Page 14 of The Perfect Escape
Placing my faith solely in her, trusting that she would keep my secret, I headed back to my room. Helga was on my heels. “Mrs. Salko… Reyna. Please, we have to leave.”
Ignoring her request, I hurried to the bed and slipped my hand between the two mattresses. Once the phone was in my hand, I snaked the cord to the charger through the headboard leg and unplugged it from the outlet. The dress I was wearing had no pockets, so I tucked the cord inside one cup of my bra and the phone in the other. There was a look of surprise on Helga’s face. “Please don’t tell Rui. I’m begging you.”
Helga clasped her hand over mine. “You can trust me. We need to hurry.”
Not wasting another moment, we hurried down the stairs and to the kitchen. I didn’t know where Helga was leading me, but she was my only hope in getting away from Rui Salko. When she opened the door to the back patio, the thought of the gate near the pond came to mind. Helga led me past the small table where Rui took his breakfast, and I thought for sure we were on our way towards the mysterious gate, only we weren’t. Instead, she led me further away from the house, past the pond and hidden gate, until we reached the end of the garden. If Rui or his men came after us, there would be nowhere for us to run.
Afraid that she might lead me into a trap. I backed away from her. “Helga, why would you bring me here? There is nowhere to go.”
“Please, Reyna, don’t be afraid.” Helga moved the branches from the hedge surrounding the garden. I saw her push open a steel door, similar to the hidden gate. “Come. Follow me.”
What is this place?I couldn’t go back to the house, so the only option I had was to trust her. I moved closer to the door, but whatever lay ahead was dark, other than a hint of light shining further down the narrow entrance. Everything about this place screamed danger, but I had no choice but to follow her.
It didn’t take long for us to get away from the entrance and walk down a tunnel. When we stopped in front of a door, I took hold of Helga’s arm. “What is this place?” There was no way I was taking another step unless she told me where we were.
“It is a place I found by chance a long time ago when I first came to live with Mr. Salko. Whenever I wanted to get away, I would come here,” she explained as she pushed open the door. “I’m not sure how long it has been here, but I don’t think Mr. Salko knows about it. He has never said anything about it, nor has he ever caught me here.”
Helga pushed open the door and walked through. I wasn’t sure if it would lead to another door until she brought light to the room by flicking a switch on the wall. My eyes focused, and I took in my surroundings. The space wasn’t large, and it looked more like a storm shelter. As I looked around, I noticed a twin-sized bed was perched up against the back wall, covered in a colorful quilt that appeared to be handmade. Above the bed was a sheet with a tie-dyed design of pink, yellow, green, and blue, held up by two nails.
I continued to look around the room. I wondered if Helga found this room as it was now or if she added her own personal touch over the years. “Are all these things yours?”
“Yes, other than the bed, which was already here. I have added some personal items and things to survive in the event I needed to stay away for a long time.” Helga walked over to a stack of baskets and began pulling items from them. “Whenever I’m needed at the mansion, I make sure to grab food and water.”
Helga held out a Ziploc bag of crackers and an unopened bottle of water. When I nodded my head back and forth, she placed the items back in the basket and put it back with the rest. I had a hard time sorting out the thoughts running through my mind. I could understand wanting a place to escape, but I couldn’t understand why she would share this place with me. “Helga, why did you bring me here? If Rui finds out that you’ve helped me, I can only imagine what he will do to you.”
“Mrs. Salko…” she began.
“Please, call me, Reyna.”
Tipping her head, she said, “Reyna, you have been so nice to me, just like the other Mrs. Salko. I have no one here. Knowing where Mr. Salko would take you… I just couldn’t let him do it. I can handle his punishment. I have been doing it for a long time.”
“You shouldn’t have to. No one deserves what Rui has done to you or me. He is a monster and deserves to die.” I would never wish death on anyone, but I hated Rui Salko, and his death wouldn’t affect me in the slightest. “When I get away from here, I want you to come with me. You deserve to be free.”
“Is that why you have the phone? Is someone coming to take you away from here?” There was a trace of hope in her tone, and all I wanted to do was assure her that someone would come for us. Davian said he knew where I was, but I wasn’t sure if he meant the mansion or Toronto, Ontario.
“I’d like to think they will. But I need to know where Rui was planning on taking me. Do you know, Helga? Do you know where it is?”
Closing her eyes, she lowered her head, moving it back and forth. “I don’t. When we leave the mansion, they take us in a van with black windows. There is no way to see outside. I only know when we arrive there. It is where we stay until Mr. Salko needs us back at the mansion.”
“How many others are there, Helga?” As the words left my mouth, I could feel my stomach begin to churn. I was afraid of what I might find out.
“I don’t know. Maybe five or six women. They do not come to the mansion with me.”
“What about the other women that work in the mansion? Where do they go?” It was clear she was getting frustrated, but I needed to push her. I needed to know how many others there were like her.
“They go somewhere else.” Helga’s eyes moved to the door, and I could tell she was becoming increasingly nervous. “Mrs. Reyna. I need to get back to the mansion. Mr. Salko will notice that I am gone.”
The last thing I wanted was for Rui to punish her, but once he found I was no longer in the mansion, he would question her. I knew all too well how he would get the answers he needed. “Helga, if you leave, he will question you about where I am. He will hurt you until he gets the answer.”
From the way she looked at me, she already knew what was waiting for her once she reached the mansion. Following behind her, I asked, “Helga, what are you going to tell him?”
When she continued to walk down the tunnel without acknowledging my question, I reached out for her and wrapped my hand around her wrist. “Please, Helga.”
She moved her eyes to my hand and used her free hand to unwrap the grasp I had on her. Holding my hand in hers, Helga’s head remained lowered. “I will tell him that you left, and I tried to find you, but I was too late. He will search for you outside the gates since I will direct him to do so. There will be no reason for him to search for you here.”
“Please be careful, Helga. Rui will stop at nothing to get the truth from you.”
Nodding her head, she squeezed my hand and headed toward the hidden door. I couldn’t do anything more for her, so I headed back to the room where she found solace. It was only when I reached the room that I felt the sharp edge of the charger against my breast. Pulling the phone from my bra, I switched it on, but it was no use. There was no reception between the thick walls, and my only option was to wait until it got dark before I risked calling Davian. If Helga was able to keep Rui away from the garden, as she said, then I would be safe to contact him.
