When I open my eyes, my head pounds, and I squint into the surrounding darkness. My body aches in the cramped space I find myself in. When I try to wiggle my legs, they refuse to obey while my arms remain twisted behind my back. I blink. The coils in my stomach tighten as I realize I am on the move. That my tomb is the trunk of a car. Although my legs and arms are tied, I kick the side of the car. Nothing happens as we continue to drive. I scream. There’s no responding answers. I shuffle, but there is little room for me to move, and I know I am trapped. I don’t know how long we were on the road for, but when the car finally stopped, my ears picked up as I listened to the footsteps on the gravel. The beat of my heart roars in my ears and my stomach twists as nausea rises in my throat. When the lid of the trunk is opened, I blink at the sudden brightness. Because the sun is behind my captor, I’m unable to make out who he is. He’s not gentle as he grips my arm, dragging me from the trunk, causing the skin to flake as he scrapes my knees along the edge of the trunk. My feet hobble as they land on the ground, and I fumble as I find my balance. As I straighten, I glance at my kidnapper. He is unfamiliar to me and I assume he is the man TJ was talking about. His smile is more of a leer as he leans into me. His finger strokes the side of my face and as bile rises into my mouth, I spit at him. “Let me go.”
His laugh mocks me and as I step back, I bump into the edge of the trunk and pull my body up straight. “Now don’t be like that, Mia.” He cups my chin. His brown eyes penetrating into my gaze, and I swallow the saliva as it gathers at the back of my throat. “Once you get to know me.” He leans in closer. “And you will get to know me.” His face close to mine. His tongue at my ear. His breath warm as he torments me. “You’ll like me.” He grips my arm, dragging me as he strides to the house. My feet stumble as I fight and twist in his hold. A dog barks and I glance over towards the noise. I watch in fright as a large, black and dark tan dog comes bounding over towards us. My pace quickens as we approach the steps leading to a large house. The dog continues to run towards us. Jumping up at the man. As he turns to the dog, the stranger releases my arm, and I stumble against one of the steps as I fight to gain my balance while watching the man pet and fuse the dog. When he turned to me, his lips twist into a smile. “See, dogs like me.” As I watch the dog run around his legs, my kidnapper pulls a key from out of his pocket. Once the door is open, he steps to one side, indicating me to go in. Instead of following his silent order, the aroma of magnolia trees heavy in the air, has me glancing around the yard, and I blink at the high brick wall as a moan slips from me. The double black iron gates have a thick chain entwined around them and the large padlock is locked. There is no escape for me. Knowing I have no choice but to follow him, I step into the house. My breath hitches in my throat as I look about me. The hall is large. The walls painted white. There are four doors, one to my right, two to my left and one straight in front of me. “Come on. We can’t stand here all day. I’m sure you would like a drink.”
My kidnapper grabs my arm, dragging me towards the stairs. I dig my feet into the floor as I pull against his grip, but his fingers tightened, pinching my flesh and he jerks me. Pulling me closer to the stairs, and my legs wobble. “Let me go.”
“Can’t do. Now hush.” When we reach the stairs, instead of taking me up them, my kidnapper leads me to the door facing us. When he opens it, there are more stairs which lead to the basement. The man pushes me in to the dark passage. As I stumble over the top step and sway in his grip, the man switches on the light. The dim glow of the bulb offers very little light, and when the stranger pushes me again, I take the stairs slowly, shuddering at the exposed brick walls. When we reach the room below, although it is large, apart from a chair in the middle of the room, it is bare. A chair the man pushes me onto, then straps me to with a rope. When he is finished, he kisses my nose as he rises. “I’ll go get us that drink. We can’t have you too dehydrated when the fun begins, can we.” His smile deepens and my stomach flips. “Not if we want you to remember the fun and tell all to the boyfriend.”
Chapter 31
Alex: Sugar and Spice, Noir Valley
My attention is on Delaney’s office and I watch a man I don’t recognize, come out of it. As he reaches the black sedan parked nearby, he stops, glances at his cell, then glances up and down the street. After slipping
