The Problem With Women

"Lara, keep quiet." Tyler scolded, but Lara scoffed.

"I should keep quiet and get myself killed."

"Smart kid, now tell me where Aaron is," Lincoln said, and Lara pointed at Tyler.

"The bag he had contained his laptop and phone. He has Aaron's contact information."

Lincoln signaled his men to bring the bag; they searched it and found a phone.

He checked the contacts and found Aaron's, so he dialed it, and it got connected immediately. "Tyler, where did you guys go to?" Aaron asked anxiously.

"Aaron" Lincoln called, and Aaron got alerted; he was still in the same spot he left Tyler and Lara. He had gone to deposit some money in his account and also buy some chemicals to try out a new formula he had created.

"Who are you?"

"F and F," Lincoln said, and Aaron clenched his fist. Does the organization have his friends?

"Your friends are here; bring the watch before I miss a bullet," he warned, and Aaron clenched his fist. He had no intention of giving up on the watch.

"You have an hour; I will send you the location."

"Wait, wait... an hour?" He tried coming up with something; the organization probably had a lot of men, and they wouldn't be able to fight back. After getting the watch, they would still kill them.

"I am not in Mexico." He finally found an excuse. Lincoln frowned and turned to Lara.

"He says he isn't in Mexico?"

"That's true," she replied.

"No, sir, we saw him on the ship as well," one of his men said, and Lincoln frowned.

"Don't play games with me; you have an hour to be here."

"Wait, I said I wasn't in Mexico because I…"

"You have an hour; I will message you the address. Bring my watch," then he ended the call.

Aaron clenched his fist and kicked the bench beside him, then he received the address.

"Is there no escape from them?" He frowned. He thought Reno was their base, but how could he imagine that F and F were also in Mexico?

He stared at the watch in his hand. He was willing to trade his life for this watch, but he couldn't trade his friend's life for it.

*

Lincoln threw the phone at the table before he turned to Lara. "For your help, I will give you four hours to live. After that time, I will kill you," he said, turning on the hourglass.

Lara swallowed. "I told you how to contact Aaron, and you gave me just four hours of survival."

"Yes, so do whatever you like because you have just four hours to live."

Then he turned to Tyler and said, "And you, you are so loyal to your friend. Let's see if it's mutual," he sneered.

"Lock them up; let's wait for their leader."

Lara and Tyler were thrown into a room. "Please give us something to eat, at least," Lara pleaded. She was starving and needed food.

"Give the lady what she wants," Lincoln said; after all, she will be dead in four hours.

"Why did you do that?" Tyler asked, and Lara looked at him.

"Do what?"

"You let him contact Aaron."

"And so? Aren't we supposed to be in this together?"

"If he hadn't contacted Aaron, then we would have had more time to plan our escape because he won't kill us till he sees the watch, but Aaron will be here in an hour. So he will kill us."

Lara pouted. "He was going to kill me right there."

"No, this is the problem with you, ladies. You don't use your head and act out of impulse; he knew only you could speak up, and that's why he threatened you."

"And what has this got to do with ladies?"

"The fact that your gender is soft, scared, and stupid. We shouldn't have let you join us."

Lara's eyes narrowed, her anger simmering beneath the surface. "Excuse me? My gender has nothing to do with it! If you think that being a woman makes me soft, scared, and stupid, then you're sorely mistaken, Tyler!"

Tyler crossed his arms, meeting Lara's gaze head-on. "I didn't say that being a woman makes you any of those things. I said that in this situation, you acted without thinking, and now we're in even more danger because of it."

Lara scoffed, a fire burning in her eyes. "And what about you? Did you have a brilliant plan that would've saved us all? Or were you just Laying there, paralyzed with fear?"

Tyler's jaw tightened, his frustration evident. "No, I didn't have a plan, but at least I wasn't reckless! I was trying to assess the situation and come up with a strategy. But you, Lara, you just blurted out everything, putting us all at risk!"

Lara's voice rose, and her words were sharp and pointed. "Oh, so now it's all my fault? Is that what you're saying? If I hadn't spoken up, do you think he would have spared us? We were already on borrowed time dude!"

Tyler took a step forward, his voice filled with intensity. "You don't know that for sure! We could've found another way, another opportunity. But now, Aaron's rushing back here, and Lincoln knows we're desperate."

Lara matched his intensity, her voice unwavering. "And what would you have done differently, huh? I sat back and hoped for the best. We're dealing with dangerous people here, Tyler. We can't afford to be passive!"

Tyler clenched his fists, his frustration reaching its peak. "I'm not saying we should be passive, Lara! But there's a difference between acting with caution and acting recklessly. We need to be smart about our next move!"

Lara's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Ah, yes, the great Tyler and his superior intelligence. Please enlighten me with your brilliant plan, since you seem to have all the answers."

Tyler took a deep breath. "It's useless to try to make you understand," he scoffed, and Lara rolled her eyes.

"Keep watch on the door," he added, and Lara raised a brow.

"Why?"

"Can't you do as you are told?"

Lara sneered and walked to the door before she leaned on it; that way, if anyone tried to get in, she would know.