Rose
This was seriously stupid. Good thing I was tied up, or I would’ve kicked myself.
I arched my back to take the pressure off my hands. I’d acted impulsively, practically storming into the infirmary, and now I was paying for it. Twenty minutes had passed since Clio and Nicky left. Easy to tell, because across the room, a round glass wall clock with no numbers ticked out every excruciating second like two blocks of wood thumping together.
If I didn’t do something to get out of here, I’d go bonkers. My hands had gone numb, so I stretched my arms to either side to help my circulation. When I reached to the left, though, my fingers met a round cord. I pulled, and it moved a couple of inches and then stopped. I worked my fingers along the length of it, twisting until I reached a palm-sized rectangle. With buttons on it.
What the? I pushed one button, and then another. A whirring noise started up, and the back of the chair began pulsating. I laughed out loud. A massage chair! How lovely to relax in a massage chair with my hands tied behind my back.
But wait. As different sections of the seatback moved, the band across my middle loosened and then retightened. Maybe I could wriggle my way out after all. I experimented with different button combinations. It was crazy. The chair kneaded my back, pounded on my back, and rolled throughout the entire length of the cushion. And to think, this was what I’d been missing because I didn’t want anyone touching my feet.
I kept pushing buttons until the seatback started to recline, and ow, ow, ow, the scarf around my ribs was dragged up across my breasts as I slid down. Yes! I wiggled the rest of my body out from under the scarf until I was sitting on the edge of the seat, almost squatting in the foot well. Woo-hoo! Time to hop on out of here.
I didn’t waste any time trying to get myself untied. The scarf around my wrists was so tight it would probably cause a permanent gouge, and I couldn’t see any implement I could use to cut the one around my ankles. I swung my legs out of the foot well and stood. This should be easy enough. Just get to the door without falling on my face. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, waiting for the prickling in my legs to stop.
Finally, I moved my feet and found that I had enough leeway to shuffle an inch at a time across the parquet flooring. Better than hopping.
My ankles ached. My arms and wrists ached. My breath wheezed around my gag. But none of it mattered. I was getting out of here. Even if it took two days. As it was, it probably took three or four minutes to get across the room and into the foyer. I braced myself against the reception desk and stared at the door as if it were a Bond villain. I’d forgotten that all the doors opened inward. How the heck could I even get my hands on the handle, much less pull the heavy door open?
I didn’t know, but I had to try. I’d come too far to give up now.
I shuffled to the door and turned around, wrenching my arms up until I reached the handle. I pushed it down, and shuffled forward a few steps. Success! But then I let go to turn around, and it shut in my face. Nice one, Rose. Way to use the old head.
A rhythmic thumping sound came from the hall like people running. Crap. I needed to get the door back open so whoever it was might see me as they went by.
I snatched at the handle, my fingers banging against it and sliding off. I tried again. This time, I held on. Voices sounded outside the room. I shuffled forward, pulling the door open, and a warbling noise came from my throat. I’m sure I sounded like a weird sea monster, but I didn’t care. I needed those people to hear me.
“It’s opening,” an excited female voice said, sounding an awful lot like Alexis.
Tears sprang to my eyes, and then both Alexis and Sam were in front of me, Alexis talking ninety to nothin’. “Oh, thank God. Are you okay? Is she okay? I need to call everyone.” She pulled out her phone. “They’re going to be so relieved. We’ve been so worried. But look at you! You were almost out of here all by yourself.”
Sam tugged the gag down over my chin and cupped my face in his hands. “First get scissors or something to cut her loose.”
“Right, right,” Alexis said, and then swept into the spa.
Sam’s thumbs caressed my cheeks, and his eyes watered. “Don’t cry,” he whispered. “I can’t take much more of this.”
I nodded because I couldn’t get words past the emotion that welled in my throat. He kissed me softly and then wrapped me in his warmth. Which was a seriously awkward position with my hands still behind my back. “No fair,” I said. “I want to hug you too.”
He chuckled against my hair but then pulled back and smiled. “Okay, I’ll wait.”
“I didn’t mean you had to stop.”
Oh, the look in his eyes. I could spend hours staring at him. If only I could have taken a picture so I’d have it with me always.
Alexis reappeared with haircutting scissors. “There’s a pedicure chair going crazy in there.”
“Yeah, I had to get inventive.”
She snipped at the scarf around my wrists, and as it loosened, tingles rushed in. “Ow,” I said.
“Did I cut you?” she asked.
The scarf fell away. “No, the feeling just came back,” I said, shaking out my hands.
Sam picked up one of my hands and gently rubbed my wrist. “I need to punch Nicky and Clio in the face, but it’s too late.”
“They’re gone?” I asked.
Alexis stood up from cutting my feet loose and blew hair out of her face. “Yeah, but they’ve been reported. Maybe they’ll be caught.”
“I doubt it,” Sam said.
A flurry of movement in the hall signaled the arrival of Cynthia and Nora, the spa attendant. Cynthia pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, thank heaven.” She and Nora both started making reassuring noises. Alexis called Sophie on the phone. But I focused on only one thing—Sam’s warm hand holding mine.
“I’m taking Rose to her grandparents,” Sam said and then gazed down at me. “Okay?” he whispered.
I’d go with him anywhere. “Yeah.”