He’s leaving.
My eyes widen, and my heart pounds. This is my chance.
I scramble up as fast as I can until I get to the top of the vent that leads into the room where she’s being held. The lid is stuck. I push as hard as I can, but it won’t budge.
“Rose,” I whisper through the vent.
&nb
sp; “Who is that?” she asks.
“I’m a friend of your dad’s. I’m Liesel.”
Her eyes peer down at me through the slats.
“Liesel? That’s a funny name.”
I smile at how truthful she is. She’s not afraid to speak her mind.
“It is, isn’t it? I wish we had time to talk more, but I’m here to take you back to your dad.”
“Thank god. These people are idiots.”
I laugh.
“Rose, can you help me try to get the top of this vent off before that man comes back?”
She nods and kneels down, her small hands gripping the edge of the vent cover while I push up.
It starts to budge.
“Almost there,” I say, pushing with everything I have.
It pops open, and I’m face to face with my daughter. I’m bloodied, naked, and my head is peering out from the top of a floor vent. Of all the ways I imagined meeting my daughter, this isn’t one of them. And yet, seeing her smile at me like I’m her savior makes it all worthwhile. Seeing that she isn’t injured or hurt is the miracle I’ve been praying for.
“Why are you covered in blood?” she asks.
“I’ll tell you someday, but for now, we have to go.”
She nods.
I hold out my arms, and to my surprise, she lowers herself into my arms, no questions asked. She’s either very naive or a good judge of character. Carefully, I lower us down into the vent, then I pull the lid back so, hopefully, her guard won’t realize how she escaped.
Then I help her down the vent.
I carry her down until the duct turns, and then she can start crawling on her own. She’s much faster than I am. I see stars when I open my eyes, and my muscles shake with each movement. I’m naked; I have no weapons, nothing to get her out of here. This was a terrible idea.
“Rose, wait a sec,” I say.
She stops. Her head looks back at me as her blonde curls hang down her back.
“I need you to listen to me carefully, Rose.”
“Okay,” she says quietly.
“I have to go back to where I came from now. I have to tell your father where to find you.”
“You’re not coming with?”