He reached into his pocket and extracted a key that looked comically small between his large fingers, then came at her with a warning glare. “Don’t make me chase you again.”
Laila disregarded his implied threat. Now that Trees had stripped her ability to communicate, and Victor had likely seen her with him—twice—staying was too dangerous. She’d already considered the nightmarish possibilities of what Trees could do to her with his massive hands and his massive erection. He’d taken away her freedom, shoved her into this rolling motel room, and separated her from her sister for reasons that suited him. She would not allow him to force anything else on her.
“Of course not,” she agreed. After all, she was incapable of making him do anything. If he chased her, it would be of his own accord.
His menacing expression spoke volumes about how much he didn’t trust her, so she sent him her most innocent stare as he freed her wrist. When he stepped back, he positioned his big body between her and the door.
“Go on.” He gestured to the bathroom.
As she tried to think of another means of escape, Laila made her way inside. Small sink, toilet, and a shower she couldn’t imagine Trees wedging himself into. Above it, a thin rectangle of a window only a cat could slink through. But there must be other ways out of the RV. She refused to give up.
While she relieved her bladder and thought through the situation, the door to the RV opened and shut. She hurried through the rest of her ritual, then peeked out the bathroom door. He was gone. With a glance out the nearest window, she found him pumping gas and talking on the phone.
She prayed the distraction was enough.
Dropping to her knees, she crawled to the exit, lamenting the fact she couldn’t risk prowling through the bags for her replacement phone, and eased the trailer door open. The wind howled. Trees had his mobile pressed to his ear, and the door was on the opposite side. If she was quiet, he wouldn’t hear her escape.
The moment her feet hit the concrete, she eased the door closed, then darted to the edge of the parking lot before disappearing into the shadows blanketing the vacant lot next door. She was unfamiliar with this part of Orlando, but heading toward civilization and lights made sense. If she could find a place to lie low, she would flesh out a better plan.
Since Trees had been driving north, Laila circled back in the opposite direction, crossing the busy highway, then heading for a brightly lit hotel she had seen a few blocks ago.
Under the portico out front, she avoided eye contact with the valet, then walked inside as if she belonged there. She didn’t dare stop to get her bearings, simply headed left, past a bar area, then through another set of double doors and into a center atrium not visible from the street.
She settled in a padded chair on a corner of the patio, away from children splashing in the hotel’s pool under their parents’ watchful eyes, and let out a deep breath. She couldn’t stay here, but at least she had escaped. Now she had some breathing room.
Laila wished she knew where Kane was taking Valeria. But she would continue heading in the same general direction Trees had been until she could contact her sister. She prayed Valeria and Jorge remained safe.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the lobby. Laila looked up, half expecting to see Trees snarling at a desk clerk as he searched the hotel. Instead, Victor and the thug who had attacked her last night rushed into the building, methodically scanning the space. Her heart stopped as they paused to speak to a hotel employee. The man pointed to the pool.
Fear gripped her throat, but she forced herself to stand slowly, head down, and slip behind a big, leafy bush along the perimeter.
When the two thugs spilled out onto the patio, they split up, Victor veering left. His determined lapdog headed her way.
Laila tried not to panic. Now what?
Behind the greenery, she inched along the wall, deeper in the shadows. When Victor’s goon disappeared into an area marked Employees Only, and Victor was nowhere to be seen, Laila sent up a silent prayer, ensured her dark curls were tucked under Trees’s cap, then spotted a family heading into the attached restaurant. Trembling, she slinked from her hiding spot to merge behind the kids, trying to blend in.
A shout and the pounding of feet later told her that she’d been spotted.
Panic spiked.
With her heart racing, Laila ran blindly through the mostly empty restaurant, looking for an escape other than the empty parking lot behind the hotel. She stumbled into a hall and pushed into the ladies’ room. But there was no lock on the door, and she wasn’t naive enough to believe the gender orientation of the bathroom would keep Victor out. As desperate as it was, she hoped she wasn’t in here alone. Another woman could act as a buffer. Victor would think twice about unleashing violence in front of witnesses, at least in the States. Maybe she could borrow the hotel guest’s phone and call…
Who? Other than Walker, who would refer her back to Trees, she had no one on her side. Even Valeria couldn’t help. And no matter how much the giant with the searing green eyes claimed he would protect her, she couldn’t risk trusting him.
But fate wasn’t on her side. The bathroom was empty.
Resisting the urge to cry, Laila threw herself into a stall and locked the flimsy door. Her panting sounded too loud in the still. As she crouched on the toilet, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed she had lost Victor.
The world proved it had abandoned her again when the bathroom door squeaked open. “Laila. I know you’re here, chiquita.”
She cringed every time he called her that. He only did when he was pissed and bad things were coming.
“I know because I saw you run across the street like a scared little girl and followed you.”
Of all the terrible luck…
“The tall man can’t help you anymore. Come willingly, and I will make your punishment bearable.”
No, he wouldn’t. She should have stayed in the middle of a busy area, around a lot of people, near security cameras. He would not have dared to drag her out of this hotel against her will with employees and protective families looking on. But all he had to do now was haul her out of the bathroom, down the isolated hall, then out the back door mere feet away. Even if there were cameras covering the door, Laila wasn’t foolish enough to hope that anyone would care to look for her. And if Victor and his brother, Hector, had their way with her again—and again and again—they would make sure she could never get free.
“Not making this easy for me?” He tsked at her. “There are only so many stalls to hide in. Where else do you think you can go? There’s no window, unlike your house. You can’t steal a neighbor’s car and nearly run me over to get away. It’s just you and me. And no escape.”
Tears stung her eyes and closed up her throat. He was right. But that also didn’t mean she would just give in. He didn’t know which stall she was locked in. She had the element of surprise.
Would you need it if you had stayed with Trees?
He would have protected her from Victor, yes. But who would have protected her from him?
“Time’s up. I guess you want to do this the hard way. You know that suits me, chiquita.”
She bit her lip to hold in a whimper, grabbed the sides of the stall, and braced to kick her way to freedom. And she prayed.
He smashed open the stall beside her and stepped in. The door clattering against the wall made her start. She managed to bite back a gasp, but fear gnawed her belly. Her heart beat so hard she felt jittery and faint. Every one of the twenty-two hours since she’d last eaten now haunted her. What if she didn’t have the strength to fight off Victor?