Page 74 of The Drowned Woman
No. Luka was a cop now. He would do this the right way.
It’s what Cherise would want, he thought as he backed away. McKinley and his men would have more chance of taking Massimo alive. Luka’s responsibility right now was seeing to the hostage’s safety. If O’Brien was even alive. He hadn’t been moving when Luka saw him through the window.
He took one last step backwards, hoping to find a way to get to O’Brien without alerting Massimo, when he sensed a warmth behind him. Not even an impression, definitely not a thought. A whisper of instinct. Before he could turn around, a man’s arm wrapped around his neck. In the man’s other hand was a semi-automatic, its muzzle jammed into Luka’s spine.
“Damn,” the unseen man said in a jovial tone. “You cost me five bucks, Luka. Bet myself you were gonna put a bullet in that corpse there on the couch. Finish it once and for all. Avenge your lovely Cherise.”
Luka still held his weapon. His attacker tightened his grip, using his gun hand to wrap under Luka’s armpit, adding leverage to the arm choking the blood to Luka’s brain. Luka tried to angle his pistol back to shoot the man in his leg. Anything to incapacitate him, give Luka a chance to escape. His vision was blurring, red fraying the edges, his head thundering, his brain screaming for oxygen.
His mind gave the command for his finger to pull the trigger, but he couldn’t feel his hands, much less command them. The last thing he heard was the thud of his gun hitting the ground.
The last thing he saw was Cherise’s face smiling, her hand reaching out, inviting him to join her. Then blackness consumed him.
Forty-Six
Horror flooded over Leah at Risa’s words. Logically, she knew Risa was right—they might need to kill in order to survive this night. But all Leah could see was Ian’s bloody body. Could she actually do it? Intentionally harm someone? She glanced at Risa’s face, twisted with terror. It wasn’t just about saving herself, it was about protecting Risa as well. And more than that, it was Emily. Whatever it took to get home to her, Leah would do. Could do. Decision made, she used the wall to push herself to standing. “First, we need to find a way out of these zip ties.”
Risa mirrored Leah’s movements. “Got you covered. Trick I learned working protests.” She sobered. “In fact, it was Patrick who taught it to me.”
“I know you can loosen them with a hair pin or paper clip, but I don’t see anything like that down here.”
“Yeah, those are the best options—less painful. This will work, but it’s gonna hurt.” She raised her hands behind her back. “Get your hands up as high as they’ll go. Push your butt out like you’re doing a squat. Now, I’m not going to do it because if I’m meant to distract him, he’ll need to see that I’m still tied up. But what you’re going to do is bring your arms down hard and fast, hit your butt while you’re pulling your arms out.” She demonstrated in slow motion. “Do it hard and fast.”
Leah assumed the position, stretching her arms as high as she could, despite the pain. The zip ties were so tight that any movement caused them to bite into her flesh. The first time nothing happened except she felt a trickle of blood from one wrist.
“Again. Faster, harder,” Risa instructed. “Think snapping motion.”
Leah took a deep breath, strained to raise her arms even higher, then brought them down hard and fast as she blew her breath out forcefully. To her surprise, the zip tie snapped in two and she was free.
“Nice trick. Now let me see if I can find a way out.” Leah retrieved the broken zip tie to use as camouflage for when their captor returned.
“And find a weapon.” Risa leaned against the wall, watching Leah. “Do you think he could have drugged me before last night?”
“No way to know. GHB clears the system so fast we were lucky to find it this time.” Cautiously, Leah felt her way around the periphery of the room. It was empty except for the large pipes feeding into an even larger round container. Not a boiler like she’d originally thought, not with those pipes that were a foot or more in diameter. More importantly, she found no tools, not even any loose pieces of pipe or fittings. Nothing that could be used as a weapon.
“Did the GHB cause my symptoms?” Risa asked as Leah explored their prison.
“The amnesia and lost time, yes. But probably not the other symptoms.”
“So he was poisoning me with something else.” Risa’s indignation was undercut by fear. Leah wished she had answers for her, but right now she was focused on getting them out of here.
The room was definitely subterranean, the only light a dim glow entering through narrow windows near the ceiling. There was a set of open-backed metal stairs leading to a closed door above.
“Can you see me?” She waved to Risa. “I found the stairs. If he comes, he’ll be coming from this direction.”
“I can make you out, barely.”
Leah climbed the steps, taking care to hug the railing closely and test each step for telltale creaks and rusty groans. Despite the obvious age of the building and the sense of long neglect, the steps felt solid. She tried the door at the top—bolted from the other side.
She returned down the stairs, then searched the area beneath them, cobwebs sticky against her face and hands. Thunder sounded from outside and rain pelted the tiny windows. Leah returned to Risa empty handed. “Nothing.” She wiped her grimy hands against the back of her parka and stopped. “Wait. Maybe something. Hold on.” The parka’s hood, waistband and hem were threaded with lengths of adjustable paracord. She tugged at the one around her waist.
“If Dom drugged me last night, why didn’t he just take me then? Or both me and Jack?” Risa asked as Leah worked on removing the paracord. Leah got the cord loose. It was thin but strong, with small adjustment caps at both ends. She pulled it taut. A garrote? She’d need something to use as leverage, otherwise even with the element of surprise, he could overpower her, break free.
Leah searched her pockets. Their abductor had taken her bag and with it her keys and cell phone, but deep within the inside pocket she found an old ballpoint pen. Some random gift from a pharma company, ubiquitous around the hospital, but it might just save their lives.
She wound one end of her makeshift garotte around the pen and secured it—it really was a lot like a thin tourniquet, Leah realized. She’d need to get close, very close to use it, but it was better than nothing. Except, even with Risa distracting Chaos, he was trained military. He’d never let her get close enough to reach over his head, loop the garrote, and twist it tight.
She held the length of paracord out for Risa’s inspection. “Maybe tie it to the base of the stair railing? Trip him when he comes down?”
