Recap: Shoshana was caught by Gator and her gang, and was pushed into a car. They want her to give them her father’s valuable papers.
Gator parked in the back of our house.
“You let us in,” she barked at me.
I turned around to display my hands tied behind my back.
“Wolf, you help her. Don’t twist too hard.”
Wolf roughly pulled off the rope that had cut into my wrists. Before I could enjoy the freedom of no more rope, she grabbed my arm and twisted it until I yelped with pain.
“No tricks,” Gator said. You know the combination to this place. Open it.”
I tried to stall. I didn’t want to get these criminals any closer to Aba’s secret. The security of the whole world, and safety from another pandemic, were all resting on me right now. “Hashem, help. I don’t know if I can do this.”
Wolf twisted my other arm and the pain shot through me like a flame. I screamed. She covered my mouth. “Do what boss says. Open the door.” Wolf spat the words.
I punched in the code. I couldn’t stand the pain. I hated my weakness.
Inside, the house felt foreign with these fiends accompanying me.
“Show us where it is,” Gator’s voice rose with impatience.
Wolf began twisting my arm again. The pain was so strong that I saw blackness and I felt myself falling.
Gator noticed, and in her extreme mercy she told Wolf, “Stop. We don’t want her to faint.”
Gator kicked Wolf in the back and Wolf crumpled over but said nothing.
“Show me where it is. It will save you a lot of pain.” Gator was breathing over me. Her breath smelled of onion and garlic and I felt bile rise in my throat. I was going to throw up.
I didn’t move. I wasn’t going to help her. No way.
“Barrie, look around. Find the office. Her father must have an office. That’s where he must have his papers.”
“Please, Hashem, help. Please help.”
“Here, it is!” Barrie called from Aba’s office.
Gator pushed me in front of her, towards the office.
“Now, your job is almost done. Just show us where the papers are,” she spoke softly. I looked into her eyes and saw a darkness. Her soul was covered with evil.
What had happened to a young woman like her to turn her into this monster, into someone who wanted to destroy the world for money?
She loosened the gag. “Scream and I’ll put it tighter than before,” Gator said. “I need you to show me now, Miss Shani. Where are his papers about the vaccine? That’s all I need and I’ll leave you in peace.”
“I’ll never show you. Never.”
She tightened the gag and I felt myself falling into blackness.
She undid it.
Wolf was back twisting my arm. The pain shot through me a thousand sharp needles.
I was so overcome with pain I couldn’t think. I couldn’t shout.
“Please, Hashem, please save me.”
Gator paced back and forth. “Okay, you want to play it this way? I have time. I have time. You will sit here all night with your arms twisted and that gag on your mouth.”
“Wolf, you will guard the door. Barrie, come with me. We’re going to get some food and coffee. It’s gonna be a long night, but we don’t care, cause no food or drink and sitting there in pain all night is just the beginning. We’ll never let up until you show it to us. Your choice if you want more pain.”
I turned away from her dark evil eyes.
Barrie and Gator left. Wolf twisted my arms once more. I sank onto the floor in pain. With my hands tied again behind me and the gag, I couldn’t move, and breathing was so hard. I felt the blackness enveloping me. Wolf headed to the front door.
A short while later, I was shaken by someone. I could barely open my eyes, I was in so much pain.
A kind voice whispered in my ear as she loosened the gag and cut the tight ropes around my wrists. “Come, the window is open. Come quickly. I called the police. They are on the way.”
It was Ruty. She helped me up and led me to the back window. She gave me a boost to climb up onto the windowsill and a gentle shove so I could slip outside. My arms were not working because of the extreme pain. That beast had broken them both, I was sure.
“Run,” Ruty whispered. “Run.”
“What about you?”
“Run.”
Just then, I heard Gator bursting into the house. “Ruty! Where is that girl? Answer me.”
She didn’t respond.
“You’ll pay, you traitor!”
Suddenly, I heard a gunshot.
I froze and shivered.
Ruty!
To be continued…
By Susie Garber
