Chapter 7 Can't Be Left Alone

Leena's gaze followed Ransom closely as he left. With his back to her, she took a gander at him. He was tall and thick, but not too bulky. She noticed the black ink of a tattoo on his right arm as he pushed up his long sleeves before exiting.

After he shut the door, she heard a muffled, angry voice and a thud that slightly shook the wall. She hoped that that was Ransom putting Manny, or whatever his name was, in his place. She didn't get a good vibe from him. But on the other hand, it seemed like Ransom at least felt a little bad about her situation.

Now that Leena was by herself in the room, she was able to relax a little. It was draining to be so on edge and to remain so composed. She didn't fear Ransom, not yet anyway, but she did feel kind of intimidated by him. He was big. He was attractive. And apparently, he called the shots in this place.

She circled her neck slowly in both directions like she did when warming up for yoga. She massaged her wrists where the ropes had been tied and she stretched her arms out to the side and then over her head.

Moving on to her toes, she began to wiggle them and roll her ankles gently in circles. She pressed up to stand, and her legs tingled with sleep. How long had she been there? How long was she tied to that chair?

She patted her legs and waited for them to regain their feeling. Once she could take a sturdy step without her legs trying to buckle beneath her, she circled the room. It was quite large and it was bare. The walls and floors appeared to be made of concrete, and there was some piping in the corner. She assumed she was in a basement. But the basement of what? A house? A warehouse?

All she knew was that she needed to get out of there if it was possible. Even if Ransom wasn't all that scary in her opinion, even if his presence and his gaze sent delightful shivers down her spine, she couldn't just linger in the lion's den.

Leena wandered around the room, tapping on the walls and pressing her ear against their cool surface. She couldn't hear anything. But she did spot a window in the far corner of the room. She ran over to it.

The window was fairly high and small, probably not more than a twenty-five by twenty-five-inch square. And the glass did look pretty thick. She huffed, hoping that her hips and her butt could make it through there. There didn't appear to be a way to open it, but she could try breaking it.

But before she tried that, she needed to make sure that the two guys guarding her wouldn't be able to get in there. She jogged over to the metal door and inspected it. She didn't have a way to jamb the doorknob or anything.

She grunted in anger. She would just have to try to break the window while they were distracted or something.

Leena wrapped on the metal door, and a voice piped up on the other side. "Whaddya want?"

"I need a drink," she said.

"You'll be fine. Shut up and sit tight." That was definitely the mean one.

She heard a light murmur, probably the kid, and then the door cracked open. Mateo's face peeked through the crack. "We'll get you some water in a moment," he said before shutting the door again. She heard the door lock.

The door was too thick for her to hear much, but she thought she could make out the sound of receding footsteps. She hoped that both of them were leaving. Either way, she was going to have to chance it. She dashed over to the chair and took it to the window. She placed it on the ground and stood on it.

She banged on the window until her hands were red and sore. That wasn't going to work, she decided. So she got off of the chair and hefted it over her head. She lifted it as high as she could and slammed it into the little window. The sound was loud, but she kept going.

The chair cracked against the window three, four, five times before the window finally began to give in. She hit it again with all of her might, seven, eight, nine times. Then, with an exhaustion-fueled grunt, she slammed it one more time, and the chair exploded over her head. It rained shards of wood chips and splinters all over her. The window was barely cracked.

Leena collapsed to the floor. Her arms were burning, and she was out of breath. Just as she was about to stand, the metal door flew open, slamming into the wall. Manny came running through it, and he charged towards her like an angry dog.

"You better calm your sh*t, lady," he said, grabbing her by the wrist and jerking her to her feet. A sharp pain shot through her wrist and up her arm.

It was an automatic defense to try to hit him. Leena swung her free fist at his face, but he managed to dodge it.

"This again?" he spat at her, yanking her towards him and restraining her arms behind her back. "I knew we shouldn't have left you alone. That's why I came back early."

Mateo appeared in the room, suddenly, holding a nice, clear glass of water. He took a look around the room at the broken chair and the cracked window. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Manny shoved Leena forward, and she tumbled to the ground, catching herself on her palms. She yelped in pain as her hands and knees skidded across the hard floor. Then a low growl of frustration escaped her. She glared up at Manny, who seemed proud to have just tossed a girl half his size onto the ground.

"Hey!" Mateo yelled, grabbing Manny's arm. "The boss said not to get rough with her. You were supposed to stay outside anyway! What are you going to tell him?"

"I'm going to tell him I stopped this little brat from escaping, that's what."

Leena rolled her eyes. "I hope he kicks your *ss for this," she muttered.

Manny's eyes were aflame when he looked at her again. He walked over to her, and she expected him to kick her or hit her again, but he just bent down over her and sneered. "I think it's best if you calm down, or the boss won't be happy when he comes back. You'll be better off if you just cooperate"

There were a hundred snide and quippy things she wanted to say, but she decided not to push her luck. It probably was better to wait for Ransom to come back, though she wasn't sure how he'd react once he saw that she'd tried to bust out of there.

Finally, Manny left and waved for Mateo to follow him. Mateo set down the glass of water that was still in his hand and gave Leena an apologetic smile.

She didn't like the idea of just sitting there and basically admitting defeat, but what else was she going to do?