CHAPTER 3

He drove on as Lina staid quiet. It was mostly because she was too scared and shocked to really say anything. She could see they were heading northwest out of the town, but more specifically to where, she had no idea.

'From being robbed to being kidnapped. That's just… brilliant!' she thought. She knew there were no other towns or villages near their town; the ride from the airport always took hours, so they were soon in the empty desert. What if after being sure the cops weren't following them – which unfortunately she was pretty sure of too – he dumped her out here? Lina looked around in sudden panic trying to spot any sign of civilization, but finding none. It was just sand and bushes as far the eye could see. She looked back ahead and saw him looking at her through the review mirror.

"How's it going back there?" he asked. Lina didn't bother to answer and looked quickly away. She had no intention of speaking with him.

"Maybe I should introduce myself", he then said. "You can call me Sands. And you are..?"

Lina remained quiet though she was a bit bemused. Why was he telling her his name?

H must've realized he wasn't going to get a response out of her. He turned to pick up something from the seat next to him. It turned out to be her purse. What was he doing with it?
The money. Of course. He was a thief after all. Though this gig must not have gone exactly as planned.

She watched him pull out her passport and flip in sight the photo page. "Nice mug shot of you… Lina", he said again with that crooked smile of his.

"Give me that", she said irritated and tried to grab it. But he pulled it away before she could.

"Temper, temper", he said laughing and putting the passport back in the purse. "I think I better hold on to this for now."

"Why don't you just let go?" I ask in a sudden whim of courage and frustration. "Kidnapping is a serious crime. Much more serious than theft." He didn't say anything, but he didn't look angry either that she was talking, so she dared to try and reason with him. "Look, I promise I won't go to the cops if you let me go. You don't need me!"

His neutral expression turned into one of faked shock. "What? And just leave you here in the middle of nowhere?" He shook his head. "Sorry darling, I can't take that on my conscience."

Lina looked at him incredulously. She snorted and leaned back against the seat, crossing her arms. Yeah right.

The conversation was over as far as she was concerned, and fortunately he seemed to think so too, because neither spoke after that.

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Lina didn't know Mexico very well, so it was no surprise she didn't know the village they arrived in to a little later. He stopped the car to a parking lot and pulled on a coat, fumbling with something for a while. She really didn't pay attention to it, she was too busy looking at the surroundings.
The village was very similar to their town; an average Mexican town with a couple of stores, a post office etc. It was only a couple of hours past midnight so there weren't any people on the streets.

Sands finally got out of the car and opened the back door. Before she could even consider trying to escape, he opened his jacket slightly revealing a gun in his hand. Lina took a sharp breath. She really, REALLY didn't like guns.
He beckoned her to get out of the car. When she stood up she noticed something strange. He was pointing a gun at her under his jacket but still both his hands were hanging on his sides. When she took a really close look, she realized the left hand must have been fake. She looked at him puzzled. Just what kind of a burglar as he?

"Now here's what we're going to do", he interrupted her thoughts in a quiet voice. He looked covertly around and then focused his eyes on her. "I'm going to have this gun pointed at you at all time and I won't hesitate to shoot if you decide to do something stupid", he stated matter-of-factly. "We are going to walk into that hotel, check in and you will stay nice and quiet through all of it. Got that?" he asked wanting to make sure she go his point.

Lina swallowed her eyes glued to the gun and muttered an affirmative answer, while wondering why the hell they were going to a hotel for.

"That's a good girl", he said smiling. "Now take your purse and we'll be off." He gave it to her and took his own bag. They headed to the hotel entrance.

Inside the night clerk checked them in. While Sands wrote the check-in card, Lina was painfully aware of the gun targeted at her. It wasn't a nice feeling at all. But to the outside they looked just an ordinary couple.

"Cash, check or card?" the brown haired, petite woman in the reception asked. Guess they must have had American tourists there too because her English was so good.

"Darling, would you get this? My wallet is somewhere in the bottom of my bag", Sands said to her with a smile.

Surprised she turned to look at him her eyes probably ready to pop out of her head. The bastard was really going to make her pay for the room? She gave him a glare but in the fear of the gun, took her wallet and paid the woman the amount. The hotel was a little ragged, and therefore cheap, so she was still left with some money.

"Thank you. You're room is on the third floor, just go to your right", the receptionist said handing the keys, and then added in a flirty way to Sands: "And if there's anything you want, anything at all, I will be here all night."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you and good night", he said smiling and winked at her. She blushed pleased.
Lina looked at her appalled. What was she, crazy? But then again, she didn't have any idea just what kind of a man he was.

The elevator was out of order so they walked to the stairs. When they reached them he pointed toward the stairs with a clearly fake polite smile on his lips. "Ladies first."

Lina gave him an ugly look but started climbing. At some point she got a nasty feeling that he was staring at her behind but it might have been just her imagination. She was getting really worried about going in to the hotel room. She figured that since he didn't get much money from his planned gig, maybe he wanted different kind of gain from it. The thought chilled her bones but there wasn't much she could do as long as he had that gun. Lina glanced over her shoulder at him. He had a rather devilish grin on his face. Not a good look…

They got to the third floor and found the room. It was a modest room but from the appearance of the hotel, she hadn't expected a palace. Sands got rid of his fake arm and loosed his jacket too. Lina looked around the room not sure what to do. He didn't pay any attention to her, just went on with his own business. Finally she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. It was a small, windowless space. She turned on the water and leaned into the sink.
What was happening to her? Last night she had everything packed and ready to go home. And now here she was in a sleazy hotel room with a man who first broke into her house and when the burglary went awry, kidnapped her. This was just too much. She shook her head and splashed some water on her upset looking face. She took a towel to dry her face but halted when she saw a huge cockroach on the bathroom wall. She looked at it disgusted. She had always hated the buggers. She hurried out of the bathroom.

Sands had spread some of his stuff on the other bed so she was left with the second one. At least there were two beds, she tried to think positive as she sat on it.
She could see Sands digging something from his bag but didn't see what it was. He walked up to her bed and before she could pull away he caught her right wrist and cuffed it. The other end he attached to the bed.

"Just to make sure I can have my beauty sleep with a peaceful mind", he said with that lop-sided smile that she was starting to hate. She tried to control her anger and fear and kept her lips tightly pressed shut. "Oh", Sands send as if he had remembered something, "any screaming and I'll blow your brains out". Then he disappeared into the bathroom. Worriedly she wondered where he put the gun but she didn't see it anywhere.

He came back soon.
"Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite", he said as he turned off the light and then settled himself on the other bed. Lina frowned as she remembered the huge cockroach in the bathroom. Hopefully there weren't any more of them. She didn't want any roaches in her bed; neither six nor two legged ones. Lina shoot a poisonous look toward his figure. Thankfully he didn't seem to be interested in climbing into the same bed with her.

With one more look at her cuffed hand she gave in to her tiredness and lied down trying to find a comfortable position. She must've found one because she fell asleep surprisingly fast.

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Lina woke up to quiet noises coming from the room, and it took some time to realize she wasn't in her house anymore. Last nights events came flashing into her mind and finally leading into her being in that hotel room. Her cuffed wrist was sore as hell but she didn't open her eyes so she wouldn't have to confront him just yet. She remained still and tried to make it look like she was still fast asleep.
The guy who had introduced himself as Sands was moving around the room doing something. After a while she heard him walk to the door and it opened and then closed again. She was about to open her eyes and turn when she realized something. She didn't hear any footsteps from outside. Did that mean he was still in the room? Yes, she could almost feel him watching her. Was he testing if she was really sleeping or not?

Lina kept her eyes closed and tried to keep her breathing slow and calm. It was difficult because it felt like there was a stampede heard of cows in her chest instead of a heart. When she really strained her hearing, she thought she could hear him breathing.
Some time passed and when she still didn't hear any signs of him leaving, she started to feel uncomfortable and frustrated. She'd better make it look convincing that she was sleeping. She acted like she was stirring in her sleep and turned on her back. It was also partly because her limbs were starting to get numb. She lied there trying to keep her body relaxed. It seemed to do the trick and finally she heard the door opening again and this time he really stepped out closing the door behind him. His boots hit the floor as he walked until he was so far down the corridor she couldn't hear the sound anymore. She flung her eyes open and sat up. She looked around the small hotel room. The room was empty; all the stuff that had been lying around last night had now been cleaned up. He had probably packed his stuff and since she didn't see his bag anywhere, he probably took it with him.

What if he wasn't planning on coming back anymore? He really didn't need her anymore, he could've just hit the road and left her there to be found. The thought got her hopes up. Oh please let it be so, please! But she couldn't count on it. He might've just as well be coming back. Who knew what he planned in his criminal little mind.

She had to get out of there. There was just the 'small' problem of her hand being cuffed to the bed. She turned her attention to it. How was she going to get that little fucker off? First she tried to squeeze her hand trough it but all that did was cause her hand to hurt from all the pulling and twisting. She gave up and tried to think of another way. Maybe she could try to pick the lock. She had never tried picking any locks, but they did on TV all the time, didn't they? How hard could it be. She figured she would need something sharp. She turned again to check the room. But like she realized already before, he had cleaned up all the stuff and she couldn't see anything useful. Her handbag was too far away for her to reach it. She pulled open the bedside table drawer but it only contained the usual bible. Somehow she doubted praying would get her out of this.

Lina began to study the wood she was cuffed to. It wasn't that thick, but it still wouldn't budge when she attempted to pull it.

She needed more power. Maybe if she kicked it? The bed had seen better days – like the whole hotel. Maybe the wood had become more fragile during its many years.

She grabbed her shoe from the floor and slipped it on. She twisted herself into a better position so that she could kick the wood. She put a pillow over her hand just in case so she didn't accidentally hit it. All she needed now was a broken finger…

She started kicking it carefully at first and then with more force. Soon she would at least alert the neighbors.

After stomping for some time, she finally heard the wood break. Her foot was getting tired of being in the awkward position. She turned around and started bending the half-broken wood with her hands again. She grunted from the effort as the wood suddenly broke completely and she could slip the metal cuff away. She couldn't get it off completely of course and it was still hanging from her hand, but it didn't matter, she was free! She put on her other shoe too and headed to the door. She opened it just an inch and took a careful peak into the corridor. It was empty.
Suddenly she remembered something and went back to grab her purse. For a short moment she wondered why he hadn't taken it with but then concentrated on her current venture.
She came out and started walking as quietly as possible down the corridor. She saw the stairs and started to go down. It didn't take very long until she was downstairs. She noticed the clock on the wall. It was still very early and people must've been still sleeping because she couldn't see anyone around. Even the annoying woman in the reception was gone. Lina got closer to the lobby café and peeped around the corner to see into it. She spotted him immediately since Sands was the only person sitting in the cafeteria. He was sitting in front of the window with his back facing to where she was, drinking his coffee and reading a newspaper.

She pulled back and wondered how she was going to get past him. Suddenly the double doors on the opposite wall from her opened and a waitress came out carrying a pot of coffee. She quickly hid her right hand behind her back so she couldn't see the cuffs. She gave her a strange look, probably wondering what she was doing standing around in the corridor. Lina waited until she was gone and looked at the doors where she came from again. It must've been the kitchen. If she could just get there, then there had to be a back door she could sneak out from.

She took another peak into the café. He was still sitting there, concentrating on his paper. The waitress walked to him and he raised his eyes from the paper. He nodded and she poured more coffee into his cup. They started to talk about something, she couldn't hear what, but he was smiling a very charming smile and she was blushing a bit but smiling too. It seemed the guy was a hopeless flirt, but apparently women liked him. Well, at least it was working to Lina's advantage as it provided a distraction.
Her heart was racing a thousand and one. She took a deep breath, thinking it was do or die, before walking almost on her toes across the lobby as quickly as she could without actually running. She kept her eyes on him, afraid that he might turn around any second and see her.
But he didn't. The waitress instead noticed her. She frowned a bit. She must have looked really silly. She raised her finger on her lips and slightly shook her head as a sign for her to be quiet. She looked confused, but nodded quietly so that he didn't notice it.

Lina made it to the doors leading to the kitchen and stepped in. She took a steadying breath as she looked around. The kitchen was hot and full of cooking steams. The chef's were preparing breakfast for the hungry customers of the hotel. The smells made her stomach growl but she ignored it. She didn't have time for it now. The two cooks give her a strange look as she walked trough the kitchen trying to spot a door that would lead out.

"Can I help you?" someone's voice came behind her startling her slightly. She turned around. It was that waitress. She hid her right hand again and hoped she didn't notice it.

"Um, I was just looking…" she paused thinking what to say. The woman looked nice, maybe she could trust her. "Well actually, the thing is I have to get out of here. Could you help me? Is there some way out of the kitchen?"

She looked slightly suspicious but her pleading look must have convinced her. She smiled a little. "Sure. The back door's this way."

She led her to it and Lina looked at her grateful. "Thanks, you don't know what this meant to me."

"It's ok, no problem", she waved off her thanks.

Lina opened the door and stepped outside. The door opened onto an empty alley on the side of the hotel. Although it was early, the sun was already coming up, but the air felt refreshing after the heat of the kitchen. She didn't know exactly where she was going to go, but she didn't care as long as it was as far away from there as possible.

"Bye, and thanks again", Lina said to the woman. She just smiled and closed the door behind her.

She started half-running along the alley in relief taking over her. Now she only had to figure out how to get help. Maybe she should head straight to the police and tell them what happened. Then she would probably get a lift back into her own town and from there back home to America.
She was only a few feet away from the street when suddenly a car stopped right in front of her with its brakes screeching. She recognized it immediately and stopped so quickly, trying to turn back around at the same time that she lost her balance and fell down on her back. Her mouth fell open in amazement and terror. How could he be there! Sands opened the car door and got out. Lina stumbled on her feet and started desperately running back to where she came from. Then she heard a click and Sands' voice.

"If you don't want to get a bullet in you, I suggest you stop right there." His voice was hard and determined.

Lina stopped and slowly glanced over her shoulder. From the corner of her eye she could see him standing a few feet away, pointing a gun at her.

Her freedom seemed to have been very temporary.

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R&R please!