“Will you be okay for a few minutes? Your landlord agreed to let me settle this on your behalf.”
“You go ahead. I’ll finish packing. Almost done.”
“I’m taking your keys back to him. He said to just lock the door when you leave.”
“Grant?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you,” I said.
“I’ll be back soon.”
I drew in a deep breath as the door closed behind him, and I went back to packing. I was shoving every piece of clothing into my bags that I could. Dresses with tags still on them because Ike didn’t like them. Shoes I’d never worn because Ike didn’t approve. Sweaters and jeans and socks and underwear. So many things I would enjoy donning in the streets of Boston at Grant’s side.
And the next thing I knew, I was waking up in darkness.
I couldn't remember anything that had happened. The last thing I remembered was grabbing a pair of pink heels from the back of my closet.
My body rolled around in the tight space it was crammed into, and I quickly figured out where I was.
I was in the trunk of a car.
Tears flooded my eyes and panic robbed me of my breath. I was gasping for air as my legs throbbed in pain. My ribs hurt again, and my tears were blinding what little bit of vision I had in the darkness of the moving vehicle.
But it was the movement of something in my pocket that caught my attention.
It was vibrating, and I scrambled for it as the car went over a bump. As I slammed against the hood of the trunk, I tried not to cry out. I picked up the phone, and I attempted to find my voice, but Grant’s panic took over my presence.
“Theresa. Where are you?”
“I don’t know, Grant. I don’t know. I’m in a—”
We went over another bump, and it crashed my shoulder into the roof of the car. The phone tumbled from my hand, and I scrambled for it. Grant was my only connection to the outside world, and my battery was dying. The car was flying down the road and tears were rushing down my cheeks, and I could barely catch my breath enough to speak.
“You’re in a car,” Grant said. “Is there anything you can see or hear around you?”
“No. Grant. We’re going too fast. We are going over a lot of bumps. Help me. Find me, please. I don’t—I don’t know what—”
We ran over yet another fucking bump, but this time it rolled me to the back of the car. I crashed against the metal, and it took everything I had not to cry out. My entire body was screaming in pain. I sobbed into my arm to muffle the sounds as I clung helplessly to the phone in my hand.
What in the world was I supposed to do now?
“Theresa? Theresa!”
I put the phone back to my ear as the car started going down a hill.
“We are going down a hill now. Help me, Grant. Please find me! Hurry!”
“Listen to me. I’m going to find you, Theresa. I’m calling Hollis, and we’re coming for you, okay? Keep your cell phone on. Hide it. But whatever you do, don’t shut it off.”
“Hurry. Please. I hurt so much, Grant.”
The phone hung up, and it shattered my heart into pieces.
I pulled up a text message to Hollis and managed to send something off to him. I told him I was in a car and I didn’t know where I was and that I needed him. I needed my brother. Then, just as I sent off the message, the car came to an abrupt stop. With shaking hands, I turned my phone onto silent and shoved it into my pocket, and the moment the trunk of the car flew open the sun blinded my eyes
“Come here.”