“Denver Health, over in Lincoln Park area. Are you coming with her?” the medic asked.
“Yes.” She needed to tell Blayne. “I need to go tell my…her friend first. I’ll go straight to the hospital after.”
“Okay. You might want to hurry, she doesn’t look so good. Who knows how long her oxygen sats have been in the sixties.” They lifted her into the ambulance and sped away.
Kaylee rubbed her hands across her face and gulped air into her lungs. She had to calm down before telling Blayne. She got in her car, hoping he would be clear-headed when she got there. Hell, hoping he would be home.
The car skidded to a halt and Kaylee looked up at the darkened windows of Blayne’s apartment. Maybe he just went to bed early. She rummaged in her backpack for a pen and piece of paper so she could leave him a note if he didn’t answer.
Stumbling up the stairs in her hurry, she skinned the palms of her hands on the metal steps. She pounded on the door and bit her nails as she waited. No answer. She pounded louder. Still no answer. Kaylee propped the paper up against the door to write a note.
Blayne – Mama C
Footsteps crunched on the gravel below.
“Well, look who we have here.”
Kaylee dropped the pen, and the paper fluttered to the landing. Her heart raced. She gripped her keys so tight they dug into her hand. The guy Blayne had been arguing with the other day bounded up the stairs toward her, a sinister smile twisting his face. Kaylee turned and pounded on Blayne’s door, she had nowhere to go.
The man grabbed her from behind, one arm around her waist, the other covering her mouth. He dragged her toward the stairs backwards. She kicked, and flailed her arms at his face. His hand covering her mouth slipped a little, and she sunk her teeth into it.
Swearing, he stepped to the side and flung her down the rest of the stairs. Her left shoulder hit first, followed by her head. She landed in a throbbing heap at the bottom, her mind too fuzzy to even attempt to get away.
Slow, deliberate steps thumped toward her. “You shouldn’t ‘a done that. We coulda done this the easy way.”
Kaylee blinked up at him. He had her keys, swinging them around his finger. She pushed up to a half-sitting position, but a surge of dizziness and intense pain in her shoulder immobilized her. She dropped back down with a cry.
“Let me help you to your car, sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’ll drive. You’re in no condition to man the wheel.” He laughed then spit right next to her head.
He grabbed her under the arms and lifted. Her shoulder came alive with pain, like a dull wooden stake had been pounded through it. Her vision faded around the edges and she groaned. As he dragged her, the pain intensified to the point where everything went blissfully black.
Her whole body ached. Every nerve ending screamed at Kaylee to slip back into unconscious oblivion. But she needed to stay awake. To think. She opened her eyes just a slit, taking in her surroundings. Her car. She laid across the back seat of her car, tires rolling beneath her. Before she could even begin to form a plan, the car came to a stop.
“We’re heeere.” Her kidnapper’s voice raked across her brain like a dentist’s drill boring into a raw nerve.
Should she pretend she was still out? The decision was made for her when he opened the rear door and started to pull her out by her arms again. “No!” she cried. “Let me. I’ll do it myself. Let me do it myself.”
The kidnapper stepped back and gestured for her to go ahead.
Kaylee held her breath and, clutching her left arm across her torso, she pulled herself up with her right, wincing at the sharp pain in her left shoulder.
“Hurry it up. We don’t have all night.” He snorted. “Just kidding. We have all the time in the world.” His voice dripped with slime and Kaylee’s stomach heaved.
Each movement sent a jolt of pain into her shoulder, but it was tolerable as long as she kept her arm pressed tight to her body. She scooted along the seat then stood on the cracked asphalt. Her sore left shoulder sagged lower than the right. She pushed aside the thoughts of what this snake wanted from her and concentrated on her surroundings. The outline of an enormous bowling pin peeking above the dark building made a shadow against the light of the moon. The distant sound of cars and lack of lighting nearby indicated the abandoned building was secluded. He’d parked at the back of the building—her car wouldn’t even be visible from the deserted road.
“Come on, sweetheart.” He yanked on her injured arm and she stifled a whimper.
She held her left arm with her right and wrenched away from him. “Don’t touch me. I’ll follow you.”
He grabbed her face and jerked it toward him. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m going to touch you. You can bet on that.” He looked her up and down and licked his lips.
Revulsion ran through her like flushing a toilet. Icy fingers of fear crept up her spine, and she shook her head, unable to speak.
“Let’s get inside so I can show you what I mean.” He winked and grabbed her arm again, pulling her toward the deserted bowling alley.
The metal door flew open before they reached it. “Carl,” a man’s shape was silhouetted against a dim light from inside, “what in the hell are you doing?”
Carl pushed Kaylee toward the door and the other man stepped back to avoid her. “I got Blayne’s lady friend.”
“What? Why?” A calculating smile spread across his face. “Ahh. Smart move. Let’s get her inside.”
There were no windows in the back of the building to reveal the
