After several minutes, her rapid breathing calmed down some and she seemed less on the edge of panic. “I’ve got to get you out of here, baby. Upstairs, out of this place. And Zoe, too. She’s waiting down the hall. We gotta go, babe. You ready to go?” I had no idea if she knew who Zoe was, but she had obviously been aware of the presence of some other woman down in this hallway from hell; I knew that much from hearing them echoing each other’s pain. Damn, that seemed a lifetime ago already.
Sienna nodded and took a deep breath, bracing for the loss of my body heat, and probably also for the trek back upstairs. I stood us both up, steadying her with my hands on her waist until I was sure she could stand up on her own. She couldn’t. She was too unsteady, wobbly, weak.
Not knowing what her injuries were, and not knowing whether or not Zoe would be able to walk, either, I decided the first line of business was to make a phone call. I needed backup, stat.
“Dom, whatcha got?” Pres’s voice was warm and strong, a balm after this past hour of harrowing sounds only.
“I got your girl, Pres. I’ve got Zoe. You need to come here. She needs you, man.”
“Where?” His voice had suddenly lost its power; it was a whisper of hope.
I gave him the address and told him to bring backup. There was still Fielding to be dealt with. Both Pres and I were going to have our hands too full to handle that fucker appropriately.
It’d be a good half hour before they arrived, though, so I still had to figure out how to get the girls upstairs on my own. I was never so glad that I was addicted to my workouts. This would be an endeavor of pride for any man. I was ready to move; my adrenaline was kicking in again.
I squatted in front of Sienna and pulled her into my arms, then stood and finally brought her out into the hallway. It took me a minute to get my bearings, to remember which way I had to go.
I decided my best bet was to get Sienna to the elevator first, then return for Zoe on a separate trip. I was strong, but if I had to full-on carry Zoe, too, I’d just as soon do it without Sienna on me at the same time.
I’d successfully chosen the right direction to the elevator, and we arrived there in less than a minute. I carefully placed Sienna on the floor, making sure the tee was tucked under her sweet bum and that she’d be okay for the couple of minutes I’d be gone. She was shivering a lot less but still not meeting my eyes. That was a concern, but I didn’t have time in that moment to confront it.
Assuring her I’d be back quick as I could go, I pretty much ran down the hallway again, shouting out, “Zoe, I’m comin’ for you!”
Luckily, the door to her cell had remained open. I found her pretty easily, even though she hadn’t vocally responded to my heads-up. She was in the same exact position as when I’d left her; it was almost as though she had frozen there.
I noted that Fielding was still breathing—his chest was rising and falling—but it looked like he’d passed out from either pain or shock or loss of blood. I really didn’t give a shit. The cage door was still locked on him, and I knew he had nothing available in there with which to flip the switch to open it, should he regain enough consciousness and gumption to try. I did not see that happening, not with his known injuries. We were good to go.
I crouched in front of Zoe and gathered her up, torso in one arm, her knees under the other.
Zoe held my jacket over herself to shield her nakedness from me—not that I wanted to look; I did not. Poor thing probably had not been allowed to shield herself in any way, shape, or form since being taken, however many months ago that was. It was shocking that she was even allowing me to touch her, but she couldn’t have made it out of there on her own. So we both did what was necessary, and we did it with respect. At least, I hoped that was how she understood it. That’s what I was intending, anyway.
In quick time, I retraced my steps again and soon enough hit the elevator call button with two semi-comatose, traumatized angels at my feet.
I was almost overcome with emotion myself. I couldn’t believe my luck in finding both of them, alive, and in locking down Fielding well enough to get these women away from him and back to a safe zone. I knew they each had done some seriously heroic work as well, and I was proud to be there with them on that day. But more than anything else, I was just fucking grateful to have Sienna back, and to be able to return Zoe to her dad. I was just so fucking grateful.
We three rode the elevator back up to the first floor standing. I had one arm around each of their waists, and they leaned on me and did their best to support themselves on rubbery legs. And nobody said anything.