He dropped the lamp and sprinted down the hall toward the elevator, wondering if any of the other boys were in the hotel. Just in case, he opted for the same stairway Bummer had taken instead of risking the elevator.
Tom made his way quietly down the stairs to the fourth floor, listening carefully for any sounds. All he could hear was his own footsteps echoing off the walls.
He went through the stairway door. He saw more guest rooms in either direction. He started down the hallway and resumed methodically knocking softly on each door. About halfway down the corridor, he thought he heard a sound come from inside one of the rooms. He knocked again. This time he was sure he heard a sound-a sort of weak, muffled whimper.
He turned the doorknob, which was locked.
“Erin, is that you?” he whispered through the door.
Nothing.
“Erin, it’s me-Tom. Can you hear me?”
He heard more muffled sounds, more staccato than before.
It had to be her.
“I’m gonna get you out of there, Erin. I just need to find a way inside. Hang in there!” he whispered excitedly.
Tom frantically pulled the key ring out of his back pocket and tried each key, praying that one of them would unlock the door. He was hoping that the keys were masters for each floor of the hotel, or something like that.
The next to the last key turned smoothly in the keyhole.
He unlocked the door and entered the room.
CHAPTER 11
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.