The room was pitch dark. The muffled whimpers sounded louder now and were coming from halfway across the room. Tom fumbled around for a light switch along the wall, located it and flipped it up. The room remained dark. Frustrated, he swung the door open all the way to let more light in.
Once his eyes adjusted, he could make out two queen-sized beds and what looked like a body lying on the furthest one. He made his way across the room, went in between the two beds, located the lamp on the nightstand, found a switch and clicked it on.
There lying face down on the bed was Erin Myers, her hands tied behind her back with thick rope. Her head was turned so that she was facing him, her mouth bound by duct tape, her eyes swollen red.
“Erin!” Tom cried.
He leaned down and removed the duct tape from her mouth as delicately as he could.
“Jesus, am I ever glad to see you!” Erin cried when the tape was off. “How did you ever find me here?”
“I was confronted by your captors at Macy’s. They brought me here to join their little party but I haven’t been feeling particularly welcome, to say the least. Here, let’s get you onto your feet.”
Tom rolled Erin onto her side and pulled her over toward the edge of the bed. The moment she was on her feet, he encircled her thin waist and hugged her tightly. Tears of relief and joy came to his eyes as he embraced the girl.
“I’m so happy to see you! I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again after you left my place.”
Erin laid her head on his shoulder and heaved emotionally. “God, Tom, I can’t believe you found me! I’ve been so scared!”
Tom pulled away and faced her. Erin planted a big kiss on his cheek and stared directly into his eyes.
“You’ve been my savior twice now. Thank you so much,” she said softly.
“It’s the least I could do,” Tom replied, wishing he could have done more.
He went over and rummaged through the nightstand drawers in hope of finding something to cut the rope binding Erin’s hands. All he found was a small notepad, a TV remote and a Gideon’s Bible.
Then he remembered the serrated bread knife he’d stuffed into his back pocket. He pulled it out, stood behind Erin and began working on the rope.
“Kyle’s dead, Tom. You wouldn’t believe what they did to him-it was horrifying!”
Tom tried to imagine what it had been like for this young girl to be forced to stand by and watch while these misfits mutilated her ex-boyfriend. No matter what her feelings may have been for Kyle, it had to have been absolutely terrifying.
“I saw him, Erin, down in that room. I’m really sorry. No one deserves to be subjected to that kind of inhumane torture and violence,” was all he could say.
“Those boys are animals! I couldn’t believe how they strung up Kyle like that and did all of those awful things to him. And then they made me-oh shit, Tom! It was so sick and insane!”
Tom wondered what the demented bastards had forced Erin to do but he didn’t ask, not sure he really wanted to know. He continued sawing back and forth on the rope with the knife, becoming more and more nervous and frustrated at how long it was taking. He knew they needed to move, quickly, before the two boys found them.
Tom said, “They are certainly a screwed-up crew, that’s for sure. And we are going to be their next victims if we don’t start moving soon. Jesus, this knife is about as useless as tits on a boar hog-pardon the expression!”
Erin managed a weak smile. “Now that’s one I’ve never heard before.”
“Showing my roots and old age, I reckon. Listen, we need to go somewhere to find something better to cut this rope off with. They could bust in here any second.”
“Where should we go?”
“Hell if I know-just out of this room would be a start. Let’s work our way down to the lobby. I’m not sure, but two of them may still be out on the street looking for me now. There’s really no way of knowing for sure. If we make it to the lobby and see that the coast is clear, we’ll book out of here before they get back.”
“You said two of them. Where’s the third one?”
Tom paused a moment then said, “I think I killed him. He’s up on the fifth floor.”
“Good-it serves him right! Which one was it?” Erin said, clearly feeling no remorse.
“The short stinky one-Bummer.”
Erin grinned triumphantly. “That’s the one that beat Kyle to a pulp- I hope he burns in hell!”
“I’m thinking that they will all end up there eventually. Let’s get going now.”
Tom held Erin by the arm and led her out of the room to the corridor. They stood there for a moment, looking both ways and listening quietly.
“Let’s take the stairs down,” Tom whispered.
He led the way down the hallway and held the door open for Erin. They descended briskly until they reached the third floor. Tom slipped through the door first, took a peek in either direction then motioned for Erin to join him.
“This way.”
Erin followed him down the corridor until they reached what appeared to be a huge deserted banquet room. They proceeded further through the corridors until they reached The Grand Ballroom. Erin let out a gasp.
“Look how big it is!”
“Yeah, and unless my eyes are deceiving me, I see food!” Tom exclaimed when he spotted a crate of apples, several boxes of Carr’s stoned wheat crackers and a wheel of cheese stored on one of the serving tables.
“God, I am so hungry! Let’s eat!”
“We have to be careful, though-this could be a trap,” Tom cautioned. “Stay here until I case it out first. I also want to get something to cut that rope off. If the coast is clear, we’ll snag some food then go somewhere to hide out while we eat.”
“Okay.”
Tom walked cautiously across the ballroom toward the table that was located along the wall near the east entrance. As he drew closer, he saw a double-handled cheese knife lying beside a ten-inch wheel of smoked cheddar. When the aroma of cheese greeted him, his pace quickened appreciably. He reached the table, looked either way, snatched a firm ripened gala with one hand and the knife with the other.
There wasn’t a soul around, thank god.
He returned to where Erin was standing at a brisk pace.
“Try this,” he said, offering her the apple.
“Thanks!” Erin said. She took an enormous bite of the fruit and gobbled it down ravenously.
Tom began sawing at the rope binding her hands with the cheese knife. In twenty seconds, the rope was off.
Erin rubbed the welts where the rope had rubbed her raw. “What a relief that is!”
“Now, let’s go get some more of that food.”
They ran over to the table and Erin sliced off several wedges of cheddar while Tom picked out a half dozen apples. Grabbing an unopened box of wheat thins, Tom said, “Let’s go back toward that meeting room. We’ll find a place to hide out and chow down.”
Erin nodded and followed Tom out of the ballroom. They discovered a cluttered storage room and meandered their way through the stacks of tables, chairs and serving carts to the rear of the room and sat down. Nearby was a second door that opened up to a small closet that could be used for a quick hideaway if need be. Erin winked at Tom as she pointed her finger at a six pack of bottled Evian water stored on the shelf.
“That should complete our meal quite nicely,” she said before reaching up for the water.
Tom sat across from Erin on the floor with their bounty lying between them. Like a couple of hungry wolves, they proceeded to stuff their mouths as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“That sure hit the spot!” Tom finally said, chasing his last bite of cheese down with a slug of water.
“For sure,” Erin replied. “Now I’m so full I can hardly move!”
“I hear you. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for a siesta. We need to see if we can get out of this place before our luck starts running out.”
“Do you think either of them is in the hotel right now? I mean, we’re just above the lobby and haven’t heard or seen anything at all.”
“I’m beginning to think they’re still outside looking for me. When I escaped, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see which way I went. They probably assumed that I’d bale out of this place rather than stick around.”
“So why did you stick around?”
“I wasn’t going to leave without you,” Tom replied simply.
Erin reached over and gave him a huge bear hug. “I still can’t believe you drove all the way here to look for me. I wrote that little note out of sheer desperation, not really sure if you’d even see it and definitely not thinking you would actually act on it!”
Tom held her tightly. “I’ll admit I was a little confused at first. I mean-I was faced with the dilemma of either continuing to look for my family or go chasing after you. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was useless to search Columbus for Peg and the kids any longer.”
“I feel really guilty, you know.”
“Don’t, Erin. I will find my family eventually if they are anywhere to be found. But we need to get moving now-we can talk later. All I want to do is get the hell out of this hotel, out of New York and back to Columbus!”
“Me, too!” Erin said.
They both stood up and Erin hastily gathered up the plates. Tom was reminded of her experience as a waitress and smiled to himself.
“Let’s go check the lobby and if the coast is clear, get out of this godforsaken place,” Tom said.