Lies to dull the pain.
The man grunted in satisfaction, made a show of sending a text on his phone before pocketing it, then circled behind her, embracing her once more, his lips close to her ear as he whispered, "Nick it is."
He slid the rope that circled her chest out from under her arms, transforming it into a noose around her neck. "Get up, Lucy. Your work isn't done."
The noose suspended from the overhead eyehooks was just tight enough to remind her how easy it would be to die: all she had to do was lean her weight forward. A few minutes later, it would all be over. If he hurt her family, she might consider that option. But only as a last resort-she wasn't giving up the fight. Not yet.
"What more do you want?" she asked from her position sitting on the floor.
Instead of answering, he pulled her to her feet and lifted her back up onto the cinder block. Gone was the gentleness he'd shown when he lowered her into the pit earlier. Now he handled her as if she were less than human, an inconvenient object to be dealt with.
She fought to find her balance on the cinder block. Keeping her good foot planted and allowing her injured one to dangle was almost as painful as bracing both feet on the narrow square. Suddenly the rope around her neck yanked taut. Her body jerked up, handcuffed arms arcing behind her.
The cinder block wobbled beneath her, her foot slipped, and the noose tightened, digging into her neck. She gasped for air, could barely make a sound.
"Whoops, not yet," he muttered. He repositioned her foot on the cinder block, then dug a finger between the rope and her skin, loosening it enough that she could breathe.
Lucy blinked against the wave of anxiety that swamped her as she hauled in one lungful of air after another, hyperventilating, rejoicing in the simple act of breathing.
"Okay then," he said in a calm tone that made her wish for just one chance to wrap her hands around his throat as tight as the noose he'd forced on her. "Guess I'll be going."
He used a corner of the cinder block to boost himself up to the opening above them, almost knocking Lucy off-balance once more. The noose tightened, but not enough to cut off her air. She fought to regain her footing on the block as he swung free of the pit.
To her surprise, he didn't close the lid immediately. A few minutes after he left, water gushed from one of the pipes, flowing so hard and fast its spray quickly soaked her.
"What are you doing?" she shouted into the rapidly growing darkness, straining to be heard. "I gave you what you wanted!"
His laughter echoed from above, waning sunlight shimmering blood-red from the water filling the tank. Then he appeared once more. "I'm going to check out the code you gave me. If you told me the truth, I won't be back. The Mexicans will have to be happy watching you either drown or hang yourself.
"But," he turned the simple word into a dire warning, "if you've tried to double-cross me, then I will return. Before the tank fills. And I'll bring your daughter with me. You might want to stick around for that-if you lied and I get back and you've killed yourself, I'm giving her to the Mexicans."
"No. You said I could choose. Leave Megan alone. I told you the truth. The code works. I promise." The rope around her neck made it hard to scream loud enough for her voice to carry above the sound of the rushing water. Not to mention the pain shooting through her as she struggled to keep her balance with the water surging against the cinder block. It took all her willpower and concentration to keep enough of her weight on the block to prevent the water from pushing it away.
"I sure hope so, Lucy. For Megan's sake. But either way, Nick dies. Like I said. I'm a man of my word." He slid the lid closed, leaving her alone in the black emptiness of the tank.
Lucy didn't waste time or energy. She focused her entire being into moving her handcuffed hands into the jacket pocket where Megan's bracelet lay. On that and not losing her footing on the damn cinder block. Hard to do between the gushing water below and her entire body suspended from the noose, shaking above.
Finally, her fingers grasped the bracelet. She twisted the Paracord until she had a firm grip on the handcuff key concealed in the clasp. She had to bend her wrist and contort her arms to get the key into the lock.
Just as she flexed her wrists far enough to turn the key, the cinder block wobbled an inch too far and toppled, leaving her body dangling from the noose. The rope cut into the flesh around her neck, cutting off her air. She kept working the key; it was her only hope.
Her entire weight pulled against the noose that strangled her. Her vision flared red against the blackness surrounding her. But she managed to keep control of her fingers long enough to turn the key. The click she'd been waiting for resonated through her entire body.
She fumbled one hand free and pried her fingers beneath the rope strangling her. Gasping for air, each breath burning her throat, she clung to the rope. Without the cinder block, she'd have to use the rope and the wall for leverage-not easy with one leg out of commission, but it was the only way.
Lucy gritted her teeth and pushed her leg against the wall to lift her weight enough so she could pull the rope loose and free her head from the noose. Then she dropped to the floor, landing on her good foot and hanging onto the rope with one hand. Using the other to find the cinder block and set it back upright, she took a deep breath and gathered her strength for the climb out.
The water was already up to her ankles, but that was the least of her worries. If he was monitoring the camera-she assumed it was positioned in the other pipe, the one that didn't have water flowing through it-then this might be an even shorter escape than her earlier one.
And the dog? What if the dog was waiting up there for her?
She grabbed the rope and pulled up her good leg to stand on the cinder block. Dog or no dog, killer or no killer, she was Nick's only hope.
She'd be damned if she'd let anything stop her from saving him and Megan.
Now
7:27 p.m.
The nurse returned just as Lucy was wiping her tears of relief with the sleeve of her gown. "Everything okay?"
Lucy sniffed and smiled. "Yes. My family's safe. They're on their way."
"Great." The nurse pushed Lucy's chair back into the trauma bay. She grabbed a warm blanket from a steel cabinet and tucked it around Lucy's lap. She didn't ask for the cell phone back; Lucy hung onto it, hoping that Nick or Walden would call and update her.
"Let's get a move on," the waiting doctor said.
"Where?" Lucy asked.
"The surgeons at Three Rivers want an MRI. We only have one tech this time of night, but I told them this is a priority." The doctor barely made eye contact as he spoke, standing over Lucy and looking down on her. It made her neck hurt to look up at him, so Lucy didn't bother.
"I'm not leaving until my family gets here."
"We'll send the scan to Three Rivers by computer. They'll decide whether or not to Life Flight you." He spoke as if what she wanted were irrelevant.
"My family can drive me. Silly to waste a helicopter trip." Lucy wasn't arguing just to be a contrarian, although she definitely enjoyed pissing off the arrogant doctor. Driving this time of night-especially with Walden escorting them-would only take ten or fifteen minutes longer than flying.
The main reason was that Nick and Megan couldn't come with her on a helicopter. And once she had them here, safely in her arms, there was no way in hell she was letting them go again. Or her mother.
She picked up the cell phone the nurse had lent her. Better warn Mom that the police were stopping by the house and Walden was coming to pick her up. Mom liked Walden, but she did not like being ordered around or rushed. Thankfully, Walden was less likely to annoy her than Lucy would have if she'd been able to go herself.
"The tech's doing a CAT scan now," the doctor said to the nurse. "Can you get her down to MRI and prep her?" His tone made it clear that he was past ready to get this difficult patient out of his ER and into the hands of someone else.
"No problem."
Lucy dialed her mom's cell. No answer. Probably didn't even have it with her. She left a message on the voice mail just in case.
The nurse pushed her toward the hall. The deputy waited there, looking a bit abashed-he'd spoken with Walden, no doubt. Lucy met his gaze, held her wrists up to ask if he was going to use handcuffs, and he shook his head and turned to lead them through the ER, hand on the butt of his gun as if expecting an ambush from the snotty-nosed kids slumped in chairs in the waiting room or the old man wheezing as he pushed an IV pole down the hall.
Lucy tried her home phone. No answer. Maybe the police had escorted her mom out of the residence while they cleared it and checked for danger? A thin hum of anxiety vibrated through her. Her captor had said he was going after Nick. Mom should have been safe at Lucy's house.
If her captor was a man of his word.
"We're shorthanded," the nurse prattled as they rolled down the corridor. "Flu and RSV hitting hard, not to mention that stomach bug. I think the radiology tech is doing a belly CT, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long." They reached an elevator bank, where several visitors stood waiting.
Lucy barely saw them as she stabbed the phone, calling Walden this time.
The deputy commandeered the first elevator that arrived and shooed the visitors away. "What floor?"
"Basement," the nurse answered. "The MRI's one of the older ones. Only thing down there. Except the morgue."