Think Like A Criminal

Chapter 8

Cara sat on her bed in a towel. She knew that good-for-nothing man would not bring her the clothes unless she shouted for it. She waited in the bathroom for a good fifteen minutes, peeking outside from time to time wondering if her clothes were there. She got agitated and decided to cover her naked body with a towel, tie up her wet hair in a bun and stepped outside to shout at him. However before doing that, she had heard them talking.

She leaned on the bathroom door outside to get a clear hearing, her eyes squinted in concentration. So they never had a proper breakfast before which means they do not stay indoors a lot. They are also very careful in not to leave a trace which means they are usually on the run. They have done wrong things before and are now cautious not to leave a single trace. She heard Victor telling how he wanted to professionally be a chef – his voice hinted sadness, making Cara curious about his reasons to join his friend. Cara was surprised to know that they were high school friends.

She remembered her purpose standing there clad in nothing but a flimsy towel, when she heard Victor telling that they would be residing here for some time.

'Some time?' she thought, 'This could be a few weeks or months.'

However long it would be, Cara knew she did not have time to lie around. She needed to figure a way to get out of there. Judging by their conversation and how cosy they were at that moment, she could only have a week or two – a month at max. Racking her brain, she calculated her days and time. She was taken yesterday which meant today marked the first day of October. She needed to be quick but careful. She had to plan her exit within the upcoming days, but how?

Remembering she was still in a towel she had goosebumps from the early October cold, she decided to fret about it later and get dressed first. She called out to them to give her clothes and quickly walked towards her room in a fast pace. She did not want them to know she was eavesdropping. She would try to ask them about their plan about her and if that was not helpful, she would have to eavesdrop again.

She had to plan her escape very carefully.

Hearing the thumps of the feet against the hard floor, Cara sat up straight on her bed. She prayed it was not Vincent. Her mind needed to be free from all stupidities to come up with an escape plan. Vincent and his stupid talk would only slow her down. There was a knock on the door and she was thankful to God for the person responsible for it.

"You can come in, Victor," she said. He opened the room and entered with a surprised look on his face. His left hand dragged a suitcase behind him as he approached Cara. He stopped a few feet away from her.

"How did you know it was me at the door?" he asked, the suitcase stood next to his lean form.

Cara smiled, "I would say a lucky guess but that'd be a lie."

Realisation drawn upon him as he let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, he does have a habit of not knocking the door. He prefers to knock out people, though."

Rolling her eyes, she replied back, "I know about that after last night."

There was silence for a few seconds. It was not awkward but comfortable. She saw how Victor still did not realise that she was sitting in nothing but a towel, probably because he was looking at her face and the window behind her all the time. Then and there she decided that she liked Victor and concluded that something must have happened to him to be in this line of work. Last night too, his grip on her was tight but it was not tight enough to cause her any bruises. Also, he did not have the same sinister look Vincent had; he smiled at her despite having a part in the kidnapping. Among the duo, she understood that Vincent was the mastermind and Victor must be in this expedition because of something personal.