9. Amorette #2
A soft, feminine voice called in as I gripped the pan in one hand and the knife in the other, trapped between the bedroom door and wall.
It was a gamble to be in this room. Whoever this was, they might not come in here, although the rest of the apartment was left open.
I had nowhere to hide with any leverage for a good swing once I was discovered.
“ Hola, Senora! Lafe said he had a guest here that might need some extra groceries,” she continued to call out through the apartment. Her English was good. Only slightly accented.
Bags rustled from the other room, probably filled with said groceries.
If she found it weird that she had to unlock the door to get in, she didn’t let it show in her voice.
Why would she find it weird? If she worked here, or was forced to be here, and had a key then she knew what they were doing. Or at least suspected.
I just had to remind myself she might be here against her will.
“Are you okay, miss? I also brought you some nice soaps and lotions. Mr. Lafe didn’t ask for these, but I’m a girl. I know we girls like these things.” She kept talking as if she thought her sweet words would draw me out.
That wouldn’t happen, but guilt started to press into me.
She seemed genuine. Much nicer than any of the women I came into contact with at the warehouse.
Those women were beaten down. This woman sounded like her life was all bliss and cupcakes.
Even so, she still had to unlock the door to let herself in.
I gently set the knife down, my heart beating wildly in my chest. When I’d fought before, I had acted on a keen fury that zapped through me so quickly I had no other thoughts at that moment.
Today, this was completely different. It was premeditated. I was psyching myself up for what I had to do, and the anticipation was making me nauseous, especially because this was a woman who was most likely a victim.
Clutching the handle with both hands, I held my breath as footsteps plodded closer to the bedroom.
The fear that I would seriously hurt or kill her stalled my hands when she stepped through, heading for the bathroom.
She didn’t even think to search behind the door.
Whoever she was, checking on prisoners wasn’t her regular job duty.
Without hesitation, I yelled inside my head. Indecision is what got you killed. Now she was four feet into the room.
I cranked the pan back over my shoulder like a baseball bat and then swung, hitting her square in the back of the head.
There was no way to avoid knocking her out, even though I used as little strength as I could manage.
The loud crack still seemed to reverberate around the room as she crumpled to the floor.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I checked her pockets. She was in a pair of black slacks and a matching black t-shirt, just like all the other men I’d seen. There were two sets of keys, one with about ten keys and the other with only one. I took both.
Good, she was still breathing. I checked her pulse, and it strummed a steady beat in her throat. For a second, I considered taking her clothes since I had only had this gray t-shirt but decided against it.
Removing her clothes would take precious time I didn’t have. She could wake up in that time, and I didn’t know if I could knock her out again. It could cause her actual damage, and hitting a woman who hadn’t shown any sign of criminal intentions took too much out of me.
Those assholes I could beat on all day and not lose an ounce of sleep. Not women, though, not when it had been my life’s mission to help them.
Within seconds, I had the knife in my dominant hand and the keys in the other and I was out of the apartment. Thankfully, she hadn’t locked the door when she came in.
Three steps into the hallway, I stuttered to a stop.
Doors lined the hall as if this were an actual apartment building.
Only, it was vacant because there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Making a quick decision, I headed right and booked it.
My chest squeezed and my ribs ached, but there was nothing I could do about it. I needed to get out of here.
At the end of the hall, I reached a landing that opened to an ample open space. The landing was a balcony over the ground floor with another entrance on the far side that seemed to go on forever. On either end of the balcony, steps descended down to the first level.
Shit, I needed to not be on a balcony for anyone to see.
I hid inside the hall, listening for any sounds. Music and conversation echoed from far away, either on another floor or another part of the building, but it seemed like nothing was going on below.
As quickly as I could, I tiptoed down the stairs, hugging the wall.
This place wasn’t anything like the warehouse. I’d been kept in the shitty part, but when Lafe had taken me to his room, we’d walked through what was essentially a luxury hotel. Wherever I was now, this was indeed an industrial building with random standard apartment-style hallways.
At the bottom of the stairs, the place gave the impression it was even larger than it was from up top. And empty.
The front was all glass with no furniture, paintings, or anything.
It was, for all purposes, unused. Four separate halls in each corner broke away from the main space, and all looked identical.
At least I could tell the conversation and random noises were coming from the back right hallway.
I constantly scanned every nook and cranny as I walked to the front glass doors.
Bright, blinding sunlight streamed through the glass, causing my eyes to squint and my palm holding the knife to sweat.
Damn it, I didn’t like the glare. It made me feel at a disadvantage, like I could miss something coming at me.
Reaching out, I pushed on the glass and…nothing.
There was no handle. No fucking handle. Was this even a door? It was shaped like a door. I banged on it harder and it was fucking loud even as it vibrated the glass. Oh hell. Okay, this was not the way.
I took a step back trying to figure out my next move, when a black Humvee pulled up, stopping maybe fifteen feet from the glass on the dirt driveway. Shit, they were going to see me.
Spinning on my heel, I ran down the closest hallway, cursing a blue streak in my head and holding the knife out. I’d be pissed if I fell and stabbed myself. That shouldn’t have been a worry…
Soon, I was out of breath, coming to a stop just to the side of a metal door.
That opened.