Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson

Author:Toni Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Suspense
ISBN: 9781988812359
Publisher: Toni Anderson Inc.
Published: 2021-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Irene leaned against the radiator, grateful the day hadn’t been as scorching hot as the one before. She’d pushed the hood up onto her head so she could breathe more easily. The cushion she sat on made her situation much more comfortable despite the unrelenting cast iron at her back.

All day she’d drifted in and out of a medicated stupor, but something was bothering her. She was supposed to be doing something. She went to scratch her nose, and the heavy chains reminded her what it was.

Handcuffs.

She was supposed to be trying to figure out how to escape the handcuffs. She tried making her hand as small as possible and tugging and twisting the steel bracelet, but it jammed tight on her wrist bones. Her skin was sore and already showing signs of chafing. If she wasn’t careful, the wounds could get infected.

Well, that would suck.

Dark humor almost made her smile.

Her breakfast tray sat nearby. They’d given her a plastic knife and fork. She sat up and tried the tine of the fork in the small hole in the cuffs, but it was too big and too brittle. She didn’t want to risk it breaking in there and make them suspicious that she was trying to escape. She planned to be a perfect hostage, unless she had a real shot of getting out of here.

She sighed and leaned her head back and stared at the water-damaged ceiling. How the hell had her life become this awful battle for survival?

And how was she going to get out of these cuffs?

Her eyes caught on a nail in the shutter above her. She blinked and tried to stand, but her hands couldn’t reach high enough to pull at that nail. She glanced around the floor. There was a wide skirting board. The joint where the wall recessed behind the radiator looked loose though. She reached around the side of the radiator and was able to grasp the edge of the wood. It was difficult to find purchase, but she dug her short nails in the gap and tried to work it free. She pulled until her fingers ached, unable to exact any real leverage. Her fingernail broke down to the quick and she swore and stuffed her sore finger into her mouth to soothe the sting.

She stared at the offending piece of wood. Then she tried again. She put all the force she could muster into another effort and shot backward, yanked up short by the chains when the board came free.

Ouch.

She winced at the noise and sat there panting for a few anxious breaths. Her hood had fallen off, and she grabbed it with her feet and hugged it close to her chest. Even though she despised the thing, it was also a refuge. Wearing it provided a form of safety. If she couldn’t identify the men who’d taken her, then they didn’t need to kill her. She couldn’t afford to lose this stupid hood.

She placed it on top of the dog bed and went back to the piece of wood that had come loose.

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