She looked up at the increasing numbers and began reciting psalms 23 quietly. While her lips moved, she absentmindedly touched them, and smiled. When the elevator dinged, indicating that she had reached her floor, Liliana stepped out, and began heading towards room 415, while continuing to recite the passage on her lips.
When Liliana found the room, she stood facing the door and tried to breathe. She wasn't sure what would happen once she opened the door, but as long as her parents came out safe and sound, that's all that mattered at this point.
Inhaling through her nostrils, Liliana lifted her wrist, and knocked on the door. It took a few seconds before the door opened, to reveal Carlos, who was grinning from ear to ear, while he clutched a gun in his left hand. Liliana watched him carefully but made no move to enter.
"Come in." Carlos invited, his kind and friendly, and had Liliana been blind to his true colors, she could have seen his actions as genuine.
The moment Liliana entered the suite, she noticed her parents standing in the sitting area. Liliana attempted to run their way, but Carlos's strong and unwelcomed grip fell onto her arm, as he pulled her backwards in a harsh manner, and said, "ah, ah, ah. You're not here for them, you're here for me. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Chavez, I thank you for keeping me company while I awaited your daughter's arrival, but now if you don't mind, I'd like a moment in private with her please."
With a firm glare from Carlos, Liliana's mother looked into her daughter's eyes, and nodded sadly. She intertwined her fingers with her husband's fingers, and they began heading towards the door. As they got closer to Liliana, her mother began to sob, and Liliana simply shook her head as she reassured, "it's okay, I'll be okay."
Nodding, her parents passed her by, then exited the room. The moment they stepped into the hall, Carlos closed the door, and locked it as he shoved Liliana away. With an angered sob, Liliana turned around harshly, aiming to fight Carlos, only to come face to face with the barrel of his gun, as she froze and raised her hands above her head.
Back in the hallway, Liliana's parents rushed to the elevator, and to their luck, Liliana's elevator was still on the fourth floor. They rushed to the lobby as soon as the elevator doors opened. Frantz didn't have to guess that they were Lili's parents. Liliana was a spitting image of her mother.
"Mrs. Chavez, my name is Mr. Cavalier, we spoke on the phone once before." Frantz introduced himself, and Lili's mother shook his hand firmly, followed by her father.
"That maniac has my daughter." Lili's mother wasted no time in saying as the Sherriff approached them.
"We understand ma'am, but we're making sure that he will not be able to leave the building." The Sherriff spoke up, as he puffed his chest, and looped his fingers through his belt, taking what Frantz believed to be an authoritative stance.
"Oh he doesn't plan on leaving with her, he's going to rape her in that hotel room, then kill her." Mrs. Chavez declared without mincing her words, causing Frantz's blood to run cold.
"Well ma'am we don't know that for sure." The Sherriff explained, and in turn Mrs. Chavez replied, "so what, you're going to wait until you hear gunshots go off before you decide to go up there and save her?"
"I will follow protocol," the Sherriff spoke, his tone curt, as he added "and I can assure you that no harm will come to your daughter." The Sherriff brushed, then he snapped his fingers towards an officer, who attempted to remove Lili's protesting parents from the scene. Seeing this, Frantz signaled Armagio, who stealthily handed him a gun, and casually, Frantz slipped away from the band of officers, and headed to the fourth floor.
"Bedroom, go." Carlos ordered, as he shoved Liliana in the direction of the bedroom, using his gun.
Wincing at the hard metal's sting against her skin, Liliana began making her way towards the bedroom, with her hands still above her head. As she crossed the suite, Liliana's eyes darted around cautiously as she tried looking for a potential weapon. When her eyes landed on a clear vase, sitting on a brown console table against the wall, it's as if Carlos read her mind, and he pressed the gun into her back, earning a painful hiss from Liliana as he threatened "Don't even think about it."
With one last shove, Liliana stumbled into the bedroom. As she straightened herself and regained her balance, Carlos was quick to close the door and lock it, while keeping his gun aimed at Liliana. Once he was sure the door was secure, he approached Liliana, who had begun shaking.
She didn't want to accept the reality that she was here, about to be forced into having sex with a man who made her skin crawl. A man she absentmindedly trusted, yet he easily violated that trust. Running out of options for an escape, Liliana retorted to begging.
"Carlos- P-please," she began to sob, "pu-please don't- d- don't do this- AH!" Liliana grunted, when Carlos slapped her with a harsh backhand, her cheek instantly reddening with a bloody bruise.
"Didn't tell you to speak." Carlos stated, coolly, as he walked past Liliana who was now nursing her burning cheek.
Carlos reached the bed, and he sat down, opening his legs as he looked at a sobbing Liliana. The girl who thought she was too good for him. Now at his mercy. He seem to become aroused at her miserable tears, and red cheek. He would teach her a lesson about being too proud and self-centered.
Carlos smiled, as Liliana sucked in a deep breath and faced him.
Unzipping his pants, Carlos leaned back onto his arms as he directed, "now how about you be a good girl, and get over here."
"Carlos-"
"Ah, ah," Carlos cut her off as he made a show of cocking his gun as he said, "I have a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it. Now, I'll only repeat myself once. Get over here Liliana." Carlos ordered, all smiles gone.
Meanwhile, Frantz had just step into the hallway on the fourth floor. He wasted no time in finding room 415, and to his luck, a maid was working a few doors down. After a small debate and an exchange of a hundred dollars on his part, she gave him the key. Frantz opened the door and slipped in quietly. He heard Liliana scream, and hurried towards the bedroom. He wasted no time and threw the door open, only to find Carlos holding Liliana in a choke hold with his gun pressed against her temple.
"Well, well, I was wondering when you'd show up. Are you here to see Liliana put that sassy mouth of hers to work?" Carlos spoke, as if he and Frantz had been long time companions.
"No." Frantz simply replied, his eyes flashing between Liliana, and Carlos, while his gun remained trained at Carlos's head.
"Oh too bad, I think you would've enjoyed it." Carlos continued with his casual tone, as he turned his face towards Liliana, licking his tongue over the skin of her neck, and in turn, Liliana pulled away disgustedly, her stomach churning with a nauseating feeling.
Frantz watched as Carlos kissed Liliana's skin, and he was no longer in the mood to talk.
"Liliana, when I give you the signal, you lean your head to the left okay?" Frantz stated, and with a quick nod, Liliana replied, wanting to get as far away from Carlos as possible.
Carlos chuckled, as he pressed the gun harder into Lili's skin while saying "don't try to be the hero man. I'll make you a deal. Let me have my fill of what she's always hiding under her skirt, and then I'll let her go."
"Psalms 23." Frantz said, and sinking her teeth into Carlos's arm, Carlos's hold loosened, and Liliana leaned away from Carlos's face, just as Mr. Cavalier took a shot, landing directly between Carlos's eyes.
His body fell backwards onto the bed, and Liliana rushed into Frantz's arms, sobbing into his chest, as his arms enveloped her form, keeping her flushed against his body. A few moments later, the Sheriff and his men bombarded the suite, and Frantz held onto Lili's shoulders as he directed them, "you'll find him in the bedroom."
"But-" The Sheriff began to argue, "anything you would like to know, you can speak to my lawyer about it." Frantz threw over his shoulder as he led Liliana to the elevators, then quietly escorted her to her parents.
The minute Liliana saw her mother, she ran from Frantz's hold, and into her mother's opened arms. Her father sandwiched her in, as they all sobbed and giggled all at once. Liliana's mother pet her hair and chanced a look at the handsome man who stood a few steps away. His eyes remained on Liliana the entire time, and her mother smiled. She knew that look all too well.
When the sniffling family pulled away, Liliana's mother wiped he tears and Liliana giggled once again, then Mrs. Chavez stepped away, and walked right up to Frantz as she pulled him down into a thankful embrace.
Shocked, Frantz shyly hugged her back, and he chanced a looked towards Liliana who looked back at him with a soft smile.
"Thank you." Mrs. Chavez stated, as she pulled away, then Lili's father shared a handshake with Frantz as he said, "thank you."
With a nod, Frantz smiled and shook his hand.
After the sharing of thanks and embrace, Liliana's mother faced her as she said, sadly, "I'm guessing you'll have to go back now." Liliana shook her head as she began, "no, I don't have to go back right away."
"You can stay at my hotel for as long as you need." Frantz jumped in, catching both Lili and her parents off guard.
"I don't think that's necessary-" Liliana cut in with a tight smile.
"Actually," her mother cut her off, "We have been wanting to go to vacation, so it would be a pleasure." Her mother intervened, before Liliana could finish turning down Frantz's offer.
With a "wonderful" from Frantz, he directed them towards his car, and Armagio drove them to Frantz's hotel.
The entire car ride, no one spoke a word. Besides a few shared glances between Liliana and Frantz, which did not go unnoticed by her mother, there was no other form of conversation.
When they arrived at the hotel, Frantz led them to one of his renown guest suites. He ensured that they were comfortable, and settled, before he excused himself and decided to head to his own suite.
Just as he reached the door, Mrs. Chavez stopped him as she asked, "Would you like to come over for dinner later on this evening? I'll order Italian." At her words, Liliana almost choked on the water she had been drinking, meanwhile Frantz simply smiled at her reaction an agreed as he said, "it would be my pleasure."