CHAPTER 5
I’m in the trunk of a car, overthinking everything in my life that has led me to being here. I could have stayed in Berkeley, I had a good thing going there. Sure, I wasn’t very lucky with love and all, but there were no stalkers or drug dealers or people traffickers or kidnappers there. I just had to move back, start fresh. Well, see where that got me. Tied up and gagged in the trunk of a car. It had to look believable, according to the police.
The police, who reluctantly agreed to this, because they saw no other way out. The two little boys that are taking me to Parker Rosso know nothing. One of them could be bought off with the promise of his next fix, the other one negotiated for no jail time and just probation when the DA would press charges. Probation for kidnapping my friend.
They didn’t even go soft on me in terms of tying me up, had to make it believable. Every time I want to re-evaluate my current state, I remember Meggy. That, and the fact that I’ve found four guys I never would’ve found back in Berkeley. And I kind of like them. Al lot.
Please let this work.
The car stops after a short drive, and I hear the two criminal assholes getting out of the car and talking to each other. They don’t even get me out of the truck. Which sucks, because it’s not exactly a very large car and I’m uncomfortable. It feels like two hours pass, but it’s probably only minutes, if even that.
Bright light shines in my eyes, as the hood of the trunk gets popped and the sunlight shines into them.
A man in his late thirties, or early forties, stares at me, curiosity creeping over his face. He has dark blond hair that’s combed back in a neat manner. He reminds me of a mob boss in every mobster movie I’ve ever seen.
“See, it’s her,” the smart one of the two thugs says.
“Seems you two finally managed to do something right,” a voice I recognize says. This is the man that was there in my living room that day. This is the guy who broke into my house, who threatened me. Parker, Parker Rosso.
It’s like one of those moments in a comic book where one of those thought bubbles with the words ‘my nemesis’ would pop up. I don’t like his face. Meanwhile, my heart is thumping out of my chest.
I know I’m relatively safe. I’m all wired up, police are tracking me in multiple ways, including that we’re being tailed and there are cops close by.
But what if.
I know nothing about the what ifs. Maybe I should’ve consulted a phony fortune teller before going into something like this, maybe she could’ve shed some light on what’s going to happen.
His hands grab me right before he pulls me out of the car, and something resembling real fear possesses me. This is it. This is where he’s going to take me anyway and I lose the safety blanket of people being in on the scam.
“Looks like her,” Parker says.
“Now we good again, boss?” looking-for-his-next-fix says.
“Yeah, leave her to me, I’ll take her. You and your brother run off now.”
Brothers? They couldn’t look less alike? Both in terms of look and composure. They take off like the wind, leaving me with Parker. Not for the first time since leaving the police station, I wish that I’d let the guys talk me into staying. But Meggy’s name keeps chanting through my head, even if there’s cold sweat pooling in the small of my back.
The two brothers get back in the car and drive off, leaving me alone with someone I definitely do not want to be left alone with. He eyes me up and down, sighs, and then grabs my elbow, dragging me along after him. After the cramped up car ride over here, I don’t have to fake being wobbly on my legs. Never mind the very real fear that’s starting to settle in.
I know there’s a transmitter emitting my whereabouts in my shoes, I know there’s cops keeping an eye on this building making sure I can’t go anywhere without being seen. I know there’s another transmitter in my bra, just to be sure. But fuck it if I don’t want to pee my pants.
We walk through the door of a building that would never have me thinking a criminal lived here. It looks so average that I wonder if this is the model average is based on. I expect to find a wife, a dog and 1.93 kids living here, but I can’t locate them as of yet. He stops us in a hallway with closed doors all around. There’s a coat rack with women’s and men’s coats. No small coats though. Maybe no kids then after all.
Parker plants me in the corner of the hallway. There’s no other way to describe it. His meaning is clear, I’m supposed to stand there and behave. Good thing I’ve been practicing on being a good girl. Not that my legs would be able to go anywhere else if I’d wanted to anyway.
Parker grabs his phone, taps on it and then presses it against his ear while he squeezes the bridge of his nose.
“Hello,” he says to someone on the other side of the phone. “Kyle and Jay actually brought the girl in.” Silence fills the hallway, and other than some mumbling I can’t hear what’s being said. “Yeah, actually the right one this time.” More silence, more mumbling. “I’ll bring her over to the warehouse.”
Oh fuck. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh FUCK. We’re going to a warehouse? That’s not good. I’m not goods to be kept at a warehouse. Meggy is not goods.
I can’t seem to suck in enough air and my fingers begin to tingle, the telltale signs of me starting to hyperventilate.
Before I remember how to get back to a normal breathing pattern again, I find that breathing normal while being gagged is impossible anyway. Then I remember this is all a ruse, and this is actually what I’m here for. Police are tailing me, I’m being tracked, I’m leading us to the place Meggy is being kept.
Hopefully.
If she’s still there, that is.