“What now?” One of them asked.
“Tie her to that chair. I’m calling Marty.”
Jo was trying to rummage her brain for who Marty was but she was coming up empty. Her face was throbbing and she could taste blood in her mouth. She tried to get free, but her hands were bound tightly and they had doubly secured her to the trailers bolted down table.
“Marty says he’s on his way. You guys get out of here.”
The two truckers left and the guard followed them out. Jo tried to pull her hands free, bu
t she only succeeded in rubbing them raw. She began to panic and she knew when Wes found out he’d have a big ‘I told you so’ moment. Thinking of Wes coupled, with her dire predicament brought tears to her eyes.
Jo had no idea how much time had passed, but she was uncomfortable, had to pee and was seriously afraid for her life. The trailer's air conditioning wasn’t running and sweat dripped down her face and she knew her shirt was soaked. It was so stifling in the old trailer that it made it difficult to breathe.
Jo heard a car pull up outside and then the guard walked back in. Jo knew there was someone else outside, but she couldn’t see who it was since they were standing to the side of the door. The guard put a gag around her mouth then placed a pillowcase over her head and tied it around her neck so she couldn’t pull it off. Jo started to fight, afraid she was going to suffocate, but the guard told her to stop moving or he’d tie the rope tighter. Jo discovered that she could breathe so she stopped struggling.
She felt herself being untied from the chair and then she was walked towards the trailer door. She knew when she had reached the doorway when the cool night air washed over her. She couldn’t move her hands or speak, so she listened. She heard a man tell the guard to throw her in the back and Jo assumed that meant the back seat, but Jo was roughly shoved into a trunk of a car, and she heard the trunk slam shut above her. Jo knew she was in serious trouble now.
The car took off and Jo rattled around the back. She had a splintering headache and her main concern became trying not to throw up. She was car sick from being tossed around and she thought the man might have hit her hard enough for her to have a concussion. She tried to feel for anything that might free her hands but the large trunk was empty.
After what seemed liked hours Jo felt the car come to a stop. She heard two car doors open and then she heard two men talking. She then heard the trunk door being lifted and she was roughly hauled out. Her legs were shaky and she almost went down, but one of the men grabbed her keeping her upright.
Jo may not of had sight, but her other senses were working just fine. The man that was holding her smelled vaguely familiar. It wasn’t just cologne, she knew that smell. Jo was walked up steps and then down a flight of stairs. Wherever she was being lead too smelt musty and was cool.
Jo was made to lie down on her back and retied to something cold and heavy. She listened as two pair of feet walked away from her. The urge to pee was becoming paramount so Jo concentrated on breathing through her nose and tried not to think about it. Jo heard footsteps come towards her and one of the men untied the pillowcase but didn’t remove it. He did however reach underneath it to lower the gag.
Jo sucked in a deep breath. “Pee. I have to pee.” Were her first words. She really had to go. The man untied her from whatever held her fast and led her a few steps away. She felt his hands go to her jeans and she tensed but she couldn’t worry about being embarrassed right then. The man lowered her jeans and her underwear and helped her to sit on the toilet.
Jo released a strong stream and mumbled a thank you. When she was done her underwear and jeans were re-affixed, sans a wipe, but Jo couldn’t complain about that. She decided to try to get the man talking.
“If you let me go you’ll be in the clear I don’t know who you are.”
The voice that answered her shocked her. “Come on Jo you know damn well who I am.”
Nick! That was Nick’s voice. “Nick help me!”
“Oh girl you have no idea what you’ve stumbled on.” His voice was oddly sad.
“I don’t understand?” She said. Then she heard footsteps and Nick told her to be quiet.
A male voice spoke to Nick. “Tie her down on the bed again.”
Jo felt Nick’s hands on her back as he guided her a few steps away and then he helped her first sit and then to lie on the bed. He stretched her arms over her head and secured them to a cold thick piece of metal, which Jo assumed, was the bed frame, and he tied her feet apart and separately. She could barely move.
“Okay listen up Miss BJ Ross.”
Shit! Thought Jo. They knew who she was. Why would Nick tell them that? She was still trying to figure out Nick’s role in all of this. One thing was painfully obvious; he was not there to rescue her.
The man continued speaking. “We see what you have on your camera and we’ve already gotten your computer from your house. Where else did you dump the video footage?”
Jo was trying to understand what the man was saying. “You’re going to be very sorry if you don’t talk to us.”
Jo remained quiet. If they hadn’t found her iPhone maybe she still had a bargaining chip. A sharp pain sliced through Jo’s jean clad thigh and she cried out in pain.
“Marty stop.” Nick’s voice wavered.
“If you had found where she uploaded the video we could just kill her and dump her, but as long as a copy is still out there we are all sitting ducks. That includes you lover boy.”
“Let me talk to her.”