Chapter Sixty-Nine
Nathan
Bree couldn’t sit still, even when I forced her to memorize all her new identity numbers.
“Why would I need to know my driver’s license number? No one knows that. I bet it’ll make me look even more guilty,” Bree said.
I leaned and tried to catch her attention but she paced by. “Just trying to keep our mind off other things.”
That made Bree stop. She turned to look at me, finally seeing the message I had been trying to send her. We couldn’t talk plainly in that room, and she had to remember it or risk all our plans.
The overdramatic eye-roll she gave me was better than an answer. It told me that Bree knew she couldn’t talk without being heard. And she wasn’t too scared to be annoyed with me.
Bree plopped down on the narrow cot next to me and tried to speak in code. “What time is it? How are we even supposed to know when it’s night?”
She wanted to know when I was going to put our plan in motion but I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. We’re here until they let us out.”
Bree arched an eyebrow at that and glanced over at the door. She remembered my disappearance earlier and wondered what I had done to the lock on our room.
“Come on, Matilda,” I said, trying to distract her, “let’s work on the story of how we met.”
Bree whacked me on the shoulder. “Don’t call me Matilda. And border security isn’t going to ask us how we met.”
“But they will ask me where my office is in Minnesota,” I said.
She snapped the card out of my hand and held it up. “Fine. I’ll quiz you, but only because this place is too small for pacing.”
“At least there isn’t a big sagging motel bed to get in the way?” That earned me a jab in the ribs.
As long as Bree was able to take my teasing and fight back, I knew she’d be okay. I’d been going over the plan in my head, but it all hinged on whether Bree held up. The stress of our situation weighed on her, but there was no way she was beaten down.
I kissed her cheek.
“What was that for?” Bree asked.
I grinned. “Just seeing if Matilda kisses differently than you?”
Bree laughed and snatched the folder out of my hands only to swat me on the shoulder with it. “All right, Tom, let’s hear your work address.”
Bree and I made a big show out of quizzing each other on our new identities. I have no idea how much we actually retained, but it was a good way to pass the time.
Not knowing the time was hard on Bree, but my inner clock told me when it was time to move. I kissed Bree on the cheek again and then stood up. She knotted her hands together as I went and leaned against the door.
The sounds in the hallway were quiet and muffled. Fear of that mountainous bodyguard kept the other men quiet and focused. They talked in whispers when they passed, mostly sports scores and some trash talk, but it was enough to confirm we had two guards on our door.
I held up two fingers to Bree. She nodded but her cheeks faded to a pale white.
I motioned to Bree to lay down on the cot and pull the blanket over her. She shook her head, defiant at any part of the plan that did not directly include her.
“Please,” I whispered and pressed my hands together.
Bree scowled at me but finally gave in. It was still a wonder that she trusted me after all I had put her through. I fought the urge to stride over to the cot and kiss her.
I had to focus.
I knocked, waited, and rapped a little louder. My knocks were deliberately timed so the guards were just turning around. I heard them meet outside the door and consult about what they heard.
I knocked again. “Hey! I gotta use the bathroom.”
Bree and I both heard the guards snickering as they unlocked the door.
“We’ll get you a bucket,” the first guard said.
I reached for my belt buckle. “You wanna carry this around, that’s fine with me. I gotta go.”
The guards exchanged glances. “We can’t let you out.”
“You don’t have bathrooms here?” I asked. Then I gestured to Bree’s covered form. “And you seriously think I’m going to make a break for it and leave her here? Wait, now that I think about it, bring the bucket. I’m not leaving her alone for a second.”
The first guard’s nose crinkled up. “The bathrooms just down the hall. He’ll take you.”
“No way in hell,” the second guard said.
Their argument switched into their native language and sped up. Bree stirred as their voices rose. Finally, the first guard shoved the second guard. For a moment, I thought they would get into a fist fight and do my work for me, but they only glared at each other.
“Fine. Bathroom’s to the left. I have a gun,” the second guard said.
He fumbled the gun out of its holster and waved it. I was glad he at least kept the barrel pointed at the ground, but my body tensed. The last thing I needed was a nervous finger on a trigger following me down the hall.
Bree sat up at that. “What’s going on?” she asked in a fake sleepy voice.
“Bathroom break, be right back. This door stays closed and locked, right?” I stepped up to the first guard as I passed through the door.
He scowled at me. “Hurry up.”
“Wait,” Bree called. “I have to go, too.”
I glared at her over the guard’s shoulder. “I’ll let you know what the bathroom’s are like. You might want to hold it. Remember that little bathroom at that run-down resort?”
Bree narrowed her eyes at me but went along with my story. “Ew, yeah, I remember. Fine. Let me know if the toilet’s green with mold. Don’t catch any diseases.”
I laughed at her malevolent pout. The second guard never saw my fist coming. The first guard rushed forward and ran right into my switch gut kick. He doubled over and tipped onto the ground.
The guards struggled to get up, but I shoved one over the other and then collapsed back to the ground in a tangle of grunts and swear words.
Bree jumped out of bed, but stayed back in the room behind the flimsy card table. I held up one hand to keep her back.
She smothered a scream as the first guard managed to get up. He wheezed hard for breath but staggered toward me. Down the long hallway, there was a surprised shout. The distant guard would be on me in no time.
I hesitated. It was only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to worry me. I couldn’t act because I didn’t want Bree to see me in action. I didn’t want her to see me take down the guards and knock out a third.
Then Bree screamed, “Just do it!”
I fired a punch at the first guard like a cannonball from my shoulder. He knocked against the opposite wall and crumpled to the ground. The other guard staggered to his feet and tried to run off down the hall. I caught him by the collar of his shirt and swung him hard into the wall. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The other guard stopped partway down the hall, then he saw me beckon with the gun I’d pulled off the other guard.
He shuffled toward me with his hands up.
“Are you going to crack him in the head or what?” Bree asked.
I shook my head, glad that Bree hadn’t fainted at the first spurt of blood. “How about we just let him take a little rest in our room?”
Bree slipped out the door. “Sounds good. You going to tell me the rest of the plan yet?”
I shoved all three guards into the storage room where we’d been locked. Then I held out my hand for the conscious guard’s keys. He shook his head.
“I’m asking nicely. I don’t have to ask if you’re unconscious like your friends,” I said.
He tossed the keys to me. I locked him in and told him to count to one thousand.
“What now?” Bree asked.
I pulled her down the hallway, “Now we get out of here. All of us.”