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She could hear Sunny whimpering and crying for her. Her heart twisted painfully.
“How’d you get out?” Levi hollered.
“I used a heavy bust, got lucky, and knocked the door handle clean through to the hallway. They put doorknob lockout devices on them. Stand back and I’ll break yours.”
They heard something heavy slamming against the door again and again. Nothing seemed to be happening.
Then they heard … helicopter rotors. Malik was back. Her heart leapt, followed by icy terror. If Malik was back, the house was about to explode.
If Malik was back …
Were the king, crown prince, and prime minster dead?
Sophie wanted to crumple into a ball and cry for Malik. He couldn’t possibly have killed his own father. Yet if he hadn’t, William would’ve already killed them.
She couldn’t think about it right now, and she couldn’t crumple.
They had to act. Now.
“Mason! Get my parents and Sunny out of here. Stop Malik or anybody from opening a door that might set off the bombs.”
“We can’t leave you,” her mum screamed at her.
“You have to. Get Sunny out. Warn Malik. Go!”
The helicopter’s rotors were slowing. No. Oh, no.
“Go, or we all die!” Sophie yelled.
“We’ll be back for you,” her dad promised, then footsteps retreated as Sunny screamed “Mum! Mum!” over and over again.
“Levi.” Sophie grabbed his arm. “You can make it across to the other balcony. Go with them. You’ll have a better chance of finding the right exterior door to get them out, to warn Malik, and to keep them all safe from William’s men.”
“I can’t leave you,” he said.
“You have to. We all have a better chance of survival if you go. Please.” She shoved at his side.
He stared at her. She knew he didn’t want to leave her, but there was clearly a survival instinct in him as well. Then he said, “No. You’re coming with me.”
Levi ushered her toward the balcony. She didn’t fight him as she didn’t want to slow him down, but she would never make it across that yawning, empty chasm to the other balcony. She wasn’t tall enough, athletic enough, or Spiderman enough.
They raced out the open door and to the edge of the balcony. The other balcony was too far away. Double her body length, at least.
Watching Mason scramble across the distance, holding on to who knows what, had been impressive. Similar to watching Malik’s ninja warrior brother perform feats on the American television show.
Now, looking at the distance between the balconies, then looking down into the darkness below, hundreds of meters of yawning darkness, it was a death sentence for certain.
She looked at Levi. He stared back at her.
“I don’t have any idea how Mason made it across.”
“He’s part-monkey,” Levi said.
She laughed. It was strange to laugh with all the stress floating around them. Would the house explode at any moment? Had Mason gotten out, warned Malik, and they were battling William’s men? She heard no sounds of fighting.
“Do you think we have until three-forty, or will William blow it early? Or …” She didn’t want to think about Malik opening a door and dying too. She didn’t have a watch on, and neither of them had a phone. She had little desire to go back into the room and look at the alarm clock. Death was coming fast enough. It wouldn’t be any help to know how few minutes they had left in this world.
Praying desperately for help, she glanced at the other balcony, then into the darkness below, listening. Everything seemed too quiet.
