“I learned long ago to be prepared for a day like this,” she refers to her bag and opens the door. I step out into the night, worry deep in my gut. She locks the door behind us and follows me to my rental. “I’m not losing my daughter again Hudson.”
Chapter 31
Alice
The piercing sound of ringing fills the air, pulling me back into consciousness. My head bursts with intense pain as I try to open my eyes but they burn and water, making me to be temporarily blind. My nose is filled with a putrid scent, like bile and skunk.
Is that me?
The ringing alarms again. I flinch and my body tenses as I attempt to shrink away from the sound, but it’s all around me. I struggle to bring my hands to my ears but can’t, my wrists are tied behind my back. I tug at the bindings and the movement causes a different kind of pain to shoot throughout my limbs. My legs are tied at the ankles and with an extra pull I discover they are anchored to my wrists, keeping me in an inverted fetal position. I want to cry out from the agony of it all but I dare not as I am gagged and thoroughly frightened.
What the hell?
The ringing shrills one last time before it is cut short. My ears perk up to a shuffling sound nearby. I try to focus on it. What I hear next chills my blood to the core.
“Hello,” a masculine voice barks. It felt familiar but I couldn’t place it, my mind was still too foggy. “Oh, hey baby...yes, I’ve just landed. I have to swing by the office first. I’ve got a loose end to tie up.”
The voice pauses and I search my brain for some semblance of recognition. Who was this person and why I was bound and gagged in their car?
“I’ll be home late, don’t wait up for me...I know sweetheart, the good news is I won’t have to take any more trips like this for a long time. Okay...I love you.”
It goes silent but the man shuffles around, I assume he’s putting his phone away. His call allowed me the time I needed to focus. I was able to calm down, push aside the pain and try to figure out where I was. My vision clears as the burning gets flushed away with fresh tears. It is dark but every once in awhile a light flashes above my head and the hum of a car engine vibrates with each bump and dip.
I’m in a car, my instincts scream. The back seat of a car and while I painfully shift my position on the bench seat underneath me, I catch the outline of my fellow traveler as we pass a street lamp.
My stomach drops as the dots finally connect in my mushy brain. I feel like vomiting but force myself to fight against the urge, knowing I will only choke on it because of the gag. Tears silently fall down the corners of my eyes.
Erik.
I suddenly remembered everything. I was at home, Hudson’s home, packing an overnight bag to stay at Missy’s. Zero insisted on heading home with me but I stopped him, told him I’d be all right. I did it again, got too comfortable, allowed myself to feel safe.
Fuck! No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening. Not now.
My mind reels. How could I have been so stupid? How?
Poor Zero! Hudson was going to flip when he found out he let me talk him out of doing his job. The job he was adamant about doing, keeping me safe. I would probably be home right now, sound asleep in Missy’s guestroom if only I had kept my mouth shut. They were right though. I needed someone to look after me because over the last few weeks I’d stopped looking over my shoulder. I didn’t need to because they were there doing it for me. Maybe I had gotten too used to having them around or maybe I was tired of running.
I sift through my brain, trying to come with a plan. A way to get out of this predicament and it hits me. We’re in a car but he just told someone we landed...and that someone, he called baby and said ‘I love you’ to them.
None of this is making sense.
Who was he talking to? Where are we? Did we leave Oregon?
The car jerks roughly as it hit a large bump in the road, pain shoots through me like white hot fire and I groan in response. He looks over his shoulder at me. His shoulder length blonde hair hangs over his eyes.
“You’re awake,” he chuckles. “I was beginning to wonder. I gave you a higher dose than usual, wasn’t sure how you’d react at thirty-five thousand feet if you woke up. I couldn’t risk it Alleycat, not even on a private jet.”
My stomach rolls when his pet name for me leaves his lips, I don’t bother masking my physical reaction, it’s dark and his attention is on the road. At least I knew we weren’t in Oregon anymore.
I struggle against my ropes, but the car hits another bump. I groan again, the pain more intense as my body shakes the effects of my cocktail off I wasn’t sure how long I had been tied up but knowing Erik, he’d done it soon after we boarded the plane. He didn’t like taking risks. Hence the high dosage of whatever knocked me out. He throws a look over his shoulder. I can see a toothy grin covering his face as various street lights flash into the vehicle. “Feels like old times, doesn’t it?”