‘I trust that you counted right. Almost an hour away from the church.’
‘But which direction?’
‘I don’t know, but when we’re able to get in contact with Matthews, it should narrow it down, as much as we can narrow it down. They took my phone.’
She swallowed and tried to blink to gain some vision. It was useless. She couldn’t see a thing, eyes open or shut.
‘Matthews is the only one I trust right now. He’ll be able to help. He has contacts everywhere.’
The van door slid open and light from outside flooded in. It hurt her eyes and made her acutely aware of how dark the van had actually been.
‘Out!’ the leader’s voice beckoned.
Autumn tried to stand, but she had trouble with her balance. She had spots before her eyes now, and double vision, if you could have double vision when all you could see was material.
‘Asif! Get them down!’
Autumn shuffled forward, unsure where the edge of the van was. Then she caught her shoe on something and fell forward, headfirst.
Her body hit the floor of the van, sending a shockwave through the vehicle, making it sway.
‘What’s happened? What have you done to her? Autumn!’ Nathan yelled.
Her cheek took the impact, and she let out a yelp as pain traveled up the side of her face. She wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. She took a breath and tried to focus on holding it in, attempting to block out the fact her cheek was throbbing.
‘Get her up, Asif, and, Iqbal, get the soldier,’ the leader instructed.
‘Autumn,’ Nathan called.
‘Oh shut up, for God’s sake!’ Autumn shouted. ‘You’re not my bodyguard anymore! I’ve got nothing to say to you! I should have let them kill you!’
She bit her lip and hoped that outburst had helped to convince their captors their relationship was turbulent.
As the pain moved up around her jaw, she counted in her head. Two hands grabbed her waist and pulled her down from the vehicle.
*
He was a fucking idiot. He couldn’t let them see any concern he had for Autumn or they were both doomed. They needed to be housed in the same place now that they had reached their destination. If they were separated, they were done for. He needed this to go as planned. He needed them to follow the international terrorist handbook. He should be second-guessing their every move, but at the moment, all he could think about was what Autumn was going through. He’d been taken hostage a handful of times, and it was tough, not just physically, but mentally. If you lost composure, if you lost sight of what you needed to do, you put your life in danger. He wasn’t so concerned about his life, but he didn’t want to put Autumn in that position. At the moment, he was doing a great job of putting her right in the danger zone.
He was dragged down out of the van where he received a kick to the back that almost felled him. It took the air from his lungs momentarily, and he had to cough to restore breathing.
‘Take them to the holding room. We can’t start until Tariq gets here,’ the leader stated.
Asif, Iqbal and Tariq. He had three names of people involved in As-Wana, but not the leader’s name… yet.
*
The pain in her jaw wasn’t rescinding, and walking only made it worse. With every step, it jolted and sent a ripple of pain across the affected area. Whenever she slowed, she received a poke to her back with what felt like a broom handle. She imagined it was the barrel of a rifle, or perhaps the blunt end of a machete. Envisioning a broom handle was much less disconcerting.
‘In!’ Asif’s voice ordered her.
She couldn’t see where she was going, but a swift prod to the small of her back sent her forward in the desired direction.
Was it a room? What were they going to do here? Was this where she made a video begging her father to rescue her? Was that information even correct? What if her mother was wrong? What if this wasn’t about her father, at all? Was she doing this for some other cause unbeknown to her or anyone else? Would she be aiding and abetting terrorism? Those thoughts rattled around her head, engulfing her brain. She couldn’t think. Was this right?
‘Sit down. We will come for you,’ the leader shouted.
The next sound she heard was a door slamming shut and three bolts being drawn across it. Four… five.
The silence was deafening. Where was she? She knew this was what was going to happen when she made the decision to return, but it was real. It had happened. She was a hostage. Her whole body shook and she couldn’t stop it.
‘Autumn, it’s okay, I’m here,’ Nathan said.
She was whimpering, like some pathetic, abandoned kitten, and she couldn’t stop. Hearing him almost made it worse because she couldn’t see him. She wanted so much to see him, to look into his eyes and have him tell her everything was going to be all right.
*
‘Come on, it’s okay, sit down,’ he said as he reached for her.
With his foot, he found the wall, then with his body, he helped her lower herself to the floor. He moved in close to her and felt her quiver.
‘I thought I could do this, but I don’t know if I can,’ she said through her tears. ‘I’m scared, and we don’t know what’s going to happen.’
‘Sshh, listen. We do know what’s going to happen. They’re going to come back later and take you to another room. Don’t be afraid. They’re going to make you do a video plea for your release, addressing your father. When they’ve done that, they’ll come and torture me for information. I will give them some, eventually, nothing that’s worth anything, but hopefully, I’ll buy us
