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"This is getting ridiculous," Imuttered.
"Have patience," Bellamy replied. "There are somedoors—"
"Hey, what the hell are you doing inhere?"
Both of our heads jerked up as a deep voice spoke from the doorway behind us. I froze, a deer caught in headlights as the man—tall and slender, in dark slacks and a black button-down shirt—reached for me. I spun away, narrowly avoiding his reach as Bellamy dove across the room. I blinked, and Bellamy's fist slammed across the other man's chin. The man grunted and then reeled back and punched Bellamy aswell.
"Go!" Bellamy snapped. "Find Erika!" The other man cried out as Bellamy grabbed him by the back of the shirt, ramming his knee into the man's solarplexus.
I nodded and whirled around towards the hallway on the other side of the kitchen. Bellamy was the one who had helped train me in self-defense. He was good. I knew he could handle himself. I jerked open the first door, not even bothering to use the same stealth Bellamy had before, and was greeted, surprisingly, by a familiar face—though it was decidedly less tan than Iremembered.
"H-Harlow?" Erika stared up at me from where she sat on the bed—her back pressed against the bolted down headboard. I hadn't expected that I would find her so quickly, but I hurried to shut the door behind me and rushed across theroom.
I wrapped my arms around Erika and squeezed. "Oh my God," I said. "I'm so glad you'resafe."
"What are you d-doing here?" Her voice broke in the middle of thesentence.
"I'm here to rescue you," I answered, pulling back and examining her bindings. Handcuffs? Jeez. "Where are the keys?" Iasked.
Erika shook her head, and I noted visible tear tracks on her cheeks. My throat tightened with sympathy. "Bernard hasthem."
I paused. "Bernard?"
She nodded. "He's the guy Josh owes money." She sniffed hard. "Oh Harlow, they want me to..." she hiccupped, "they want me to sign a contract and they want me to—" She cut herself off on a sob as if the mere thought terrified her. I rubbed her shoulder soothingly, but we really didn't have time. I looked around the room, for something, anything that could help me uncuff her. Trying to run while handcuffed might hinder things. It certainly would if we had to jump overboard. She wouldn't be able to swim, and I was not taking my best friend out there only to drown her in ourescape.
I moved to the side, opening one of the drawers at the base of the bed frame. Nothing. I opened the next one and only found an extra set ofsheets.
"What are you looking for?" Erika asked, sniffinghard.
I shook my head, tearing the sheets out. Come on, there had to be something. But there wasn't. There was nothing. "We need something to break you out of those cuffs," Isaid.
"Come on, let's just go," Erika said, sounding strained. I lifted my head. She looked at the door longingly, her handsshaking.
"What if we need to swim?" I asked. "You coulddrown."
She inhaled and released a shuddering breath before her eyes met mine. "You didn't come here alone, right?" she asked. "I mean, you wouldn't...dothat?"
"No, I'm not alone. My friends are here withme."
"Then let's go," she said. "Please, I can't stay here any longer and, Harlow, if they catch you, they'll do the same thing to you that they're planning on doing to me. These are bad guys, Harlow. We can'tstay."
"Are yousure?"
She nodded once more, her eyes flicking to thedoor.
I bit my lip and then decided she was right. At least her hands were in front and not tied at her back. Maybe I could find something along the way or maybe Bellamy or Knix had something in their backpack that could at least snap the chain holding her handstogether.
I went back to the door and cracked it open. Down the hall, I heard nothing but silence. The fight had either moved or was over entirely. My wet, bare feet slid across the wood flooring of the hallway as I crept back to the kitchen area. Grimacing at the mess of supplies—utensils and food alike strewn across the ground—I tiptoed around the shattered glass bits. A smear of blood on the floor caught my attention. My head jerked up as we reached the bottom of the stairs—our only way out of here—and the dooropened.
"Aww, I didn't know you were ready to leave Erika." The man above us stood with his legs shoulder-width apart. He grinned down as Erika cowered at myback.
I grimaced, steeling myself. "Bernard, I presume?" I said,sharply.
The guy's gaze moved from Erika to me, just as I had intended. He grinned, a cruel twist of his lips as he leered down at me. "I'm afraid not, but don't worry, I'm sure he'd love to meet you." He stepped to the side. "Why don't we get introductions started. I do believe your friend has already madehis."
With little choice, Erika and I made our way up the stairs and out onto the open deck. The first thing I noticed was Bellamy's face. Blood dripped from a cut somewhere in his hairline. I couldn't see where exactly, but the trail of red spilled down his temple as someone stood behind where he was collapsed on his knees. The second thing I realized were the guns pointed at him…and Erika, and me. The short barrels were threats all their own, but what I really focused on were the fingers that hovered over the triggers. One wrong move, one misstep, and someone's shaky hand could end my life. My heart jumped into my throat and chokedme.
"Sweetheart," Bellamy called before the man behind him punched him on the side of the head, cutting himoff.
