He sat up and swung his feet to the floor, waiting for a few moments of dizziness to pass. He pushed himself to his feet and began doing stretching exercises to ease the stiffness. A wave of weakness swept over him, but he willed himself to reject it, continuing the drill until his muscles and joints became limber.
The guard came and went with dinner, and Pitt adroitly jammed the latch again, a maneuver he had honed so there would be no fumbling, no last-minute bungle. He paused, and hearing no footsteps or voices, stepped into the corridor.
Time was a luxury. There was too much to accomplish and too few hours of darkness to manage it.
He regretfully wished he could say his farewells to Giordino and Gunn, but every minute he lingered in the compound depleted his odds of success.
The first order of business was to find Jessie and take her with him.
She was behind the fifth door he tried, lying on the concrete floor with nothing under her but a dirty blanket. Her naked body was completely unmarked, but her once lovely face was grotesquely swollen with purplish bruises. Gly had shrewdly worked his evil by humiliating her virtue and brutalizing a beautiful woman's most valued asset-- her face.
Pitt bent over and cradled her head in his arms, his expression tender, but his eyes insane with rage.
He was consumed with revenge. He shook with a madness for savage vengeance that went far beyond anything he had experienced before. He gritted his teeth and gently shook her awake.
"Jessie. Jessie, can you hear me?"
Her mouth trembled open as her eyes focused on him. "Dirk," she moaned. "Is it you?"
"Yes, I'm taking you out of here."
"Taking. . . how?"
"I've found a way for us to escape the compound."
"But the island. Raymond said it's impossible to escape from the island."
"I've hidden the outboard motor from the inflatable boat. If I can build a small raft=
"No!" she whispered adamantly.
She struggled to sit up, a look of concentration crossing the swollen mask that was her face. He lightly gripped her by the shoulders and held her down.
"Don't move," he said.
"You must go alone," she said.
"I won't leave you like this."
She shook her head weakly. "No. I would only increase your chances of getting caught."
"Sorry," Pitt said flatly. "Like it or not, you're coming."
"Don't you understand," she pleaded. "You're the only hope for saving all of us. If you make it back to the States and tell the President what's happening here, Velikov will have to keep us alive."
"What does the President have to do with this?"
"More than you know."
"Then Velikov was right. There is a conspiracy."
"Don't waste time conjecturing. Go, please go. By saving yourself you can save all of us."
Pitt felt an overwhelming surge of admiration for Jessie. She looked like a discarded doll now, battered and helpless, but he realized her outer beauty was matched by an inner one that was brave and resolute. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on puffed and split lips.
"I'll make it," he said confidently. "Promise me you'll hang on till I get back."
She tried to smile, but her mouth couldn't respond. "You crazy clown. You can't return to Cuba."