Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
T he cold was the first thing that hit her. She shivered uncontrollably; it felt like she was laying naked in the snow. But that couldn’t be right. She didn’t live in Connecticut anymore. Texas was her home now. Gunner, her…and Sage! Where the hell was her baby?
A moan ripped from her throat as her eyes flew open. Her body immediately rejected the idea of moving, the room spinning as she strained to get her bearings.
“Lily?” the whisper of her name hit her ears. She wasn’t alone. “Lily? Oh, thank you, God. I was so worried.”
“Sloane? What happened?”
“He drugged us.”
“He? Is Sage here? Have you been taking care of her?” Lily finally found the strength to sit up, but as soon as she did, she realized what a dire situation they were in. Her hands were zip tied together. Whoever had taken her had removed her clothes except for her bra and underwear, and there was nothing in the room with her and Sloane except for cold concrete walls and floors.
“No, Lil, I’m so sorry.” A sob tore from Lily’s throat. What had they done with her baby? “Shh, Lily. Please, you have to be quiet. I don’t want him to know you’re awake yet.” Lily watched Sloane move from her corner of the cell, stepping into the light from a small lamp on the floor. Lily gasped. She could see fresh bruises covering Sloane’s face and a split open bottom lip. Dried blood caked her nose and ear.
“W-what did he d-do with my b-baby?” her mind was spiraling, and for a second she just wanted the sweet relief of darkness to pull her away.
“Lil, I think he messed up the dose he gave me. It’s common for people with red hair to need more anesthetic to achieve the desired effects. While you passed out immediately, I stayed awake for a few more minutes, although I pretended to be out of it. It doesn’t matter…” she shook her head slightly. “The man who took us left Sage behind.”
“Oh, God.”
“Someone will have found her. He didn’t hide her. Just left her right there in her crib. I’m sure she’s fine. Gunner has to have found out what happened by now.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“No, but it’s dark outside. I was just up in the house. He…” she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s dark outside. I don’t know how far we traveled or where we are, but I didn’t see any other houses from looking out the windows.”
“What if she’s not okay, Sloane? What if she’s just been in that little room all alone and no one gets to her in time?”
“I know it’s so tough, Lily, but I need you to just tell yourself that she’s safe. Tell yourself over and over that she’s okay, because we need to focus on getting ourselves out of here.”
“So, you saw him? The man who took us?”
“One of the brilliant perks of not being as affected by whatever they drugged us with is that yes, I’ve come face to face with the bastard. Lily, I’m so sorry. He’s the client I started seeing last week.” Something pinged in Lily’s memory. The client she’d seen last week. He’d come for his appointment. Why couldn’t she remember him?
“Why did he hurt you and not me?”
“He hurt me because I fought back for both of us. I scratched the asshole right in his face. Pretty sure I’ve got lots of his DNA on me, in case he gets away. I’m going to keep doing that until the guys come for us.”
“How will they find us?”
“I’ll tell you after we’re out of this hellhole. Right now, I just need you to focus on slowing your breathing down. I don’t think I can carry you if you pass out.”
“I think I can do that.”
“I know you can. Because once you do, I’m going to tell you how we survive this.”
It felt like a lifetime passed as Lily worked to get her breathing under control. She pushed all the worry for Gunner and Sage out of her mind and focused on what Sloane had said. She knew how to get them out, and Lily was going to follow her no matter what.
“Good, Lily.” Sloane smiled, but winced as her lip reopened. “That asshole. Okay, here’s the deal. We need to break out of our zip ties.”
Lily started pulling at her hands.
“No, no. Not like that. You’re just going to cut up your skin doing it that way. You need to watch what I do. That idiot gave us a gift by keeping our hands in front of us.”
How was this the same shy, quiet Sloane she’d gotten to know over the past few weeks?
“Are you watching? You need to tighten the ties, okay? As much as you can.”
Lily put the end of the tie in her mouth and pulled so hard she thought they were about to rip into her skin.
“Okay, they’re super tight.”
“Good, now watch what I do. ”
Sloane lifted her hands above her head and slammed them down across her legs. Lily thought for sure Sloane’s wrists were broken, but a sly smile on her friend’s face and two free hands waving triumphantly in the air told a different story.
“Your turn. Don’t hesitate, and just make sure you follow through.”
“Yeah, no big deal.” Lily lifted her arms and froze. Would she be able to withstand the pain if she failed to break free? There was no other choice. Toughen up, Lil. You’ve got this.
She counted down from three before bringing her arms down to her legs. A blistering sting stretched across her skin as the ties broke and blood flow returned to her hands.
“Great job! Okay, now we need to work on a weapon.”
Lily looked around. The basement was empty. There wasn’t even a bucket for them to use as a bathroom or a place for them to wash their hands. There was nothing but metal poles supporting the floor above them, and messing with those would cause too much noise. Someone would come to investigate what they were doing.
“Do you have an underwire in your bra?” Sloane asked as she turned from Lily, undoing the clasp on her own bra.
“It’s a nursing bra. There’s no underwire,” Lily panicked. Had she messed up by wearing something comfortable? God, she’d always wear a bra with an underwire if they made it out of this alive.
“No, it’s okay. I need to take mine off for a minute and get the wires out. You can have one and I’ll take one.”
Lily watched as Sloane ripped at the fabric seams of her bra. The floor above them creaked and groaned as someone walked over them. Her heart was beating so loud in her ears she felt faint, but she wouldn’t let her nerves win.
Sheer desperation to see Gunner and Sage again fueled her determination as Sloane handed the first wire to her.
“You need to sharpen the metal on the rough edges of the concrete blocks, okay?” Lily looked at the wall Sloane was pointing to.
“I can do that.” Her movements started out slow as she tried to see in the dim light if the motion was actually sharpening the metal or not. When the floorboards moved again, Lily’s hands started shaking. Her movements became frantic as she attempted to make the end sharp enough to pierce someone’s skin.
After another minute, Sloane joined her at the wall, her metal-less bra now back in place. Lily looked at her point, now sharp enough to test. She pressed the end into her finger, wincing as the tip pierced her skin and a drop of blood bubbled to the surface.
“Good, Lily. Now try to bend the other end so you have a bit of a handle. I’m not sure how much damage these will do, but I’m thinking if we can figure out how to both attack him at the same time, we might have a fighting chance to get out of the cabin and run away. Even a tiny weapon is better than nothing.”
Lily put her back to the wall and slid down until the cold concrete met her bottom and she shivered. She stayed there while Sloane finished sharpening her own weapon. The idea of using her friend’s bra to survive was so laughable, Lily nearly burst out with inappropriate giggles as Sloane slid down next to her, holding her very own under-boob shaped weapon.
The footsteps above them walked closer to the door at the top of the stairs.
“I think he’s coming down to get us, Lily. You need to put your hands back in front of you and hide the weapon in your palm. If we pretend like we are still bound, maybe he won’t notice.”
Sloane moved quickly back into her corner and nodded for Lily to do the same. Her knees scraped across the floor as she hurried back to her spot.
“Stand up, Lily. Don’t let him see you’re scared.”
Lily forced herself to stand just as the door ripped open and light flooded down the steps. A set of heavy boots stomped down the stairs.
Bile rose in Lily’s throat as she fought back a scream.