She tried the handle then rattled the bars. It wasn’t.
Natalie’s face crumpled. “He’d rather see us burn than risk us escaping.”
Smoke rolled in from the far end of the wing. Something cracked overhead, showering sparks like orange rain.
“Oh my God,” one girl sobbed. “We’re on fire.”
Mateo swore and said to Gaby, “I’ll handle that. You get the door open.”
“With what?” she snapped. “A hair clip?”
He bent, pulled something from his boot, and slapped it into Gaby’s hand.
She looked down at… a butter knife. “Are you kidding me?”
“No weapons allowed,” he said grimly. “We’re lucky they didn’t notice that missing.”
He yanked a fire extinguisher from its bracket and ripped the pin free. “See if you can pry the hinges.”
Natalie clutched her arm, shaking. “I don’t want to die in here, Gaby.”
She wasn’t keen on dying under the evil bastard’s roof either, but she had little faith in her demolition skills. But the girls were frightened and looking to her to save them.
“You won’t,” Gaby said, with no idea how she’d make that true.
She crouched at the gate. Screws were visible, but the knife blade was too thick. She tried popping a hinge pin. The tip snapped off.
“Dammit.”
The metal plates of the hinge were thinner, not wrought iron. Maybe…
She jammed the blade between the wooden jamb and the hinge plate and leaned her weight into it. It creaked, gave a fraction then slipped.
She swore, adjusted, and tried again. This time, it bent.
The smoke thickened as she worked, burning her eyes and throat.
“Gaby,” Natalie rasped. “He’s on the second canister and losing the fight.”
“Hold on,” she grunted. “I’ve almost—”
The knife snapped in half.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she shouted. Beyond frustrated, she stepped back and kicked the hinge hard.
Pain shot up her leg to her hip, but the wood splintered. Reaching deep, she kicked it again, grunting with the effort. Four of the girls moved up beside her, their hands closing around the bars. They pushed as she kicked again and again.
Finally, the hinge tore free, screws ripping out of the salt-air-softened wood.
Natalie stared at her, stunned. “Holy shit, Gaby.”
She didn’t pause, shouting, “Mateo. We need you!”
He ran up, wheezing, eyes streaming.
“Lift the bottom,” she said. “We’ll squeeze through.”
With only one hinge left, he had leverage and created a wide enough gap for the girls to wiggle under one by one. She wentlast, leaving Mateo, who was big, with shoulders too broad, on the other side.
