Honestly, her ordeal was way worse than what I went through. It scared the daylights out of me just hearing about it.
"What did they say?" Hannah pressed, leaning forward, her blue eyes wide with curiosity.
"They said they couldn't stick around, that the police would arrive soon; the news was out. And their boss' plan was to make a big move! Another guy asked, 'How?'" Catherine recounted vividly.
Logan watched Catherine recount every detail, his expression morphing into a grimace with each word.
I knew Logan was hurting more than he let on.
Catherine went on, "One of the guys went, 'Boss says to make it a big deal, the bigger the better. Don't worry about the fallout.' Then they put their heads together and decided to kill a couple of officers—said that would really shake things up. After they had it all planned out, one of them got their hands on some dynamite and rigged it to the door. They said as soon as anyone opened the door—boom!"
"How did they get out then?" Hannah asked, skepticism lacing her voice.
"That dump had a bathroom with a window. After setting up the dynamite, they squeezed out through that," Logan chimed in, taking over for Catherine. "We checked it out when we got there, there was a rope still hanging from the window."
"So, you hid under the bed?" I asked Catherine, my heart aching as I reached out and took her hand.
"They tied me up, gagged me, and took off. I couldn't even get off the bed if I tried." Catherine's voice wavered, and her eyes welled up. Tough as she acted, she was still delicate at heart.
I patted her hand gently, and she sniffled before continuing, "I was pretty much in despair, but I thought, 'I can't just give up. I can't die like this.'"
She stole a glance at Logan, who was hanging on her every word, and quickly looked away, a shy smile touching her lips.
"I knew staying in bed was a death sentence. So, I mustered all my strength, shut my eyes, and rolled off. I hit the ground so hard that I blacked out."
Catherine's confession hit me hard. Her head wound had been severe.
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