Page 36 of Play With Me

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something. Just be ready.”

The crypt had no exit strategy. If I was going in there, I wouldn’t do it unless I knew there was an exit. No exit meant a certain death. No exit meant that day all over again.

As the image of fire and smoke appeared in my mind’s eye, Brook grabbed me by my waist, dipped me back, and kissed me hard. My arms fell limp to my sides, and my body gave into him. Every emotion I was trying to contain and keep under wraps while on this rescue mission rushed out, dancing down my spine and straight into my heart like a disease trying to poison my mind.

Holy shit!What the fuck was that?

“Be careful.” He kissed me once more, displacing my night vision goggles.

At the sudden realization that this could be possibly the last time I saw him, I caught a short breath, and my knees weakened.

“You too,” I called out from behind him. A gust of wind pushed fear into my chest, and I didn’t like it. Something was wrong. I could feel it, but I didn’t know what it was. Either way, I gave the brothers one last thumbs up, quietly cheering, “We’ve got this,” before they disappeared inside the dark chapel. Not too far in the distance I could hear the approaching men, and so I lay flat on the ground behind a rock not too far away from graveled path, and waited. Their obnoxious conversation became louder as they approached, and I said a Hail Mary — not for me but for Kate, Brook, and Cameron, and for anyone else who fell victim to Cortez.

It had been a while since I’d prayed, and there’d been a time when I’d stopped altogether, but tonight was not about me.

I hunched lower, making myself one with the ground, barely breathing and definitely not moving.

“I have to pee,” I heard Kate say, and I was grateful that I’d chosen to lie behind a larger rock. It was the only spot she could choose to have sufficient privacy.

“Now?”

“I had a lot of water.”

Her voice was weak and dry, barely audible, and I wondered just how much water she’d had. I couldn’t see her, but I could tell by the heaviness of her breaths that she was struggling.

“Uncle!” Kate’s half-brother called out. “A short break?”

The asshole had betrayed her and turned her over to Cortez. He’d kidnapped her right from under our nose.

Mike Donaldson sold out his sister.

“How much further, Anna?” Judging by the authority in the voice, it must have been Cortez.

“Not far,” Anna replied. “Let her go pee first.”

Not far? Anna was stalling. The chapel was just down the path, under the night’s cover.

“Take her. Don’t leave her on her own,” he replied.

Someone shuffled their feet closer to where I was resting, and I shifted to the side. A step closer and my cover would have been blown. He set Kate down by the rock and pulled at her leggings. She could barely stand, but she shoved his hand away and said through a dry throat, “I can do it. I’ll balance on my good leg.”

“I’m not stepping away,” he replied.

“Turn around, at least,” she insisted.

Kate stumbled, but while my instinct screamed to help her, I didn’t. Instead, I grasped a bunch of twigs and pierced my left palm on a thorn. For a moment, I thought I’d given us up and screamed. Except it was all in my head. Kate was still there, crouching to the ground at my side, Mike had turned around, and this was my chance. I forgot about the pain in my palm and paid no attention to the spewing blood as I tried to make a connection with Kate. If I touched her, she could startle. My only choice was to hope that she’d sense me. When she finally looked my way, she mouthed,Lola?

I placed my finger on my lips and typed a message on my cell phone before showing it to her:Cam and Brook are here. Take them to the crypt.

She nodded, and so I typed again:You look horrible. Hang on. Now piss.

When she crouched, only a few drops of urine trickled to the ground. This woman was barely alive. Darkness might have hidden her injuries, but it couldn’t hide the truth. She had minutes to be helped, and I was afraid we didn’t have the time. Kate was holding on by a thread, but there was no way I could just grab her and take her away from there. I had to wait. I had to count on Brook and Cameron to do their jobs in the crypt. The men were armed, and if I showed my position now, I wouldn’t get far.

Hold on, Kate.

“The money’s downstairs in the crypt,” Kate called out.

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