The sound of muffled male voices reached her ears, and her head automatically turned toward the source. Keeping a hand pressed against her injured side, Evie took slow, shallow breaths as she made her way across the room to the window.
Standing to the side, she kept her back plastered against the wall. Careful to keep her face from being seen, she risked looking out into the night.
Through the shadows, she could just make out two men standing near the cave’s entrance. From the looks on their faces, they appeared to be almost bored. Not upset or angry, like the way the man who’d beat her had looked when he’d stormed out.
Maybe he hadn’t yet passed along the news that they wouldn’t be getting paid for their troubles. Or maybe they didn’t care.
Guys willing to kidnap innocent young girls for money probably had other marks already picked out. Other unsuspecting souls going about business as usual, living their lives without the slightest inkling that they could be the next to be kidnapped and held for ransom.
Evie had been there, done that, and she had the bruises to prove it. And if she didn’t find a way out of this mess soon, she and the girls would be little more than fleeting statistics.
She gave the window another quick glance to ensure the men outside hadn’t seen her. With their focus on the blackness of the night, she moved as quickly as she could across the dirt floor. Reaching up, she hesitated briefly, knowing if she got caught trying to escape, it would mean certain death.
You’re going to die no matter what, Eves. At least this way, you’ll go down fighting.
The encouraging voice in her head was right. She may not be a physical match against these guys, and this was almost assuredly a fool’s errand, but Evie knew she had to at least try. For the girls, because damn it…they deserved a chance at a life.
Areallife. One where females of all ages had the same rights as males. A life that promised a future filled with laughs and love and joy.
Regret seeped into her veins just then as Evie accepted the fact that she’d likely die without having experienced love herself. Oh, her mother had loved her, of course. There was never any doubt about that.
Unfortunately, her mom had died suddenly, and far, far too young. And for the remainder of Evie’s childhood, she’d been forced to contend with being raised by a father who seemed totolerate her—barely—and a nanny and staff who followed his strict instructions to the letter.
But true love, the kind between a man and a woman destined to be together until the end of time…that was something she’d never known. And unless a miracle happened, and she somehow managed to escape…
It’s now or never, Eves.
Pulling in a breath as deep as her tender ribs would allow, Evie inched the door open as slowly and silently as humanly possible. The pounding in her head had nothing on that within her chest, but she pushed through the pain and fear enough to look out into the dimly lit pathway.
Relief nearly had her weakened legs crumbling beneath her when she found the corridor empty. New tears formed, but she blinked them away as best she could. There’d be time for tears later. At least, shehopedthere’d be time. Now, though…
Now, it was time to act.
Act. Right. Which means you need to actually start moving.
The first step was the hardest, but with some mental encouragement—and the support of the wall beside her—Evie eventually made her way down the length of the empty path. As she moved, her thoughts bounced between the fight to ignore the incessant headache her guard’s blows had created and trying her best to recall the turns she’d taken while being forced after leaving the room.
She reached the wall’s end and was faced with a choice—go straight into a black abyss or turn right. Evie could recall at least one turn while being dragged away from the girls and into that room, so she rounded the corner and headed right.
Several yards later, she was coming up on another dark room when she heard a man shouting something in Pashto. Though she didn’t understand the words being spoken, it was clear the man was angry.
Less than half-a-second later, she heard what she thought was a muffled gunshot. The man’s words were silenced almost instantly.
Fear raced through Evie’s veins. With her palm still pressed against the wall’s cool, rough surface, she stopped and waited, listening intently for further signs of trouble.
The girls!
Though part of her wanted to hide, Evie knew that wasn’t an option. If thatwasa gunshot, and she was pretty damn sure it was, then it couldn’t have come from anyone good.
No one knew she and her students were here, so an unexpected rescue was most definitely out of the question. But who had just shot the gun and…why?
Maybe you’re wrong, and it wasn’t a gunshot after all.
Maybe. Unfortunately for Evie, there was only one way to find out. With the girls’ safety at the forefront of her mind, she resumed her steps and continued through the shadows.
She couldn’t remember a time when her heart had beat as hard and fast as it was right then. Her legs quivered beneath her, and her ribs and face hurt from the abuse she’d recently suffered. But she kept going.
Step after shuffled step, Evie carried herself closer to the place where she and the girls had been held. In her mind, she silently prayed with all she had that her young students were still locked safely away from any danger.