Chapter 8

Sleeping when the lights were turned up so bright it bled through her eyelids like they were open was nearly impossible. Humans were conditioned to wake up when the sun came up. In here, it was like the sun shone in their faces every second of every minute. Anger twisted through her every time she woke.

As a journalist who traveled for work, she’d learned to sleep almost anywhere, but she carried eye masks and earplugs with her to help her fall asleep on a plane, or at airports. This room was hell on her. She couldn’t get used to the blinding brightness that bled through everything.

Agitation hit her when she glanced over and saw that the other women seemed to be asleep. Nichole knew she was overreacting and should just calm the heck down, but the conditions were making her irrational. Then Cara opened her eyes and met her gaze. The other women were having just as hard of a time sleeping as she was.

Cara glanced toward the speaker and the door, then back to her. Could they talk openly now, or were they still being watched?

Was it the middle of the night or ten in the morning? Exhaustion ate at her, but that didn’t tell her the time. Her body was sore from whatever they’d done to her, and lack of sleep brought on exhaustion. She wished she could crawl into a comfortable bed and pull the covers over her head then sleep until next year.

Cara moved closer, so only a few inches separated them. “What are you thinking?” The whispered words felt illicit but sent a thrill through her.

Nichole shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t see how we can escape from this room. We need to get out of here. When they take us out to eat again, watch for anything you might think is useful.”

Cara nodded as Elizabeth stood and stretched. “I’m going to do yoga. Anyone want to join in?”

Nichole stood and stretched her arms over her head. Doing something active, even gentle yoga would help relieve some of the soreness. “Sure.”

Angie joined them, and they all moved through a few poses before Cara started whispering. “Look for anything we can use to escape.” She moved into downward dog, her gaze finding Nichole’s. “We need to get a message to the men.”

Nichole didn’t know how that would be possible. Any chatting with the guys would only draw attention. They needed to hide their interactions. Their captives didn’t need to know they were planning on escaping. They would have a hard enough time getting out but if their captors thought they were colluding, it could make it so much worse.

Before they finished doing their poses, the door opened, and the angry man who’d forced her to make the statement stepped in.

“Follow.”

He wasn’t talkative, that was for sure. Then again, he wasn’t trying to be friendly. This man had a mission, and they were only important as long as he could use them to manipulate a government to do his bidding. Once they were no longer useful, they would be in real trouble.

The path to the area where they were allowed to sit and eat was shorter than it had seemed the night before. Of course, it had all been new then. Now, she was trying to inspect every inch, looking for something she could use to get the hell out of this prison.

There wasn’t much that would be useful. There were no weapons lying around, no random poles or shovels. Nothing of note that she could grab and use to attack one of the guys. Of course, there were plenty of people guarding them, and those people had guns. The odds of them escaping were very low. If she tried to jump one of them, she would get people killed.

She didn’t know the men being held captive and couldn’t say what one pointed look meant versus another. If they wanted to escape together, they needed to work together. But that would take them communicating, which the guards kept them separated, making it impossible to plan.

Again, the food was decent. It tasted good and made her feel better. She was allowed to use the restroom and clean up a little. Just that small amount of washing and refreshing her body gave her hope. They were led back to the room they’d been in, and she wished she could have chatted with one of the men, but there hadn’t been any opportunities.

The door shut behind them, and Angie started speaking. “I think we can get out the next time we eat. I saw a door at the back of the room, like where they were getting the food from. When the door opened, I think I saw the outside. We can get out of here.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t know. They have guns.”

“We can overpower them.”

Cara shook her head. “What if they?—”

The door opened, and they all jerked around. Elizabeth let out a small yelp, fear making her eyes wide.

“You,” the man said as he pointed at Angie.

Two other men came in and took hold of her arms. She screamed and fought, trying to escape, but they had hold of her.

Nichole took a step toward them, but another man was there with a mean-looking gun. She could do nothing to help Angie. These men would think nothing of destroying them for just trying to help out their friend.

Angie was dragged out, kicking and screaming. Before the door shut, the angry one met their gaze. “No talking!”

Nichole stepped back from the vitriol in his voice. Fear worked through her as she realized they wouldn’t be able to plan an escape. They were stuck here and would be until the bastards decided to kill them. She had no assurance they would ever let them go. If these people were evil enough to take them captive and use them to get prisoners set free, they would think nothing of killing them.