Chapter 10

Nichole had wanted to go after the jerk who took Angie, but the locked door kept the three of them trapped in this shitty room. The lack of sleep, in addition to the fear and pain in her body, twisted up, leaving her ready to rage at the injustice of what was happening to them.

She paced for a while, squeezing her hands into fists as she walked. If the door had opened at that moment, she would have attacked the bastards. With the locked door, she was totally ineffectual. Her pacing wasn’t making a difference, only wearing her out.

The door didn’t open, she couldn’t do anything. Giving up, she slid down the wall, curling her legs in and wrapping her arms around them. Worry for Angie hit. What would happen to her? The reality of their situation seemed to cover Nichole with a thick blanket of fear and surrender. There was nothing she could do. These men would kill them all.

Nichole sat like that for a long while, worry and fear churning hard in her guts. Depression hit, and her eyes stung with unshed tears. She didn’t want to die in this little shit hole.

A loud bang made her jump. She jerked away from the wall, her heart galloping. She swung her gaze to Elizabeth whose eyes were filled with fear. Same with Cara.

“What was that?” Cara asked.

Nichole shook her head. “I don’t know. It was loud.”

Popping sounded in rapid succession. Cara backed away from the door. “Was that gunfire?”

Nichole moved to Cara, dragging Elizabeth with her. “Not sure, but it sounds like it.” Elizabeth paused and Nichole pulled her closer. “We should move away from the door.”

They huddled together on the other side of the room, her arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder, holding her close while Cara sat on the other side of Elizabeth. Were they being rescued or attacked?

Wild thoughts spilled through her as Elizabeth pulled her closer. Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face. She glanced over and saw Cara was crying, too. Nichole felt like she had to keep it together, but the emotions were almost too much to hold back. As a reporter, she had to hide her emotions. But locked in this room, it was too hard to hide the fear running through her. She didn’t want to cry. She wanted to be brave, but all the bravery in the world couldn’t keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks.

What was happening to Angie? Were the men fighting for her? Would they come in here next, demanding one of them to try to please them? Or did the noises outside their room have nothing to do with Angie?

How long had it been since they’d taken Angie away? An hour or two?

Someone screamed outside their door, and then there was a weird sound mixed in with gunfire. The commotion outside grew louder, and she felt like this was it. Whatever had come for them was about to enter the room.

The weight of fear pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe. Or was it the smoke coming in through the vents making it harder to breathe? It felt like the temperature in the room had ratcheted up as smoke poured in.

Elizabeth sat up, panic filling her face. “It’s on fire!”

Nichole’s gaze swung from the door to Elizabeth. “Stay calm.” She didn’t know that the compound was on fire, but it sure as heck seemed like it. Hell really was coming for them. They would die in here. She didn’t want this to be her legacy. Dying in a fire with no escape wasn’t how she wanted to go. There were no windows, no way to escape. They were stuck.

The lights snapped off, leaving them in total darkness. Elizabeth let out a scream, and maybe she did, too.

Panic ruled her, making it impossible to do anything. She needed to get control of herself. If she lost her composure now, they would have no chance of escape.

Nichole closed her eyes, trying to think calming thoughts, but nothing was calming, and everything sucked. Rage bubbled up, and she moved to stand, but Elizabeth clasped her arm, keeping her in place.

She glanced over her shoulder, not that she could see anything in the dark, as she tried to pull away from Elizabeth’s hold. The woman’s grasp was too strong. What was going on?

Elizabeth leaned in so close Nichole could feel her breath on her neck. “Smoke rises. Crawl if you’re going for the door.”

Elizabeth was right. She needed to stay low. The oxygen would soon be gone from this room if she didn’t find an escape. The only positive was the flames wouldn’t hurt if she had passed out from lack of oxygen.

Taking Elizabeth’s advice, Nichole crawled toward the door. She’d made it about halfway across the room when the door burst open. She jerked back, fearing whatever was entering the room. Smoke rushed in along with heat. There was no escape.