Kim turned the key over and over in her hand as she pressed her ear against the door. She had been standing there for what felt like hours, listening to Cal through the door.
When is he going to go to sleep? she wondered. He has to sleep, doesn't he?
"Is he still there?" Kayla whispered. She was standing right behind Kim.
Hearing shuffling from the other room, Kim nodded. In her mind, she pictured the building. They had entered through the main hangar and then had gone through the door into the hallway with the room they were in. Kim knew there was an open area to the right and figured that must lead to a back door.
Now we just need Cal to give us enough time to make our break.
Kim tried to think. Now that she knew Cal was not staying in Salem to grab Jeannie, it changed things. He might decide to take her at any time - maybe, first thing in the morning. They could not wait for Cal to sleep. The next chance they got to make a break for it, they would go.
Kim heard footsteps through the door and held her breath. Don't come in here, she begged silently. If Cal reached for his key and did not find it, she did not want to think of what he might do. Just keep walking.
Thankfully, the footsteps did not even hesitate near the door. As they passed, Kim leaned against the door again and heard the sound of another door closing. She was pretty sure it came from her left, in the direction of the hangar.
"Now," she hissed, as she inserted the key into the lock. It opened easily and she slipped into the hallway, Kayla right behind.
"Which way?" Kayla whispered.
If Cal was in the hangar, their only option was to go the other way. Kim pulled Kayla down the hallway.
The hallway ended in an open area that looked like a waiting area. There was a sofa and a couple of chairs - and the exit. Kim made a beeline toward it and reached for the knob.
"Stop!" Kayla cried, even though she kept her voice quiet. Kim spun around to see Kayla pointing at the side of door. Turning back around, Kim looked to where Kayla was pointing. There was some kind of white lump on the wall.
"What is that?" Kim asked. She looked closer and saw that a series of wires ran from the lump to the door and the window next to it. As the realization set in, she swallowed hard. Explosives. I could have just killed us both.
She quickly looked around the room. They could not go through the back door or window. There was a door on the side of the reception area, so Kim rushed over to it and opened it. It was a bare room with a mattress and some clothes in it, obviously where Cal was staying. Kim spotted a window, but it too had the telltale wires and a white lump on the wall.
Turning back, Kim took Kayla's hand. "We have to go out the front."
"But if Cal's there-"
Kim cut Kayla off. "We'll need to sneak past him." They were getting out of there right now. Together, they went back down the hallway to the hangar door. Kim listened quickly and, hearing no sounds, opened it. Maybe Cal left for some reason, she thought.
"Come on," she whispered to Kayla, as she spotted the car on the opposite side of the plane.
"Going somewhere, ladies?"
Kim froze at the sound of Cal's voice. Slowly, she turned her head to the right. Cal was leaning against the wall as if he had been waiting for them. He also was holding his gun.
"Nice trick with the key, young lady," he said. He stood straight and waved the gun in his right hand. "It's too bad that I decided to come back to see you and realized I had somehow lost my key. It couldn't possibly have happened when you kissed me, could it?"
"No," Kim lied. "You must have dropped it. I found it on the floor. . . . I just thought-"
"Enough!" Cal screamed. He pointed the gun at them and ordered, "Get back in there."
Keeping her eyes on Cal, Kim backed toward the door to the hallway. She felt Kayla's hand on her shoulder. Please don't let him hurt her, Kim prayed silently as she tried to think. They slowly backed through the door toward the windowless room that was their prison.
"You think I'm stupid, Kimberly?" Cal asked. "You don't think I know what you were? You think it's so easy to use me . . . well, I'm not going to let you use me." He continued to wave the gun at them and Kim could see his index finger flexing as if ready to pull the trigger.
"Cal . . . please," Kim begged. "I swear I'm not using you. And I swear I found the key. You must have dropped it."
Cal's eyes gleamed, shining bright with an insane light. "Then you should have returned the key to me instead of trying to run away."
"Oh no, Cal," Kim said quickly. "I wasn't running away. I was just . . . I was just trying to get Kayla away. I told you. I'm coming with you. I just wanted to get Kayla out of here."
Cal laughed. "If that's what you want, Kim, I can give you that right now." He raised the gun and pointed it at Kayla. "We can get rid of her right now."