Page 88 of Risky Match
He screams, doubling over in pain.
The soundproof room works in my favor now. His guards don’t hear him.
I lock my arms around him and flip him onto the floor. Freeing his belt from his trousers, I roll him onto his back and secure his hands.
Stripping off my sweatpants, I use one leg to bind his ankles and the other to secure him to the massage table that’s bolted to the floor. He won’t have a chance of reaching either door. For good measure, I gag his mouth with one of my wristbands.
It’s time to find Blake. I grab my phone from my bag and open the tracking app. His phone and tennis bag are both nearby.
Cracking the door slightly, I see two guards. Softly re-closing the door, I lock it from the inside. Going to the back of the room, I check the other door.
I’m in luck. Slipping through the door into the adjoining room, I find Erin. She’s tied up but working to free herself. Her eyes flash with relief when she sees me.
I hurry over, remove the gag from her mouth, and finish untying the ropes holding her captive. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let them capture you. How did you get free so quickly?” Her words are filled with remorse, anger, and more self-blame than necessary.
“It wasn’t your fault. They used duct tape on me instead of rope. They underestimated me. My bigger problem was Noah, but he’s not going anywhere now.”
“Excellent.”
“We have to find Blake. They plan to kill him.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Yes. He’s nearby. I’m tracking his phone. We have to get past the guards though. There are at least two out front.”
“These rooms are all connected. We can move from room to room until we’re past them. Then we’ll slip out.” She says as she pulls off her sneakers.
“What are you doing?”
“I have a few things hidden that will help.”
She pulls a knife from underneath each insole in her shoes, hands me one, and quickly puts her shoes back on. She takes her jacket off and turns it inside out, revealing a Wimbledon volunteer logo.
Finally, she extracts two baseball caps from her jacket pockets, saying, “We can hide our hair under the caps. They won’t be expecting us to escape, and they definitely won’t be looking for two people with short hair.”
“Good job. Have you been carrying these the whole time?”
“Of course. I’m always ready to sneak you out of crowds. I just never thought we’d be using them for this.”
“Glad you’re prepared. Let’s go, but this time I’m taking the lead. You’re my backup.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Thanks to Erin knowing the layout of this area, we sneak through four rooms. We startle a player in the last room who’s mid-massage. We quickly apologize, grab a couple of towels to improve our disguise, and hurry out the door to the main hall. We quickly blend into a group of people passing by and distance ourselves from the unsuspecting guards.
I follow the tracking signal. Something’s wrong. “Blake’s tennis bag is moving but his phone isn’t. Maybe we should split up.”
“No way. You may be in charge, but I’m not leaving you.”
“Okay, let’s go to his phone first. It looks like it’s in a room down that side wall,” I say, pointing to our left.
“I don’t see a guard. That’s good.”
“Or it means they’ve taken him somewhere else.”
We hurry toward the door to the room. I knock loudly and quickly move to the side, my back to the wall. Erin mirrors my position on the other side of the door.
“Who’s there?”
