Hold On

Chapter 3

When the light went on, Juliet and Magnum dropped their hands they were still holding and covered their eyes, trying to shield them from the sudden brightness. Although the light was on, they still couldn't see much for some time. When her eyes finally grew accustomed to those conditions, Juliet dropped her hands and quickly looked at her partner, trying to estimate the state he was in.

First of all, he looked pale and didn't move to sit up which meant that the mysterious illness was still there. Apart from that, his face was bruised and as she figured out from his earlier reaction, his ribs must have suffered too.

On the other hand, Magnum had similar thoughts about her and despite not feeling very well, he wanted to make sure she was all right. Looking at her, he didn't notice any signs of the fight ending bad for her so he hoped she wasn't injured then.

"Thomas, how are you feeling?" Juliet asked, touching his cheek lovingly.

"Hey, I've already told you I'm..." He started saying but was interrupted when the door abruptly opened with a loud noise, startling them.

"Well, well, well. Look at you two. Isn't that sweet? How nice to see that you've finally woken up. It took you four hours to come round." Nick, the leader of the masked men, stated with a mocking smile on his face.

He stepped inside, the other two men were standing behind him.

"Who are you?" Juliet asked.

"That is something you don't really need to know." The man replied.

"What do you want from us?" This time it was Magnum who tried to get some answers. Slowly, he sat up, putting a lot of effort into it.

Nick looked at the PI and grinned. "Don't worry, you'll find that out soon. In the meantime, relax and take a rest. I see you need it right now, don't you think?"

Thomas didn't say anything, just didn't take his eyes off that man. They were both staring at each other for a long moment when Juliet spoke up.

"Can you untie us at least?"

Nick hesitated, weighing his options. He knew there was always a risk when those being held would want to take the opportunity to free themselves. However, in this situation with Magnum's current state, he wasn't any threat, it was his partner Nick was rather worried about. After taking everything into consideration, he decided to relieve their discomfort a little and agreed to Juliet's request.

He turned to Burt. "Go on, untie them. Start with her." He pointed to Higgins.

"Just don't do anything stupid." He warned her.

Burt approached her, already holding a knife in his hand. After what she had done to him, he wished he could use that weapon on her instead of cutting her lose.

Juliet tried to play calm but on the inside she was almost dancing with happiness. It may have been their only chance and she was very determined to seize the opportunity and promised herself that she would do everything she could to get them out of this alive. Therefore, she observed the man who came closer to her very carefully. Most of all, she noticed his vengeful look he sent her as soon as he crouched beside her. She had a feeling that meant nothing good. Then, very reluctantly he cut the rope that was around her wrists. She felt a great relief and at once she massaged her hands that went completely numb after so many hours of being tied.

For a moment there, the man was looking at what she was doing and then he moved to free her legs. As soon as he left his eyes off her face, she prepared herself for the attack and waited for the perfect moment. It seemed to her that time slowed down and everything happened like in slow motion. When the knife's blade finally touched the rope and cut it, she focused all her strength on her next move. In one swift motion, she used her leg to kick the man right in his groin.