Grant let go of Tyler, placed his hand on Kathy’s head, and squeezed slightly. “But your friend is, Tyler. Remember, you need to think of your friend here.”
All of Tyler’s courage seemed to drain away at this remark.
Grant let go of Kathy, turned, and left the room. The other man followed, locking the door behind him.
When he heard the door close behind the footsteps, Tyler said, “I’m really sorry, Kathy. I never meant for you to get involved in all this.”
Kathy fought back tears but managed to say, “It’s okay, Tyler. You had nothing to do with this.” A sob escaped her lips and Tyler tried to reach out to her, but his bindings held him back.
“We have to get out of here because I know they’re never going to let us go.”
“How?” asked Kathy.
“We have to think of a way. Both our parents are in the military. They taught us stuff. At least I know my dad did me. How about your mom?”
“She made me take Tae Kwon Do. And I know how to survive in the woods with no food and water. But that doesn’t help us right now.”
They listened as a car started up and drove off.
Tyler said, “I can sense you’re right next to me. If I lean my head toward you, do you think you can use your teeth to get my blindfold off?”
“I can try.”
It took five minutes but Kathy finally clamped her teeth onto the knot behind Tyler’s head and worked away at it.
“I can feel it coming loose,” she said at last.
Another minute passed and then the cloth slipped off Tyler’s face and fell into his lap.
He blinked and looked at her. “Great job,” he said quietly. He looked around the room. It was small, and the only pieces of furniture were the two chairs in which they sat. There was a window, but it was blacked out.
“Okay, I’m going to get your blindfold off. Lean your head toward me. It’ll be easier now that I can see.”
In less than a minute Kathy’s cloth dropped away.
They sat there staring at each other, visibly heartened by this small victory.
“Now we have to get these bindings off,” said Tyler.
“How about if we sit back-to-back? I can work on yours. I have really strong fingers.”
“All right, but we have to take it slow. They might hear the chairs scraping the floor.”
They managed to turn their chairs around as quietly as possible until they were back-to-back. Tyler could feel her fingers clenching and unclenching around the rope holding him.
“They’re tight,” she said, “but I feel them giving a bit.”
It took about thirty minutes, and Tyler could hear Kathy breathing hard with the effort. But then his hands were free. He undid the rope around his feet and then quickly freed her.
“Now what?” she said in a whisper.
Tyler pointed at the window. “If we can get out there, we can make a run for it.”
“What if they have someone posted outside?”
Tyler slid up his baggy pant leg. Strapped to his calf was a cylinder.
“Pepper spray. My dad. He’s kind of paranoid.”