“Damn,” I said as I peered out the window from our tower cell. “Would you look at that view?”

Below us, though, the whole world stretched out in a panoramic view even the Frost safe house couldn’t have matched in a million years. The whole of Enchanted Rock spread out below us like we were flying over it in a plane. It was so tiny it could be a toy village full of toy cars and fictional people.

“Fuck the view,” Jessica said as I turned from the window. She was sitting on the edge of her queen-sized bed, with its clean linens and warm looking comforter. “I can’t believe we’re stuck here.”

I turned around and leaned back against the window. We’d only been here a scant few minutes and Jessica already sounded like she was ready to snap. I didn’t want to know what she’d be like in just a couple hours.

I swept my gaze around the room, eyebrows raised a little. I took in the paintings on the wall, the up-to-date LED light fixtures, and the tasteful décor. There were two separate, large beds, with comfy looking pillows. We had a full bathroom in our room, kept apart from our living quarters by an actual door. Hell, it was even warm in here, despite the fact that we were literally crammed into the top of a tower like a couple of Disney princesses. I didn’t even want to think about what the heating bills were like for a place like this.

It beat the hell out of the Serbian prison Ivana and I spent a night in after a botched heist a few years back. It was damp, musty, and cold with water literally dripping from pipes. We’d had to use the bathroom in front of both each other and the guards. And, for whatever reason, everything was painted that sterile, institutional green. Like, how stereotypical can you guys get? Luckily, we’d been able to get out and flee the country before things progressed any further in our case.

“I’ve had worse,” I told Jessica, going over to my bed and sitting down across from her. I pressed down into the mattress with one hand after my butt sunk comfortably in. Hell, Peter’s little safe house in the mountains hadn’t even been this nice. “Shit, is this memory foam?”

“Yeah,” Jessica said, smiling a little. “I think so.”

I flopped onto my back, enjoying the way the mattress fit and supported my spine perfectly. After the way my back had been contorting with phantom pains from Peter, it was a relief. Even if the sharp pains had disappeared before we arrived here, I was still knotted through my upper back and shoulders. “Yeah. Way worse. I wonder if they’ve got a whirlpool on that bath.”

Jessica got up and walked over to the window, sighing deeply.

I turned my head and looked at her. Her shoulders were slumped and head hung low. She wouldn’t be able to take much more of this, even if we were being held prisoner in the lap of luxury. We needed to have a plan, one that was better than just waiting around for the guys to show up and rescue us like a couple damsels in distress.

“Okay,” I said, sitting up from the bed and going to stand next to her. “Let’s assess everything, shall we?”

“What do you mean?”

“Work out all the information that we have. Keep the mind busy. Look out the window there, what do you see?”

“Enchanted Rock?”

“No,” I said, “below us.”

“Men. Soldiers. Three, maybe four vans?”

“Good. See that down there? Patrols on the perimeter. Going in pairs, set intervals. How many do you think are here?”

“From what we saw on our way in, at least two dozen. I think.”

“Between two and three,” I more or less agreed. “But there was one interesting point.”

“What’s that?” she asked as she turned around and leaned back against the windowsill, her arms crossed protectively over her body like she was hugging herself.

“They didn’t blindfold us. Which means they’re not really all that concerned about whether or not we see anything.”

Silence. “That’s not good, is it?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not. That means they’re certain we’re not getting out of here. We’re definitely not going to get ransomed off and they wouldn’t accept some kind of trade. They’re playing for keeps on this one, which is what we figured all along anyway.”

She nodded, almost silent except for the sharp intake of breath through her nose. “Okay.”

“But, hey,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. “It could always be worse. We could be getting electroshock therapy right now instead of being stuck together in a room that’s nicer than our own places. Right?”

She didn’t smile or laugh.

“That was a joke, by the way.”

“I know,” she said, nodding. “It’s just not funny.”

“Tough crowd.”

She laughed a little at that one as she brushed my hand away. “I’m just worried, that’s all. Richard’s out there still. But the more we look at this, the more I realize how hopeless everything is. These guys are all trained killers–”

“So are the guys,” I reminded her. “I know it’s easy to forget sometimes, but your husband isn’t exactly chopped liver. He knows what he’s doing. Believe me, I’ve seen the way they handle themselves during drills. They’ve got this.”

“You’re just so…calm and confident.”

“That’s because I trust them, that’s all. I know they’ll be able to get us out of here.”

She smiled a little, nodding, and I smiled as honestly as I could right back.

After all, it didn’t make any sense to tell her that I was just as worried as she was. More so, probably.

I mean, this place was built like a fortress. It was literally a castle in the mountains over town, surrounded by at least three dozen soldiers. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be any contest between the men of Frost Security and these guys, but this was anything but normal. The soldiers below us were all armed with what they needed to bring down shifters: silver, flashbangs, armor, experience, and God only knew what else they’d managed to come up with over centuries of experimentation on our kind.

The only chance we would have had was if Peter had listened to me about the hybrid. Maybe if we’d had months of preparation, we could have figured out how to get him to shift into the creature. Or we could have visited one of the wise women of our kind who knew its secrets and could guide him through the transformation. That was the only way he’d have been able to handle this many soldiers, and he still probably would have needed the help from the rest of the pack.

But that ship had sailed the moment Jaeger-Tech came for us, and we were split up.

So, even as I was reassuring Jessica, I was still looking at every opportunity we had. I refused to be just a damsel in distress, someone who gave up when things got rough.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t really say any of this to her. After all, they’d somehow managed to block all communications in the city below. There was no telling what kind of listening devices were hidden in here. Instead, it was just easier to lie and keep her hopes up.

Now, though, as I looked around the room and took my own assessment, I realized just how difficult this was going to be. We were too high up, for one, at nearly four stories over the ground below. We could maybe do the whole bed sheet rope trick, like we were teenagers in an 80s high school comedy trying to sneak out for the big party.

But that wouldn’t get either of us all the way to the ground, even if it actually held our weight and we didn’t end up as pancakes on the cobblestone drive below us.

Vents were too small for either of us to crawl through, even with our petite frames. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get my shoulders into them, let alone my hips.

The door leading in wasn’t reinforced, but it was built of solid wood and swung inwards towards us. That meant kicking it down would be nearly impossible. The guards who had brought us in had locked the door securely behind. But, as I eyed the door, I did realize one thing.

The hinges were on our side of the door. That I could work with.

“What are you thinking about?” Jessica asked.

I shook myself from my thoughts and glanced over at her. “Just how Peter’s doing. And the guys. That’s all.” As I spoke, though, I pointed to my ear then pointed to the ceiling and made an “all around the room” gesture.

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“I just want to know they’re safe,” I said, pausing. I mouthed the words: “They’re listening to us. Careful.”

Her eyes widened and she began to nod, saying, “Yeah, I’m worried about Richard, too. I hope they’re okay.”

Our little two-leveled conversation, though, was cut off by the sound of the chamber door unlocking, a bolt sliding out of place.

“Would you like us to accompany you, sir?” asked a voice on the other side of the door. I recognized it as one of the guards who’d led us up here from the SUV when we’d first arrived.

“No, no,” replied Mr. Finney, who had been riding shotgun on the way up here from Enchanted Rock. “We’ll be quite fine, I assure you.”

The door opened smoothly and the British stranger, just as dapper as ever, stepped into the bedroom. He looked carefree and relaxed, like he kidnapped women every day of his life. Like this was all just part of his daily routine.

“Good afternoon, ladies. I trust your accommodations are up to snuff?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Jessica beat me to it. “Fuck you,” she growled, her voice so full of hate and fire, I could have used her to start a campfire.

I glanced over at her, a little smile at the corner of my lips despite the situation.

“I was so hoping this would more resemble a witty repartee,” he said, a grin growing on his face. “But as I see that will not be the case, let me just offer you two lunch as a token of goodwill, to keep your spirits up while we wait out this dreadful stage of the process.”

My stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food, making me realize I hadn’t had anything more than a cup of coffee. “Excuse me?” I asked as my brow furrowed. “Lunch?”

“Yes, Ms. Springer. Lunch. Is steak acceptable?”