Authors: Kim McMahill
Jack coaxed the two women to the small cast-iron bean pot and he watched as the three ate and drank their fill. Gilbert envied the bond that was quickly forming. He had liked it when the young women looked to him for their survival and now everyone looked at him with disgust. When they finished eating and had moved away from the bean pot, he moved in like a hyena to clean up the scraps.
* * * *
As the day wore on, Jessica encouraged Megan to walk around the room and tried to keep her talking in order to keep her mind off of Ashley. Jessica was worried that if left to her own thoughts, Megan might withdraw into a state of denial, which Jessica feared would make any attempt at escape even more impossible. She too was sickened and heart-broken over Ashley’s fate, but she tried to push the sadness, fear and helplessness away and focus on anger. Staying angry would keep her stronger than if she let other emotions weaken her spirit.
Megan told her that she was a junior at Texas A&M majoring in Education and the youngest child of three. Her family lived in Alabama. Jessica smiled and spoke softly to her, encouraging positive memories and hoping to keep her calm. If they got a chance to run, she needed Megan to be functioning on all cylinders.
“Tell me about you?” Megan asked.
“Well, I’m a lawyer in Maryland. I’m in a dead-end relationship with my boss that I need to get out of. I thought I would do anything to get away from him, but compared to this, facing the jerk and telling him to hit the road doesn’t seem so scary after all.”
Megan tried to laugh, but when she opened her mouth a small choking sob came out instead. She quickly stifled the noise as Jessica reached out and pulled her close. She stroked Megan’s hair while waiting for the breakdown she was sure would come, but it didn’t.
“We’ll get out of this somehow. We can’t bring Ashley back, but if we survive maybe we can bring these criminals to justice.”
Megan nodded as she pushed backed the tears and focused on Jessica’s eyes. “Thank you for being so kind. I would’ve fallen apart by now without you.”
“We’ve got to stick together. We’re all we’ve got,” Jessica replied, beginning to feel uncomfortable under Megan’s continued scrutiny.
“You have such beautiful, unusual, stunning eyes. They’re a color like none I’ve ever seen. They’re blue, yet they’re violet, kind of like a bluebell.”
Gilbert’s head snapped up. Jessica looked over at him and their eyes met. A wicked smile creased his thin lips and his eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement as he continued to stare at her and grin.
Jessica glared back, trying to communicate a plea for silence. Her confidence in him keeping the secret was very low as he looked away and began to hum a happy tune.
For the rest of the day, Jessica tried to think of a way to ensure Gilbert would keep his mouth shut. By the look on his face, he had remembered where he’d seen her before and believed this information could be the ace up his sleeve.
Megan fell asleep, huddled under the one blanket they had been given. It appeared Jack had dozed off as well, though Jessica always found it difficult to tell with him. She slipped over and knelt down in front of Gilbert.
“Ms. Hughes. I bet your daddy is using every resource our great country has to get his little Bluebell back. I imagine if our captors knew, they would let the rest of us go. You’re all they really need to get what they want, whatever that is,” he whispered.
“Don’t be a fool Gilbert. Do you think they’ll just drive you back to the resort and wave goodbye to you? If they don’t need you, they’ll kill you.”
“You’re wrong. This information will buy me my freedom. I’m not stupid. I’ll make them promise to let me go before I tell them what I know.”
“These aren’t the type of me who keep promises and if you think they are, you’re an even bigger selfish, brainless coward than I originally gave you credit for.”
“Tough talk coming from my ticket out of here. I do hope they treat you better than dear Ashley.”
“You no good son of a—” she hissed as she lunged at him.
She slapped Gilbert as hard as she could across the face and began beating him on his chest with her fists until Jack pulled her off the stunned man. She was still swinging as Jack carried her to the opposite side of the room.
“What was that about?”
“He has no remorse for what happened to Ashley and he’d gladly throw any of us to the wolves to protect himself, but he’s too stupid to even do that right.”
Jack was a little surprised at how difficult it was to pull the small woman off of Gilbert and gain control of her flailing fists. She was definitely tougher than she looked. He kept a tight hold on her until she quit squirming. He hated to wake Megan and didn’t want to draw the attention of the men outside the door, so tried his best to calm her.
“Keep it down.” He nodded in Megan’s direction. “She needs her rest and I wish you’d get some too.”
Jessica knew he was right. She was too scared, mad and wound-up to even think about sleeping, but she forced herself to calm down so as not to wake Megan.
“The van still hasn’t returned,” Jack said as he paced back to the window and stared out at the fading light.
Another night was almost on them and he hoped it wouldn’t turn out as deadly as the one before, but he had little faith in their ruthless captors and Jessica’s outburst made him worry more about Gilbert. He was a wild card that Jack didn’t know how to play.
Jack didn’t think he could hold back again if the men came for Jessica or Megan, but if that happened and he tried to take action, he feared they would all die. They had to do something to escape before anyone else was brutalized or murdered, but he wasn’t sure what. There was only one way out and it was through a door, currently being guarded by two armed men and soon the third was sure to return.
Jessica started to speak, but heard the lock click on the door and quickly rushed to sit in the far corner with Megan. She watched as Jack slid to the floor, but noticed that Gilbert sat up, alert and confident.
The door opened and the man, who they now knew spoke English, walked in and set the heavy pot of beans and a jug of water in the middle of the floor for dinner, while another man stood in the doorway, his rifle trained on Jack.
Before Jessica could stop her, Megan bolted to her feet and rushed to the man in the center of the room.
He had taken several steps back toward the door, but stopped as Megan reached him. His eyes scanned Megan’s tall frame from her head slowly down to her toes and a crooked smile eased over his lips as he tilted his head and continued to leer at her.
“Where’s Ashley? What have you done with her? I’m sure you’ll get your ransom money. Just bring her back,” she pleaded as her eyes began to fill with tears.
The man’s expression turned cold and serious. He straightened his shoulders and glared at Megan with contempt.
“She is dead. We do not need money. We demanded our brother’s release from your Texas prison in exchange for your lives, but our demand has not been met. When they see your friend’s body, they will know we are serious.”
“No!” She lunged at the man.
The back of the man’s hand connected with the side of Megan’s face, sending her crashing to the floor. Jack crawled over to her and propped her up in his arms. Jessica inched toward them slowly, keeping an eye on both men. She dropped down next to Jack and Megan and touched the girl’s cheek. Megan whimpered in pain and Jessica withdrew her hand.
The blow had connected on the same cheek that had already been bruised. This time her cheek had split open and was bleeding. The black and blue color had quickly spread and now encircled her eye as well. Jessica ripped her front breast pocket off her shirt and used it to apply gentle pressure to the wound.
Megan reached out and grasped Jessica’s wrist and cried as Jack continued to cradle her in his arms. The tears now flowed freely. Jessica didn’t even attempt to quiet the young woman, knowing sooner or later the grief would have to be released and there would be no squelching the outpouring of emotion for the traumatic loss of her friend.
The sobbing wracked Megan’s sturdy frame. Jack and Jessica held on, but said nothing to try and stop the release of pain and guilt from the young woman. Jessica could think of no words to lessen the horror of the situation, but was relieved Megan was finally letting it all out, even if the timing wasn’t the best.
“Our government never negotiates with terrorists, unless there are very special extenuating circumstances.”
Gilbert’s voice drew Jessica’s attention away from Megan. She knew what he planned to do, but she didn’t know how to stop him. Even if she could pull away from Megan and reach him without being hit or shot, she couldn’t stop him from speaking.
“Don’t do it, Gilbert. It’ll only make matters worse for everyone, including you. Please, I’m begging you.”
Megan quit crying. All eyes focused on Jessica as she glared at Gilbert, while still holding the cloth to Megan’s cheek. Helpless as a deer caught in headlights, Jessica watched as a smug smile eased over Gilbert’s lips and his focus returned to the man in the center of the room.
“The U.S. government’s policy is not to negotiate with kidnappers or terrorists or whatever you are, but I have information you could use to persuade them to make an exception. Get me out of here, give me what I want, and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
The man looked at his buddy for a moment. They nodded to each other and he grabbed Gilbert and pulled him from the room, locking the doors behind them.
“He’s such a fool. They’re going to kill him and then they are going to kill the rest of us. You’ll probably be next,” Jessica said, looking desperately into Jack’s dark eyes. “And I’ll be last, but it won’t matter, because we’ll all be dead.”
Jack wanted to know what Gilbert thought he had which could possibly buy his freedom, but at the moment, it really didn’t matter. He could see the fear in Jessica’s eyes and felt certain what she said was true, so the most pressing matter at hand was getting out before it was too late.
“That door is going to open back up soon. Either to toss Gilbert back in, if he’s still alive, or if they hold true to form, to retrieve the dinner pot. That’s when we go.” He rose and paced to the window.
Jessica and Megan followed. Megan had pulled herself together and focused on Jack.
“Megan, are you with us? You have to be strong and we all have to work together if we hope to survive.”
Jack’s voice was calm and soothing and Jessica was touched. Despite what was happening, he was trying to bring Megan around without threats or terror tactics, which the girl wouldn’t respond to well in her fragile state. She watched Megan as she wiped her eyes and nose, pushed her shoulders back and nodded, acknowledging she was okay.
“The van’s still not back, so there’s only two of them. Generally one man stands guard while the other man enters to retrieve the pot. Here, put this on.” Jack pulled his T-shirt off and handed it to Megan.
She did as he said and he tucked her long blonde hair into the back of the shirt the best he could.
“When they open the door, Megan will be kneeling in front of the pot in the dark corner dry heaving, which won’t be difficult to do as bad as it stinks in here. Keep your head down and forward so they can’t see your hair. Hopefully, they’ll think it’s me getting sick. Jessica, you squat down there and when the armed guard is far enough inside the door’s threshold for me to slam him with the door, stand up. I won’t be able to see him, so I’ll wait for your signal. The hit should knock the guard off balance enough for me to make a move on them.”
It wasn’t a great plan, but Jessica couldn’t think of a better one at the moment, so she shook her head in agreement. She reached over and grabbed Megan’s hand and was surprised by the firm squeeze she received in return. She was starting to believe Megan might be able to hold it together after all, which gave Jessica a sliver of hope. She reached over to give Megan a hug, but before she could draw her close two shots echoed just outside the house.
Jack looked at Jessica and Megan and neither flinched. What Jessica predicted would happen to Gilbert if he talked had apparently happened and Jack doubted they had much time to proceed with the rest of the plan.
“If the plan works, grab as much survival gear as you can find
¾
food, water, blankets, that kind of stuff. We should stay away from the road in case the van returns, so head that way.” He pointed to a break in the trees outside the window. “I’ll go for any weapons I can and be right behind you. The minute you get past these guys run for the forest and no matter what happens, don’t turn back. Just keep running. I’ll find you.”
Just as Jack finished talking they heard the lock on the door click. Megan rushed to the chamber pot and knelt before it. In the dim light Jack thought the men might believe it was him getting sick. They had wadded up the blanket and stashed it in the opposite corner, hoping the guards would believe the bundle was Megan curled up sleeping. Jessica assumed her spot against the wall opposite the door and Jack positioned himself in the hiding place they’d discussed.
As usual, the door eased open and one man stepped into the room while the other stood with his gun ready in the doorway. Megan heaved and Jessica was proud at how deep she made the noise. The sound drew the attention of the first man and the captor with the gun stepped forward to look around the door to see what was going on.