Page 72 of Fury

Her eyes move to me and the moment she sees me, she begins to cry.

Scooping her up into my arms, I press her to my chest as I bury my face in her hair. “It’s okay, sweet girl. I’m here. I’ve got you. Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”

She shakes her head and relief floods me.

“He gave me a bag of candy,” she tells me in a quiet voice, “he said that Uncle Fury was coming soon.”

I hate Marek with a passion, but I’m glad that for a moment of his life, he found some kind of compassion and didn’t hurt this little girl.

“He tied your hands,” I say, pulling back and reaching for the rope.

“He said it was only for a minute and if I was quiet, he would let me swing on the big swing.”

My sweet girl.

So innocent.

I undo her hands, which are very loosely tied, and then I undo her feet.

“Hope, I need you to listen to me, okay? We have to get out of here, but if that man sees us, he might get very mad and make us stay. Uncle Fury wants me to help you, okay, so I need you to do as I ask and be really, really quiet. Can you do that?”

She nods.

Please.

Let this go to plan.

15

I get Hope out of the RV, but we don’t get far before the alarm is raised. Marek figures it out, I don’t take time to worry about how. His booming voice can be heard as Hope and I stand behind his RV, pressing our backs against it. He’s going to come looking, and if we run, he’ll see us. The RV door slams as he charges out, and we have a mere few seconds before he finds us here.

“We’re going to climb under the big van, okay, sweetheart?” I whisper to Hope.

She nods, and I help her down, both of us sliding underneath the massive RV. It’s the only option I have right now, and I can only pray it’s enough. One step at a time. That’s all I can do. We shift as close to the large wheels at the back, shielding ourselves as much as possible, then I bring Hope close to me and wrap my arms around her, pulling us both down until we’re flat on the ground. Her breathing is shallow, and she makes a slight whining sound.

“I know this isn’t fun,” I whisper to her, “but I need you to be quiet.”

She shuffles into me, but she stops making any sounds.

Heavy footsteps stop at the outside of the RV, and I know they belong to Marek.

“Find them. They can’t have gone far. Send out guards. If you see that woman, kill her, but leave the child.”

He knows it’s me.

Of course, he does. Who else would it be?

He takes a step closer, and I hold my breath, terrified he’s going to look under the RV. For a moment, I’m certain he is going to. I hang on so tightly to Hope, praying he doesn’t look beneath it, and then I close my eyes and wait with bated breath until I hear the sounds of his footsteps disappearing.

We don’t move, not for quite some time.

Only when I can no longer hear voices, do I dare to release Hope and peer out. I can’t see anyone, but I can hear commotion in the tent where the cages are. I have no doubt they’re checking each one of them. Caravan doors open and close as staff come in and out, no doubt helping in the search. I crane my neck, desperately looking for a way out.

Towards the back of the lot, it goes quite dark.

A fence surrounds this place, and I have no idea if we could possibly get out, but there is no option for us to go through the front or side gates. Our only way out will be to cut a hole in the wire.

Think, Alexis.

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