Hello? Focus! You have to figure out how to escape this mess!
“Hey, Nik, sorry to bother you again, but my wrists really are hurting. This thing is way too tight.”
He completely ignores me, trudging up with labored breaths. He is carrying a lot of gear and an enormous gun that almost looks fake. It’s the kind the bad guys in a Tom Cruise movie carry around.
“Are you, like . . . going to blow the place up?”
He still pretends like he can’t hear me, speaking in another language to the men with him, presumably Russian.
“I really should learn another language. Was it hard to become fluent in English?”
No answer.
“I’ve heard it’s difficult, but I don’t know why. I think I would start with Spanish because in high school, I?—”
The one in front turns around, ripping his ski mask off. “Make the woman stop!” he roars.
He’s got scars all over his face, like deep cuts that left grooves in his skin. He is absolutely terrifying to look at, and I halt at his words.
My insides are scrambled eggs. I should’ve been quiet, but talking calms me down. I needed to ramble to ease my ownanxiety, but now, that fear has morphed into real, heart stopping terror. My heart drops to my stomach as my blood turns to ice.
I’m going to die.
I feel paralyzed by the thought, wishing for the strong arms of my dad to hold me again. I wish I’d insisted on going to see him today, for one last bad joke and a chance to rib Jerry alongside him. Tears well up in my eyes as I realize if I do die here today at the hands of these men, he might not ever know. He didn’t even know me last time.
What will they say to him?
The scarred one seems satisfied, turning back around to march us up once again.
I stay quiet for the last few levels, not daring to speak. My mind is running through prayers for help, plans to try and escape, and I wish for Luke to somehow magically think to check the stairs for me.
Is he looking for me?
We stop at the end of the stairwell, and I realize we walked the entire way up to the top, floor fifty-six. They’re jabbering in Russian and loading bullets into their mammoth-sized guns.
Are they actually going to kill everyone?
I can’t see what they could possibly gain by doing such a thing, but the shock coursing through me renders me motionless. I can’t form coherent thoughts. My skin is clammy, and I feel completely powerless.
Should I scream and try to warn my unsuspecting coworkers?
My blue dress is beginning to cling to me with sweat, partly from the trek but mostly from fear. I’m full of regret for choosing to wear the long sleeve sweater over it to cover my stitches. I kicked my shoes off after level three, knowing I would never make it with them digging into my toes.
Nik turns to me, brown eyes lasering into mine. “Listen, you are the bait here. If we get what we want, we’ll let you go. If you can convince your boyfriend to work with us, you won’t get hurt again.”
He squeezes the cut on my arm, knowing where it is, even under my long sleeve. I cry out in pain, but he doesn’t stop. I finally nod, tears streaming down my cheeks, and he releases me. I suck in a breath. I have no idea what they want from Luke, but I hope he agrees to it.
But I’m not even his girlfriend. He has no feelings for me.Whatever he’s mixed up in is much bigger than the casual fling we’ve had going on.
He’ll never sacrifice whatever it is he’s hiding to protect me.
The one in front opens the door, gun pointed out. I keep waiting to hear screams of terror, followed by shouting in Russian and gunfire.
No sound reaches my ears. The silence is odd, and I don’t understand it until Nik shoves me out into the office.
“The power’s out,” I murmur, realizing that’s why the stairs were so dark.
They did this. They wanted everyone to leave, and they wanted to bring me up here. Alone.
