents drove. She wondered if it was Connor’s or if it belonged to his parents. She pulled on the seat belt as soon as she was in and stared ahead as the man climbed in beside her. The seam along the edge of the seat took all her attention. It was better to focus on absolutely anything else rather than the man sitting beside her. She didn’t want to think about what he planned to do with them. If she didn’t think of more than one second ahead, she might actually make it through the day.

“Well? Get moving. We can’t sit here all day.” He took the g*n from his pocket and rested it on his lap. He shrugged out of a small backpack, which Gina noticed for the first time, before buckling up.

Connor started the vehicle. “Wh… Where to?”

“Drive. I’ll tell you when I want you to change directions.”

Gina stared at the back door of the bookstore, her breath catching in her throat when her sister appeared in it, running a hand through her hair as she glanced around. Her mouth became a circle of surprise when she spotted Gina in the vehicle. Gina could only stare helplessly, wishing there was some way she could tell her sister what was happening. Then it was too late and they were out of the car park and turning left on the road. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. Please let me live. Let all of us live. Even Connor.

She felt moisture form behind her eyelids and squeezed them closed tighter. A single tear ran down her cheek, but she couldn’t bring herself to wipe it away. Instead she turned her head a little more so the man wouldn’t see the tear. He swore and she turned in time to see him clutch at his head, swearing again.

Still holding his head, he demanded, “Find a chemist, boy.”

“I… I don’t know wh… where one is.” Connor glanced in the rear view mirror.

“Take the second right.” The other boy spoke softly. “Halfway along the street on the left. They’ve got their own car park.”

When Connor pulled into the car park of the pharmacy and turned off the engine, they all sat silently. Gina stared out her window at the people only a couple of metres from her, laughing and talking. Free people. People without a worry. People without a g*n right next to them.

“You boy, what’s your name?” They all turned to face the gunman as he gestured towards the front passenger, no longer clutching his head.

“Seth Lilly. What’s yours?”

The man stared at him for a moment, startled. “Douglas. Douglas Finney.” He sounded as if he was surprised to hear his own name. His expression hardened and he glared at Seth. “You will go in there and get me the strongest painkiller you can buy over the counter. Tell them your father is sick with a cold and has a headache. And…” he turned his gaze on Connor and Gina before he looked back at Seth. “If you don’t return within ten minutes I kill the girl first. Another ten, the boy dies. Think you can live with them on your conscience?”

Seth shook his head. “It often takes ten minutes just to get served. I’ll need twenty.”

“Fifteen. Not a second longer.” Douglas reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and slid a hundred dollar note out. “Here. Now get out.”