Erin rubbed the welts where the rope had rubbed her raw. “What a relief that is!”
“Now, let’s go get some more of that food.”
They ran over to the table and Erin sliced off several wedges of cheddar while Tom picked out a half dozen apples. Grabbing an unopened box of wheat thins, Tom said, “Let’s go back toward that meeting room. We’ll find a place to hide out and chow down.”
Erin nodded and followed Tom out of the ballroom. They discovered a cluttered storage room and meandered their way through the stacks of tables, chairs and serving carts to the rear of the room and sat down. Nearby was a second door that opened up to a small closet that could be used for a quick hideaway if need be. Erin winked at Tom as she pointed her finger at a six pack of bottled Evian water stored on the shelf.
“That should complete our meal quite nicely,” she said before reaching up for the water.
Tom sat across from Erin on the floor with their bounty lying between them. Like a couple of hungry wolves, they proceeded to stuff their mouths as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“That sure hit the spot!” Tom finally said, chasing his last bite of cheese down with a slug of water.
“For sure,” Erin replied. “Now I’m so full I can hardly move!”
“I hear you. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for a siesta. We need to see if we can get out of this place before our luck starts running out.”
“Do you think either of them is in the hotel right now? I mean, we’re just above the lobby and haven’t heard or seen anything at all.”
“I’m beginning to think they’re still outside looking for me. When I escaped, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see which way I went. They probably assumed that I’d bale out of this place rather than stick around.”
“So why did you stick around?”
“I wasn’t going to leave without you,” Tom replied simply.
Erin reached over and gave him a huge bear hug. “I still can’t believe you drove all the way here to look for me. I wrote that little note out of sheer desperation, not really sure if you’d even see it and definitely not thinking you would actually act on it!”
Tom held her tightly. “I’ll admit I was a little confused at first. I mean-I was faced with the dilemma of either continuing to look for my family or go chasing after you. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was useless to search Columbus for Peg and the kids any longer.”
“I feel really guilty, you know.”
“Don’t, Erin. I will find my family eventually if they are anywhere to be found. But we need to get moving now-we can talk later. All I want to do is get the hell out of this hotel, out of New York and back to Columbus!”
“Me, too!” Erin said.
They both stood up and Erin hastily gathered up the plates. Tom was reminded of her experience as a waitress and smiled to himself.
“Let’s go check the lobby and if the coast is clear, get out of this godforsaken place,” Tom said.
CHAPTER 12
Tom’s heart was pounding hard as he and Erin slipped through the stairway door and into the lobby. He brought his finger to his lips and motioned for Erin to wait while he went ahead to scout the area. Then he tiptoed along the wall toward the lobby’s main corridor.
When he reached the end of the corridor, he peeked around the corner past the registration desks toward the Park Avenue entrance. He spotted the table where he’d snatched up the keys and saw the plates of food and beer bottles, still in the same positions they’d been before. Encouraged by this, he walked quietly along the registration area toward the entrance several yards further, stopped, looked around and listened.
Not a sign of anybody.
He walked back until he saw Erin then motioned for her to come over to him. She moved toward Tom stealthily until she drew up beside him.
“Looks good,” Tom whispered. “If we can get as far as the entrance, we should be home free.”
“Great, let’s do it!” Erin whispered excitedly.
“Stay right behind me and don’t make a sound. They could still be around the corner for all we know. We’re just going to have to creep along until we can case the scene better.”
Tom started moving with Erin close behind. He stayed glued to the wall, keeping his eyes trained on the entrance and to his right, just in case he spotted someone around the corner. In another few steps he could see the doors to the death chamber where Kyle no doubt was still hanging from the ceiling. The thought made Tom feel nauseous and he inadvertently turned and glanced at Erin. Her face was white as a sheet as she stared in the same direction. God only knew what she had been forced to endure in there, Tom thought.
He squeezed her hand in encouragement. They were about twenty yards from the foyer leading to the Park Avenue entrance. It was obvious now that no one was in the immediate area.
They were almost home free.
Tom took Erin by the hand and quickened the pace when they reached the foyer. He could now see the doors clearly and the waning darkness outside.
“Let’s run for it!” he whispered to Erin.
“Okay!”
The two sprinted toward the doors. Tom flung open one of them and ran out onto the street, Erin right on his heels. He immediately noticed that the hearse was gone, prompting Tom to think that they just might make it after all. They headed south on Park Avenue.
“We’ll head back to my Jeep and see if we can get it started-maybe the battery has recharged itself after some rest. If we see any kind of vehicle on the way, we’ll check it for keys just in case,” Tom told Erin between breaths.
“Sounds good-where is it parked?”
“On Thirty-Fourth Street.”
They ran all the way to Forty-Sixth Street then stopped long enough to peek inside a parked taxicab: unlocked but no keys. They continued their run and paced themselves, slowing down to a moderate gait to conserve energy. Tom was already winded and marveled at Erin, who was barely breathing hard. Of course she was still a kid and had youth on her side. He was not, did not and felt like an old man.
They ran a few more blocks, checked another cab for keys and discovered that it was unlocked but had been vandalized. The windows were all busted out, the seat covers sliced and indecipherable graffiti was scrawled all over the hood and side panels. Apparently Chappy and the boys had been particularly bored one night.
By the time they approached Forty-Second Street and spotted Grand Central Station, Tom knew he was going to have to rest before his lungs totally collapsed.
“Gotta stop and catch my breath,” he told Erin breathlessly. “Used to smoke and it’s catching up with me.”
“Me, too,” Erin replied, probably just to make him feel better.
“Let’s duck in there for minute,” Tom said, pointing toward an electronics store with a busted out door window on the north side of Forty-Second Street.
The two headed toward the store and stepped inside. Tom stood for a moment to catch his breath then started searching the trashed display cases for anything they might be of value in them. He found a decent flashlight/radio combination then looked around for batteries that would fit the thing. When he found a pack of double A’s, he popped them in, turned on the flashlight and the radio.
Nothing but static on the radio. He twirled the tuning knob and continued getting static across the band.
“Oh well, at least we have a decent flashlight now. Speaking of light, it’s getting lighter every minute. We’d better get going before day breaks.”
“What are we going to do if the Jeep won’t start?” Erin asked.
“Hell if I know. I guess we’ll have to take a battery out of one the cabs parked nearby. That could be a real problem, though. I don’t know if we can afford that kind of time.”
“I can’t believe we haven’t seen them yet! I wonder where they are.”
Tom led the way out of the store. “I have no idea. All I know is that the odds are running against us every second we stay in this place. Manhattan may be huge, but they know we can only get so far without any wheels.”