A Matching Pair - Breaking up the set Part 1

Author: WhitesockFreak
Title: A Matching Pair - Breaking up the set! Part 1
Date: 13 October 2011

The road had gotten pretty rural and desolate as Jason and Gustin kept driving. The directions had them going quite a ways out of civilization. Gustin was behind the wheel and focused on the task and the need to succeed. It was because of him they were in this situation and his brother was sacrificing and risking quite a bit to make sure he did not go through this alone. Three days prior to the job an envelope was left for them in a locker, containing false identification documents and a key with a remote locking device on the key chain. They were now thousands of miles from home driving a car through an extremely rural countryside with an unknown delivery that would set Gustin free from his debts.

In the past few years the twins had taken a liking to poker and felt they were pretty skilled at playing and winning. Somehow over the past six months Gustin's luck had changed and he began losing large amounts of cash. Jason had cut back on playing and was trying to focus on his career and had thought Gustin had done the same. It was only a week ago Jason found out how much debt Gustin had amassed from gambling and borrowing from some high stake players. As a twin you tend to recognize changes in each other and Jason finally confronted Gustin and got the whole story.

Gustin was deep in the hole. His gambling debts had accumulated to over $200,000.00. He was starting to get threatening visits from heavy weights trying to collect his debt. Jason was floored by the amount and agreed there was no way they could both come up with that money. He suggested they meet with these guys and find out how they can settle this issue.

They were offered an opportunity to clean the slate if they would do a job. Kept in the dark of specifics, they were told there was a delivery they needed to make that would pay their debtor twice the amount owed by Gustin. It would be a simple job but would require them to take a trip under assumed identities and follow some simple instructions.

On the day of the trip, the twins arrived at an agreed location and were met by their debtor. They carried little in the amount of luggage and were required to leave all their current identifying documents behind for safe keeping. Both handed over their wallets and credit cards and Jason handed over his car keys. They were driven to the airport and dropped off with their flight arrangements and new identities. They had been instructed to tell family they were going off on a fishing trip for the weekend and assured they would have fish to bring home when they returned. It seemed like a solid plan and their debtor was being very supportive and accommodating. The job seemed simple enough!

When their flight landed, they proceeded as directed to a specific area of the parking garage. With one click of the remote, a car not too far from them beeped and lights went on. Gustin tried to pop the trunk, but it would not open. He assumed the delivery they needed to make was in the trunk. They agreed they did not want to know.

Gustin kept looking at the road as it was now pretty dark out and the road was becoming unpredictable. Jason held the directions and map in his hands and studied it closely. They were pretty far from any visible city, but according to the directions they should be coming up to a gas station in about 10 miles. The station attendant was supposed to be expecting them and would fill the tank and provide them with directions for the remainder of their trip.

“We should be almost there” Jason said. “According to the map we're not far from the station!"

“I hope you're right!” replied Gustin, “Cuz the fuel light just came on!” They kept staring straight ahead and anticipated each curve in hopes of seeing a sign of a fuel station.

‘DING DING’ .. ‘DING DING’ the sound is not what the guys wanted to hear at this point. Suddenly the engine and dash lights all came on and the car sputtered. Gustin coasted the car to the side of the road bringing it to a stop. He put his head on the steering wheel, and cursed.

“Whadda we do now?” Jason asked. “We haven't seen anyone in about an hour.”

“We can't be far!” said Gustin. “I guess we can start walking and hopefully the gas station will be just up the road.”

Jason looked in the glove compartment for a flash light, but found none. Gustin took the keys and locked the doors. He tried to adjust his eyes and together the twins started walking ahead. By this point they were quite fatigued and even getting hungry. Jason had slept on the plane but Gustin had not been able to. As they walked Gustin figured he had been awake for approximately 24 hours.

Their surroundings were so silent, they were certain they would hear a car coming from miles away, and no hint of any lights ahead gave them each a sinking feeling about finding a fuel station. They did not have much to say as they walked. Both of them were in good shape, athletic and energetic when well rested. They were close to a mirror image of each other except Jason dyed his hair blonde. Their paces matched and their stride was almost calculated so they would be identical.

They walked together in silence for what seemed like a half hour, when they began to make out an opening in the road up ahead. As they approached they could see what appeared to be a service station and country store, but there were no lights anywhere and the pumps were mere shadows in the dark, taunting them. They approached the front door and looked through the windows into an empty room. If this was a store, there had not been any business done here in a long time.

Suddenly in the darkness they heard the sound of a vehicle from the direction they had come. In the distance they could see faint light growing stronger and stronger as it approached. It was coming quickly so they wanted to make themselves seen to flag them down. Both of them were standing in the road when they realized the car was not slowing down. They jumped out of the way and reacted in horror when they saw it was their car and it kept going down the road and disappeared.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Jason yelled as he started to run in the direction the car went.

“JASON! Stop!!” yelled Gustin

Still facing in the direction of the car, Jason continued “THAT WAS OUR FUCKING CAR! Now whadda we do?”

“Turn around Jason!” came Gustin's voice in a somber tone. Jason turned and could make out his brother standing off to the side of the road but he was not alone. There were three other shadows standing near him and his arms were above his head.

Jason tried to blink and focus on what he was seeing as he approached. Two of the shadows quickly came into focus. They were larger framed guys dressed in dark clothes with something covering their faces. Each of them were holding guns. One was pointed to Gunstin's head and the other was pointed at Jason.

The shadows worked quickly and Jason saw Gustin's hands being pulled behind his back, then the shadows upon him were also appearing to be ready to do the same to him. He started to back away when he was grabbed from behind. A voice behind him simply said “Watch what happens to your brother if you do not cooperate.”

Suddenly in the darkness, what looked like a blue spark went off next to Gustin's neck and he crumpled to the ground screaming. When his mouth was open one of his attackers forced something in and pulled straps around and secured what must have been a gag in place. All Jason could hear was moaning and grunting coming from his brother as they pulled him back to his feet.

“Put your hands behind your back Jason!” came the voice and Jason could not see any other option but to comply. He quickly felt handcuffs being applied to his wrists then his head was pulled back and he heard “Open your mouth Jason!” When he did, a ball was pushed in place and filled his mouth, then the straps were pulled very tight and secured behind his head.

At the same time they heard vehicles approaching but with no lights to be seen. Jason and Gustin stood there in shock at the turn of events. Looking at each other they could only try to reassure each other through their eyes they were not alone but in this together.

One of the cars was their car, as it pulled up in front of them, one of the masked shadows opened the trunk and pulled out what appeared to be upper body harnesses. The harnesses were then applied over Jason and Gustin's clothes and secured between their legs while keeping their hands cuffed behind them.

They were being led towards the back of one of the vehicles, which appeared to be a jeep. Horrifying reality started to sink in as chains were attached to the rear fender and then the opposing ends were attached to a clip in the front of the harnesses they now wore. The slack was about ten feet. They were obviously going to be pulled along behind the jeep.

The only one of the strangers to have spoken gave a signal and the rest of them got into the vehicles obediently. “Now, we have a little ways to go before you make your final delivery and there is no room in the cars, so I suggest you try to keep up.”

With that the man jumped up on the back of the jeep and it started to move. The pace was tolerable but caused Jason and Gustin to maintain a slight jog to avoid being yanked to the ground and dragged. At first they each tripped while trying to find their balance. When they would the jeep would continue for a few second but then stop to let them get back to their feet. Eventually they got used to the pace and successfully jogged in tow behind being led to some unknown destination in the dark. It was during this journey of approximately five miles which eventually turned to winding dirt roads, that it dawned on them. They had successfully made their delivery and followed all instructions without a trace of their journey. A solid plan indeed! They had unknowingly delivered themselves in exchange for a huge pay off the debtors would revel in. Exhaustion was starting to take a toll on both of them and ahead they could see what appeared to be a gate with a simple looking house behind it in the distance.