“What happened?” he asked finally, just when she thought he wouldn’t say anything.
“When I was thirteen, I thought I knew everything.” Win settled into the story. It was one she hated to think about, but she’d never forget what happened. “My parents were always planning things for me to do. I spent all my spare time at the club playing tennis, swimming with my friends. I had everything, but of course I found something to crave. Freedom.”
“Most teens crave that.”
“I suppose. I found it by slipping away from the club and going for long walks. There was hardly anywhere I could get to from there, but there was a gas station a quarter mile away. I’d walk over, buy a soda or candy bar, pretend I was anyone else except who I was. Sometimes I flirted with the cashier. Sometimes with guys on the street. I looked older than I was.”
Angus was listening to every word. He pushed up to a sitting position, and so did she.
“Did someone hurt you?”
“Not like you think.” Win swallowed. She hated this part. She’d been so stupid. So damn naive. “One day a car slowed down, followed me for a little bit, and when I didn’t turn around, it pulled over and stopped. I thought it was just another guy who wanted to flirt with me. I figured I’d tease him a little and then admit how old I was. Send him packing.” She shook her head. “I sound like such a fool.”
“You sound like a kid.” Angus took her hand and held it.
“That’s what I was. A kid. Anyway, he called after me, and I stopped. Turned, thinking he’d be some distance away, but he was right behind me. I didn’t have time to scream. Saw nothing but his hands. Next thing I knew I was in the back seat of the car, my wrists zip-tied behind my back, blindfolded, a gag in my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. I was terrified. I kept trying to scream, but I couldn’t make a sound.”
“Hell, Win.” Angus was as tense as a cougar ready to pounce. She could tell he wanted to travel back in time and take on the man who’d gone after her. He was a man of action. A man used to protecting people.
“We drove and drove and drove. It was like a nightmare that never ended. Finally, hours later, we stopped. He carried me into a building, threw me into a room and closed the door.”
“What happened?”
Tears thickened her voice, but Win didn’t allow herself to cry. She had to get it all out at once so she wouldn’t have to talk about it again. Too late she realized she wasn’t confessing all of this in front of the cameras. Renata was going to kill her.
Let her do her best, Win thought. She’d survived one attack; she could survive another. The important thing was that Angus would understand.
“The room was pitch dark, the windows blocked from the outside somehow. At some point someone came in, cut the ties around my wrists, took off the blindfold and gag. I still couldn’t see anything—I don’t know if it was the same man, but I think it was. He left me there. I searched the whole room, looking for a way out. Found one door that was locked—the one my kidnapper had gone in and out of. Another one that opened to a bathroom. The toilet worked. So did the sink. There seemed to be a window there, but it was boarded up, and I couldn’t budge it. So I had facilities. I had water when I needed it but nothing else. They fed me once a day. Pushed a plate of food through a little sliding door and slammed it shut again, like I was an animal in a cage.”
“Once a day? How long were you there?”
“Weeks.” Win’s voice wobbled. “Forever. By the end of it I thought I’d died. I thought I was in hell. The guy never talked to me. Not one word that whole time. Not one sound penetrated the walls. It was just me. Just me.”
“That’s psychological terror,” Angus said. “But you got away?”
Win shook her head. “My mother came for me. First she and Dad went to the police, but there was no evidence of where I’d gone. Not a single camera caught me walking down that street or being taken.”
“They weren’t as prevalent back then.”
“When the police started talking about the trail going cold, my parents decided to take matters into their own hands. My mom was determined. She was going to find me. She was going to get me back.”
“Your kidnappers never sent a ransom note?”
“No.” Win shrugged. “The theory was they were waiting until my folks were good and desperate and then meant to ask for a huge sum. Instead, my parents gave it to a bunch of ex-military men. A security firm.”
Angus straightened. “I got a few offers from that kind of place. Lots of guys in the SEALs end up with a job like that afterward.”
Win nodded. “They tracked me down. Came and got me. First thing I heard in all that time was them busting down the door. I didn’t know who it was. I thought I was going to be killed.”
“But you were saved.”
“I was saved,” Win said. “They made the kidnapper… disappear.” She hesitated. She’d never been comfortable with that part of the story. “I don’t know where they took him or what they did. The news reports said he got away, but my parents said that wasn’t true. I was taken straight home to Mom. She grabbed me so tight, I didn’t think she’d ever let go.”
“I can imagine,” Angus said softly.
“No, you can’t,” Win snapped. “You can’t, because she’d never done that before.”
A long breath escaped her as the memory hit her hard. That hug. Her mother’s tears. The way Vienna had murmured into her hair,
