Chapter 8
8
Just when Lenore thought her stomach could take no more, the helicopter ride from hell ended as it touched down with a resounding thump. Her body jolted, and she tried to swallow the bile threatening to erupt again.
She knew many people were plagued with motion sickness to varying degrees, but unless someone had felt the soul-sucking illness from severe motions, it was hard to imagine what she was going through. Nausea and vomiting didn't end when the trip was over. The headache, dizziness, and sweating would last for hours if it was anything like her last bout when she'd flown years ago and had forgotten to take her medicine.
Not being able to see her surroundings only made it worse. She felt someone's hands loosen her seat belt and managed to mumble, “Can I take the blindfold off now?”
“Get her out.” That was the only reply she heard, and someone grabbed her arms and lifted her from the seat.
Her knees buckled, and she began to slump downward before being dragged out of the helicopter, still blindfolded. With a hand shoved between her shoulder blades, she was propelled forward but dropped to her knees. Rocks ground painfully against her palms as her fingers dug into the dirt while she instinctively tried to stop any motion.
“Keep the blindfold on until we tell you to take it off.”
She recognized Raul's voice but didn't know who held her arms, continuing to half drag and half shove her forward. Her hair whipped about her face from the wind created by the helicopter blades that she could still hear rotating. She wanted to duck her head but had to focus on not retching more.
“Don't worry,” Freddy said. “You ain't gonna lose your head.”
Now, knowing it was Freddy dragging her along, she had the overwhelming desire to throw up on him. She heard the helicopter as it lifted, and the sound of it flying away was in unison with the whipping wind slowing its force.
The blindfold had shifted upward just enough that she could peer down at her feet, seeing she was being hauled over hard-packed dirt and rocks. The terrain was rough, and as the helicopter sounds disappeared, she heard no other signs of life.
Suddenly, her feet trod upon shadowed ground, and cool air surrounded her body. A hand on her shoulder pushed downward, causing her to drop unceremoniously onto the dirt. The blindfold was jerked off her face, and she cried out in pain as the few strands of hair caught in the tied material were yanked out.
Blinking, she took a moment to take in her new environment. At first glance, she thought she was in a cave but realized it was more of an outcropping with rocks above. They were out of sight from anyone flying overhead. Glancing outward, she saw they were in the hills where no roads would pass. For Raul and Freddy, it was the perfect location to hide out until they went to wherever their next stop was located—probably be picked up by someone next in their escape chain.
She had lost track of time in the helicopter and all sense of direction. As nauseous and ill as she felt, she couldn't imagine that they'd flown more than half an hour. But she had no idea how far a helicopter could fly in that amount of time. I am well and truly lost.
It would be hours before her motion illness symptoms subsided, but she resolved to look for a way to escape while still helpless. The more they thought she was incapable, the more likely she could get away.
Even if getting away meant continuing to run in an area she didn't know, she hoped someone would find her. Sisco would alert someone. Closing her eyes for a moment, she willed her stomach to settle as she thought of Evie. Her daughter would be frightened and traumatized, and she could only hope that Sisco was looking after Evie—and looking for her.
Her eyes popped open as Freddy began to cackle, talking about the deputy he shot in the head. Lenore had forgotten being forced to step over the body of the deputy to get into the hospital room, but her stomach roiled once again at thinking of what her daughter had witnessed. Suddenly, she remembered turning to see Sisco pressing Evie's face into his chest with his hand, covering the side of her ear to keep her from seeing or hearing what was happening.
“Shut up.” Raul glared at Freddy before passing his hand over his face while grimacing.
Lenore noticed his pallor. As sick as she was, she knew her motion sickness would pass, but she wondered about Raul's injury. While she didn't know much about jail other than from movies or TV, she felt sure that most minor illnesses or injuries would be treated at a prison clinic. For Raul to have been taken and admitted to the hospital must mean he had something seriously wrong with him.
“Get me some painkillers,” he ordered, and Freddy immediately reached into his pack.
Looking down at the pills in Freddy's outstretched hands, Raul barked, “Not these. I can't be fucking unconscious if I need to stay sharp. Give me the other ones.”
“What about the antibiotic?” Freddy asked. “That's supposed to be good for infection?—”
“I know what a fuckin' antibiotic is! Gimme something else!”
Freddy's brow furrowed as he dug his hand deeper into his bag, then pulled out another bottle that looked like over-the-counter pain meds. Grinning, he held them up, shaking the bottle so the pills would rattle. “I brought these knowing you might need them.”
Raul nodded, then unscrewed the lid from a water bottle and swallowed the pills, grimacing once again.
“I know you're hurting, man, but that was a fucking brilliant idea you and Enzo had,” Freddy said, still grinning as he bounced on his rock seat, looking more like a kid than a man who'd perpetrated a complicated prisoner escape.
Raul snorted in derision. “Yeah, planning on getting fucking stabbed so I could end up in the hospital took a lot of brainpower. Jesus, Freddy, you're an idiot.”
Weaving as though her world was still in motion while remaining seated, Lenore pressed one hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth.
“Christ, bitch, don't throw up more. Thank God nothing was coming out of your mouth in the helicopter, or I would've shot you like I shot the deputy?—”
“Shut up, Freddy,” Raul said again. “You talk too fuckin' much.”
Glancing out from the rock overhang, Lenore could see the shadows stretching to the side. While the sun was still shining, it became apparent that the afternoon had passed, and they must be in early evening. From the direction of the shadows straight from the rocks, she was facing southeast. Silently thanking her father for taking her hiking when she was much younger, she appreciated him teaching her basic survival skills, such as using the sun for direction.
“Get me something to eat,” Raul said, and Freddy began rummaging around in his pack again.
He pulled out a protein bar and handed it to his boss before ripping open one for himself. While Lenore wasn't sure her stomach could handle food, she knew she needed sustenance.
She looked at Raul to find his eyes boring straight into hers. Uncertain if she should ask for anything, she ushered a barely-there sigh of relief when he turned to Freddy and barked for him to toss her a protein bar, too.
“She'll just throw it up,” Freddy grumbled.
Raul turned his attention from her and speared his underling with a stern glare. “Since when do you question my orders?”
Eyes wide, Freddy shook his head rapidly. “No, no. Seriously, man, I'm not questioning anything. I just hadn't figured on a hostage being such a wuss.”
Raul didn't say anything else but continued to glare, so Freddy immediately grabbed another protein bar and tossed it to Lenore's feet. “Eat it if you can.”
She reached down and grasped the bar, bringing it to her lap before slowly unwrapping it. She nibbled a few bites and was glad when Freddy tossed a bottle of water at her. She sipped slowly. Wrapping the bar, she stowed it in her jeans pocket.
As the sun continued to pass to the west, the air grew increasingly chilly, forcing her to remember her coat had been dropped somewhere in the hospital. Since her bag had also been jerked from her and left behind, she could only imagine that the police were looking for her. Wondering about Sisco's security company, she hoped to escape this nightmare with everyone's assistance.
Security companies reminded her of the romance novels she read, but she had no idea if they were purely fiction or based on the fact that there are agencies that really do the daring, heroic rescues that are so captivating in the stories.
Glancing up, she spied Raul's eyes closed, his head back against the rock wall, and then noticed Freddy's sly grin and gaze on her. She faked a belch and covered her mouth, relieved when he snarled and jerked his gaze away. It wasn't a pretense to be ill, but if it kept Freddy from wanting to molest her, she would gag until she threw up on him if necessary.
After a few minutes, Raul grimaced and started to stand, and his hand clamped over his abdomen. “Give me a hand. I gotta get out of here to take a piss.”
Freddy moved over and put his arms underneath Raul's armpits, lifting him to his feet. Raul wavered, breathing heavily. “You'll have to help me get out there.”
Freddy laughed. “Need me to hold your cock while you piss?—”
His words were cut off when Raul's arm shot out and his hand wrapped around Freddy's throat, his fingers gripping. “Another crack like that, I'll put a bullet through your brain just like the deputy's.”
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just making a joke.”
“The only joke around here is you. Help me get out of here.”
Freddy glanced over his shoulder, casting a wary gaze toward Lenore. “What about her?”
“Do you seriously think she can even walk right now? Sick as she is? Hell, even if she did make it out of here, she'd die before she got very far. Anyway, we’ll have the weapons.”
The two men made their way slowly out of sight behind the large boulders. Lenore sprang from her rocky perch, her legs wobbling underneath her. She had no concrete plan, but instinct drove her straight to Freddy's pack. With trembling hands, she opened the top and spotted the bottles of prescription pills. Having navigated the myriad of medications Evie had been prescribed over the years, Lenore quickly identified the narcotic painkillers and the antibiotics.
Heart pounding, she unscrewed the bottle of narcotics. Her fingers moved deftly despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She grabbed the water bottles they had drank from and unscrewed their tops. Meticulously dropping several painkillers into each bottle, she replaced the tops and then shook them to aid in their dissolving. The enormity of her risk loomed over her, threatening her stomach to revolt again. Knowing her plan was perilous and probably had little chance of succeeding without them realizing what she’d done, she set the water bottles where she found them.
So much could go wrong with her actions—the pills might not dissolve and would be discovered by the two men. Or her plan would actually work, and she'd die while trying to escape down the mountain. But she'd already started and couldn't stop now. Breathless, she returned everything to Freddy's pack before quickly crawling to where she'd been sitting. Her chest heaved from exertion and fear, so she leaned over as though she'd just retched again. Less than a minute later, the two men walked back in, and she sat up and wiped her mouth.
Freddy helped Raul to sit before he looked over and scowled. “Jesus, are you still sick? You're fucking gross.”
“Motion sick,” she mumbled.
“You're not even moving now, bitch.”
“I get it bad?—”
“Shut up,” Raul said. He heaved a great sigh. “We'll spend the night here and get picked up in the morning.” He moved his body as though to get more comfortable and groaned. “Taking a piss has made it hurt worse.”
He picked up his water bottle and unscrewed the top, and Lenore's heart dropped into her stomach. She didn't want to stare at him but looked down, trying to keep his actions in her peripheral vision. He tilted the bottle up, drinking until it was empty. His face scrunched, and he said, “Everything tastes like fuckin' crap.”
“Gotta be better than that hospital food. Or jail food,” Freddy said.
“I'm gonna rest, and you've got the first watch. Make sure you keep an eye on her,” Raul ordered. “And don't fucking touch her.”
“Thought about it, but don't want her puking on me,” Freddy said. “Although if I did her from the back, it wouldn't matter what she was doing.” He chuckled, obviously amused at his wit.
Lenore shivered, now praying that he drank his water soon.
“Remember what I said. Keep an eye on her, but don't fucking touch her.” Raul closed his eyes, leaning his head back.
She fought to keep her breathing steady, staring in disbelief as her quick-thinking, albeit horribly risky, actions had worked—at least for Raul. Keeping her head bowed as if she was also resting, she listened intently. Freddy moved around the small space, then settled his legs across the opening of their hiding place. He let out a long sigh before rummaging in his pack, retrieving another protein bar. He chewed slowly, sipping his water between bites.
Pressing her lips together to stifle the urge to scream her maddening thoughts out loud, she remained silent, watching as he slowly finished his water. Scrunching his nose, he grumbled, “Water tastes like shit. It must be the protein bar. What I wouldn't give for a fuckin' burger right now.”
He finally leaned his head back and turned his gaze her way. She clutched her stomach and moaned while also leaning back as though she could barely hold herself up. He snorted and grimaced before closing his eyes. She waited as the shadows outside grew longer, and the two men slept. Slowly moving, her gaze remained on the two men, but neither stirred. With the narcotic painkillers in both of them, they should be out for several hours.
When she shifted to her feet, her legs threatened to give out on her. I'll need food and water. She stepped closer to Freddy and reached out a shaking hand to grab his pack. Seeing the antibiotics inside, she pulled them out and left them on the ground with the other drugs. At the bottom of the pack, her fingers closed around a cell phone. Relief washed over her—she would have some light and a way to communicate if she could get a signal. After hefting the pack onto her back, she carefully stepped over Freddy's prone body.
Once she was out from under the outcropping rock overhead, she straightened. Sucking in a cleansing breath of cool mountain air, she worked to clear her mind. The enormity of her next steps loomed ahead, but the thought of freedom propelled her forward. Each cautious step felt like a defiance against the odds. As she moved through the growing dusk, a glimmer of hope sparked within her, and she only had one goal. Stay alive to get to Evie.