Page 93 of Swerve
She is sitting on the bed in the middle of the room.
Her knees are drawn up tight against her chest, the expression on her face one of frozen fear. She’s wearing a pink dress that looks like something a ten-year-old would wear. Her hair is braided, a pink ribbon on each end.
There’s a man on the bed beside her, naked and seemingly unconscious. I look at his face and recognize him as the man from the restaurant. The one who left with the senator, looking as if he’d had too much to drink.
I run to Mia, dropping to my knees at the side of the bed and reaching for her. She falls into my arms, still saying nothing, as if she’s unable to let herself believe I’m really here. Like it might all be a dream. “Mia,” I say, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her so hard I’m afraid I’m actually hurting her.
She remains stiff for a few seconds, and then, all of a sudden, she throws her arms around my neck and starts to sob. She’s crying so hard she can barely breathe. I’m crying too, trying to drag in gulps of air as I hold her against me, not sure I will ever be able to let her go.
“How did you find me?” she asks, looking into my eyes, her own pooling with fresh tears.
“It doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that we get out of here as fast as possible.”
“Actually, I’m afraid that won’t be at all possible.”
The voice startles me, and I jump to my feet to find a very tall woman with ink-black hair pulled back in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, staring at me with hatred gleaming in those dark eyes.
“From here, I’m afraid there will only be one option for the two of you,” she says in a deadly quiet voice. She lifts the gun in her right hand and points it directly at me. “Sadly, you have created quite a messy situation for us to clean up, but these things do happen. We’ll do what is necessary to get back to normal.”
She looks at me then and says, “I think my mistake was in not listening to my initial feeling about you, dear girl. I have found that the only mistakes that arise here are the ones that occur after I have ignored my intuition. You have taught me a final lesson, and this will not happen again. Sergio has taken care of your other friends, so if you’ll please come with me, we’ll get this over with as quickly and as neatly as possible.”
I stare at the woman, trying to process what she’s just said, even as I realize I am listening to the words of a psychopath. “What have you done to Knox?” I scream.
“If his safety was your concern, you should have thought of that before trespassing where you do not belong.”
“If you’ve hurt him or Grace—”
The woman laughs. “You’ll what?” she asks. “You’re hardly in a position to be making threats.”
I frantically search my mind for a way to buy time and force myself not to glance at the gun I’d placed on the floor beside the bed. Can I reach for it fast enough, or will she shoot Mia or me before I can even get it in my hand? I’m afraid this is exactly what will happen so I aim for another tactic to stall her.
“You don’t really think you’re going to get away with this, do you?” I ask, locking my gaze with hers. My years of education suddenly make practical sense in a way I would never have imagined them doing. I know though that she has to see me as capable of besting her, that it is only this challenge that will give her pause.
“The police will be here at any moment,” I say. “We called them when we broke into the other room.”
“Oh, is that so?” she asks. “I do believe it will take them a while to find us, considering no one knows about the secret bunker. Nonetheless, we should hurry along. Your gun. Kick it under the bed, please.”
My heart drops to the floor. I hesitate, knowing that gun is the only chance we have.
“Now,” she demands, aiming her gun at me, her finger on the trigger.
“Do it, Em,” Mia says, her voice shaking.
With my thoughts racing for any branch of hope to grab on to, I find the gun with my left foot and push it under the bed.
“And so you know,” the woman says, “this is my trap. It’s a fact of life. Predator and prey. Our girl here being the latter. I suspect you would never have let it happen to you, am I right? You’re the protector. The one who tries to keep away all of life’s ugly unpleasantries. And let me guess, little sister here has hated you for it? It hardly seems fair, does it? That those of us in the protector roles aren’t valued for those we save.”
“Do not compare me to you,” I say through gritted teeth. “You’re evil. A vile, despicable—”
The woman laughs, as if truly amused. “Now, now. Continue seeing life through your rose-colored glasses, if you wish, but I’m afraid that doesn’t change anything. The truth is undeniable. We each have our roles in this world. I’m under no illusions about my own. Do you think a year from now, if you were here to experience it, of course, that your younger sister would still be grateful for what you did for her in rescuing her here tonight? We both know the answer to that. Gratitude fades like smoke. And one day, you’ll wake up to wonder what made you risk your own life to save one who sees you as the bane of her existence.”
“That’s not true!” Mia screams out. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“To the contrary,” the woman says. “I am certain that I do. Now enough with the philosophy. Both of you, walk out the door. Now. Or I will shoot you here and simply have the extra mess to deal with once I go upstairs and assure the police there’s nothing to be concerned about here at the Hotel California.”
I swallow hard, reaching for Mia’s hand, clasping her fingers between mine. My brain races for a plan, something, anything to delay, buy time. There are no police coming. This will be up to me. I have no idea if Sergio has actually gotten to Knox or not, but I can’t wait for him. It’s me against her. I have no gun. No weapon of any kind, and I have no doubt that she will shoot us.
I pull Mia in behind me and start to walk toward the door. She holds the gun out, pointed straight at Mia. She knows where my priorities are and that in controlling Mia, she has me. Keeping Mia tucked by my side, I step out into the hallway.
