Page 82 of The Restaurant on Plum Island
“My foot is clean, and so is my shoe,” Alex said in exasperation.
“Nope!” Shay refused. “I like my suggestion best.”
“I’ll get the knife,” Carly told them.
“How?” Shay looked at her curiously. “Your hands are tied behind your back.”
“Alex seems to be really good at bouncing around with a chair strapped to him.” Carly felt her lips twitch and swallowed her smile. “If you can position your chair behind mine near my hands, you can talk me into finding your knife.”
“What if the men come back?” Shay asked, biting back a smile. “Are you going to tell them Uncle Alex, or rather my father, had an itchy foot?”
“That’s an excellent reason,” Alex commended her as he positioned himself behind Carly’s chair. “I’m ready.”
Carly lifted her arms as high as she could in this position, feeling around for Alex’s foot. She hit his shoe. “Which one?”
“Left,” Alex told her. “Pull the shoe off, and then I’ll turn around and take it from you. It will be easier for me to get the knife.”
“That’s fine with me,” Carly told him, pulling off his shoe. “I got it.”
“Give me a minute,” Alex said, and Carly could hear him spin the chair and slide toward her. “Shay, you’re up sweetheart. You’ll have to be our eyes because if we drop the shoe, you’re going to have to dig in it.”
“Ugg.” Shay shuddered. “Carly, lift your hands a bit. Uncle Alex, reach back…. You’ve got it.”
“Great.” Alex slid himself back to his original position beside Shay.
Carly and Shay watched the concentration on his face as he got his knife, dropped his shoe, swiveled around, and put the shoe back on his foot.
“You executed that like a well-trained ballerina, Uncle Alex,” Shay congratulated him. “How are you going to cut the cable ties?”
“Thank you… I think.” Alex frowned. “Okay, this is harder than it looks in the movies.”
“I can try,” Shay offered.
Alex nodded and swiveled around to hand Shay the knife. As he did, they heard footsteps.
“Quick, hide the knife,” Carly whispered, her eyes looking at Shay in concern when she saw the teen not knowing where to put it. “Under your leg.”
Shay nodded and deftly slid it beneath her thigh while Alex got back into position.
Three men wearing ski masks walked into the room.
“You’re all awake,” the one man said. “Good, because the boss is on his way and will be here soon.”
“Who is your boss?” Alex asked the man.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” the man assured him as he beckoned the two others, each holding a bottle of water. “You must be thirsty. My men will help you have some water. No funny business, or we’ll leave you with that horrible dry mouth the sedative gives you.”
“That’s very hospitable for kidnappers,” Carly sneered.
The one man approached her, and she frowned as she saw what looked like an apology in the man’s eyes. He opened the bottle of water and held it gently to her lips.
“Sip slowly,” he advised softly. “You may feel nauseous if you don’t.”
Carly nodded and drank some of the water. As it touched her lips, she suddenly wondered if it had been poisoned or drugged. She drew back.
“Are you not thirsty?” The man frowned.
“How do I know it’s not drugged or poisoned?” Carly told him.
