Death

It was really dark, and my head hurt, but at least I was lying down. It took a minute for my vision to correct, which gave me some time to listen and get the feel for the room I was in. It was obviously a house or apartment of some kind, as the air wasn't stale, but had the freshness of recycled, air-conditioned air. As the room stopped blurring, I realized I was lying on a couch, which was weird, considering I was a prisoner. Someone walked in, clearly an Irishman, with the bright flaming beard, and a slight accent which marked him as a first-generation immigrant. He helped me up and took me out to a table where two men and a woman sat. I recognized them, but couldn't put a name to any of their faces.
"Hello Charlie, sorry about the knock on the head. The lads were a little jumpy after the shooting and with the cops being everywhere," the woman told me. Why she would be apologizing when I had stolen a vast sum of money from them, I don't know.
"We brought you here to thank you Charlie," the man across the table from Charlie said, "We know you drew the cops after you to save our safehouse, that takes a real countryman to stand up and give his help so freely. We wanted to let you know it was all safe to stop hiding now. The cops have been handled, and now we were hoping for your help. Someone took the opportunity that night to break into the safehouse before we managed to move any documents, and stole all the money. We know you were there prior to the police arriving, so we were hoping you might be able to help us."
Stunned. I was stunned. These people honestly thought I had helped divert the police? I don't know what happened that night, but either way, I realized, I was safe for real this time. I just had to get out of there without spilling the beans, and then I'd be a free man. I had all the money I could ever- where was the money? Taking a look around the room, I couldn't see my bag.
"Well Charlie, do you remember anything that night?" the man asked again. I couldn't for the life of me remember his name,
"Um, no, sorry." I had to buy more time to find my bag. I guess they didn't look inside, so I had to find it and keep it that way,
"Well that's a real shame. We were hoping you'd seen something," the man to the left spoke for the first time. Realizing that was really all they had to ask me, I looked less furtively around the room for my bag. The woman realized what I was doing,
"Your stuff is safe Charlie, we left your bag at O'Connell's, it's safe there."
I didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. On the one hand, at least these people wouldn't be the ones to gut me, but a who's who of the villianous bastards resided at O'Connell's, and if anyone of them found my bag and made the connection...
"I have to go." I stammered. I had to get the bag.
"Of course Charlie, John will show you out." I still couldn't remember any of their names, but I recognized the big man who brought me in. At least he wasn't at the pub looking through my bag. He would hurt. Walking up through some cellars, I found myself stepping out of the storage closet into the hall at O'Connell's. Walking into the main room, I was struck my the smell of smoke and drink. Two EMTs sat at the end of the bar, looking glum. I couldn't help but smile. At least they hadn't had to pick my body up. I looked for, and found O'Connell talking to some customers at a table in the corner. He turned as I approached, "Hey Charlie, welcome back to the world of the living," he shook my hand, "can I get you a drink?"
I didn't want a drink, I wanted an escape, "Not today, I just want my bag and some sleep," I lied, hoping he would just not ask any questions. He pointed to the end of the bar, "It's over there next to those guys."
As I turned my head, I saw the EMTs speak into their radios. They stood up, and the one at the end of the bar picked up a bag off the floor. My bag. It was like a slow motion death scene in a movie. They walked to the door. I couldn't move fast enough to catch them. I realized they were running. Away from me? Of course not, they're EMTs, they must have picked up the wrong bag when they got a call. I got outside and the ambulance was pulling away. It was moving so fast. I sprinted around the corner of Rouse as it slid to a stop in front of Jupiter apartments. I stopped about 20 feet away, as the EMTs came rushing back out of the apartments with a body bag. All thought of the money left my mind. The ambulance peeled away. All fear for the money left my mind. One of my neighbors died today. I didn't know who. I should have known. I was so caught up with my paranoia, I didn't know anything about the people I lived next to. As the money drove away, I realized it was going to a better cause. Besides, Charley needed to be fed.