IslandAffair

The other man flicked his gaze
over Rob’s shoulder and shook his head infinitesimally. Linda stepped away and
the moment was gone. She prodded him in the back with the barrel of the gun.
    “Now go and get nice and cozy with your friend . Cuff
yourself to the pipe.”
    Robin obediently did as she ordered, taking his place on the
floor beside his partner. Linda watched, gun in hand, until he clicked the
handcuffs shut. Satisfied, she tucked the gun back into her waistband. Though
he knew it was fruitless he tried once more to reason with her.
    “Linda, please don’t do this. We’ll leave right now if you
want. You can’t possibly get away with this.”
    “Talk, talk, talk! Why are you all so obsessed with
talking?” A pink gym bag lay by the privacy wall shielding the showers from the
door that led back to the main hallway. She rummaged in it, taking out the roll
of silver duct tape and tearing off a strip. “For weeks now all I’ve heard from
Kyle is ‘you’ve got to talk to someone, Linda’.” She made a face, mimicking a
whiny voice, and covered Rob’s mouth with the tape roughly, knocking his head
back against the wall. He winced at the fresh burst of pain from the bruised
area. “Then I get a letter from him saying he’s suing me for custody of my daughter. I wasn’t worried. After all, what judge in his right mind would give
custody to a fag in this town?” She grabbed Rob’s chin in her hand,
manicured nails digging in painfully. “Can’t be sure of that now? Can we?”
    Linda stood, wiping her hands on her shorts with an
expression of distaste. “I have to go now. There’s a nice policeman waiting for
me fast asleep in my bed. Wouldn’t want him to wake up all alone now, would
we?” She picked up her bag and paused at the exit to smile back at them, making
a show of looking around the room.
    “You know, it’s a shame they never found the money to
install the sprinkler system. It can be so expensive to maintain older
buildings. In a little while it’s going to get very hot in here. If you’re
lucky the smoke will get you first. I’ve heard it’s a very peaceful way to go.
Just like drowning.” She turned on her heel and left, footsteps cut off as the
door swung shut behind her.
     
    Robin waited, half expecting her to come back but there was
only silence. Her words sank into his mind and panic flooded his veins. She
intended to set fire to the building! He pulled frantically at his handcuffs,
trying to slip them over his hands but succeeding only in giving himself more
bruises. He turned to his knees and leaned close to his hands so that he could
grab the duct tape and peel it off, while his lover did the same.
    “John, are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. She was waiting outside the station for me, told
me you were here and had had a seizure. When we got here she hit me with
something.” He shrugged. “When I came to I was tied up and she had lost it.
How’s your head, love?”
    “It hurts but I’ll live. We need to get out of here.” It was
probably his imagination but it felt hotter in here. He looked around at the
tiled room with the metal lockers and cubicles. Someone would see the flames
and come eventually but it was going to be too late. The firefighters would
find their bodies roasted in here like in a giant oven. How ironic to burn to
death in a building filled with water.
    He watched as John yanked futilely at his own handcuffs. He
turned back to the piping and Robin watched as he inspected the joint, pausing
where it was bolted to the wall. “I think we might be able to get this loose,
help me, Robin.” Together they grabbed the sturdy metal and pulled. It moved
slightly, just a fraction of an inch. Rob stood to get better leverage. On the
third attempt something shifted and the bolts felt looser.
    The acrid smell of fire began to fill the room and Rob
looked around to see a heavy gray layer of smoke descending from the ceiling.
The fire alarm screamed to life, deafening them. He saw the banked fear in
John’s eyes and together they turned back to their task. Rob planted his foot
against the wall and with one last heave the bolts gave way. The pipe separated
from the wall with a screech and he lost his balance, hanging precariously by
his wrists. He scrambled to his feet and they quickly freed themselves.
    The smoke was getting thicker, blotting out the overhead
lights. It squeezed his chest and scratched his throat. John grabbed his hand
and pulled him