Dark Hope (40 page)

Maria was resisting with all her might. As she pulled back on his trailing arm, she raised her gaze and saw me. Our eyes locked. Hers widened at once—not with recognition, I realized, but with horror at the condition of my face. She had no idea who I was.

But I had no time for reintroductions. I nodded at her, pulling the ashtray out from behind my back, hoping that she understood what I meant to do.

Her eyes grew steely and she nodded imperceptibly. Pulling back once more, she bared her teeth and dove against the guard’s exposed arm, sinking her teeth into his flesh.

The guard shrieked, letting go of Jimena to fully turn on Maria. He bent over, trying to push her off, but she scuttled around him, refusing to let go like a dog with a bone. He raised his free hand, fist clenched as if to strike her, and little Jimena kicked him hard in the small of his back. He howled and fell to his knees, and that’s when I struck.

I darted from the doorway, raising the ashtray above my head, and bore it down on him from behind.

The ashtray made a sickening thud as it slammed into his skull, a spray of blood spattering the air. Instantly, his hand flew open, releasing Maria before he slid to the floor, unconscious.

For a moment, we all stood there staring at the pool of slick, dark blood that was beginning to form under him. The only sound was our panting as we caught our breath.

From a room far away, I heard shouting.

“Is he dead?” Maria asked quietly.

I gagged as I realized the blood had spattered on me, too, and I dropped the ashtray to the floor where it broke into pieces against the marble. A wave of nausea and pain swept through me. Could I have killed him?

“It doesn’t matter. We have to go,” I stated flatly, dragging my eyes away from the man’s body. “We don’t have much time. Come with me.”

I looked at Maria, but she wasn’t paying any attention to me. She was gazing with concern at her little sister, who stood shaking, her back pressed up against the wall.

“Maria,” I warned. “We have to go. Now.”

Maria’s head snapped back. She wheeled on me, placing her body between her sister and me.

“Who are you? Who told you I was Maria?” she said, her eyes narrowing.

“You did,” I said as gently as I could manage between heaving breaths. “Back in Atlanta when I interviewed you at the shelter.”

Dawning recognition spread across her face. “Hope?”

I nodded, still trying to catch my breath.

“But how—?” She broke off, clamping one hand over her open mouth. “
Dios
, you came after us. What happened to you?” She reached out toward me, but I shrank back, fearful that one more painful touch would push me over the edge.

“It doesn’t matter. We have to go, Maria. Now.” I spat the words through gritted teeth.

Maria nodded her understanding. Quickly, she stepped over the slick of blood and touched her sister’s chin, turning her face up to look into her eyes. She whispered low, comforting words I couldn’t understand until Jimena nodded. Maria turned, taking a deep breath.

We heard a door slam and looked up. At the end of the corridor, Pei Pei stood, a small tray of refreshments in her hands. She took us in and the tray clattered to the floor, raining a thousand shards of crystal into the hallway.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Maria’s hand, wincing as her tight grip in response sent a surge of pain screaming to my brain. I didn’t know where we were headed, but I knew we couldn’t go back. I stared down the corridor, away from Pei Pei’s panicked screams and toward the direction the man had meant to take Maria and Jimena. I didn’t know what I’d find waiting for us, but we had no choice.

The hallway was full of doors. “Wait.” I knelt next to the unconscious man and rolled him over, trying to ignore the warm slick that surrounded him. I felt around his belt and drew out a key ring. “We need to set them free.”

Maria nodded. Together we ran back to the top of the hall and squared off before the first locked door. My hands shook as I went through the keys one by one, searching for the one that would fit the bolt.

“Hurry,” Maria urged.

“I’m trying,” I said, gritting my teeth. Finally, the lock gave. “Get them out,” I ordered Maria, not pausing as I moved swiftly to the next door, the master key in hand.

We worked the hallway, me opening locks, Maria and Jimena following in my wake, pounding on the doors and rattling
doorknobs until, one by one, young girls started cautiously poking their heads out from behind their doors. A steady murmur began to build as we worked our way to the last door, the only exit from this warren. I had no sense of where we were in relation to the rest of the complex I’d been through, but it didn’t seem to matter. We had to keep going.

The chatter behind us was growing louder as the girls trickled out into the hallway, realizing they were free. A few girls started wailing at the sight of the body in the hallway. Others, emboldened, started to shout, apparently trying to organize themselves. It was only a matter of time before one of the traffickers came back to salvage what they could from this mess. Still, I paused, my hand resting on the bar of the door, afraid of what I’d find on the other side.

Behind us, over the rising din, I heard a moan and turned. The hulking figure on the floor, whom we’d thought was dead, was beginning to stir.

Go
. The single word from Henri was enough encouragement for me. My fatigue was forgotten as adrenaline rushed through my body and I pushed open the door. But there was only empty darkness behind it. Relief flooded me.

I was about to rush through when Maria’s hand pulled me back roughly by the shoulder. I winced.

“What?” I demanded angrily, turning on her.

“Look down,” she whispered. “There is a drop.”

I peered into the blackness, giving my eyes a moment to adjust. She was right: the door opened into a gaping hole. Across the vastness, a few exit signs twinkled. I looked down. The drop seemed to be only five feet.

Contrite, I turned back to Maria and her sister.

“We don’t have a choice. It looks like about five feet. Do you think you can make it?”

Maria shook her head. “Jimena has a sprained ankle. I don’t think she can jump.”

I frowned, the noises behind us growing even louder. Over the girls’ shouting I could make out several deeper, angrier voices joining in with Pei Pei’s shrieking.

“We’ll lower her down first,” I decided. “Then we’ll jump down to her.”

Maria nodded and translated our plan to Jimena. Jimena gulped, but hobbled obediently over to the doorway.

I motioned for her to squat down and take my arms. “Maria, hold my ankles,” I said as I shimmied down onto the floor. “Go ahead,” I ordered Jimena, nodding at the door. “Lower yourself down.”

The raw skin underneath my bandages felt like it was being pulled away from my bones as she hung from me, her grip tightening as we lowered her to the floor. We got her nearly all the way there when I reached my limit. My ankles were just at the edge of the floor.

“I can’t go any further,” I spat from between my gritted teeth, willing myself not to pass out. “You need to jump the rest of the way.”

She dangled there, unsure of what to do.

“Maria, tell her!” I shouted. “We don’t have time for this.”

“She’s afraid, Hope,” Maria chastised me. “Give her some credit for trying.” Then she began cooing in soft Spanish, urging Jimena to go the rest of the way. At last, Jimena let go of my hands, and we heard her land softly below. Maria scrambled over me and jumped over the edge herself while I rolled onto my back, groaning.

“Hope, are you coming?” Maria’s voice floated up from the darkness.

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself upright, swinging my legs over the threshold. “Break my fall,” I said before sliding myself over.

I tumbled into them, their arms catching me before I fell fully onto the floor. I didn’t have time to catch my breath before Maria pointed in the dim light to the doorway across the vast room. “Over there—there is an exit.”

We ran, gleaming machines emerging from the shadows as we went deeper into the dark. Cars, row after row of them.

“It’s a parking garage,” I managed to say through gasping breaths. “We must be on the ground floor.”

“No, look,” Maria said as we made it to the door. “An elevator.” Sure enough, a car-sized elevator loomed over the cars themselves. She pushed the door open with ease, revealing a stairwell. “Down we go.”

We hurtled ourselves down, taking the corners as tightly as we could, mentally counting the floors until we reached another exit. I peeked through the glass. Nothing but streetlights.

Above us, I heard a screech of machinery as the elevator roared to life.

“Come on,” I said, pushing through the door. We spilled out into a parking lot. To the left of us were the stairs Michael and I had climbed when we first arrived. And there, glowing under the streetlights like a beacon, was our car.

I ran for the car, Maria and Jimena trailing behind me. My fingers fumbled clumsily with the handle until I got the door open. I snagged the keys from under the mat, thankful Michael had thought to stash them there.

“Get in!” I screamed as I forced the engine awake. They scrambled in. I backed the car out with a roar, not waiting for them to close their doors.

Behind me, the garage door was starting its slow ascent. We were barely ahead of them.

Tires squealing, I turned out of the lot and headed for the
entrance. “Close your doors and put on your seat belts!” I ordered tersely. Fear and adrenaline had sharpened my mind, and I did not hesitate as I took each turn, driving us out of the depths of the development. The iron gates loomed ahead of me. I didn’t know the code Michael had used.

“Get down and brace yourselves!” I shouted as I put all my weight against the gas pedal.

The engine surged and we headed straight for the gate. I saw everything as if in slow motion—the bars buckling, the hood crumpling from the impact. Automatically, I pulled hard on the wheel, sending us screaming through the gate and into a spin as we slingshotted off the metal bars. Then I felt myself slammed against the back of my seat.

I had forgotten about the air bags.

A hissing sound filled my ears. A puffy sea of white took up my whole field of vision and a fresh wave of pain went screaming through my body. Ignoring it, I pushed away at the bag, already deflating, trying to gain my bearings. The entire car was filled with white dust.

“Everyone okay?” I shouted, unable to see either one of them through the plastic and haze.

A small cough sounded from the rear of the car. “Okay,” I heard Jimena’s shaky voice call out from the back.

“I’m okay, too,” Maria answered. “Can the car still drive?”

“I don’t know. I hope so,” I said. The engine was still running. “Help me pull the air bag away so we can try.”

We scrambled against the plastic, shoving it down and away as best we could until finally I could see Maria’s face. She was bleeding from a few places on her face and was already bruising around her neck.

That the Chinese had not already overtaken us was nothing
short of a miracle—one, I was sure, that came courtesy of Michael and the crowd of angry women we’d managed to unleash. With the deflated air bags cleared into the back, I pushed down the gas pedal, and the engine roared. Cautiously, I shifted into reverse to back us out of the curb where we had landed. The sound of screeching metal announced our move.

“Hang on,” I said, jerking the car with a spasm back into drive. Something was dragging behind us, but amazingly, we pulled forward. I pressed on the gas, hoping we weren’t too late to escape the Chinese.

I sped through the neighborhood, back toward Spring Mountain Road.

“Where are we going?” Maria asked, looking over her shoulder anxiously.

“I don’t know,” I muttered, thinking to myself. “We can’t go back to the hotel. Not like this. Besides, they know where we were staying. If I can make it to the interstate, maybe I can lose them.”

I turned hard onto Spring Mountain and began to weave in and out of the cars that were in my way. For a second, thoughts of my father flashed into my head. Who could have known that his crazy emergency driving training would be of such use?

“Who is ‘we,’” Maria asked, interrupting my thoughts with a worried look. “Who are you with, Hope?”

How to explain? Better not to even try. “Just a friend. He was in there with me but we got split up.”

“Shouldn’t we go back for him?” she asked, her confusion evident.

“We don’t have to worry about him. He can take care of himself.”

“But, Hope, they are very bad men—”

“Trust me,” I snapped, trying to rush through a light and make the entrance ramp. “He wouldn’t want us to go back.”

We flew through the light just as it turned from yellow to red. The muffler was dragging behind the car, sending up sparks and making it hard to be heard over the engine. As we accelerated down the ramp, I stole a glance at Maria, who looked hurt.

I immediately felt contrite. “It’s nice of you to worry about him, but he has sort of—special training in this area. He’ll be okay, I promise.”

She looked doubtfully at me, but she didn’t press the issue any further. I merged into the traffic, grateful it was moving so quickly. We might be sending out sparks, but we could hope to escape the notice of the police if we blended into the flow.

I let out a slow breath. I couldn’t believe we had gotten away so easily. It had to be Michael’s doing; he must have held the Chinese gang back long enough for us to make our escape. As the adrenaline began to ebb away from my body, the pain that it had kept at bay rolled back in. I gripped the wheel hard, my knuckles turning white.

“How is your sister?” I asked, trying to distract myself. “How did you find her?”

“When the men picked me up again in Atlanta, they put us back together. I don’t think they know she is my sister. She is okay, I guess, considering.”

She paused. The grating sound of metal on pavement filled our ears.

“I can’t believe you came after us, Hope.”

I shot a glance at her and was overwhelmed by the look of gratitude on her face. Her eyes were teary as she continued.