Page 60 of Broken Promises
“Do you have my money?” the old man asked.
Lucian reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of bills. “You get half now and the rest when we return. If you warn anyone we’re here, I’ll not only kill you and burn your life to the ground, but I’ll find anyone you’ve ever looked at and destroy them too. Are we clear?”
The man swallowed and nodded as two vehicles pulled up behind us. Seeing them defend Hannah was more than I ever expected. I thought they’d turn away from her, or even have a quasi-relationship as siblings, but I never thought they would go into battle for her. Hannah’s good heart and innocence in Sergey’s wake gave her a glow that shined goodness and light into the world.
“What do we know about this place?” James inquired as he got behind the wheel and pulled the vehicle onto a small country road.
I opened my laptop and began typing. “The house was raided by the feds around the time Lucian went undercover, and they helped relocate the women who were rescued.” I kept typing, feeling Lucian’s gaze on me as I dug a little further. “Fuck me.” Devlin spun around, and James looked into the rear-view mirror as I turned to Lucian. “This . . . this is where Stella was rescued from.”
The rage on Lucian’s face was evident as I clenched my jaw instead of yelling. However this came to be, it all connected back to one man and his narcissistic need to control the world through ill-gotten power.
“Someone needs to explain to me how a whorehouse owned by the Syndicate and raided by the feds is where we think Hannah is. How does this shit keep rolling around on itself?” Devlin huffed, and I was at a loss for an answer.
“It had to be one of his whores,” Lucian remarked as we got farther from the airstrip and closer to saving Hannah. “I can’t remember much about them besides the fact there was one who hung on his every word. Maybe she’s the one who’s calling the shots.”
We were all quiet as James maneuvered us closer to where we believed Hannah was being held. One man and his selfish decisions caused all this pain and heartache, and there were still missing pieces. But one thing we knew . . .
This ended today.
Chapter 26
Hannah
I’d been locked in the bedroom for over two hours when I heard someone in the hallway. Carefully, I tiptoed to the door and pressed my ear against it to see if I could make out what they were saying. It was muffled, but when I placed my hand over the other ear, I could make out most of the conversation.
“So, when am I supposed to bring them downstairs?” a man asked.
“Six o’clock and not a minute before,” someone else answered.
“What about the new one that just got here?”
“She’s for something else, so leave her locked in the room while . . .”
I couldn’t understand what else they said as their voices faded. I assumed they were walking away, so I pressed my ear harder but heard nothing. There was no way I was going to sit here, waiting for them to drag me downstairs into their madness. I’d survived that once, and I refused to be compliant this time.
The man said he was my brother, but was he really? There were too many secrets, too many years, and too much bloodshed to know if he was being truthful. Either way, I didn’t intend to stick around and find out what this whole thing was about.
Needing to find a way out of here, I walked to the window and immediately saw it was too high to jump. I walked away shaking my head before sitting on the edge of the bed. There wasno way I was leaving Pearl, or whoever else they’d taken, here alone, so I had to trust that the phone call earlier had given Rhys a starting point to look for me. I couldn’t guarantee it, so it was time to devise my escape.
I reached into my boot, pulling the butter knife out and turning it over in my hand. It wasn’t sharp enough to do any real damage, but maybe it could help get me out of this room. The door was my only escape, but it was locked, and I thought back to the countless lessons Granny gave me over the years.
She taught me to be self-sufficient, and while I couldn’t fix everything, I was handy with basic tools, so I stood from the bed to inspect the door. I tried to unscrew the handle with the knife, but the tip was too big, so I attempted to wiggle it into the space between the door and the frame to open the lock. No matter how I tried to open the locked door, I couldn’t figure it out. Exasperated, I closed my eyes and asked Granny to give me strength.
When I opened them, I saw the pin in the door hinge and a lightbulb went off. Using the blunt tip, I wiggled and pushed it into the bottom of the pin that held the hinge together. I could push up on the end of it and see it barely moving to separate. The palm of my hand was already hurting from me pushing on it, so I slipped off my shoe and placed my hand inside.
Using the heel as leverage, I pushed the knife back into the miniscule opening and kept steady pressure as I watched the pin begin to open. Once it seemed like it was far enough to grab, I did the same to the bottom hinge. Slipping my shoe back on, I grabbed onto the pin and pulled until it popped out of the three holes holding it to the other half.
Listening through the door to make sure no one was coming, I turned back and, with great strength, pulled the other hinge pin until it came out, leaving the door holding on to the frameby pressure only. I used the knife to pry the hinge apart and propped my foot against the bottom to hold it in place.
I hoped no one heard as I shimmied and wiggled the heavy door away from the frame. Poking my head out, I didn’t see anyone, but I cautiously held the knife out in front as I approached the door across the hall from mine. I didn’t hear anyone inside, and I tried the handle to see if it was locked. Surprisingly, it opened, and I found it was a basic bedroom, much like the one I was in.
Closing the door, I listened carefully, and when I was sure no one heard me, I moved to the next door down the hall. The handle was locked, so I pressed my ear to the door and heard a faint cry from the other side.
“Pearl,” I whispered through the door, giving a barely audible tap against it.
“Hannah?” I heard the person whisper back, and I closed my eyes briefly, giving a silent thanks to good luck.
“Yes. I’m going to try to get you out of there,” I returned softly.
