I pushed the bottom of the screen outward and slid it to the grass, then ducked through and dropped to the ground. Chewy stood on his hind legs, poking his massive head out the window.
“Chewy, sit.” He immediately dropped to the floor and obeyed. Abaco had never listened to me the way this dog did. “Stay.” I slid the window far enough closed to prevent his escape.
From the patio, a brick path led toward the street along the side of the house past the other bedroom windows. The overgrown areca palms grew like a massive hedge to ensure total privacy in the compound. I had to dodge the overhanging fronds to make my way down the walk, and I stepped carefully around the fanlike branches on the ground lest they crunch underfoot and call the attention of someone inside. This side of the house had not seen a gardener’s care in months, and after the rain, the night air was thick with the sweet smell of layers of rotting vegetation.
The middle bedroom’s mini blinds were drawn, but one of the bottom slats was twisted, and I could see a tiny sliver of the bedroom. The bright lights were on, and a couple of video cameras were focused on the far side of the room. I inhaled sharply when I moved my head to the right and recognized the people in the brightly lit bed. All three were nude. The ponytailed man was sitting on the edge of the bed. Sunny lay on her back spreadeagled, her hands bound at the head of the bed, her eyes wide, and Alexis, the dancer from the Top Ten Club, was kneeling between her legs. All three were listening to Crystal, who was standing beside the bed, giving directions, waving his hands around, evidently shouting, though I couldn’t hear him over the noise of the air conditioner a few feet away from me. Sunny’s eyes held the same look of terror I had seen on Ely’s on the video screen.
Crystal went over to Alexis as though to demonstrate something and suddenly backhanded her, knocking her off the bed. Sunny struggled, but the ponytailed man held her legs, laughing. Crystal turned to yell something at one of the cameramen. As the lights lit his eyes, I saw the raw sexual excitement there, and I felt my throat constrict. He advanced toward Sunny, opened his mouth wide, and stuck out his tongue, running it around his lips in what he must have thought was a sexy gesture, but instead only made him look more hideous. His bug eyes stared at her as he began to unbuckle his pants. I moved away from the window. Running for help now was out of the question.
XXIII
Chewy was still sitting beneath the window like an obedient sentry when I slid the glass open again and reentered the room. His rump twitched and he dog-smiled at me, his tongue falling out the side of his mouth.
I had to get the men to leave that room, leaving the girls behind. I stood in the middle of the room and stared at the closet door thinking that my idea just might work.
Walking over to the window, I tried to imagine what they would think when they ran into the room and saw the open window. I kicked off one of my worn old deck shoes and dropped it on the carpet in front of the window. I thought about whom I was dealing with and kicked off the other shoe as well, dropping it on the lawn outside the window. Stepping into the closet, I made sure that I could fit behind the clothes with my legs hidden by the safe. Yes, it just might work.
I opened the door to the hall and peered out. All was quiet. The next bedroom door was closed. I felt in my pocket for the last piece of gum.
I stepped into the hall and held the gum out for Chewy. “Here, boy.” He ambled into the hall and I eased around him, then backed into the doorway.
“Chewy,” I whispered. “Go get Zeke! Where’s Zeke?” The dog’s ears pricked up, and he trotted to the next door. I closed my door dashed into the closet, and hid. I
heard Chewy whining and scratching at the door down the hall, then I heard the door open. “What the fuck? Hey, Cesar come here, quick. We left the dog in there with her.”
The door to my room flew open, and the two of them raced in and went straight to the window. “Shit, son of a bitch! She got out.” They pounded out of the bedroom and back next door.
Soon more footsteps headed down the hall. Crystal was shouting incomprehensibly in a mixture of Spanish and English. The dog was barking, excited by the men’s agitation. I heard the front door open and slam several times, as well as the sound of cars starting up.
I tiptoed to the closet door and peered out. So far so good. The hall was empty. I padded barefoot to the studio room, and as I had hoped, the two girls were there. Sunny was curled up in a fetal position crying, while Lex sat smoking a cigarette. Lex saw me first.
“You’re shittin’ me,” she said.
I held my fingers to my Ups. “Shh.”
The knots in the leather thongs that bound Sunny’s hands were tight, but after several seconds, I had loosened them and set her free. I smiled at her then and jerked my head to indicate they should follow me.
“You coming with us?” I whispered to Lex.
“Yeah,” she said, grinding her cigarette out on the wood nightstand. “They ain’t paying me enough to do Crystal. What a freak.”
Neither of them had a stitch on, but that was the least of our worries. I led them back to the end bedroom, and we climbed out the window. This time we turned toward the river side. The brick patio led around the corner of the house and joined the pool and boat dock area. I turned to the girls.
“We’re going to run for the river and swim for it. I can’t see anybody, but that doesn’t mean they won’t see us. We’re going to be really exposed running across that lawn.”
“You can say that again,” Lex said, and smiled at me.
“Yeah, right. Look, don’t stop for anything. The tide is flowing downriver right now. If somebody sees us, swim to the middle of the river and try to keep your head underwater as long as you can. If we get separated, we’ll meet up again on the far side of the river by the next bridge. Okay?”
Sunny looked so scared.
“You can swim, can’t you?”
They nodded.
“Then let’s do it.”
We took off running across the lawn, jumped onto the wood deck around the pool, and leaped down the three steps to the dock. Right as I passed the Jacuzzi, I heard Crystal’s scream.
“It’s them! Cesar, Zeke, they’re back here!”
I jumped, stretched out, and flew through the air in one of the finest racing dives I have ever executed. I heard and felt the impact of the other two behind me. I was probably a much stronger swimmer than they were, but then, I was weighted down by my clothes. They didn’t have that problem.
The first time I came up for air, I saw Sunny struggling far behind me. She really wasn’t much of a swimmer. She was dog-paddling and looking like she was trying to climb up out of the water.
“Sunny, hold on. I’m coming.”
Back at the dock, I could see three figures on the Hard Bottom, their muffled voices unintelligible across the water except for a few words: “Keys ... assholes ...”
When I was about three strokes away from Sunny, I heard her take one of those desperate inhales, as she sucked water and went down.
I filled my lungs as full as I could and dove. It was so black that there was no point in even trying to open my eyes. She had to be right here. I had lost too many lately, and I wasn’t about to lose this one. She was already deep when my fingers finally brushed through her hair. I twined my fingers in the strands and reached for her as my lungs started to ache. I pulled her to the surface, but mine was the only gasp for air.