When she was certain Gustav had left the room, knowing where he was headed, Jorja attempted to free her hands once more. But, as with the first attempt, the ropes didn't budge and she resorted to jumping the chair toward the fire poker set. The chair's feet caught on the carpet and planted her face-first into the Persian rug. It nearly knocked her breath out but she soon recovered and wriggled her body like a snake attached to its prey toward the companion set. Out of breath and making hardly any progress at all, she paused when she heard footsteps approaching.
Her heart pounded noisily in her temples as she listened, praying Gustav had not decided to return. She tried twisting her body toward the door, to see better, but her angle was off.
The footsteps grew louder and her heart beat loudly in her chest, stopped in place only by the fear that wedged in her throat. She searched anxiously for another way out, wriggling her body faster toward the poker, grasping at any opportunity to save herself. Suddenly the footsteps were in the room with her, rapidly moving toward her, stopping right behind her.
Out of her line of sight, the smooth clanking sound of a switchblade springing from its shaft was unmistakable; telling her the owner of the footsteps was there to kill her.
She pinched her eyes shut, tried to ready herself for the stabbing. A strong hand held her arms in place.
This time, there was no way out.
Overcome by emotion, her life flashing before her, she shot up a prayer to the only one left to rescue her. It didn't matter if God heard her or not, or even if she fully believed that he would. All that mattered was that she at least gave it a last shot.
But unexpectedly, her miracle didn't come in the way she had imagined and moments later Ben's deep assuring voice whispered close to her ear.
"See what happens when you start the party without me?"
The knife freed her hands and she pushed herself upright. When her eyes confirmed that she wasn't imagining it, she could no longer hold back her emotions.
"Ben! How did you—?”
"The oldest trick in the book, my dear. I planted a tracker on your jacket. Of course, the rest was left to my accomplished skill set when you left the jacket at the hotel, but, hey, not the time to get into that now."
His strong arms helped her to her feet and she threw her arms around him.
"You're welcome. Now let's get out of here."
But once again, Jorja was faced with a decision. Choosing the tugging she so strongly felt was from God, or choose the path she had obsessed over for all of two decades. And as her mind once more clouded her spirit, she reasoned that she was not in God's way, but that God was in her way, and that perhaps, if he was as gracious as they said he was, he would wait for her, just a little longer.
"I can’t, not yet."
"What? Why not?"
"I have to finish what I started twenty years ago. I have to put Gustav Züber behind bars for the rest of his life. This time, for good."
"You're insane, Georgina, let's get out of here. Let sleeping dogs lie. People like that eventually hang themselves. We have a chance to start over, enjoy what's left of our lives together, finally, just like we were meant to do a long time ago."
Ben's piercing blue eyes were holding her hostage and every cell inside her body wanted to give in to his—and God’s—plea, but she couldn't, not yet. She couldn't let Gustav get away with what he had done to Ewan, to her, to her life. So strong was the anger that had been buried inside her for so long that she couldn't think clearly anymore. Like a festering sore, that had suddenly erupted to the surface, all she knew was that he needed to pay and that she was the only one who could make it happen.
From somewhere outside the house they heard movement, distant voices, footsteps on the deck outside.
"We're out of time, Georgina! The alarm must have overridden my transmitter. If we don't get out of here right now we're dead!"
But Jorja was already on the move, darting to the wide stone staircase that led upstairs.
"Georgina! What are you doing? They're already at the door."
"I need to find a computer. I need to send these files right now," she whisper-shouted back, already halfway up the stairs.
"Now? I have one back at the B&B, let's go!"
"He murdered my friend, Ben, used me back then, robbed me of my entire future! He cannot get away with it. Not again."
She was already upstairs in Gustav's office, bounding toward the computer on his desk.
"Yes, and he won't. But it will not do us any good if he catches us before you get a chance to do it. Then all this was for nothing."
But vengeance blinded her judgment and Jorja was already on the computer attempting to crack the access password.
In the sitting room below them, Gustav's voice echoed up the stairs as he shouted commands at his men.
"She's in the house somewhere. Find her!"
Ben leaned in over her shoulder and once more urged her to come to her senses.
"He's coming for us, Georgina. It's not too late. We can escape over the balcony. Please! He almost killed you before, and he will not hesitate to do so the second he walks up those stairs and sees you. Georgina, vengeance is not as sweet as you might think it is. You will not be free, ever. Even if you do succeed right now, and Züber goes to jail for the rest of his life, he will leave no stone unturned until he hunts you down again, even from behind bars."
Her hand reached inside her blouse and she took out the flash drive.
"It will be quick," she assured him holding the memory stick up to his face.
Urgent footsteps on the stairs rushed toward them. And with not a second to spare, Ben's eyes apologized as he snatched the memory stick from her hand and yanked her toward the balcony door. She fought back.
"I need to do this, Ben, please? It's the only way. He can't get away with it!"
She wrestled the flash drive from his grip and shot back to the computer, inserting it into the dock to complete her mission.
"You're blinded by revenge, Jorja, and it's going to get us both killed today."
But she didn't care. Nothing Ben said could persuade her to stop. Her mind and emotions were no longer under her control like a volcano that had lain dormant for two decades needing to burst through the hard crusty layers that kept it contained.
Her fingers moved quickly on the keys while Ben had already opened the balcony doors to prepare for any final opportunity to escape. Alert, he stood guard, ready to fend off the imminent threat rushing toward them, trapped in a web of loyalty and love.
But as Jorja pressed the key that finally launched the data on the drive into cyberspace, time had run out along with it.
Two men exploded through the doors of Gustav's office, shotguns aimed at their heads crushing any chance they might have had to escape over the balcony. Held hostage by their guns, there was now no way out.
Jorja glanced sideways at the blinking red light on the drive, and the laptop in front of her telling her the files were not done sending. Behind her, Ben's heart pounded wildly in his chest, his mind fighting for a way out. Their hands were in the air, but the guards took aim to shoot if they as much as moved an inch, pausing as they waited for Gustav to arrive to give the instruction.
Desperate to divert their attention away from the computer, Jorja stepped closer to the balcony, risking whatever she needed to save her cause—even Ben.
Her movement instantly had the guards on edge, their bodies rigid in their stance to shoot, their voices intimidating when they warned her to stop.
"Don't move!" one yelled as he lunged his gun toward them.
She watched his fingers tense over the trigger, his veins expand in his thick neck, knew that he was not bluffing.
To her left, the light on the drive remained red. Dying was not an option, not yet. Not without seeing Gustav Züber squirm when he realized she had taken from him what he had taken from her.