Chapter3
Everything was black and everything was sore. I don't know how long I've been in this cramped space, going in and out of consciousness.
Not that I've been passing out. More like sleeping. I figured out that I'm in some sort of trunk of some car, based off the shape and the slivers of light. But after hours of feeling as much of the space as I could with my ankles bound together and my hands tied behind my back, there was no magical escape pull that I could locate.
Whoever put me in here must not have wanted me to die because the AC was running. That was the only explanation I could figure for the still very comfortable temperature. Hell, even if I wasn't inside of a car, the temperature wouldn't be comfortable at this time of day in Miami. I had no idea what time it was but based off the light breaking through the crack, there was still sun out somewhere.
What the hell was going on? Was I taken by the same guys who abducted Daisy? This sure as heck wasn't as roomy as the van I'd seen take her.
Shit.This couldn't be happening. I had jobs, responsibilities, and freaking bills to pay. I thrashed around in anger, not that it did any good.
The only things that stopped my thrashing were the loud bangs that filled the air outside my trunk prison. If there were gunshots outside, maybe staying put was the safest option.
Shit.Where the hell was I? And where was Daisy? My phone had been in my tote bag, but the trunk felt clutter-free from where I was.
Fine.If there wasn't any clutter, I was going to make some. I used the gunfire around me as a cover for my pounding as I kicked at the taillight.
I hoped one or two well-placed kicks would be enough to knock out the light, but it was more like twenty or thirty. I was gasping for air by the time I was done. Yep. If I ever came into money, I really needed to invest in a gym membership.
The telltale crack of the taillight breaking was music to my ears, but then the car started to rumble beneath me. As soon as the car was on, the tires were squealing, and my body was thrown against the back of the trunk with the force the guy had put on the gas.
My head hit a piece of metal hard enough to cause my vision to flash in and out. Or maybe I lost consciousness for a bit. Everything was so hard to keep track of in this dark pit.
Now that the taillight was out, there was more light to illuminate how little I had to work with. If I could get a hand or leg out, maybe I could signal for help to someone out on the road, but if I couldn't get out of my bindings, that wouldn't happen.
The car was driving smooth and straight. We were probably on a freeway since we hadn't stopped in a while. How far from home had we gotten? How far from Daisy?
Nope. Wasn't going to let my thoughts wander into that depressing territory. I had to keep fighting. The further I got from home, the worse my chances were at being rescued.
I needed to get home. I had people to get back to. Daisy needed me. She'd never been on her own. Layla needed me. What would she do if I stopped sending checks to Mrs. Wunch? I needed to fight for them so they wouldn't have to. And no kidnapping asshole was going to stop me.
The edge of the taillight opening was metal and sharp. I could use that. Slowly, I contorted and bent my body, so my wrists were against the rushing air of the hole I'd kicked.
Blindly, I felt my way along the edge until I could work the zip tie along the sharpest section. Then I tried angling the zip tie back and forth.
It was sharp but by no means a knife, and I had shitty leverage from this position. I kept on slipping whenever the car hit a bump or pothole. My wrists banged against the metal. I winced as my bones clanged against the hard surface. The sound seemed to echo throughout the trunk.
I was going to be one big bruise if I made it out of this alive. It might have all been in my imagination, but I thought I was starting to make it through the zip tie when the car slowed down. We must've left the freeway. Which meant we were close to a destination.
I tried to saw through the binds faster, but now that we weren't on the freeway, there was stopping, starting and turns. The car felt the bumps on the road with a lot more impact.
Then the car stopped. No, no, no, no. I needed more time. I was too far from the light to keep sawing, but I used all the limited leverage I could get to pull at my binds.
If I’d made any progress, it wasn't enough to break the zip tie.
And then the trunk was opened and the silhouette of a monster was standing above me.