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He froze in place.
“Where’s Maya?”
"I'm going to kill you before you ever get to her!"
He lunged for her but fell over the love seat.
She sprayed him again.
More high-pitched hollering.
Ari raced up the stairs, skipping every other step. “Maya?”
The carpeted upstairs hallway was a stark contrast to the basement.
“Maya!”
Thump! Thud!
Ariana headed left, toward the noise. “Maya!”
Thud, thud, thump!
Damon appeared in a doorway. “She’s in here. Hurry.”
Maya thrashed on a bed, knocking the headboard against the wall. Her wrists and ankles were tied with ropes and duct tape covered her mouth.
Ari raced over and pulled off the tape.
“He said he has Olivia here!” Maya said.
“Olivia’s outside. I already got her out.” Ariana struggled with the knot on Maya’s wrists while Damon worked on her ankles.
Relief washed over Maya’s face, but only for a moment. “Ryan’s in the house somewhere.”
“He’s occupied. Don’t worry about him.” Ariana gave up on untying the rope and remembered her pocketknife. Freed Maya’s wrists.
Damon dropped the ropes from her ankles. “Let’s get out of here.”
Maya sat up and rubbed her skin. “How did you find this place?”
“We’ll explain it later.” Ariana helped her off the bed. After a few stumbling steps from her ankles having been tied, Maya ran ahead of her, in much better shape than her twin who’d been held far longer.
Damon took Ari’s hand, and they followed their friend.
Downstairs, Ryan thrashed on the floor, still hollering and swearing.
“What happened to him?” Maya asked.
“Pepper gel.”
“Good thinking.” She raced outside.
Ari returned to Rita and checked her pulse again. Good and strong.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
She squeezed Rita’s hand. “You’re going to be okay. We all are.”
