Chapter 381

“We can’t panic,” I whispered to Anna. “But we’ve got to find a way out before they think of looking for us in the ceiling.”

Anna nodded. “Let's keep going. There must be a place where we can get out of the building.”

Carefully and quietly, we began to crawl toward another dot of light in the distance. I prayed John and his men wouldn’t hear or sense us as we crawled over their heads.

The men continued to talk as we slowly crawled along the planks above them, looking for a way out of the building.

“What if your missing guests aren’t found?” Kirk Sanders asked. “What if Daisy is already on her way back to Victor?”

“Then I’ll deal with him permanently much quicker than I intended,” John declared. “I've had enough of their interference in my plans. It won’t be tolerated any longer.”

Deal with him permanently! That had to mean he was planning to kill Victor! I had to get out of this place and warn him.

After we crawled about another twenty-five feet, we stopped and lifted a ceiling tile so we could see what was below us.

“Another bathroom,” Anna whispered. “But it’s in better shape than the one we escaped from.”

“It might be part of the rooms John is occupying,” I said. “Let’s keep going.”

I felt stupid knowing Anna, and I had stumbled upon John’s lair and didn’t realize it until we were his prisoners. I literally drove up to his hideout more than once.

My knees hurt from crawling on the planks, and the rough boards had given me several splinters in my hands.

But we kept going because all that mattered was finding a way out. I was scared for Anna and me, and after hearing John’s plans, I was also frightened for Victor.

After another twenty feet, we ran into a corner. At first, I thought we had reached the end of the crawl space, but it turned right and continued.

There was more light in this section of the crawl space. We followed the planks to the source of the light and discovered several ceiling tiles were missing over a large room below.

It was the factory workroom. The old machinery had been pushed to one side of the room and stacked in large piles. The machines had been replaced on the long work tables by stacks of boxes and scales.

They were lemon boxes!

Anna gasped. “Daisy, are all those boxes full of drugs?”

“I'd bet on it,” I replied. John did say he was expanding his Ice business, but I was still surprised at how much of the drug was here in Denhurst.

“There’s so much of it,” Anna said.

“The police need to know about it before it gets onto the streets and ruins lives,“ I said. Not being able to get out of the building was frustrating. So much depended on Anna and I getting to the authorities.

Anna looked around the workroom. “We could get out of one of those open windows.”

I pulled a big splinter from my thumb. “With all the lights on and so many drugs in there, somebody must be nearby and will see us.”

“Then let's keep going.” Anna pointed to the workfloor windows. “It’s getting dark outside. That will make it easier for us to run away from the building without being seen.”

“I agree,” I said. “If we don’t find another way out, we’ll return and try to get out the workfloor windows.”

We continued over the workroom and another room that was pitch black. Finally, we peeked down into a room with tables and chairs, a microwave oven, and a battered refrigerator.

“It must be a break room,” Anna said. “The lights are on, but I don’t see or hear anybody.”

We were running out of options. The break room had smaller windows than the work floor, but they were big enough for us to escape from the building.

“Let’s try it,” I said.

“I’ll go first,” Anna offered. She clung to the floor joists and dropped down onto one of the tables before looking around. “I don’t see anyone. Come on.”

I copied Anna and dropped onto one of the tables. But I landed a little off and fell onto my side. Anna helped me to my feet.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I rubbed my hip. “Yeah, but I made more noise than I should have. Let’s get out of here in case those men heard me.”

We hurried to the windows, unlocked one, and pushed it open. That’s when we saw the sturdy metal bars fastened on the outside of each one.

Crying with frustration, I grabbed one of the iron bars embedded into the cement window casing and shook it.

“The bars won’t give,” I groaned. “We need to find another way out.”

“Come on,” Anna urged. “Let’s check the hallway.”

Rushing from the break room, we spotted double doors to our right. They were metal with small mesh windows.

“They lead outside!” Anna cried and ran to the doors. She hit the push bar, and the doors opened two inches before stopping with a clang.

They were chained together and padlocked. We couldn’t get out this way either.

Anna burst into tears. “We have to get out of here before they find us.”

But it was too late.

“There they are!” a man yelled down the hall to our left.

I took Anna’s hand. “Run!”

We ran for our lives as bullets whizzed past us.

“Victor, I love you!” I called in my mind.

“Victor and Adam are coming, Daisy,” Diana told me. “I can feel them approaching. They know you and Anna are here.”

“Those men are going to kill us before they get here,” I moaned. “I’ll never feel his strong arms around me again.”

“Don’t think that way,” Diana insisted. “Help is on the way. Get outside any way you can.”

The only path open to us was into the workroom.

“Hurry, Daisy,” Diana urged. “Go out one of the big windows. One of them is wide open.”

Another bullet whined past us as we rushed into the workroom and toward the open window.

We were almost there when the sound of running feet directly behind us made my hair stand on end. We weren’t going to make it to the windows.

“Like we planned when we were locked in the room, watch each other’s backs,” I told Anna.

“We can do this!” Anna declared. “Turn on three.”

Anna and I turned and attacked the two men who had been tasked with being our jailers.

They were caught by surprise and reacted by putting their fists up. That didn’t protect them from our kicks. And to my relief, the man with the gun was out of bullets.

Fighting for our lives, we drove them back away from the windows. If we let them hit us, we could lose, and they would probably kill us.

Fortunately, adrenaline made us strong and fast. We kept kicking, and they didn’t have a chance to strike any blows.

Finally, we had them pinned against a high stack of machinery. I nodded to Anna, who seemed to read my mind. This was our chance to end the fight.

We did a simultaneous leg sweep, knocking the men to the floor before kicking the stack of machines over their heads.

The stack of heavy metal collapsed as I had hoped, and the machines fell on the two criminals. They were knocked out and perhaps severely injured or worse.

I felt a twinge of guilt and hoped they weren’t dead, but I resisted the urge to check on their condition.

“Daisy, don’t worry about them. They still live,” Diana said. “Hurry and get out that window before more men come, and it's too late to escape.”

Diana was right. The sound of more feet running in the hallway got us moving.

“You go first,” I told Anna.

She slipped out the window, and I quickly followed.

The sense of relief when the fresh evening air struck my face made tears sting my eyes. I could now sense Victor was nearby. How badly I wanted to be in his arms.

But Anna and I weren’t out of danger. More men appeared at the window through which we had just escaped.

There were more than two of them this time, and their voices reminded me of a pack of bloodhounds after their prey.

“Victor, if I don’t make it into your arms, I love you,” I called to him.

“Daisy, I love you too, my darling,” he replied. “I’m at the gate, trying to break it down. You must run to me, sweetheart. Run!”