Rosalina POV
I was awakened by curses and the sounds of slamming doors. The words detective and arrest and my name whistled through the air, and the place was humming with activity for the first time in hours. The noise on the other side of the door didn't sound menacing anymore, because it sounded, if only for a few moments, that the men were worried.
I smiled hopefully. Maybe it was someone who found where I was hidden. Maybe it was my friends…or maybe it was Nat… No. I shook the thought from my head; Nat was still in jail, these men had made sure of that.
"Where is she?" I heard a scuffle and the steady click of the gun's safety lock. "You have seconds before this goes off, and alerts all the real policemen outside that I need backup. One more chance: Where is Rosalina Tai?"
The exchange was just outside my door, and I thanked myself for being in a closet full of stuff. I began kicking buckets and mops across the floor. I rolled into the door, and then looking up, I spotted the shelf, filled with empty bottles and buckets. With a determined grunt, I catapulted myself from the opposite wall, and shoved my shoulder with all I had against the shelf.
"You have to understand, he paid us a lot of money. We weren't sure anything was really happening, he just told us to guard this stupid warehouse! Please!"
The thin metal frame shook and bottles fell around me. The buckets at the top crashed into the metal trash cans and the lids fell all around me.
"In there! Tie them up, now!" The door was shaking now, and I began kicking out, rubbing the rope on my ankles against anything to try and fray it. There were grunts and curses from the other side, and the doorknob finally gave.
"Rosalina!" There was a shriek, and I could feel the tears run down my face. They came. Lianna began cutting away the rope at my ankles and Cati gently pulled the gag away from my mouth. When they got my hands untied, I had meant to thank them.
I meant to apologize for every secret I had kept, apologize for being so incredibly stupid, and apologize for everything I should've said before. But the exhaustion of the past hours had finally settled on my bones and my vision was blurry with tears. I collapsed in Cati and Lianna's arms, only sobbing harder when they both embraced me.
"It's okay, it's okay, and I'm alright."
"Rosalina, you stupid, stupid, girl. Why did you think we couldn't help you? Maya – Oh god, Rosalina. If it wasn't for Maya and her dad, we might've never found you."
"But you did." I looked up at them and smiled softly. "You found me, and I'm okay." I took several deep breaths to stop myself from bawling like a baby, and I was proud that the only tears left were a few that strayed down my cheek.
"Rosalina, thank God." Lisa flew into the room, followed by Maya, and the pair of them tackled us. And finally Trina, with the most un-manager-like squeals of relief, and piled on top of us.
"Ladies, ladies. Give her some room." A man bent next to me and unwittingly I shrunk back. I knew him, but there were so many strangers around me for the past day or two that I couldn't concentrate on who was safe and who wasn't.
"Rosalina, it's me. I'm Maya's dad, remember?" I nodded hesitantly, sighing in relief when his face became clearer, and more recognizable. Of course, Maya's dad, who owns his own detective firm, who works as a defense lawyer, and who's put away criminals far worse than a mere reporter out for revenge.
I broke into a grin and flung my arms around his neck. "Thank you, sir. Thank you so much." He smiled, patting me on the back.
"I can't take much credit, you know. You have some pretty determined band mates. They were not giving up on you for anything. It's hard to find friends like those Rosalina; you may only get a handful in your lifetime.
"Now ladies, we have to go. I've already reported this place in, and the back up I had has already taken away the few guards that seem to be here, but they definitely weren't the masterminds behind your kidnapping. Rosalina, is there anything you'd like to tell us?"
I took a deep breath and nodded.
"He wants to gloat. He thinks he's ended the Naked Brothers Band's careers, and he wants to gloat in their faces. We need to find them, and make sure they're all right. There's no telling what he'll do now, he's really lost it."
"Rosalina, who are you talking about?"
"The one news reporter that never gave us a break, who always ragged on us and made us look bad in public." There was a sharp intake of breath from Lisa and Lianna.
"The man in all the news reports." They said simultaneously.
"Forgive me girls, but we have to go, and I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. I didn't watch many of these music reports until the Star Rockers began touring out of Tennessee." I turned to Maya's dad, looking him straight in the eye.
"Thank you, Mr. Radcliffe. Thank you for rescuing me, but now we need to make sure that Matt Pinfield doesn't get anywhere near the Naked Brothers Band. I might not be part of that band anymore, but they're still my friends, and I care about them a lot. I love them."
"Well, then. I suppose it's time to break them out of that phony's prison."