Chapter 4
Goran watched Calista as she walked down the short, rough-plywood hallway. She looked beautiful and confident, the ill-fitting clothing not diminishing her beauty in any way. She even managed to walk like a princess despite the boots that clunked slightly against the rough wood floors. Damn, she was beautiful! How had he missed her demeanor? How had he completely misconstrued that façade for who she was as a person?
When she stopped in the doorway, he watched with fascination as she paused, curved her shoulders forward slightly, bowed her head and…sniffed? What the hell?
As she entered the room, instead of her confident stride, she stepped through the door hesitantly, pausing ever so slightly in the doorway before going fully into the room.
Curious, Goran walked silently down the hallway towards the door, needing to understand what was going on.
There were a few whispered calls to the man as she attempted to wake him up. She wasn’t mean about it, barely patting his cheek and swishing her hand away, as if the mere touch of her hand against his skin burned her fingertips.
Or as if she was scared of the guard’s reaction. Afraid that he might wake up and grab her arm? But…Calista had secured the man’s arms behind his back, then tied him to the wooden beam! What the hell was she playing at?
“Mister!” she hissed, then furtively looked over her shoulder to see if the doorway was still clear. Goran didn’t move. He remained in place, listening. “Mister!” she said with more force.
“Huh?” the man grunted and Goran suspected that he’d just woken from unconsciousness. “What the hell?”
“Don’t move!” she hissed, still crouched down, her arms wrapped around her knees.
“How the hell did you get free? I tied you up myself!”
Calista shushed him. “Don’t talk too loudly!” she urged. “Please?”
There was a pregnant pause, then she continued. “What’s going on? Why are we here?”
There was some shuffling and Goran knew that the guard was trying to break the restraints, then hissed when the effort tugged on the pinched nerves Goran had used to knock him out. The restraints held, but Goran’s fingers touched the stolen pistol that he’d tucked into his belt, ready for anything.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “You’re already hurt. You don’t want to further damage your shoulder. And I suspect that we all need to save our energy for when…well, what’s going on? I don’t understand!”
“You’re supposed to be in here, tied up! Not me! What the hell happened?”
Calista shrugged her slender shoulders, her whole figure looking more delicate because of the oversized clothing. “I don’t know! I don’t know why I’m here or why you’re here! I don’t even know where here is!”
“Get me out of these damn restraints, bitch! Then I’ll show you what the hell is going on!”
Calista moved over to the man, shifting carefully, shuffling in her oversized boots. She reached behind the man, but kept herself far away from him. She tugged, then jerked quickly back, scooting quickly away.
“I can’t get them undone! What should I do?”
“Break the damn ties, you stupid bitch!”
“Not if you’re going to speak to me like that!” she shot back at him and Goran wondered why she sounded so hoity toity now. He’d never heard her use that tone before but…hell, it was convincing. Even he thought she sounded extra princessy now.
There was a deep, heavy sigh, then the bound guard shifted around slightly. He couldn’t move very far because Calista had done a great job of restraining him.
“I’m sorry,” the man replied. “If you could just…get these plastic ties off of my wrists, then I can do the rest.”
Calista moved again, but once more, she jerked backwards. “Ouch!” she hissed. “I broke a nail!”
“Honey, if you don’t get me out of these restraints, I’m going to break more than just a nail!”
Calista huffed and he watched as she moved to the other side of the room, obviously not helping the man anymore. Once more, she curled her arms around her legs, seeming to try and become smaller and more nonthreatening.
“You brought me here. Get yourself out of those ties!”
“You stupid…”
“Call me a bitch again and I’ll leave! I’ll go eat all of that food and…and you’ll have nothing until that other guy comes back!”