“You’re a crazy person,” I said. I wanted to spit at him, but I knew I couldn’t spit that far.
He laughed as if my declaration was cute.
“You won’t get away with this,” I said. “People will wonder where I am, why I’m not at work.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing,” he said. “I’ve got it all taken care of.”
I fully believed him. If he was crazy enough to track me down in St. Louis after not even knowing my last name, I knew he was capable of far more sinister things. I shuddered to think of what he did to cover his tracks.
Suddenly Blaze bringing a truck instead of his motorcycle was starting to make sense. He had this planned all along. If I wasn’t going to go willingly with him, he was going to take me. What a sick fuck.
“Please untie me,” I said, trying to reason with him. “I won’t do anything stupid. I’m just really uncomfortable.”
“No can do,” he said. “Not until we get to where we’re going.”
“And where’s that?” I asked.
“Tulsa,” he said with a wink and a smile. “Where else?”
“What are you going to do with me,” I asked. I could feel my body start to shiver and convulse a little as my nerves were quickly becoming shot. I knew I was powerless, and it scared the shit out of me.
“Give you a taste of the life you could have if only you gave it a fair fightin’ chance,” he said smugly. “I know I’ll be able to convert you this this life.
“Never,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Not yet you aren’t,” he said. “Give it time.”
“How much time are you planning to give me?” I said.
“As long as it fuckin’ takes,” he said with a smirk. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Why do you want to with someone who doesn’t want to be with you?” I asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little pathetic? Can’t you go find some other chick to prey on?”
I regretted those words the instant they flew out of my mouth. I knew I had just elevated the situation ten-fold and not in my favor.
I looked up at his eyes through the reflection in the rearview mirror, and I could tell he was seething.
Oh, shit, I thought.
I saw him reach over into the passenger seat, but I couldn’t see what he was doing. Before I even had time to react, he had reached down and placed a cloth over my nose and mouth, and I was out.
CHAPTER 13
The last thing I remembered was arguing with Blaze in the truck, being tied up, and running my smart mouth. Then I remember him reaching back and putting something over my nose and suddenly the world went black. I couldn’t have been any more powerless than I was in that moment, and I had just pissed off my captor.
I came to, albeit groggily, lying in the bed of a seedy motel room. The room smelled musty, like an old camper, and the walls were floor to ceiling wood paneling. I could see the glow of the T.V. from across the room, but the volume was so low I could hardly hear any sound coming from it.
“Blaze?” I called out. Glancing around the room told me no one was with me, until I saw the glow around the outline of the bathroom door. “Blaze?”
My arms were spread out, each one duct taped to a different part of the headboard. It was the only way I was restrained, and I wondered how I could get out of it.
I pulled my arms and twisted as hard as I could, but I could feel the duct tape starting to cut into my wrists as they burned.
My mouth was uncovered, thank goodness, and I thought about yelling as loud as I could, but my instincts told me he was behind the bathroom door and it was only a matter of seconds before he’d come out and shut me up.
I tried a little more to free my wrists, but my efforts were in vain. The tape was starting to look tampered with, and I knew he’d notice it, so I decided to give up for the time being. He’d have to unrestrain me eventually. He couldn’t leave me tied up forever.
Within seconds, the bathroom door flung open and Blaze emerged in a cloud of steam. The scent of cheap motel soap filled the humid air as a thin, white towel barely covered his lower half.
“You’re awake again, I see,” he said with an evil grin. He sauntered over to me and sat down next to me on the bed.
“I cannot believe you’re doing this,” I said. I wanted to yell at him some more, but I had learned my lesson from the last time. It would only take him mere seconds to render me unconscious again if he really wanted to. I bit my tongue and closed my mouth.
He placed one hand tenderly on my leg.
“I promise this isn’t as bad as it looks,” he insisted, though I didn’t believe him one bit.