My life was crap and not worth saving. But a quick glance revealed a woman pushing a stroller and an older couple with locked hands. They were innocent. I couldn’t be that selfish.
I closed my eyes, knowing I was being dumb. No one would ever know my sacrifice or would call my act selfless.
The side panel door opened with a jerk, and I stepped forward into my doom. I had no idea why I’d been targeted. Maybe the Chanel bag on my arm was the apple of their eye. They could gladly have it. I would give them whatever and hopefully be let go a few blocks away. I couldn’t imagine anything else.
I ducked inside the van and had barely gotten my feet pulled all the way in when the door slammed shut. I glanced up to see a needle headed toward me. My hand didn’t make it up in time before my hot but nerdy captor depressed the plunger. I didn’t know what he’d given me and had no time to think before everything went dark.
THREE
Groggily, I opened my eyes, or I tried to. There should have been sunlight, as I hadn’t drawn the blackout blinds. But all that surrounded me was gloomy darkness and the nightmare that had consumed me still felt ever-present. That had been a nightmare, hadn’t it? There’s no way someone had kidnapped me. Who could possibly want me? But as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I knew I wasn’t in my apartment, wasn’t in my bed. So where was I?
That was when it all came rushing back. The handsome stranger in the van with a gun and a needle. I had been taken to parts I did not know and no one would know I was missing. I assessed my situation, and it wasn’t good.
When I tried to move my arms from over my head, I realized I’d been bound to a bed. Thankfully, I could feel my clothing against my skin, so there was that, but fear really ratcheted up.
In an attempt to draw my knees to my chest, I yanked my feet up, only then knowing how dire my situation was. Not only were my arms bound above my head, but it appeared my feet were bound to the foot of the bed as well.
Bitterness was a hard pill to swallow as I wished like hell I could wake up and start again. No, I’d let a pretty face draw me in as I bought Mr. Hot and Nerdy hook, line, and sinker. Though I couldn’t get out of the bed and could barely move my limbs without resistance from my binds, as my eyes adjusted, I could see that I was still clothed. The only thing missing were my shoes.
I let my head fall back and closed my eyes, fighting back tears. There were things I could do. Scream for one. But I had a feeling I was in a room where sound wouldn’t travel. So, I decided to hold back and save my voice if I heard movement or any noise that would suggest someone could hear me. It was a calculated risk, but I’d seen too many thriller movies and was jaded by the fruitless attempts by the victim screaming.
This wasn’t a rash kidnapping. My captor had known exactly what he was doing and had come prepared. I seriously doubted he left me in a room where noise could alert passersby.
I ignored the ideas of what would happen to me. That would only bring despair. Instead, I tried to think back. I’d gotten into the van, scraping my knees on the metal floor. I’d only twisted around to sit on my backside to draw my legs fully in when he’d knocked me out with some drug.
Though I felt a little groggy, I also didn’t feel sick to my stomach. The more I thought about it, bits and pieces came back to me. Whatever he’d given me hadn’t lasted long, at least I didn’t think so. Then again, without a window or light coming into the room, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was.
But I had vague memories. When I’d been lifted into a pair of powerful arms. I’d opened my eyes long enough to glimpse lockers. That couldn’t be right. Was I in some sort of school?
Agitation had me pulling at my binds. I glanced up at my right wrist. I couldn’t see the handcuffs in the gloom of the room, but I was more than certain that’s what he’d used to bind me.
Irritation bubbled up inside me and I let out a guttural cry of grief and frustration. As if he’d been waiting on me to make such a noise, moments later the door opened.
The faint yellow glow from the hall was more than I’d had and seemed to spotlight the man who’d stolen me.