CHAPTER FORTY
Cara
The pain was back in full force. It was never really gone, but there were times it faded.
Now was not one of those times. I winced as I tried to move my leg.
I had been sitting up, trying to use my arms to lend some strength to maneuver my hurt leg.
I needed to see if I could walk or put any weight on it at all.
After a few minutes of trying, I was thinking the answer was ‘no’.
I dropped back down, letting my head hit the pillow. Tears of frustration gathered at the corners of my eyes. The conversations I’d heard between Nora and Eric Hightower and then Nora and Garrison kept running through my head. Hearing my former best friend say they needed to kill me was… awful.
I knew I had to get out of here, but I physically couldn’t do it. At least not on my own. I felt completely helpless.
I thought back over anyone I’d seen in the room helping care for me. Obviously medical professionals had been in and out, but I couldn’t get a picture in my head of any of them. Things were too fuzzy from the pain and medication.
A sound from the hallway drew my attention. I listened as hard as I could and thought I could make out slow, faltering footsteps coming from outside my door. My eyes widened and my heart rate picked up. Was this it? Had Nora convinced Eric Hightower or her dad that killing me was the best option?
I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming out as I tried to swing my leg out of the bed.
And that’s when the door opened.
Kelisha Kelley, director of the Moonlight Ballet Company, walked in.
Well, walked was a generous term. It was more like she dragged herself into the room. She looked horrible—pale and weak—as she clung to the wall to stay upright.
“Kelisha! Oh my God,” I gasped as I tried to move my leg back into the bed. “What are you doing here? What did they do to you?”
She held a finger up to her mouth, urging me to be quiet.
I nodded and waited for her to get closer to me.
“We have to get out of here,” she said quietly.
This was not news to me. “I know, but I don’t know how…”
She held up a hand to silence me. “I’ve overheard a few conversations over the past few days. The Harts are having a party tonight.”
“Here? Are we in the main house?”
She nodded. “We must be. I think this is our only chance to escape. If we can get out and into the halls without security seeing us, then maybe we can make it to wherever they’re holding the party and the guests will spot us.”
I looked her over. “I don’t know,” I said, doubt coloring my voice. “Neither of us seems to be in good enough physical shape to make an escape.”
She huffed out a sigh and collapsed into a chair beside my bed.
“You’re right. But Nora Hart is planning to kill me.
I’m not sure why she hasn’t already, to be honest. In fact, I don’t know why she and Eric let me live after attacking me at the Moonlight.
But it’s not just me,” she fixed me with a worried gaze.
“Nora is planning on killing both of us. Her brother and dad have told her to stay out of things while they handle it, but she’s not listening. ”
“I overheard her talking, too, and let me tell you—Garrison’s not much better. I was hoping those conversations were some sort of fever dream from all the pain and medicine.”
Kelisha shook her head. “They’re not. I’m so sorry, Cara.
I should have insisted you stay away from the Moonlight.
I should have told you not to come back to Charleston, but I did not know just how much danger you were in.
I guess I should’ve figured it out from the stage lights falling, but the police seemed to think it was an accident and Theo hadn’t talked to me before you were already back… ”
“Don’t apologize. I’m like you—it was a stretch to think that the Harts were capable of something this awful.” I paused, afraid to ask my next question. “What did they do to you?”
“Do you remember seeing Nora right outside my office after we discussed you leaving and my retirement?”
“Yes. It scared the hell out of me.”
“Yes, me, too. And it got worse. She quizzed me about everything you and I talked about. I wouldn’t tell her anything.
That’s when her boyfriend, Eric, came into my office.
He had a gun and threatened to shoot me if I didn’t tell them what you were planning.
I wouldn’t tell him anything about you, but I admitted I was retiring soon.
Then I tried to get away, but he pushed me down and kicked me.
When I tried to crawl away, he must’ve hit me on the head with his gun.
Then I woke up here.” She reached up and rubbed her head.
“I heard one of the nurses say I had a serious concussion and some broken ribs.”
I grimaced. “You must be in so much pain! I’m so sorry this happened to you.
” I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears.
“Why are they doing this? They were getting what they wanted. I was leaving. You were retiring. The Harts could have made sure whoever the next director of the Moonlight was picked Nora to be a principal dancer. This just doesn’t make sense. ”
“You know,” Kelisha said, “I thought Monty was the dangerous one in that family. I’m still not sure that he’s not dangerous.
But it slipped by me that Nora is seriously messed up.
I just thought she was spoiled. Now I know it’s way more than that.
She’s the dangerous one. Compared to Nora, I think Monty is pretty tame. ”
“Why does she hate me so much?” I whispered under my breath.
“Jealousy. She knows you’re a better dancer than she is, and she can’t stand it.
” Kelisha took a deep breath. She looked as if she was fighting back nausea from the pain she was in.
There was a light sheen of sweat on her brow, and I knew she should be in the hospital.
Between her injuries and my useless leg, the two of us were pitiful. How were we going to break out of here?
“Do you know how long we’ve been here?” Edward had to be looking for me. And my family. I was sure Kelisha’s wife was looking for her, too.
“From what I can piece together it’s been between two and three days. But I could be wrong,” she admitted. “I’ve been out of it.”
My eyebrows shot up. “I’ve lost all track of time. They’ve kept us drugged.”
Kelisha nodded. “Nurses have been in and out of here. I… I think they’re going to perform surgery on you.”
“Surgery?” I vaguely recalled overhearing Garrison say something about surgery, too.
She nodded. “On your knee.”
Flashes of pain and memories were coming back to me, but I knew we didn’t have time to go over this right now.
Something Nora said filtered to the front of my mind. “I know how to get out,” I said suddenly.
Kelisha looked doubtful and hopeful at the same time.
“How? I tried to make friends with a nurse to get her to let me out, but she acted like she couldn’t even hear me when I spoke to her.
This is the first time I’ve been strong enough to walk to my door.
I was shocked it was unlocked, to be honest. I think someone got lazy, thinking that I couldn’t possibly be mobile enough to get out on my own. ”
I pointed to the door I’d thought was a closet.
“Nora was in my room and heard someone coming. She and Eric left through that door and said it led to one of the side hallways. She used it to get out of here without her family knowing she’d come to see me.”
Kelisha pushed herself up and out of the chair and walked to the door. She winced as she reached for the heavy brass knob. “Cross your fingers there’s not an alarm attached to this door.”
I held my breath as she turned the knob and pushed it open. We were looking into a very dimly lit hallway. No alarm sounded, and if I could have, I would’ve jumped up and cheered.
“Oh, thank God,” Kelisha whispered. “But we have to be quick. There could be a silent alarm going off somewhere right now.” She walked to the corner of the room where both a wheelchair and a set of crutches were placed. “We’re going to have to put you in the wheelchair.”
I shook my head. “You’re tiny and hurt. I can’t see you pushing me in that thing.”
“I sure as hell can’t pick you up if you fall trying to use the crutches.”
She had a point. “Okay, fine. Can you wheel it over to the bed?” I wasn’t even sure I could handle getting in it. I realized I was still attached to tubing and winced when I realized I was going to have to take the needle out of my hand.
I did it quickly, ignoring the rush of blood that accompanied the pain as I ripped the bandage off and the needle came with it.
I couldn’t ignore the immediate sounds the machine made, though. An alarm-type sound that seemed to be about ten million decibels started going off as soon as I unattached myself.
“Shit!” Kelisha hurried as fast as she could to the plug and pulled it from the outlet. The absence of sound briefly seemed louder than the alarm had been. We didn’t even take time to think about it.
I pushed myself to the edge of the bed, gritting my teeth. What I was doing seemed impossible, as the pain rushed over me in waves.
But adrenaline can do marvelous things. The thought of being caught trying to leave was strong motivation to ignore the pain the best I could. Still, I could taste blood in my mouth where I’d inadvertently bitten the sides of my cheeks to keep from crying out in pain whenever I moved my knee.
Kelisha rolled the chair over, and I used the buttons on the bed’s remote to lower it as much as possible.
Then I pushed myself off the bed using my upper body strength, and Kelisha helped me get in.
She figured out how to elevate my leg so that I didn’t have to bend it.
That was good considering I didn’t think I could.
It took way too long to get me in the wheelchair. Every little sound was magnified, and I kept thinking someone was going to burst through the door and catch us at any second. I could tell Kelisha was just as terrified as I was.
Our only hope was that people were too distracted by the party to have heard the alarm.
Once I was in the chair, silent tears of pain running down my cheeks, I was wiped out.
Kelisha made sure I was settled and then pushed me out the open door and down the dark hallway.
She had to use a good bit of strength to push me.
I helped as much as I could by pushing the wheels with my arms, but I’m not sure how successful I was.
And every time I pushed, I seemed to re-start the bleeding in my hand where the IV needle had been.
I was sure I was leaving a trail of blood behind us.
I hoped no one would track us that way but feared they would.
Kelisha and I made a painfully slow escape down the hallway.
But slow or not, we did it.
She kept pushing me until we’d reached an alcove that was far enough away from my room that we thought it would take people a while to find us… unless the trail of blood drops from my hand led them right to us. At least the hallway was dark. It would be hard to notice the blood.
And we were somewhat hidden from view.
Once she knew we’d come to a stopping point, Kelisha sat down hard and leaned her head against the side of the wheelchair.
We were both gasping for breath but trying to quiet ourselves.
The last thing we needed was to be caught right after escaping.
“Let’s rest for a few minutes, long enough to see if a silent alarm was triggered and then get into this room,” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I peeked through a window in the door. It’s dark in there, but it’s huge. I think it must be a library or something similar.”
“Good thinking,” I nodded. “Did you hear the music from the party?”
“I did, but I couldn’t quite tell which direction it was coming from. Maybe it’s the concussion?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell, either. It’s strange. At first, I thought it was coming from one direction then another. I hope we’re able to find our way out to the party area and get people to save us.”
“I’m so thankful for this timing,” Kelisha whispered. “If they’re distracted by a party, they’re much less likely to check on us much, if any, tonight.”
The music and talking was getting louder. That was even better. It could help cover any sounds we made.
But if we couldn’t find the party before the Harts figured out where we were, how were we going to get off the estate? It’s not like either of us had a phone or any way to get in touch with anyone.
“You don’t by chance have a working knowledge of this house, do you?” Kelisha asked softly.
I shook my head. “I know some rooms, but this place is so big I’m not even sure I could find my way to any of them.” A sudden thought hit me. “But I do remember Nora saying there was an elevator in their library.”
We both turned and looked inside the darkened room behind us.
“That could be great, or… not. Maybe it will take us straight down to the party, but it also might lead somewhere else—like to the delivery area behind the house.”
Kelisha had a determined look on her face. “Okay, so for a backup plan—if the elevator doesn’t take us to the party, we might just have to find our way outside and wheel you through the woods to get to the gates.”
“The front gates? As in the ones that lead out of the estate?” I had a feeling Kelisha didn’t remember exactly how far it was from the main house to the front gates. Either that or the pain medicine was still keeping her from thinking clearly.
“Yes.” She looked determined.
That sounded… impossible. I winced. “Even if we could do all of that, the gates have to be at least a couple of miles from here.”
Kelisha’s shoulders sagged. “Miles?”
“Miles,” I whispered.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Kelisha whispered.
“Oh, that’s easy,” a voice from behind us answered, “you’re not.” Nora Hart, a wild look in her dark eyes, laughed. “I can’t believe either of you thought you could possibly get away.”