Why had he taken me hostage? He’d mentioned money. Was that all it was, or something more?
And… a surgeon? Why would he need a surgeon? I’d thought it was just for the injection, but now that I thought about it, it didn’t make any sense. Was he going to kill me? Operate on me? Snippets of television programs about stolen organs flashed through my mind.
My breathing was too fast, and I struggled to keep myself from passing out underneath the hood. I could feel the air, damp against my skin, closing in. Worse than my fear of heights, even. I leaned my head back against the cool stone of the catacombs and tried to stay calm.
Jake will come for you.
I told myself this, over and over again. Even though I wasn’t sure he would. He would. Because if he didn’t…
Chapter Ten
It was only when we were down in the catacombs that Jean-Luc pulled the hood off of my head. He had carried me for a way before setting me down on the hard ground. The only light in the dark caves was cast by the electric lantern sitting next to Jean-Luc. He cast a long shadow against the wall of the catacombs.
And behind him—
My God.
There were bones, piles and piles of bones stretching along the top of the stone ledge of the walls. I shouldn’t be surprised; I’d read about the catacombs. But reading about something was nothing compared to seeing it live. This was a place where dead people rested.
Would I soon be one of them?
I was starting to feel the muscles in my fingers respond when I moved them. My toes, too. I cleared my throat. I should be able to scream out for help soon. If there was anyone around to hear me.
Down here, it was cold, bitter cold. I shivered.
The surgeon, Rien, noticed my body shaking. He took off his jacket and put it around me. I looked up beseechingly into his eyes, but he stared down at me without any emotion on his face. He didn’t seem at all perturbed by the bones surrounding us.
“When will she regain muscle control?” Jean-Luc asked.
Rien looked at me and shrugged.
“Another hour, maybe two,” he said.
“Should we inject her again?”
“Too dangerous to have two doses so close together,” the surgeon said. “You ought to tie her.”
Jean-Luc tossed a length of rope over to Rien.
“Go ahead.”
“You’re not as charming as you think you are,” Rien muttered. He tied the rope around my wrists. I lay there limply as he tied my hands together. I hoped that he wouldn’t notice that I had recovered a bit from the paralysis.
Jean-Luc came over. He was holding my phone in his hand. He lifted it up and snapped a picture of me with my hands tied in front of me.
“Smile,” he said. “This is going to your boyfriend.”
I frowned. To Jake?
“Will he come looking for you?”
I had to snap back to realize the question was directed at me. I raised my eyes to Jean-Luc and said nothing. I was trying to pretend that I still couldn’t talk.
“Answer me,” he said. “Rien, is she—”
“She’s faking,” the surgeon said, sitting back near the lantern. “She can talk.”
Jean-Luc slapped me across the face. The blow surprised me more than it hurt, but I realized that this might be my only chance. I screamed.
In a flash, Jean-Luc pulled a gun out of his jacket. He pointed it in my face, and I cut off mid-scream.
“Please,” I whispered. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“Will he come looking for you?”
I shook my head helplessly.
“I… I don’t know,” I said. Would Jake come to find me? I didn’t think he would abandon me. But then again, who was I? Just a stupid girl who had gotten herself in trouble.
“Well, let’s hope he has feelings for you,” Jake said. “I’ve told him where to come and what to bring.”
“What… what…”
“He’ll give us ten million. The first million in cash. The rest in a bank transfer. If he agrees that it’s a fair price for you.”
A hostage. That’s what I was. That’s why Jean-Luc had taken me.
“He’ll go to the police,” I said, trying to act stronger than I felt.
“The police? I doubt he’ll do that. Look around you.”
Now I realized why he’d brought me down here. The catacombs of Paris stretched out for miles and miles under the city in a labyrinth of tunnels. Even if Jake got the entire police force to come looking for me, they wouldn’t be able to find me. It would be easy for Jean-Luc to escape out of one of the hundreds of exits into the world above.
“Why me?” I asked. I was dumbfounded. Me, a hostage?
“You’re the first girl Jake’s cared about,” Jean-Luc said. “At least, I hope he cares about you. Then this will all go smoothly.”