He grabs me by the hair and has me crouch down before him. “Let me see your cuffs too, lady.”
I reach my arms out slowly to him, praying he’ll see mine haven’t been tampered with and let us go. Maybe it’s just a fluke. Maybe Erin’s was just a bad lock or someone upstairs not getting the correct, working handcuffs. Either way, I can’t bear to look as he turns my hands over and back.
He clears his throat as he says, “Well, well, well. It looks like we—"
There’s a loud bang that vibrates over my head and I feel myself falling fast towards the ground. A weight is next to me, holding me down in place as I catch myself with the strength of my bare shoulder. I open my eyes in complete shock, expecting to see heaven around me, or at least a gun pointed at my head.
But there’s only Maddie and a large, rotted wood plank. She’s holding it high over her head with both hands around the ends as if she’s ready to strike again. She shouts at me, “Move, Miss Springer!”
I roll to my side just in time as the guard attempts to stand back up. Maddie, again, nails him directly on the head with the board, causing him to collapse in a heap, his arms and legs sprawled out like a star on the ground. I see a large pool off blood forming behind his head, and I instantly back away from the puddle seeping slowly towards me.
Maddie runs towards me, hugging me tightly. I kiss her forehead and thank her over and over again in a soft whisper. But the man above us’ voice is getting louder and footsteps are getting closer. He’s distracted, on the phone again. We listen as he says, “The warehouse is what? On fire! Fuck! Cal Ross and Jager Harris will never forget the day I take them down for this!”
I turn towards Maddie. “We have to go. We have to get out of here now.” She nods, shaking her head as her eyes dart around the darkened room as the man’s voice grows more and more hostile. “I need you to promise me something first, though, okay?”
“What? Anything. I’ll do anything,” she replies desperately.
“When I say ‘run,’ you run. You don’t look back. Not for me, not for Erin, not for your dad. You run as fast and as far as you can go and you don’t stop until you are safe.”
“But what about—”
“No, Maddie! You have to promise me that you understand what I am saying to you. You and your dad are the most important people in my life, and I am not about to let you or him die trying to get out of here. So I need you to be brave and listen to every single word I say.”
“Okay. Okay. Okay.” She is crying again as she pulls me in for a long hug around my neck. I push her back and brush away the tears from her stained and dirty face.
“Good girl. Now we have to find a way out of here – fast. I have an idea, but I need you to do something for me first. When I say ‘scream,’ you need to scream as loud as possible. It has to be louder than me breaking that window so the man upstairs doesn’t hear it and think we’re running.”
I walk quickly over towards the pole I was holding onto. It’s just heavy enough to break through the glass with a whack or two, I figure. Maddie’s screams should be enough to mask the muffled sound through the boards and make him think that his guard is doing his job.
“Ready? On three.” I turn to ask her, the pole in position in my hand like a large baseball bat. “One… two…three!”
She screams as loud as she can as I punch the pole into the glass. The blocks don’t shatter but move on their plaster. I kick at the soft spot, watching a few of the bricks fall to the ground. The sun blasts in, the mid-afternoon light shining the way for Maddie and me. Maddie turns to me, distracted from her job.
“What’s going on down there?” The man upstairs is alarmed by the Maddie’s sudden stop. She screams again, but he’s even more agitated now than before. “Theo? What the hell are you doing? Bring the fucking girl upstairs now so we can get this over with!”
Maddie is screaming for Erin, playing her part. I kick at the blocks one more time, freeing just enough space for Maddie and us to crawl through. I pull on her shoulder and whisper over her screams, “This is your time, Maddie. You’re going to get low and run far away from this place. Go! Now!”
She looks at me, wide-eyed and terrified. Her mouth is still open, still screaming her “Help”s and “No”s. And I know this isn’t going to be easy. I push her towards the window and pick her up from the waist. The motion motivates her as she climbs through the hole and begins to run.