CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Hunger gnawed at her stomach.
Cora was starving and so damn thirsty. Mike had handed her a bottle of water but she didn’t trust him enough to drinks some of it. Her eyes darted around the small dark room. It was cold and it smelt bad. Vlad’s bloodied face flashed through her mind. She would never get to hear his deep accented voice or see him smile or allow him to hold her ever again. He would never look at her with such tenderness or make promises he said he’d keep.
Tears filled her eyes and slowly dripped down her cheeks. The ache in her chest only grew more painful.
Her eyes darted over to the door. It was unlocked but two men stood outside. Cora had heard them talking. A peak through the door had revealed them armed and ready if she tried anything. She glanced around the room again with teary eyes. Why hadn’t her father come to save her? Where was he? Had he been killed?
She shook the depressing thoughts away. If she wanted to stay alive then she needed to think of a way to escape and then get to the cops. She would give them Mike’s location. Only she had no idea where they were. Cora hadn’t really paid any attention as to what direction they were driving in. When they made it downtown Mike had hit her and she had passed out.
Her hand drifted up to her temple. Dried blood clung to her skin. Cora winced when she pressed down a little too hard. With one last glanced at the door, she laid down and tugged the filthy sack around her body. It would keep some of the cold away at least. Her eyes fluttered closed but opened immediately again.
Was it her imagination or had she heard Vlad’s name? She strained her ears to hear more of what the men outside were saying but their conversation had died down. Cora licked her lips as she stood. She took small steps towards the door and gently gripped the door handle. The door creaked slightly when she opened it.
She had to blink a few times to get use to the sudden bright lights. The men were nowhere to be found. Dare she take the risk? Her growling stomach made the decision for her. Cora slipped out of the room cautiously. She stayed alert as she used the wall for cover.
It looked like some kind of warehouse. Big and small containers littered the main area of the warehouse. Her eyes trailed up to the railings high above the containers. She needed to find a way to get up there without them seeing her. They wouldn’t expect her to go hide there. Being with Vlad had taught Cora to think out of the box.
Just as she was about to round the corner, a man walked past her. Cora quickly moved back and pressed her body against the wall. She held her breath as the man hurried past. This time Cora glanced around the corner first before moving.
The further she got from the room she was held in, the busier the place got. There were people everywhere. Men and women dressed in black with various weapons strapped to different parts of their bodies.
Cora’s eyes were drawn to the stairs to her right. It led to what looked like offices. Cora glanced around before making a run to hide between a few crates. She dropped down to her knees. After a deep breath she peaked out from behind the crate to stare at the stairs again.
Movement in the office drew her attention. Her heartbeat increased when Mike stepped in front of the window. She dug behind the crate and counted to ten in her mind before leaning forward to look at the office again. Mike still stood there but he had turned his back on the warehouse. He was making hand gestures. Who was in there with him?
Cora waited until Mike walked out of sight before she made a run for the stairs. Nobody was paying any attention to her. She ran and kept going until she reached the destination she had in mind for hiding. Cora knew that if anyone glanced up they would get a clear view of her. There was no stair to use to get up the railings so she had to work out a different plan.
“I’m definitely getting a gym membership if I make it out of here alive,” she whispered to herself.
Cora tilted her head back and stared up at the railings. She saw a clear path to get where she wanted in her mind, but physically getting there was another thing. In the end Cora gave up hopes of hiding up there. She moved further away from the offices and the activity below. An air vent was the perfect place to hide behind. It was big enough to hide her body from any one searching, and in the perfect spot for Cora to still watch those below.
Now that she felt somewhat safe, Cora allowed her eyes to slide closed. A few hours of rest would clear her mind enough to think of an escape plan.



“Find her!”
Cora jerked awake. She reached up to rub at her eyes. Somehow during her sleep she had turned onto her back. She blinked up at the metal above her and then slowly turned onto her side. After taking a few deep breaths she turned onto her stomach again. Shifting forward slightly, she risked a glance down at the activity below.
At least two dozen men stood outside the room she had escaped from. Mike stood in the middle of them all.
“You were suppose to keep an eye on her!” he yelled. “What the hell where you doing? I told you, if one of you wants to go take a piss then the other stays here to watch her! Where the hell were you?”
“We moved a little further away from the door but we were watching her,” one of them said.
The other one nodded. “I checked on her before we walked away. She was fast asleep!”
Mike ran a hand down his face. He turned to the man by his side and held out his hand. The man handed him a gun without hesitation. Cora pressed her hands against her mouth when Mike held the gun to the first man’s head. Her body jerked when he fired.
She stared in horror as the man dropped to ground. The other man was next to hit the ground. Mike lowered the gun and stared down at them for a few seconds before turning away.
“Clean this up!” He turned to face the rest of the people. “I want this place searched from top to bottom. No crate or container leaves this factory before being searched. Find her!”
The crowd split up as men hurried in different directions. Cora kept her eyes on Mike. He was talking to the man who had handed him the gun. He made some more hand gestures before they turned. A few seconds later they disappeared from sight.
Cora turned her head to glance up at the windows close to the roof. All she could see was darkness. She tried to guess what time it was. It was definitely late. How long had she been out for? Cora licked her lips and focused on the activities below her. She needed to be alert encase someone spotted her from below.
Now that she had some rest, she was more aware of what was going on around her. Mike had mentioned the crates and containers leaving the warehouse. Maybe she could sneak into one of the ones they had already searched. But what if they decided to search it twice? They would find her and then she’d be back from where she started. If she wanted to get out alive, she needed to stay where she was and wait for the right time to move.
She shifted slightly but instantly froze when the railing she was lying on creaked. Her heart was beating in her ears. Any minute now someone was going to point and yell that they found her. But minutes passed and nothing happened.
Cora slowly blew out the breath she had been holding. She risked another glance down just in time to see Mike entering the room she had been held in. His head turned as he glanced around. From where she laid she couldn’t make out his expression but she knew he had to be mad. His head suddenly shot up and Cora quickly dug back behind the air vent.
A few minutes later when she risked a glance down, Mike was gone.
A shiver raced down her spine. She quickly moved back in place. Cora couldn’t take the risk to turn onto her back again. She needed to stay as still as possible.
Time passed without her really realizing it. Her mind was a maze. There were a lot of escape plans she had formulated but Cora couldn’t get herself to move. She needed to decide on one before she could go anywhere, but her mind was reminding her of all the things that could go wrong. During her wait the activity below her had slowed down until it came to a complete stop.
Every now and then a man with a gun would walk around before disappearing from sight again. The search for her had stopped which meant it was the perfect opportunity for her to move.
“Come on Cora. You need to do this. You can do this,” she whispered to herself.
She sucked in a deep breath and slowly pushed herself onto her knees. Her movements were slow and precise. One wrong move and she would be discovered. She made it all the way down to the steel landings of the second floor. Her legs felt like jelly and she had to hold on to the railing to keep herself up.
Movement from below her made her freeze. She sucked in a sharp breath and held it. The man had entered from a door she had missed before. Right behind him another man entered and turned to softly close the door behind him. They were both dressed in black with guns strapped to their bodies. It looked similar to Mike’s men, but they had masks covering their faces.
Cora’s legs gave way beneath her when one of the men glanced up right at her. The man next to him gripped his arm and leaned forward. The man who was still staring at her gave him one nod. He raised his arm and held a finger up to his lips.
Her eyes followed them as they started moving. Someone had come to rescue her.