Chapter Forty Four

"Rebecca, don't panic," Ruthie said softly. "You can get us out of here, I know you can. Just take a few deep breaths and focus, just like Ivan taught you."

"I'm so sorry Ruthie, this is all my fault! I thought I could face him but I..."

"Don't worry about that right now." She kept her tone smooth and comforting. "Just focus.”

I looked over at her slumped on the wall, her clothes torn and her body bruised. She was standing in a puddle of blood…Too much blood. I had gotten her into this mess, I needed to get her out. I tried to steady my breathing, to get my mind off of Claude, but I was distracted by a cackle coming from the door.

"Finally! The both of you right where you belong" Lilly was peering in from the small barred window. She looked fine.

"Lilly! what are you doing?” I almost screamed at her. She was in a good position to escape and here she was gloating. "You've got to get out of here! Claude, he's going to kill you!"

She just laughed some more. "Oh he may have killed a