Page 68 of Hidden Raphael
Harry stood in her way. The older gentleman was strong. "And what about me?"
She crouched, ready to slip past him. "Roger said you were dead."
Harry's creepy expression was worse than any ghost she could imagine in the castle. "Did he? How funny."
She straightened. "Why funny?"
Harry tilted his head and smiled. "Roger's my brother."
They were brothers? What? Why did Raphael keep any of this from her? "I don't understand. I should go."
Without another thought, she bolted past him. Her legs were weak, but she hammered them into the ground in her wild spree.
Harry's footsteps boomed directly behind her. Her heart raced. She had strength and speed, somehow. She turned her head to see how close he was and saw Harry was inches away. His shadow loomed and she clutched the medallion.
She pressed her legs into a run. Her hands fell to her sides and she hoped to use body motion to go faster.
Harry’s fingertips brushed against her shoulder. Every cell in her body screamedrun. She swallowed and squirmed as Harry's hands reached her back.No. Her arms and legs continued to pump, but his hand reached up to her hair and yanked.
Her hair felt like it would be ripped out of her scalp. He'd kill her and leave her to rot in the dungeon. She knew it as he said, "There, there."
She tried to rip his hand off her head, but she couldn't get a grip.
"Quiet down, Miss Kimberly," Harry told her, dragging her back in the other direction. "We're going to release Roger now."
He elongated his stride and she had no choice. His tight grip never faltered, and he took her back into the dungeon. She flailed around and her foot caught on an edge of a wall. Her muscles tensed and her legs went rigid.
Every piece of her hair in her scalp burned as he held firm. The pain grew too intense. Could he rip her skin off her head? He continued to yank her into the dungeon.
Physically she couldn't win. She whispered, "Don't. Harry. You don't have to get Roger. He hasn't said a word. There is a helicopter upstairs right now. Hotwire it and go." Harry had a crooked grin. She shivered. This wasn't good. "Please just let me go. I freed you."
How did his grip stay so intense? A few days in there should have weakened him. His fingerprints might be embedded on her scalp. "We'll take you off this rock, miss."
She saw black spots. "No, I'm good. Just let me go."
"Was that big man using you sexually, miss? Is that why you weren't locked down here with us?"
Kimberly froze, and her heartbeat echoed in her ears. She had initiated intimacy with Raphael. It hadn't been rape, even if Raphael never mentioned the girlfriend with a helicopter might show up. She swallowed, and her eyes welled with tears.
Now was not the time for this. She clenched her jaw, unsure how else to answer.
Harry held her head with one hand and opened the door with another. His grip loosened, and blood rushed to her roots. "The big guy" was said twice now in conversation. Harry hadn't said Raphael's name. Did they not know who he was? She licked her lips. Was there a way to warn Raphael and his girlfriend that the killers were loose?
She scanned the room for anything that might be a trigger. The pain on her scalp no longer mattered. Raphael had high-tech everything else here, except for the internet. Was there an alarm?
Her gaze stopped on something that reminded her of a bicycle reflector. She had to save herself. This was her chance. The plastic reflector must be a sensor. It was too modern to be part of a Scottish dungeon.
She gasped as Harry dragged her into Roger’s room. She had to go in the opposite direction, so he dug her heels into the ground. "No."
She broke free. Her nostrils flared as she ran to the other wall near the sensor. This had to be it. Harry chased her. She covered her chest with her hands and held back a scream. "Please, Roger intends to kill me."
"Nonsense, miss." Harry shook his head, but then went to unlock his brother. She heard one click of metal. Any second, he'd free Roger.
Harry's attention was distracted. Now or never. Her muscles were rigid as she steeled her entire body and reached up with both hands to what she hoped was the sensor to trip the alarm. She pressed on the center and adrenaline rushed through her. A split second later, the entire dungeon beeped and flashed red.
She’d done it. Raphael would be here soon.
Something clinked onto the stone floor in the dungeon. She bolted away and hoped to make it to the exit. Harry and Roger both ran out of the cell. A moment later, Harry grabbed her neck, and she clawed at his arm. "Just let me go."
