Wish You Were Here

11

Aaron used the screw and scratched a line for as long as he could before our lights turned off.
He was up and continuing with the screw as soon as the lights came back on in the morning.

"This might actually work," Cal smiled at me.

"It has to. As long as we all stick together, I think we'll have a shot at getting out of here," I told her.

"I'll do anything to see my mom and little brother again," she said.

"We need to figure out what'll be next," Grant stated. "Aaron can knock Gina out, grab her keys, and then I say we lock her in here."

"We won't have time to chain her up. We have to unlock each of our chains before we can even get out of here. I say knock her out, unlock us, and leave her in here," Will suggested.

"Agreed," Grant told him. "Let her wake up in here! Then we go up the stairs and out the door."

"But what about the boat?" I asked. "Dean has the key."

"I told you," Will barked. "I'll take care of him."

Aaron shot him a look. "That works for me. But, you better let me get a couple punches in."

Aaron was still holding his side. He didn't say anything, but I was sure he knew he probably broke a rib. If he could have, he would've wanted Dean all to himself. Allowing Will to do most of the fighting was a big sacrifice on Aaron's part.

"I don't care who kicks his ass," Grant laughed. "Just as long as one of you gets the boat key."

"He'll probably be in the main cabin. Let's go there as soon as we're out of here," I suggested.

Grant nodded in agreement and asked Aaron how much longer he'd need before he was done with the scratch on the floor.

"It has to be done before Gina comes back," he warned.

Aaron worked all day on it, perfecting it so it matched and then adding some extra scratches here and there. When he was finished, we all looked over to admire his work. He looked satisfied, too.

"Now we just wait for her," Aaron seethed.

"This is our one shot, Aaron. We can't afford to be sloppy," Grant advised.

"I'm not sloppy," Aaron's eyes narrowed. "I got this."

Grant nodded. "I got your back. I'll be right behind you if anything happens."

Aaron was practically shaking. His adrenaline had him barely able to sit still.

I sat down next to Cal. She was picking at her nails nervously.

"This will work," I told her.

"They can fight." She motioned to the guys. "But I can't. I couldn't swat a fly! I'm not built for this."

"I'm not a fighter either," I confessed. "But we won't have to fight. They'll handle Gina. They'll get her keys and we'll get out of this place, okay? Don't be scared."

She smiled. "In case I forget to tell you, Ryleigh. Thank you. For coming up with this plan and for being so nice to me."

I smiled with tears in my eyes. "You're welcome. Thank you, too. I don't think I could've made it here without you."

I didn't say it to Cal, but I was incredibly nervous. We would get one chance for this to work. If anything happened differently than we expected, we might never escape.