Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Aster whipped the car around a turn, and Irina was thrown sideways under the force of the acceleration. The man, Dale, roughly gripped her biceps to yank her upright. She wriggled in place until she was sitting and tried to pull away from him, but his hold was too strong.
Aster drove within the speed limit, careful not to draw undue attention to them.
Irina could see Aster's reflection in the rearview mirror and glared at her. Aster had been her best friend, the closest thing she had to a sister, for nearly two years when they had sung backup for Christina Tucker together. Irina couldn’t begin to imagine what had possessed Aster to do this.
A set of flashing red and blue lights through the windshield caught her attention, and her heart gave a hard thump in her chest. The police. From the driver’s seat, Aster swore.
“Relax,” Dale spoke up. “Just drive normal.”
The officer sped by, headed in the opposite direction, and despair settled over Irina. Deep down, she had been hoping that Roman had called the police and they were already on the way to save her. Less than twenty seconds later, another car whizzed by.
“Dale?” There was no mistaking the worry in Aster's voice this time.
“Follow them,” Dale directed.
Aster’s head whipped around to look at him. “Are you crazy?”
“Do it.” His tone was hard and commanding, and Aster reluctantly slowed the car, then turned at the next intersection. Irina's heart thumped erratically as they circled back around and fell in behind the police, who were now far in front of them.
Red and blue lights pierced the dark night sky, heralding their position. As they got closer, Irina could see several police cruisers blocking off the road to the south end of the island that led to Longboat Key, as well as the bridge back to the mainland.
“They’re shutting down the island,” Dale said softly. “Turn right up here and head back to the house.”
Aster did as he said, but Irina watched her fingers clench around the steering wheel.
It was clear she was nervous, worried about being caught.
Irina thought maybe she could use that to her advantage.
Dale was definitely the one in charge here.
She would have to isolate Aster and see if she could talk some sense into her.
Irina watched their surroundings as Aster wound her way through the side streets before turning back onto the main drag and heading toward the very tip of the island.
A few minutes later, Aster turned left toward the beach and pulled to a stop along the side of what appeared to be a small condo complex.
The only light came from a street lamp on the corner; there seemed to be no life within any of the units.
Judging from the shape of the building, Irina guessed there to be at least three condos.
With the windows dark, it was hard to tell.
They were either uninhabited during this slow season, or the occupants were out enjoying themselves.
Irina prayed they were just out and would be returning soon.
Dale threw open the door, then grabbed Irina's arm and hauled her out behind him. She didn’t have time to move her feet, and she fell from the car, landing on her hands and knees on the rough pavement.
Her cry of pain was muffled behind the duct tape covering her mouth, and he picked her up like a toddler and set her on her feet.
One hand fisted in the back of her shirt, he marched her forward, toward the door on the right side of the complex.
Aster unlocked the door, and Dale led Irina through the dark condo.
She stumbled a couple of times, bumping into furniture, and Dale roughly jerked her around until they reached a room at the very back of the unit.
Lit only by the faint glow of the streetlight filtering through a small, frosted glass window, Irina could tell that it was a bathroom.
“Don’t move.”
She automatically stiffened as she felt Dale’s hands land on her hips and sweep over her backside.
Her heart fell as he plucked the phone from her back pocket, then stepped away.
She had hoped he would be too focused on everything else to think of checking for a phone.
Now that she couldn’t call for help, she would have to come up with another plan.
“Get in.” Following his directions, she clumsily stepped into the bathtub with its tiled surround. “Sit.”
Her body screamed at her to fight back, but there was nothing she could do. There was no way for her to escape—not without the use of her hands.
“Now!”
She jumped and did as he instructed. He pulled the roll of duct tape from his sweatshirt pocket and bound her feet together. He grabbed her hair and directed her gaze to his. Fear gripped her as his dead eyes stared into hers. “Don’t try anything stupid.”
He seemed to be waiting for a response, so she nodded using the limited range of motion with her hair still held in his firm grasp.
He searched her face for another long moment, gave a curt nod and released her, then pushed to his feet and left.
A sigh filtered through her nose, and she briefly closed her eyes, grateful that he hadn’t tried to hurt her—yet. That at least bought her some time.
With him now gone, she took a look around.
There was no paraphernalia on the shelves of the shower, nor was there anything on the vanity.
It looked completely bare, as if they had either just arrived or were planning to leave.
Her heart kicked into overdrive at the realization.
Best case scenario, they would try to ransom her.
But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she knew that wasn’t the case.
Dread settled in her gut. She had already seen their faces—they would have to get rid of her so she couldn’t identify them. She didn’t know how deeply involved Aster was, so she discarded her earlier idea of trying to appeal to her sense of reason. That left only one option—escape.
Since it was dark, she hadn’t been able to make out most of the condo when they came in. From the layout, she assumed it was small, maybe one or two bedrooms, just like the house she and Roman were staying in. Her gaze drifted toward the small window on the wall to her left.
Rectangular in shape, maybe a foot and a half tall by three feet wide, it opened by sliding the pane sideways.
There was a lock in the middle, but no screen that she could see.
It was incredibly narrow for a normal person, but if she contorted herself just right, she might be able to slip through.
She would have to go out face first, since there was no stool or anything to climb up on inside.
Doing so ran the risk of her falling on her head outside, but she would have to gamble it.
She wiggled experimentally, testing the tape around her wrists and ankles. Roman had taught her self-defense, but they hadn’t discussed escaping bonds. She had heard once that duct tape would break fairly easily, but she had never tried it. No time like the present.
Out in the main living area, she heard the soft jingle of a commercial on TV, and she mentally crossed her fingers, hoping it would drown out any noise she was about to make.
Keeping one ear tuned to the outer room, she quietly placed her hands on the edge of the tub and maneuvered her feet into position beneath her.
Her feet were bare, and she prayed they wouldn’t slide out from under her when she tried to stand. Slowly contracting her muscles, she levered herself to her feet, inch by agonizing inch.
Hands and feet bound tight, she debated her next option.
The floor of the bathtub was fairly slick, and she didn’t want to risk falling down in there and cracking her head.
There was a little more room to move around beside the vanity and toilet, but that meant she would have to get over the edge of the tub.
A towel bar was anchored to the wall to her left, but it was too far away to grab.
Praying for the best, she sat on the edge of the tub and tested her balance.
Leaning her back against the tiled wall, she slowly lifted her feet until they rested on the edge of the tub.
Her stomach muscles ached from the effort, and she took a short break.
Shifting her weight, she rolled so that her left shoulder was against the wall then dropped her feet to the floor.
Her bare flesh landed with a soft slap, and she froze, listening for the tell-tale sounds of someone coming.
Thirty seconds passed with no indication that either one of them had heard, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Now she just had to get out of the duct tape and hope that the window opened.
Shuffling toward the middle of the room, she drew back on what she’d read.
If she lifted her hands over her head and pulled them down quickly on either side of her legs, it should put enough pressure on the tape to break.
Steeling herself, she lifted her hands up in the air, then breathed out and brought them down quickly. Her wrist bone glanced off her kneecap, and she bit back a cry of pain as the tape tugged on her skin. She was rewarded at least with a tiny ripping sound, so she tried again.
Lifting her hands over her head a second time, she threw them downward, angling her arms out to the side at the last minute.
For a moment, she didn’t think it had worked.
Then she felt the feathery caress of duct tape tickle her palm, and she realized with a giddy sense of glee that her hands were free.
It had made a God-awful noise though, and she listened once again for Aster and Dale to come running.
Nothing happened, and her heart began to beat frantically with a combination of hope and adrenaline.
She sat down and quickly began to unravel the tape around her ankles, then yanked the tape off her face with a soft cry.
Her lips and cheeks stung, and tears popped into her eyes, but she brushed them off and began to attack the window.
She flipped the lock up and yanked as hard as she could to slide it open. For a second, it resisted. Then finally, blessedly, the swollen wood slid open an inch. Propelled by determination and fear, she muscled it the rest of the way open and popped her hands on the lip.
She braced her toes on the wall and managed to get her torso up and through the opening. The rough wood scraped her shoulder, but she gritted her teeth and pushed on. Outside, the familiar calls of frogs and insects met her ears, along with the sound of laughter from a few streets over.
She wiggled herself most of the way through, but her hips got stuck just as she heard footsteps squeaking along the tile floor of the condo, each one growing louder as the person neared the bathroom. All of a sudden, the door flew open and the lights came on.
“Damn it!”
She kicked her feet wildly, trying to push herself the rest of the way through the window. But Dale was too fast, too strong. He grabbed her and yanked her backward, scraping her stomach and chest as he dragged her back into the bathroom.
“Help!” she screamed. “Over here!” Roman’s words came back to her, and she switched tactics. “Fire! Help, fire!”
Dale’s hand connected with the side of her face, and she stumbled to the floor.
He slammed the window shut and locked it, then grabbed her hair and yanked.
Her feet slipped on the cool tile floor as she tried to keep up with him while he dragged her toward the living room.
She let out a grunt of pain when he dropped her to the floor, then backhanded her again.
Stars danced in front of her eyes, and spittle splattered over her cheeks as he leaned close and spoke. “Stupid little bitch. I’m going to make you regret that.”