Chapter 378

Daisy’s POV

Somebody was moaning inches from me on my left, but I was too sleepy to wake up.

The moaning sounded again, and I felt movement next to me, so I forced myself to open my eyes.

Fear and confusion washed over me.

“Where am I?” I mumbled. I was lying face up on a narrow cot, looking up at yellowing drop ceiling tiles.

I tried to sit up to look around, but the motion made the room spin. A single light bulb showed me I was in a room with a concrete floor and block walls.

How did I get here? Who else was here with me?

“Daisy,” Anna said. She must be lying on the cot next to mine. Her voice was as weak as I felt. “Are you alright?”

“I think so,” I replied. I wasn't in pain, and I could move everything, but why was I so drowsy and dizzy?

“That gas they shot into your truck knocked us out,” Anna said as she tried to sit up.

“I’m so thirsty,” I murmured. I lifted my arms and realized my hands were tied together with something. “Anna, I’m tied up.”

“Me too,” Anna said. “They used zip ties. But they used the flimsy kind. I know how to get out of them easily.”

“At least we’re together, and they didn’t hurt us,” I said.

“But they still might,” Anna said. “We’ve got to find a way to escape.” She sat up and jerked her arms twice, making the zip tie around her wrists snap. “Now, let’s get your hands free.”

Anna tugged at the tie around my wrists in one direction and then another, and it popped loose. My hands were free. I rubbed my wrists before trying to get up.

“The dizziness is getting better,” I told Anna. “I think I can stand.”

I got to my feet, swaying only a little, and took a few steps into the center of the room.

“There’s a door,” I said and made my way to a gray metal door, grabbed the handle, and tried to pull it open.

I shook the handle and braced one foot against the wall while I pulled, but it still wouldn’t budge.

“It’s locked tightly from the other side,” I said, leaning on the wall while a wave of dizziness washed over me.

“There’s another door over there.” Anna pointed across the room at a wooden door covered with peeling blue paint.

We stumbled across the room, and I put my hand on the brass knob.

“It can’t lead out of this room,” Anna said. “It must be a closet.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” I turned the knob and pulled. The door opened, revealing a grungy-looking bathroom.

I flipped on a light switch, and Anna checked to see if the water was on to the sink.

She turned the handle, and water gushed from the cold water faucet. “I’m going to try it.” Anna used her cupped hands to smell and taste the water.

“It tastes okay, Daisy,” she said. “And it’s good and cold.”

I drank from the faucet and felt stronger and more clear-headed after a few minutes.

We took turns using the toilet and washed our faces and hands before returning to the other room to look for a way to escape.

“There’s no window,” Anna said. “Let’s both try to pull on the door. Or maybe we can find something to pry it open.”

We hurried to the door and took hold of the handle. With all our might, we pulled to try to open the door.

It still wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe we can take a cot apart and use a piece to pry the door open,” Anna suggested.

But before we could try, there were footsteps outside the door.

“Quickly, get back on the cot and pretend your hands are still tied together,” Anna whispered.

We hurried to lie down and folded our hands over our stomachs as the sound of a key scraping in a lock reached our ears.

Somebody was coming into the room! Was it a mistake to lay here vulnerable to our captors? We were about to find out.

Closing my eyes tightly, I struggled to control my breathing. I was scared and also angry about being knocked out and brought to this place.

But I had to face them. I wanted to see who had brought me and Anna here. I wanted to know why.

I opened my eyes and glared defiantly at two men in ski masks. One had a tray of food. The other had a gun.

“I’m glad you decided not to fake being asleep,” the man with the gun said. I didn’t recognize his voice, and his brown eyes were cold.

“Then I may as well sit up,” I said and swung my legs off the cot.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he said and pointed the gun at me. “I can see you got out of the zip ties. But you better remember I’d have no problem killing you.”

The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t bluffing.

“Let me put this tray down,” the other man growled. “And don't get trigger-happy, Zack. You know the boss wants them alive.”

“Not for much longer,” Zack argued. “If they try anything, I’ll shoot them in the leg until the boss is ready to kill them. That way, they won’t be able to escape.”

What a horrible man! I had to seem docile until Anna and I could escape this place.

“How could we escape?” I asked. “We can’t knock down block walls or dig through the cement floor.”

“That’s right,” Zack said. “But don't try any of your kickboxing nonsense on us.” He waved the gun in my face. “I’m ready for you.”

“Don’t worry.” Anna sat up. “We’re too weak from the gas to kickbox or fight. Thank you for bringing us food.”

The other man placed the tray on a rickety table near the cots. “There’s milk on the tray, and you can drink water from the bathroom.”

The man who brought the tray of food had kinder eyes, but he was tall and muscular. If he had any fighting skills, we would need both of us to subdue him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Zack said. “I’ve got things to do today.”

“We’ll be back later with more food,” the other man said. “But what’s on the tray should last you all day.”

“Got any zip ties on you?” Zach asked the other man. “I don’t trust them. We should tie them up again.”

“Nah, they gotta eat and go to the bathroom,” he answered. “They aren’t going to get out of here.”

“Thank you,” Anna said while I nodded to him. He seemed like a much more decent guy than Zach. Why was he mixed up with our captors?

The two masked men headed for the door, and there was no chance to escape. An intense longing to see the outside, home, and Victor flooded my mind.

Did Victor know I was missing? He would look for me and make these men pay. Yet, I shouldn’t rely on a timely rescue. Anna and I must find a way out of here soon.

“Daisy, we should eat to keep up our strength,” Anna advised. “We don’t know what’s going to happen that we’ll need to deal with.”

I sat on the edge of the cot. “What did they bring us?”

Anna took two pieces of foil from the tray. “There’s cold pizza, potato salad, lunch meat sandwiches, pudding cups, and two glasses of milk.”

“That’s better than I expected.” I sighed. “Let’s eat the sandwiches and potato salad first. The pizza won’t spoil if we wait to eat it later.”

We dug into the food. It wasn’t bad, but I wanted to go home, not eat deli sandwiches and salad.

“How are we going to get out of here?” I said. “We were taken because we were snooping around the abandoned factory.”

“I agree,” Anna said around a bite of ham and cheese sandwich. “It may be where we are.”

I looked around the room and nodded. “This room was probably an office or something.”

Anna opened the tub of potato salad. “Who do you think they were talking about when they mentioned the boss?”

“I’d bet it’s John Cameron,” I replied. “He hates me and Victor. He tried to take over my family’s company and failed, and then he tried to take over the Association and failed again.”

“Because you stopped him?” Anna offered me the potato salad and a plastic spoon.

I put some in the paint plate with my sandwich. “Yeah, I helped stop him both times.”

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” Anna said.

I nodded. “Let’s launch a surprise attack the next time the men come to bring us food.”