Chapter 29
Two more months passed.
Two. Whole. Months.
Not that I could tell one day from the other, but from Warden White’s near constant measurement of my belly.
And I had a belly. I could see it. Feel it.
Round and firm, and most definitely pregnant.
The loose shape of the hospital gown hid my changing form well enough, but the week before Three told me I’d “popped” then screamed with excitement—whatever that meant.
Yes, I knew how to read autopsy reports, I could identify edible and poisonous plants, but I didn’t know any of the words used in pregnancy. Funny. Or depressing. Take your pick.
Despite the changes in my body, the stretching pull of my skin and my scars, the hormones that flooded my system, I didn’t dare shut down again and venture into my pit. If I had any chance of making it out of the cell, of getting back to the agents and the vamp case, I needed my wits about me.
Imaginary Todd agreed.
Now, there was proof, physical proof, out there that I was not at fault for Lawrence’s death.
Proof that could set me well and truly free.
I just needed to find it. Get my hands on it.
Turn the proof over so the FBI could no longer hold their leash above my head, and I would no longer be walking the razor thin blade of losing everything that wasn’t already taken.
For the first time, in a long time, I felt an almost unfamiliar warmth in my chest.
Hope.
It was this hope, fueled by my ever-present anger, that kept me pulling at the shock collar.
It was hope that made me stock up on granola bars hidden under the far corner of my mattress—unwrapped but covered by the hospital gown I squirreled away after my last ‘shower’.
It was hope that kept me moving, doing squats, lunges, and increasingly awkward push-ups to keep up my strength.
It was hope that kept me poking holes in Warden White’s resolve and stoking Three’s curiosity.
It was hope that kept me from throwing something to smash the ever-present flickering humming light in the corner.
I didn’t want to give Madame an excuse to put me under, so I behaved.
Even if every fiber of my being screamed at me to rebel. To cause chaos. To break things.
But I was only still captive because my escape involved taking Three with me, and I needed to be confident that all the pieces were in place. That the stars were going to align.
I wasn’t going to logic anything out of Three. No, I had to do what I’d done with Remy, and make it a game. One that Three would want to play.
The hardest part of my escape plan wouldn’t be the amount of physical endurance required, it was ensuring that White and Three were prepared to take the next steps with me, otherwise it would be all for naught. They both had to want Three’s and my freedom as much as I did.
Fortunately, I was very convincing.
From Three’s first venture outside with Madame, I had a general idea of where we were.
Once we were alone, I’d asked Three questions about what she could see, hear, feel, smell—like a verbal game of Geoguessr—and her descriptions weren’t short on excitement, nor words.
From what I heard of the terrain, foliage, and smell of salted mud on the air, my money was on North Carolina, maybe Virginia.
Which was a very very good thing. Either of those states were manageable. The landscapes and territories familiar enough, I’d be able to get us through large swathes of wilderness relatively unharmed.
It didn’t hurt, if I was right about our location, we were at max a six-hour drive from D.C. If I got us to a location secure enough, out of the way enough, the agents could get us the hell out of Dodge.
But first we needed to get out of the basement. And for that, the timing needed to be perfect. The moods needed to be right. And I needed to be willing to take the shock of a lifetime.
?
“Why aren’t you touching your food, love?” White eyed me and my untouched stew.
“Not hungry.”
Three, watching a cartoon snuggled in blankets, paid little attention, as White pulled up a seat next to my cell.
“You need to eat, Two.” I shot White a glare from my place on the mattress, then he corrected himself, “Delilah.”
See? I’d made some progress over the last two months.
It was reassuring. It was, I just didn’t like what I had to do next. It was going to take everything in me.
“You know,” I said as I got to my feet, stretching my shoulders in wide circles, “this has been fun. But I’ve learned three things in my time in this cage, Warden. Do you know what they are?”
“No, what?”
“One.” I rolled my neck as much as the godforsaken collar would allow. “Is that you care for us both.”
White scowled. “That is no secret.”
“Two.” Stretching my fingers, I prepared myself, running them through the motions. “If you get what you want from me, these four walls are all Three and I will ever see. Our days are numbered.”
“That’s not true, Madame has—"
“—And three.” I reached for the back of the shock collar, darting my attention to the corner of my vision, where Imaginary Todd gave me an encouraging nod.
“No, no, no!”
I pulled at the shock collar.
Immediately, the familiar sear of blinding pain took root, carving a path through each and every one of my nerve endings. Surrounded by a world of white, a ringing in my ears, I willed my fingers to do as they were told.
“Two! Two, stop this right now!”
Twisting the bolts at the back of my collar, I needed to get it off. It was my chance. I could do this. I needed to do this. I’d loosened them for weeks. This was the last hoorah. There wasn’t another option.
FUUUUUUCCCCKKKK. It sucked. So much.
All I could think of was twisting my fumbling fingers over the bolts. Fingers that only wanted to seize and contract.
“Delilah! This is too much! Stop!”
My throat coarse and angry, someone was screaming. It was probably me.
Tears hot and wet streamed down my cheeks. Pain burst across both my knees. But it was welcome compared to the sheer agony that rattled my teeth and gripped every muscle.
Just one more—
It clanked off.
I heaved. Frustration, anger, relief. I felt it all, everywhere, all at once.
Somehow, shaking with the adrenaline I’d summoned, I’d ended up on my hands and knees. Grit pressed into my palms, scraped my legs.
Never again.
Zeroing in on the collar before me, it was a crude piece of work. All metal, wire, and silicone. Until now, I hadn’t been able to see it, I’d only felt its unwelcome presence on my neck. What they’d subjected me to was inhumane.
Never. Again.
“Breathe. Breathe, Delilah, breathe.” White was in my cell, less than a foot away. Collar remote in hand, likely trying and failing to turn off the current manually.
He thought he’d come to my rescue…but he had no idea he’d fallen into my trap.
Still catching my breath, I grabbed him by the ankles and pulled.
“Oh my god!” Three screamed as White came crashing down. “Two! What are you doing?!”
I don’t remember what I did, or how I got there, but suddenly I was straddling Warden White’s chest, with the shock collar firmly clamped around his neck. The remote he’d foolishly brought in with him held high above my head.
White was still processing, as I gulped and choked in air, staggering to my feet.
“And the third thing, the third thing, I learned was that the shock collar really fucking sucks.” I was swaying. Maybe a little light headed. Okay, a lot light headed. “But it was the only way out.”
“What are you doing?” The woman-child, equal parts appalled and awed, gripped the bars between our cages.
I stuck out my hand to Warden White. “Keys.”
Wide-eyed, full of dread, he croaked, “What have you done?”
“Drop them. Now.”
His focus drifted over my shoulder to the corner with the flickering light and surveillance camera.
“You can either pretend to get shocked or I will shock you.” I held up the remote. “So, drop them.”
Warden White understood the assignment. Dropping the keys, he clasped at his neck as he rolled onto his side, to face away from the camera. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Because whatever this is, you’re making it ten times worse for yourself when the Seal gets you back.”
Quick stepping around White, I scooped up the keys, then lifted the corner of my mattress to pull out the hospital gown I stocked with unwrapped granola bars. Slinging the bundle over my shoulder, I replied, “If I were you, I’d be more concerned with when Madame’s next visit is scheduled.”
It was tomorrow, or approximately three meals away, if she kept on schedule, so I wasn’t leaving White a death sentence, just an uncomfortable stay where he could think about what he’d done. What he was a part of.
Plus, I’d left him some stew. Which all things considered was very considerate of me.
Who was I kidding? Chances were our escape would set off a series of events well before Madame arrived. Time was of the essence and Three and I had to get a move on.
Locking White inside my old cell, I turned, with key in hand, to Three. “Well, princess, are you ready to escape this castle?”
“I, uh…” Three looked to the cell beside her for guidance. To my surprise, White gave her an encouraging nod. “I’m ready to escape the castle, Two.”
“Good, once we’re out, we can play hide and seek.”
“I’ve always wanted to play hide and seek!” Oh, I was well aware.
But I had one more check I needed to conduct before letting Three loose. “You promise you’ll follow my lead?”
She frowned. “Will you make me kiss any frogs?”
“There will be no kissing frogs, I promise.”
Three flashed a grin so bright, I knew her answer before she jerked her head up and down. Her toddler-level excitement was all the confirmation I needed to unlock her cell, before raiding the cabinets for anything that would help with our survival. I chose my items carefully.
What we took with us needed to be light and useful, but wouldn’t do me any harm if they fell into Three’s hands should she have a change of heart. Because that was a very real possibility.
Buzz…
Light flickering, I swore the buzzing grew louder by the second, as I added a pair of blunt-edged bandage scissors, bandages, and anti-bacterial ointment to our sack.
“What do we need to know once we get out of this room?” I asked, tying the hospital gown pack over my shoulder. Warden White mulled the answer over, but I didn’t have time to waste, so I threatened him with the remote to the shock collar. “Tell me.”
Buzz…
His hands shot up beside his ears. “Take the keys with you, you’ll need them once you reach the top of the stairs.”
“What else?”
“There’s cameras.” He motioned to the corner behind the humming light. “But you already knew that.”
“How long do we have?” Jutting the remote in his direction, I took a threatening step forward. “How long, White?”
“An hour, maybe two, tops.”
Buzz…
About as much as I expected, though I’d hoped for more. Everything came down to this. How far we could get, how to lead the Seal off our trail as we traversed the wilds that surrounded this custom-made prison.
Buzz…
That was it. I gave into my intrusive thoughts. With a rush of adrenaline, I grabbed onto the nearest throwable object, which happened to be an ear scope, and threw it at the godforsaken flickering light.
Crash!
It made a magnificent smash, sparks and glass flying, before blinking out. And silence. No humming, no buzzing, no blinking, no flickering. Nothing.
It was perfect.
“I always hated that light,” Three giggled.
“Me too.” I reached the door I’d eyed for months. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait!” White yelled. “You need the code!”
My fingers worked as I punched in the number I’d seen Warden White use over a hundred times. It never changed. They never expected me to get this far. Not without my shock collar.
His jaw dropped as the door unlocked, and I pulled it open. “If you need to say good bye, Three, now’s the time.”
“Bye, Warden!” Three spun in a wide-armed circle.
Now, it was time for my good bye. I smiled.
I pressed.
“Jesus! Jesus, please. Stop. Oh stop! Good God!” He clutched his neck, body curled, knuckles bone white. “God. Ah! Make it stop! Make it—”
I released the button. What? I couldn’t let him go without giving him a taste of his own medicine. Though I really would have preferred to have forced the collar onto Madame…
I tossed the remote at him through the bars. “I’d hide that before Madame gets here.” Ushering Three through the door, I followed, leaving just enough room for me to get the last word, “She’s a little trigger-happy.”
“Delil—"
I slammed the door shut behind us.