Tony jumped to his feet, adrenaline surging through him as he took a step toward the door to the stairs and hesitated. He took precious seconds to turn and kneel next to Leigh again, placing a hand on her jacket covered shoulder.
"It's too late for me," she told him again, tugging ineffectively at the shackle again. "You should get away if you can."
"Not happening." Tony shook his head. "I promised I wasn't leaving without you, and I meant it," he said emphatically. "I've got the element of surprise; he won't expect me to be loose. I'm not letting them hurt you anymore, so you just need to hold on." Leigh didn't answer, just nodded doubtfully.
Tony's stomach turned at leaving her alone even for a moment, but he forced himself to dash for the door to the stairs. He opened the door to a pitch-black space where the only light came from the poorly lit room he and Leigh were held in. There was a stairwell in front of him and a corridor to his right with another door a few feet away.
Tony grimaced and breathed shallowly in though his nose and out through his mouth. The smell of death and decay that tainted their prison was far stronger out here, and the sour taste of bile rose in his throat. A chill swept through him as he realized it was coming from that door along the corridor.
God…the other women.
Tony shook himself and with renewed determination, found the handrail and let the door fall quietly closed behind him, cutting off the light. He made his way to the top using the metal handrail as a guide. Once he reached the landing at the top of the stairs he felt for the door handle, cursing inwardly at finding it padlocked from the outside.
Tony froze as heavy footfalls echoing outside the stairwell began to move closer. He flattened himself against the wall next to the door and waited. His heart skipped a beat when he heard a key being inserted in the padlock. He had just one shot at this and had to make it count, for Leigh's sake, if not his own. Originally a hindrance, the completely dark stairwell would now work to his advantage.
Tony tensed and held his breath as the door opened and a black-clad figure crossed the landing, flashlight in one hand and gun in the other. He was wearing a full-face stocking hat as Leigh had described. From the size of the man, it was probably the bouncer, Miller.
Bastard, Tony thought. Got a little surprise for you. As soon as the huge man stepped past him, Tony raised his arms and surged into motion. He hit the man's back and shoved as hard as he could, nearly throwing himself off balance and down the stairs.
There was a startled curse and the man tumbled down the steps, the flashlight clattering after him, its' beam of light spinning crazily. Just before the man hit the bottom, the handgun went off, accompanied by an agonized shout. Tony rushed down the stairs as fast as he dared in the near dark, swallowing the guilt on hearing Leigh's terrified calls for him. He had to secure the suspect before he could go to her.
Pulling the handcuffs from his back pocket, he felt a burst of vicious satisfaction when he realized the larger man had been hit in the thigh by the unintentionally fired shot. He was illuminated by the flashlight on the floor; stunned by the fall, semi-conscious and clasping at the wound in his leg. He groaned in pain as Tony roughly grabbed one wrist, cuffed it tightly, and then closed the other cuff around the solid metal stair railing.
Tony picked up the flashlight and weapon that the larger man dropped. As he tucked the gun into his waistband at the small of his back, the familiar grip told him the weapon was his own. He reached down to pull the facemask off and huffed in disgust at confirming it was Miller, then patted him down. Once Tony verified Miller wasn't carrying any other weapons and had no phone, he reentered the room to check on Leigh.
"Tony!" she cried out as he crossed the room and knelt next to her. "I thought he shot you!" Tears of relief welled in her eyes.
"I'm okay, I wasn't hurt," Tony soothed while squeezing her free hand. "Can't say the same for him; he had a little accident on the stairs," he added smugly, hooking a thumb back over his shoulder. "Hang tight, I'm going to go find the key so we can get you out of here."
Leigh flinched hard as muffled curses came from the stairwell. She shook her head despairingly, still unable to believe they could escape. "You should go before the other one comes."
"We covered that already, Leigh," he told her, his voice thick with emotion. He felt more driven to save this woman than before. "Don't give up on me now," he encouraged. He waited until a scrap of hope reappeared in the gray eyes. "That's the spirit," he smiled. "I'm going to find the key and get us some help here. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said resolutely.
Tony turned on the flashlight and re-entered the stairwell. His mind fed him images of five faceless women, brutalized and murdered, their corpses left to rot. That wasn't going to be Leigh's fate.
He pulled his gun and fairly vibrated with the effort not to shoot Miller. He held it ready, making sure it was clearly visible in the flashlight beam.
The man had picked up the facemask with his free hand and was holding it over the bleeding wound in his thigh. "You shot me!" he accused furiously, glaring up at Tony.
"You shot yourself, you dumb son of a bitch, and that's a hell of lot less than you deserve," Tony snapped. "Where's the key?" he asked coldly.
Tony dodged as the man kicked out viciously with his good leg. "Fuck you, Fed!"
Tony lowered his aim, smiling menacingly. "Do that again and I'll shoot your other leg."
"You can't do that! I know my rights…"
Tony raised the gun to the man's face, effectively silencing the protest. "The key." Miller just glared malevolently.
Tony thumbed the safety off his weapon. "I won't ask again."
"Upstairs," Miller ground out. "There's an old office; it's on the desk." Pain and blood loss was beginning to make him slur. "I don't know what good the key's gonna do you."
As Tony reached the door, he heard Miller muttering again. "They're dead…and so are you," he promised.
"Be more worried about yourself and your partner," Tony replied coldly, turning and shining the flashlight back down the stairs. The beam of light found Miller's leg, and the spreading pool of blood beneath it. "I'd put more pressure on that if I were you," Tony advised as he turned his back on the wounded man. Miller muttered obscenities as Tony left him alone in the dark stairwell.
~.~
Tony found himself in a cavernous room, filled with random stacks of crates, debris and trash. Morning light filtered in from broken windows high in the walls, and damp, cold air poured in with it. They were in a dilapidated warehouse just as Leigh had said. She must have seen it at some point before being chained in the basement. They had to be off the beaten path; there was no noise or sound of traffic nearby.
Tony took the padlock off the stairwell door and removed the key still inserted. He threw the lock toward a far corner of the warehouse and the key in the opposite direction, ensuring the door couldn't be locked again. He quicky found the nearby office, following light and a hum that turned out to be portable propane space heaters. The office was lit with more battery lanterns like the one in Leigh's prison. He went straight to an old metal desk, its surface littered with a variety of items.
Tony's temper flared again on seeing water bottles and packages of Rohypnol tablets on the desk, along with other drugs he couldn't identify. Considering their memory loss, the Rohypnol at least had been used on him and Leigh. Likely the other victims as well. He found a key that he hoped fit the shackle, then a woman's clothes and overturned purse dumped in a corner caught his eye. He found Leigh's wallet lying open, her driver's license visible in one slot. His heart raced as he nudged the purse aside and found a cell phone, presumably also hers.
He couldn't believe his luck. These perps weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. They'd turned the phone off but hadn't gotten rid of it altogether. Praying the battery still had a charge, he pressed the power button and waited.
~.~