Jacobi returned to the front of the flower shop. The smell of fresh cut flowers and the sound of quiet weeping were constant companions in his life. He saw Marla kneeling there, her shoulders softly quaking and it touched one of the few remaining soft spots that he had in his heart. He had a granddaughter her age. Of course the tenderness had no bearing on his job and ability to perform it. He circled around to face the two young people.
"Cara mia, don't cry." The large frame pistol stayed pointed at the floor. He placed the box on the floor gently and pulled the long, pearl handled knife popping the blade free as it came level with the floor.
Danny's eyes widened in horror. He watched the old man move toward Marla. Part of him wanted to leap up and rush Jacobi, knocking him aside with the weight of his body. Fear stuck him to the floor as effectively as any glue. Three quick moves and her green apron hit the floor with a dull thud.
"You're not that good of an actress." Jacobi finished his thought. The blade went back in his pocket and he stooped to pick up the cloth bundle. "Good, but not good enough. Your father's daughter wouldn't cry over something like this. Now get up, the both of you." He gestured with the pistol.
The gentle sobbing stopped and Marla got to her feet. Her deep blue eyes sparked and her mouth was hard set. "You don't know what I'm capable of."
A flinty smile creased Jacobi's face. "No, perhaps not, but I have a feeling that we'll both find out." He gestured with the gun again.
Danny looked back and forth between the two. It was like something out of a movie. He couldn't believe that the girl he'd worked with for the last couple of months and had seen at the cafeteria on campus was staring this man down. He stood after he noticed that they were both staring at him. "Okay, okay, I'm up. Now what?"
"Now we all go out the front door. You nice folks get in the back of a van that I have waiting and we drive to an undisclosed location." He read the nervous looks, not that it was hard. "You play along, you don't die. You don't and you die right here."
Fading light streamed in through the smoked glass door. Marla knew that there wouldn't be many people on the street outside. This wasn't the neighborhood it used to be and this close to sundown most of its inhabitants kept to themselves. Even if someone saw something there wouldn't be any witnesses. Still, alive in the van was better than dead here. She nodded at Danny and he went first.
The door bumped open under his foot activating the bell. In moments they all stood outside. A large, nondescript white van was parked in one of the few spaces in front of the shop. Marla suppressed a giggle and Jacobi swore. In the few minutes he'd been in the store all four tires had been slashed and the side had been tagged by one of the local grafitti artists.
