CHAPTER THREE
I wait five minutes to make sure he’s really gone. Then I carefully push the door open.
The hallway is empty. I can hear voices somewhere in the distance, but they’re far enough away that I might be able to slip out unnoticed.
My wrists are still zip-tied, but I can move. I creep down the hallway, staying close to the wall.
I pass several doors—all closed. Then I hear something that makes me freeze.
“—need to move her soon. Hunter’s getting suspicious.”
It’s a different voice. Not Dimitri.
“Give it one more day,” another voice says. “John says we need to wait for the right moment.”
I keep moving, my heart pounding.
At the end of the hallway, there’s a staircase. I take it carefully, wincing every time the stairs creak.
On the next floor, there’s more hallways, more doors. The place is massive.
I’m about to try one of the doors when I hear footsteps coming up the stairs behind me.
I duck into a side room and press myself against the wall, holding my breath.
The footsteps pass by my door. I wait until they fade, then peek out.
The coast is clear.
I try the next door. Locked. The one after that—also locked.
Then I try a door at the end of the hall and it opens.
Inside is a small office with a desk and a computer. And on the desk, there’s a phone.
I grab it with my bound hands and fumble to dial Hunter’s number.
It rings once. Twice.
“Hello?” Hunter’s voice.
“Hunter,” I whisper urgently. “It’s me.”
“Lorelai! Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m in some kind of warehouse. I don’t know where exactly but—”
Footsteps in the hallway.
“I have to go,” I whisper.
“Lorelai, wait—”
I end the call and shove the phone in my pocket just as the door opens.
It’s Dimitri. And he looks furious.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asks.
“I got lost,” I say quickly.
“Bullshit,” he grabs my arm and drags me back toward the stairs.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Please, I just wanted to—”
“Shut up,” he says.
He drags me back to my cell and shoves me inside. This time, he checks the lock.
“That was stupid,” he says. “Really fucking stupid.”
“I had to try,” I say.
“Now I’m going to have to tell the others,” he says. “And they’re not going to be as nice as me.”
“Wait,” I say. “Please. Don’t tell them.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he asks.
“Because,” I say, thinking fast. “Because if you do, they’ll know you screwed up. That you left my door unlocked.”
He pauses. I can see him considering this.
“And if they know you screwed up,” I continue, “John will find out. And what do you think he’ll do to you?”
Dimitri’s jaw clenches.
“Please,” I say. “Just... give me another chance. I won’t try to escape again.”
“Yes you will,” he says. “That’s what people do.”
“Then tie me to the bed,” I suggest. “That way you know I won’t go anywhere.”
He considers this. Then he pulls out another zip tie and secures my ankle to the bed frame.
“There,” he says. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” I mutter.
He turns to leave, then pauses.
“That phone call you made,” he says. “Did you tell him where you are?”
“No,” I admit. “I don’t know where I am.”
He nods. “Good. Keep it that way.”
After he leaves, I examine my new restraint. The zip tie around my ankle is tight, but the bed frame itself might be movable if I can work at it.
And I still have the phone in my pocket.
I might just have a chance after all.