Chapter 53
True to his word, George let Rossalyn finish eating her food and use the restroom once more before being led back out to the SUV again. There were more vehicles in the convoy and at her furious insistance, George proclaimed that only one man would ride in the back with her so that she could be more comfortable. Placated, she climbed into the back seat behind the driver and glared at Jake when she seen him flip the child safety latch to on so that the door wouldn't open from the inside. As if she'd be so stupid to try to escape them with no back up and no means to call for help.
They drove for hours and hours it seemed. It had long since turned night fall before they finally arrived at another hotel. She had been dozing fitfully for the last few hours. Her back was uncomfortable and the baby seemed to be trying to do somersalts as if protesting her discomfort as well. She repeatedly stroked her belly, trying to sooth the baby and herself as well.
"Thank God." She muttered as she seen them pull into the covered driveway for them to be checked in. "I need to get out and stretch my legs." She said shifting uncomfortably in the seat for what seemed like the thousandth time.
"Boss said you're to remain in the vehicle until we're checked in." Jake called back to her from the front passenger seat.
"Well your boss doesn't have a human doing jumping jacks against his spine, does he?" She snapped, and gave a grimace of discomfort.
"It'll just be a few minutes. He's going to get the key to the room for you first." Jake assured her, but wouldn't budge on letting her out of the vehicle.
She noted that the hotel had outside entrance doors only, so that they wouldn't have to take her inside through the lobby. She had no idea where she was but she knew that would be remedied quickly since there was no way that there wouldn't be at least something in the room with their location on it. If she played her cards right, she might even be able to call Josiah and tell him where they were holding her, even if it was only for a few hours. There would be a chance that he could get to her. With a long suffering sigh, she flopped back into the seat and waited for one of the men to bring a key to the driver of the SUV she was in. Once he had it in hand, he drove off toward the back of the hotel lot.
Within a couple minutes they had parked and she was being let out of the SUV. She took a moment to stretch her back and let blood flow back to her legs. She made a mental note for the next leg of the journey, she'd demand to stop much more frequently to stretch. Not only for delays, but because it was really bad for her to be sitting for so long at a time. She followed Jake to the door of the room they'd booked for her. Once he had it opened she went inside and stopped at the door when he went to follow her inside.
"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, blocking the door with her body.
"I'm to stay in here with you." He said moving to push her aside.
"No. I will not have it. I want a shower and I want to sleep. I need privacy. What am I going to do? Escape out through the back wall?" She huffed, acting as if she was pushed through to the end of her endurance. "I have complied and done everything I've been told to do."
"I'll give you 30 minutes for a shower. That is it. I will be coming in the room whether or not you're happy about it." Jake informed her and took half a step back, conceding to give her a little privacy.
"Fine. At least I can shower in peace." She huffed then shut the door then the curtains.
She looked around the room and found where the phone was located. She knew that there should have been enough time that the other men had gotten their rooms so she knew that she had little time to spare. She found a note pad that had the name of the hotel and the address on it then picked up the phone and called Josiah's cell phone number. He answered on the first ring.
"Hello?" His voice sounded haggard over the line.
"Baby its me." She whispered into the phone. "I don't have much time. We're at a hotel."
"Where? Which one?" Josiah's voice sharpened, and she could hear rustling through the line as if he was searching for a pen and piece of paper.
She gave him the name of the hotel and the address quickly, the entire time watching the door, scared that Jake would realize he hadn't taken the phone and come in and catch her. Once Josiah had repeated it back to her she was relieved. She knew that he would come for her as quickly as possible and all she had to do was just hope that he could get there before they made her leave again.
"I'll be there shortly, my love. Just keep your head down and do what they tell you. You'll know when I'm there." Josiah promised.
"I love you. I've got to go before they catch me on the phone." She told him and once he told her he loved her too she hung the phone up feeling desolation fill her heart.
She made a call to the front desk and once it was answered she pretended she'd just found what she was calling to ask after and hung up the phone. She'd wanted to be sure that if for some reason Jake hit redial on the phone, it wouldn't go to Josiah's number. She glanced at the clock. She'd used up around five of her thirty minutes so she quickly made her way to the shower that was her cover for wanting privacy in the first place. She made sure to close the bathroom door and took what was probably the fastest shower she'd ever taken in her life.
By the time Jake came into the room, without knocking, she was redressed and sitting on the edge of the bed furthest from the door carefully combing her hair with the flimsy comb that was provided by the hotel. He looked between her and the phone that was sitting innocently on the table between the two beds and his face restistered the mistake he'd made. She kept her face impassive, as if she had no idea why he'd seem to be freaking out over the phone. He casually walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the phone, watching her carefully. She watched his finger hit the redial button but she knew she'd have nothing to worry about.
"Front desk." She heard the faint words through the speaker of the phone at his ear and as slowly as possible to disguise it, she let out a relieved breath.
He made a request for a wake up call for ten in the morning, his eyes never leaving her the entire time he was on the phone with the clerk. Once the phone was hung back up securely, he gave her a very contemplative look. "You wouldn't have betrayed some trust I gave you, would you?" He asked carefully.
"I'm sure you'd have heard me if I was on the phone in here. Plus, you hit redial and it went to the front desk. tell me, why would I call them?" She asked casually.
"To call for help, I'm sure." Jake said thoughtfully.
"If I called the front desk and told her what was going on, she'd have called the cops. They'd be here by now telling George all about your folly. I'm sure we stopped here because he has these cops on his payroll. Its the only reason he'd chance it. Even if I had called Josiah, there isn't any chance he's going to reach us in what, four or five hours? We drove for longer than that. What would the point be to send him to a hotel we're not going to be at for the time I need for him to get here." She said reasonably.
"That is very true. I still should have taken the phone. I won't make the mistake again. Get some sleep because we're going to be leaving at ten." He told her as he reached over and turned the light off between their beds.
The room fell to darkness and she let out a silent sigh. She didn't know if he believed her but she had pointed out a valid point. Josiah would need much more time to drive to them than they were going to be there. But she knew that Josiah had other means of transportation and she'd conveniently left those options out. They weren't out of range of a helicopter to reach them in just a couple hours. She knew that Josiah was probably already in the air on his way to the nearest landing pad while men coordinated transportation to meet him. She knew beyond a shadow of the doubt that the next time she left the hotel she'd be leaving it with Josiah.