Page 28 of Naughty and Nice
Saving the residents was my number-one priority. That didn’t mean I didn’t have other thoughts—like if I’d survive. I wondered what could have been with Nick. I questioned whether I ever told Mia how much she meant to me. Sadness seeped between my worries as I recalled José and Renata. Would Sofia believe that I missed her friendship, something else my brutal marriage had taken from me.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to unlock the door. My reason was that if it were locked, the intruders would assume we were hiding within. Pulling Horace’s badge from my skirt pocket, I laid it over the scanner.
Nothing.
Of course there was nothing. The power was out.
What did that mean for the lock?
I was about to try the doorknob when I heard voices, deep Latino voices, barking orders. It wasn’t difficult to decipher that they weren’t Roríguez men. They were discussing a sweep, a search, looking for the whores. “Donde estan las putas.”
Did I have time to hide?
The click of the knob told me I didn’t.
Instead, I plastered myself against the wall, where the door would cover me when it was opened. I held my breath as the door swung inward followed by a beam of light.
“Salgán.”
I said a silent prayer that no one would show themselves. A tall man entered, only a few feet from where I stood. He wasn’t looking in my direction. Instead, he was searching the room. The scent of gunpowder and perspiration assaulted my senses. The beam cut through the darkness, shining on empty chairs and long tables. Back and forth, he moved the beam to the top of the lecture hall and then down again.
If only I had a gun.
That was never something I’d even considered before—ever.
When Gerardo would rape me or beat me for whatever reason he came up with, I never wanted to kill him myself. I wanted him dead, sí. However, committing murder wasn’t my plan. Today, to save the fifty-four women in this room, if I had a weapon, I would easily shoot.
The man walked forward and pounded his fist on the desk.
Though I stiffened at the bang, I stayed silent and hoped everyone else would too.
Silence.
As he turned, the beam of light skirted over the part of me not covered by the door. I held my breath, but the man didn’t seem to notice me.
Walking toward the door, he called, “No hay nadie aqui.” He pulled the door closed.
My lungs burned as I released my breath and then collapsed. My circulation stopped its normal flow, rushing to my feet. I slid down the wall, landing on my ass. The scrambling of feet reminded me of legions of mice scattering within dark subway tunnels in movies.
“Liliana.”
“Celeste.” I recognized her voice.
“I thought the door was locked.”
“I did too. I don’t know what happened.”
She offered me her hand. “Where’s your badge?”
Fumbling, I again removed Horace’s badge from my pocket and handed it to Celeste. When she passed it before the sensor, nothing happened. “The power is out.”
“Shit,” Celeste said as she came and sat at my side.
While I couldn’t see the women, I felt their presence. Slowly, the heightened tension eased. One by one, they made their way back to the front of the room. That was where we were all seated, on the floor, when the lights turned back on. I got up and passed the badge over the sensor. The sound of the locking mechanism engaging echoed through the room. I handed it to Celeste. “Go,” I said, “make sure the other door is locked.”
“You saved us,” Luz said.
As the others agreed, I laid my finger over my lips. “We don’t know if it’s done.”
