so hard she fell sideways to the floor. Lucy screamed, lurching to move towards her sister only to be backhanded herself, throwing her to the floor in the opposite direction with a thud.
The man named Mohammed held Hannah back from rushing to her friend while Jake leaned over Lucy, gripping her by her arms and yanking her face up until it was only inches from his gloating grin. "You see, Lucy dear, I win the prize for best actor. Your sister and Hannah were right. I'm a dangerous man. Now be a good little girl and go quietly."
"Are you fucking nuts? I want to leave. I didn't sign up for this. I'm not willingly going to be part of some freak show," Lucy said defiantly.
Hannah tried to press her hands over her ears to block out the sound of Jake's sadistic laughter. "That's great! My clients absolutely love playing with unwilling sluts. It makes breaking you all the more fun."
He yanked Lucy to her feet and then shoved her hard towards the door. She would have fallen if Mohammed hadn't let go of Hannah to catch her. He scooped her up over his shoulder and stalked out the door, her screeching quieting only when the solid mahogany swung shut behind them.
Now free, Hannah rushed to Mia and knelt down next to her crying friend. She pulled her into her arms as best she could. In her rush to help, she'd thrown the ledger to the floor and Jake reached to leisurely pick it up.
From her peripheral vision, Hannah sensed him leafing through the book to check it hadn't been tampered with. She prayed he wouldn't figure out that the men had photographed each page before sending it back with her.
"I'm so disappointed in you, Hannah. I had such high hopes for you. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do about your insubordination and deception. All I know for sure is that I'm going to make sure you hate it so much you'll think long and hard before you try anything like this again," Jake said evenly.
As he turned to walk back behind his desk Hannah started working feverishly to untie Mia, hoping the two of them together might have a shot at overpowering the crazy man in the room.
"Let go of Mia and come stand before me, Hannah." It was an order.
No way was she stopping until her friend was free. She could see the terror in Mia's eyes, her left cheek already bruising from the vicious blow she'd just suffered. Hannah's hands shook as she tried to get the knots of the ropes loose.
Jake's next words froze her. "Mohammed, as soon as you get Lucy secured, return to the office for her sister. Seems Hannah isn't going to be able to focus on me until I get her alone." She glanced up and saw the cell phone at his ear. As he ended the call, his eyes bored into hers. His ominous promise only made her move faster.
She couldn't understand why Jake wasn't getting up to stop her as she successfully got Mia's hands free. The two women worked together feverishly to untie the ropes on her ankles, finally freeing Mia.
With relief they pushed to their feet, Mia leaning heavily on Hannah as her legs cramped. Jake still wasn't moving to stop them, but Hannah wasn't going to question it as they rushed to the door, yanking at the knob only to find it locked. Feeling like a caged animal, Hannah grabbed the handle with both hands, yanking at the door with all her might—to no avail.
The haunting sound of Jake's laughter chilled her blood. "Did you actually think I'd let you leave? I didn't take you for a fool, Hannah."
She spun around, feeling braver with the full room length's distance between them. "Fuck you, Jake. You got the ledger back. I held up my end of the bargain. Now you need to do the same. Mia and I are leaving. Now!"
The feel of the door at her back opening jarred her forward. She turned as Mohammed's large frame darkened the room. Pulling Mia along with her, Hannah rushed the man, catching him off-guard with a hard kick to his groin, doubling him over in pain. She moved out into the hall back in the direction she had come from, only to be stopped at the security door.
What a fool she was. She stood still, looking at the retina and thumbprint scanners, knowing she would never get