All the plows were back in place. There was no one behind the glass of the office or down below by the plows.
The men led them down to the room where the snowplow parts were stored and commanded them to sit on the floor with their backs to each other. The redhead bound their hands and gagged their mouths with duct tape and tied the two of them together with rope back to back.
“Now, you just sit tight until the boss gets back. He can decide what to do with you.” The man traced a finger down Isabel’s cheek. “At which time, I get to collect a bonus for finding you.”
He winked at Isabel, rose to his feet and slipped out the door. Mr. Gun followed. The door closed. As far as she could see, there were only two men in the facility right now. If they could get out of this room, they might be able to escape.
Jason wriggled, struggling to break free. Isabel twisted her hands, hoping to loosen the duct tape that bound them. Her wrists hurt from the effort.
After a moment of stillness, his head brushed against the back of hers as he studied his surroundings. He scooted across the floor toward the metal shelves that held the motor parts. Isabel pushed with her feet to move with him. He must have seen something on the shelf that might help them escape.
She had no idea what his plan was or when “the boss” would return and decide how to kill them. She had no doubt their death was imminent if they didn’t find a way to escape their captors and get to one of those vehicles.
NINETEEN
Jason had spotted a piece of metal protruding from one of the lower shelves. He might be able to cut himself free and then remove the duct tape from Isabel, as well. He lifted his hands, which were tied in front of him, and scraped the tape along the metal.
Even though he had no idea if they had ten minutes to escape or ten hours, a sense of urgency made it feel like there was a weight on his chest. He sawed back and forth as the layers of duct tape were cut away. He was nearly free when he heard footsteps outside the room.
They both scooted back across the floor to where they had been put. Jason pressed the cut tape back around his wrists and held his hands as though they were still bound. The door burst open and the redheaded man stepped in.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Boss is back. Just a few minutes and we’ll get this mess wrapped up.” The man punched his fist against his palm and narrowed his eyes. His expression chilled Jason to the bone.
The man grinned. “Don’t go anywhere now.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I crack myself up.” He closed the door.
Jason listened to the man’s boots pounding on the concrete floor before twisting free of the rope that bound him to Isabel. He tore the gag off his mouth, and then, still crouching, he came to help Isabel. She stared up at him. He touched the corner of the duct tape on her mouth. “This will hurt.”
She nodded, her eyes filled with trust. He ripped it off in one quick motion. A tiny gasp escaped her lips.
He tried to peel the tape off her hands. He pulled, winding the layers of tape off her wrists until she was free.
He ran to the outside door they had used when they first entered the building. Locked.
“Let’s see if we can find another way out.” They wove through the shelves that reached up to the high ceiling until they found a back door. The door opened to a landing and a stairwell leading upward.
It was too much to hope that it would lead them straight outside.
He pressed against the wall and stepped lightly up the stairs. Isabel touched his arm as she stood one step below him. At the top of the stairs, he eased the door open slowly.
Raised voices drifted down a hallway. He slipped through the door, not daring to open it all the way, and then he crouched on the carpet. They must be in the hallway behind the glass-walled office.
Three men were arguing. The only voice he recognized was Nick’s.
He couldn’t pick up all the conversation. It sounded like an argument over money for a job they’d just done. Thundering footsteps came up the hallway into the office as the voice of the man who had tied them up blasted through the room. “They’ve escaped.”
Jason angled around the corner just in time to see three men running out of the office. Nick, the man who had been kissing the maid and a third man—Larry, the FBI agent who had picked them up when they’d escaped from the Wilsons’ house. Now they knew who the turncoat was.
All the men ran in the opposite direction of where Isabel and he were hiding. The fourth man, the redhead, trailed behind. He waited until he heard the sound of the slamming door and moved toward the office. Isabel grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”
“There’s probably a phone in there.” He stepped into the empty office and she entered behind him. “We can call Michael now. He’s not the turncoat.”
“I don’t think we have time to wait for help. We should get out of here.”
Her thinking was clearer than his.
“I’m sure they will send a man out to the parking lot to make sure we can’t get to those cars.”
Light came into Isabel’s eyes. “The snowplows. They won’t be expecting us to use one of the snowplows.”
He peered through the glass wall of the office. Down below, a man ran by. Jason and Isabel crouched out of view but where they were still
