Chapter 8
Eva
Crazy might have tied me to the chair extra tightly, but he hadn’t stopped to fix Cleve’s work before stomping out. The rope around my hands and forearms was definitely loose—so loose that I wondered if he wasn’t intentionally giving me the chance to escape. I twisted and finally snaked one hand free of the mass of ropes around my wrist.
My shoulder popped painfully as I twisted it and my arm until I could pull it free of the loop around my elbow. Shaking the loose ropes off my other arm, I rubbed the burns my efforts had made on my wrists. Having my hands free made it easy enough to shimmy out of the straps tying my arms to the chair, and from there, it was short work to free my feet. I slipped off my heels so I could move as silently as possible.
I wouldn’t be able to skirt any cameras in the corridors, but if I was where I thought I was, the lunatic men didn’t have access to those camera feeds anyway. I just needed to be quiet enough to get away from them. I had wondered why they had access to the Center’s systems, let alone their secure inner corridors. Now I had a strong suspicion about it. If I was right, I wouldn’t have to run far to be free.
I took the bottle of water Cleve had left for me, figuring it’d be a good resource both for thirst and as a weight if I needed extra power behind a punch. I crept to the door, cracked it open, and peeked both ways down the hall. All clear. That’s weird. But it only strengthened my suspicions that Cleve might be trying to help me without risking a confrontation with his unstable companions. Who was he? He seemed so normal compared to his partners. What drama had driven him to join up with terrorists?
Whatever. If he was deliberately looking the other way on his guard shift while I took off, I had to take advantage. I could wonder about his motives when I was safe.
Moving as quickly as I could, I chose to go away from the bathroom. The corridor ended in blind corners either way I went, so I had to get around a bend as soon as possible. I knew there was a possibility I’d walk straight into one of the three men during my escape, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try.
It felt like an eternity passed before I made it past the four doors that led down to the corner. Once around the corner, I looked for an exit sign or another turn or juncture. I figured the more corners between my captors and me, the better.
Four random twists later, I finally spotted an exit sign. It looked like a beacon of hope to me. I knew that right now I was running on an adrenaline high and would soon be crashing, so I had to get to somewhere safe, fast.
I had begun passing people about two corridors back. I had hidden from them at first, but soon I realized they barely paid any attention to me. I still didn’t know where I was, so I didn’t call out to any of them for help.
When I spotted an odd look or two thrown my way, I realized I was still carrying my shoes, and my face and hair were torn up. I stopped briefly to slip on my shoes and smooth my hair. Nothing I could do about the split lip but keep my head down when I passed people. So I did, praying none of them was in league with the men who had kidnapped me.
The exit door truly felt like liberation as I walked through it—and caught sight of a familiar plaza. I was right! I’d never left the Center. Those men had hidden me in a storeroom in the Center basement. I knew exactly where I was.
I walked straight into a crowd and attempted to blend in. Now no one would give my roughed-up face a second glance. I needed to decide where to go and how to hide. I couldn’t go to Ivy’s flat. The radicals probably knew I lived there, and it would be watched and searched.
I was a bit concerned about Cleve’s comment to Cold Al about putting on “his uniform” and clocking in “at the station.” Could Cold Al be a police officer or Center security? If he was, this would be very difficult. I couldn’t turn myself over to the authorities. I might just be handing myself back to my kidnappers. And the remarks about “being determined to kill you” and “releasing you the way he wants to” scared the shit out of me.
No, I couldn’t go to the authorities. I’d have to be strategic. For now, though, I needed to get somewhere safe, but where was safe?
Two places immediately came to mind, Gino’s and Laura’s. Gino’s was a restaurant. A little hole-in-the-wall family place that only stayed in business because the neighborhood locals loved it so much. I helped out waiting tables for Gino if his daughter, Val, needed extra hands or had waitstaff call in sick. I’d never officially worked there, so my name wasn’t on any of the payrolls. That was good. I was not officially associated with it, so no one would look for me there.
I took stock of my surroundings and changed directions to head to Gino’s. On foot, I’d be getting there right before closing. Perfect timing. Calling Laura would be my next step.
Laura was just my age. She would have volunteered for the experiment if it hadn’t been for Amber, her daughter by a teenage crush. Said teenage crush didn’t want anything to do with fathering a child, so Laura was on her own. Amber was the most sweet-natured child I’d ever met, always smiling and happy. Her “dad” was missing out, but Laura was blessed.
I was too. Laura was wonderful, the best friend I could ever hope for. We joked periodically that if either of us decided to be interested in women, we’d turn to one another. I loved them both dearly. Next to Ivy and the kids, they were the closest I had to family.
Just in case cameras were tracing me, I slipped into the alley behind Gino’s place. I skulked down the alley, keeping to the shadows. At the rear delivery door, I paused and listened to make out if anything unusual was going on. All I could hear was the normal bustle and hubbub of a restaurant near closing time. I stepped in and appraised the activities throughout the large room.
Tall, big-eared Franco was desperately trying to make sure all of his desserts looked perfect before the waitstaff grabbed them and toted them out to tables. Black-haired twins Dmitri and Alfonse were cleaning their knives and other utensils, taking advantage of a lull up front. Waitstaff and busboys were frantically scuttling in and out through the constantly moving service doors. Normality. I sighed with relief and leaned back against the door.
“Eva!” a huge bass voice boomed my name. All activity in the kitchen paused as the workers looked up to see if their boss was upset or pleased. He had come through from the dining area and spotted me immediately, an Italian giant with a flamboyant mustache and dancing brown eyes. For a large man, he could move very quickly. In just a couple of steps, he’d crossed the entire kitchen and swept me up in a bear hug. I put my arms around Gino’s beefy neck and let him twirl me around, tears of relief gathering in my eyes.
I always felt twelve years old again within Gino’s hugs and very safe. Kitchen noises resumed as if they’d never stopped. Gino set me down and took my face in his meaty hands, cradling it like a wounded baby bird.
His brows drew together. “Who did this to you? I will kill him!”
I’d forgotten about my bloody lip and bruised face in my relief at having made it to my goal. “It’s a long story, Gino. Can I go sit in the office to tell you? And I need to call Laura. May I use your communicator?”
“Of course. You know you can.” Gino turned his six-foot-six frame and lumbered toward his office with me in tow. He was wearing his usual uniform, black dress pants and a white shirt with a tie—askew, of course. And, as he couldn’t resist putting his hands into every dish that left his kitchen, he had an apron on over his clothes. I smiled at his back.
At his low-pitched request, Dmitri nodded and began putting a plate together, I assumed for me. Thank God, real food after that institution crap.
We walked into the office just off the kitchen. His eldest daughter, Val, looked up from her ledgers and blinked a bit blearily at me, then she leaped up, eyes widening at my appearance.
Almost as tall as her father, but willowy where he was brawny, Val had an enormous, frizzy head of brown hair. Her hug was just as emotional as her father’s had been.
“Eva! We’ve been so worried. Did you know you’re on the communications net? All over the posts and the vids? President Maeda is going to hold a press conference about you in just a little while. President Maeda, Eva! Are you okay? What happened to your face? They’re saying you were abducted. Ivy is frantic.” Her questions and comments kept tumbling one on top of the other at me. I finally put up my hands in protest.
“Stop! Whoa, Val!” I shook my head. “I don’t know what’s going on. I just need to contact Laura right now. She’ll contact Ivy for me. I can’t do it. The people who took me may be monitoring her communications.” If they were cops, they could do so easily.
“Who will find you? Sweetheart, do you know who took you?”
I was starting to get my headache back. “I just need to make this call, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Val.” Gino’s bass broke through Val’s answering flurry of words. “Let the girl be. She needs to use the comm.”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” Val moved out of my way.
Dmitri knocked on the door just then and popped through with plates heaped high with noodles covered in rich sauces and cheese. A piece of crusty bread was stuck on the side of each plate. The smells had my mouth immediately watering. He winked at me as he put the plates down on the desk, and he backed out of the room without a word.
“You’ll eat after your call,” Gino grumbled. “Your color is off. You need garlic! We’ll get you right again. Now call Laura.”
I smiled my gratitude and tapped the code that would connect me with Laura’s apartment. Instead of Laura, a small, cheerful face answered. “Hello?” Her pale pink complexion flushed with pleasure when she saw who I was. “Eva! There you are! I’ll get Mama!” Short, brown pigtails stuck out at odd, random angles all over her head and bobbed a bit as she turned and ran away from the communicator screen.
Almost instantly, she came back into view holding the hand of her mother. Same pale pink skin, same deep walnut hair, but very different eyes. Amber’s were the color of the sky on a clear day, bright, vivid blue. Laura’s were deep gray, the color of thunderheads right before a storm. Laura plunked herself down in front of the communication console and pulled Amber into her lap.
“It is you. I was worried Amber was telling stories. Oh, thank God.” Laura’s soft voice was a pleasure to hear again.
I cut to the chase right away. “Yes, it’s me. I need your help.”
“Anything, just name it. What happened to your face? What bastard hit you? I’ll kill him!” I could almost see lightning flash in those gray eyes as Laura got herself worked up on my behalf. For a moment, I imagined her, Gino, and his family wiping the grin off Crazy’s face for good.
“I’m good. I’m okay,” I soothed. “Can you send Amber to Ivy’s for some clothes for me? And then bring them here? I’m at Gino’s.”
She gave me a puzzled frown. “Just come here.”
“I can’t. I don’t want to be on the streets. I don’t want to be seen.”
“Where is your imagination? Be a delivery person. Dress in one of Gino’s staff uniforms, fix your hair, put some makeup on those bruises and bring me and my baby some supper!”
I laughed. Laura was just the person I needed to call. She always had an idea at hand. “I’ll talk to Gino. That just might work. If not, we’ll call you back.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Ivy you’re all right, then get you clothes and stuff, and come back home to wait for you. I’m glad you’re okay, honey. I was so worried.” She hugged her daughter, both of them smiling, Laura with relief.
I drew a deep breath and gave them my most reassuring look. “I’m okay. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.” Laura clicked off the communication screen.
I turned to Gino. “What do you think? Do you need a new delivery person? For just one delivery?”
He patted his ample belly with one hand and nodded his head. “I think we can make that work.”