“And who will protect you?” I cry. “I will not leave you out here where they will kill you.”
“But you will be safe. That’s all I care about.”
I put my head into his chest as the lump blocks my throat. “There’s another way, Stace. We just have to think of it. Stop thinking like this.” I kiss him softly through my tears and he holds me tight.
“Rosh.” He shakes me awake. I squint as I try to focus, and I glance at the clock. It’s 5am. “The coast is clear. I’m going to go and see what’s going on.”
I sit up. “No. What?” I try to make my brain wake up.
“I will be back soon.”
I frown. “Where are you going?”
“I just want to go and see where the fire stair exits are so we can get out of here. I will be back, but you need to stay here.”
I grab his arm. “No.” I shake my head frantically. “I’m not staying here without you.”
He grabs my face in his two hands. “Listen to me. Let me go and see if I can find an exit. We are more of a target together.” He kisses me as he holds my face in his two hands. “I love you.”
I watch him through tear filled eyes. “I love you, too,” I whisper.
“If I don’t come back, stay in the room and call the police.”
I screw up my face in tears. “No, Stace, don’t go.” I try to grab hold of his arm to make him stay where he is safe, but with one last long look he disappears from my sight. I hear the latch on the door quietly click shut.
He’s gone.
* * *
Stace
I glance down the hallway toward our original room. Silence. The men are still down there. I just went and checked as Rosh slept. Waiting men are at the elevators and the bottom of the fire stair exit. Only one door opens on a fire door exit. The ground floor, and they know that… everybody knows that. I’m under no illusion that the ground floor won’t be crawling. There is no getting out of here undetected.
After thinking on this all night, I know more than ever I need to ensure her safety.
That’s all I care about now.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to do that. I creep along the hallway until I get to the fire stairs, and I know if I go in I will probably never see my Rosh again. They will put her back into witness protection, and if I am able to fight my way out of this mess with Vikinos’s men, I will be a wanted man from the police. I won’t be able to find her. My chest constricts at the thought of never holding her in my arms, of never touching her again. His men will be waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.
But she will be safe.
I slowly open the door and walk in and shut it behind me. It clicks with a cold heartbreaking click.
I retrieve my phone from my pocket and dial 911.
“Police, Fire, or Ambulance,” the receptionist answers.
“Police.”
“Putting you through.”
“Hello, Police,” the policeman on the other end answers.
I frown and pinch the bridge of my nose. We were getting married tonight. Emotion overcomes me and my throat constricts. I take a deep breath and force the words from my mouth on autopilot. “This is Joel McIntyre. I kidnapped Roshelle Myers from Carpenter parking lot at gunpoint and held her captive for thirty-one days. She is in room 3590 of the Venetian in Las Vegas.”
“Are you armed?” the policeman asks.
“No, I’m no longer with her.”