“Okay. I . . . I can do that.”
“Good girl,” I whisper as I move my hands up to her hips. “Are you hurting?”
“The zip ties are a little tight, but they’re okay. I understand the need to take this seriously.”
“Let me know if you need me to loosen the ties.”
“I will.”
I stand and press my palm to her cheek beneath the bag. She sinks into my touch, and that’s where I stay for a few more beats, staring down at this beautiful girl. When I say I snapped earlier, I did. The willpower I was hanging on to, broke in the blink of an eye, and now that I’ve opened myself to what I’ve been feeling for this woman, I can’t seem to stop myself from taking every morsel of what I want from her. Even a simple touch.
“I’m nervous,” she says so, so softly.
Because I can’t stand seeing her like this, I lean down and place a soft kiss to her shaking hand. “I’ll be right here. I’d never let anything bad happen to you. Right?”
She nods. “Right.”
“Good. I’m going to let them in now. Listen carefully, be a good girl, and focus.”
“Okay,” she says.
I crack the door open, letting Lara and Brimar know we’re ready.
Brimar kicks the door, shooting it into the wall, making a loud crashing noise. Lilly startles in her chair, and it takes everything in me not to reach over and soothe what I can only imagine is her terrified heart.
Lara walks up to Lilly and tears the bag off her head. Lilly blinks a few times, her tear-stained cheeks reddened from the heat of the bag. When she looks up at Brimar and Lara, they flash the light right at her face, causing her to wince and look away.
“Is that too bright for you?” Lara asks in an American accent.
“Yes,” Lilly responds.
“Perfect, then we’ll leave it as is.” Lara walks around the chair and drags her fake gun over Lilly’s cheek. “You’re much smaller than I expected.”
“She was an easy grab,” Brimar says in an American accent as well as he snaps a belt against the wall, startling Lilly again. “You’ve made yourself a target for a while. Carelessly waltzing around in public, not following the protocol I’m assuming was taught to you.”
Lara runs her gun along Lilly’s neck. “It was almost as if she wanted us to capture her.”
From where I’m leaning against the wall, arms crossed, I say, “Lilly, at this moment, you need to memorize everything you can, from the way they talk, their dialect, their clothes, how they look if you can see. What’s in their hands, what they smell like, what the room looks like, if you hear anything like the ocean or traffic or anything that would indicate your surroundings. This is vital.”
“Okay.” She clears her throat and asks, “Why on earth would I want you to capture me?”
Lara twists her hand into Lilly’s hair and pulls her head back. “Are you being sarcastic with us?”
Stepping in again, I say, “Lilly, I know this might be hard for you, but don’t provoke them. Don’t joke. Keep calm, be patient, and listen to everything they have to say. Try to understand them. I know it’s in your nature to defend yourself, but when you’re kidnapped, you have to drop those defenses and concentrate on becoming agreeable.”
“Okay, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, you’re learning.”
“I asked you a question,” Lara repeats, tugging on her hair.
“Sorry,” Lilly says. “That was out of line.”
“Ooo, she learns quick, doesn’t she, sweetie?” Lara asks Brimar.
“She sure does. Now, let’s see what else she can learn.”
We spend the next hour role-playing, Lara and Brimar testing her, dropping hints here and there, and I watch as Lilly calmly asks them questions, listens to them intently, nods, and even gets Lara to talk about her childhood for a moment. I’m fucking impressed.
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” I say to Lara and Brimar, who quickly take the light out of Lilly’s face. Lara cuts the zip ties and releases Lilly, who rubs her wrists, looking exhausted.
With concerned, unsure eyes, she looks up at me and asks, “How did I do?”
If we were alone, I’d take her into my lap and cradle her against my chest, making sure she was okay, but since we’re with Lara and Brimar, I know we don’t have that privilege.
“We need to see.” Lara and Brimar bring in a table and extra chairs and we all take a seat. Lara passes Lilly a bottle of water, and I wince as she gulps it down. No doubt she was thirsty from nerves, adrenaline, and constant questions. Once I have the notepad and pen in hand, I ask, “Princess Lilly, can you please tell us everything you observed while kidnapped? The more we know, the more we can try to find the culprits.”