Page 68 of Falcon

He locked the doors and left the .38 for me again. My power nap had given me a little bit of energy, but I was starving. We hadn’t eaten since well before the DMV. It was only about nine o’clock but felt like midnight. Looking up, I saw that it was still cloudy. I watched the trees sway while I waited. It was probably about to storm. I pulled out my phone and started to look up places nearby that would deliver to get a head start on food. If it was going to storm and we were in the middle of nowhere, it would take forever to get someone out here.

I found a chain pizza place that said it would deliver, but since we had cash, I decided to call. Most of the apps wanted payment to complete the order. Just another reason to need ID. It would be great to have a debit card for shit like this.

Someone picked up and it sounded like a busy restaurant in the background. “Can you please hold?” the man on the line asked before promptly placing me on hold before I could answer. Thunder rumbled, then a lightning bolt lit up the sky. The lightning didn’t bother me because I learned at a young age that the safest place to be during a thunderstorm—besides inside a building—was a car, because of the tires. There hadn’t been any alerts for tornadoes and I enjoyed a good thunderstorm as long as it didn’t hail. It usually made for a good night’s sleep, but I wasn’t looking forward to walking in a deluge to get to the room.

Unable to sit still, I unbuckled myself and put the phone on speaker, setting it on the dashboard so I could reach down and grab my small bag. I was rummaging for my lip gloss, laughing at how much shit I stuffed in there when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. The hold music with the horrendous voice over was still playing when I looked over, expecting to see Falcon, but instead saw a masked man with something shiny in his hand rushing toward the truck. I dropped my bag and reached for the gun, hoping I could remember how to work it when the window shattered and the attacker opened the door.

I gritted my teeth, grunting as adrenaline shot through my veins, then I dropped the hammer and popped a shot off. The man fell to the ground but the glass behind me shattered. Before I could get my bearings to turn and shoot, I was being dragged from the truck. I kicked and screamed as terror filled me. Shards from the window cut through the skin on my back, stunning me into silence from the searing pain. Someone grabbed my wrist and put pressure near my thumb, and I yelled in pain as my hand opened and the gun dropped. The sound was muffled by the heavy rainfall and wind that had kicked up from the spring storm. “Fuck!” I screamed.

I was being held from behind, the person covering my mouth as I tried to scream out again as something tightened around my wrists. I was still trying to scream and kick as I was carried backward, watching the truck get further and further away as the driving rain stung my face.

Tears burned my eyes as I tried to wiggle and scream but the gloved hand over my mouth muffled each sound. I attempted to bite but wasn’t connecting with anything. Suddenly, I was dropped on my back, the force knocking the wind out of me so I couldn’t scream. I could only recoil in pain when everything went dark as a door slammed shut.

I still hadn’t found my voice and was reeling from being thrown into what I determined was a van, based on the sound of the sliding door. Multiple footsteps and voices filled the vehicle, and I was still seeing stars when something tightened around my ankles, and we rolled forward. A fucking kidnapper van. Seriously?

After struggling to breathe, I forced myself to cough and was finally able to get air in and out of my lungs. But then the tears flowed freely and I started screaming, “Falcon, Falcon, Falcon!”

Before I could yell anything else, some kind of cloth was shoved into my mouth and my head was covered with some sort of mesh bag. My body shook with sobs and my face burned as tears and snot ran down and I couldn’t wipe them away.

I was dragged then slammed against the side of the van. “Hunker down. We got a long ride, sweetheart,” a man with a solid Jersey accent said.

Fuck. Would my biker find me before they killed me? He’d come for me, right?

Chapter 41

Falcon

After dealing with the asshole attendant and giving him a little extra cash since their policy was that a card must be on file, I asked if there was a vending machine. He directed me down the hall, around the corner from check-in. I stopped to piss since I saw a bathroom, then made my way to the vending machine. I figured a couple of drinks and candy bars would hold us over until we could order food. There was a laundry room nearby and the door was open, so I looked in. All the machines were going but I didn’t notice anyone, despite the TV blaring. I’d hoped to see some extra towels or pillows laying around, but they must have them stored somewhere else. I’d ask about some extras back at the front. Even nicer hotels didn’t have towels that covered half of me, and Daisy liked a second pillow. I pulled my head back out of the room and continued down the hallway to the vending area.

A storm had rolled in. Even though we were in the cage, I was glad to have stopped. We were up early, it was a long day, and I had a run in two days. I didn’t need to push through if I could help it, so we’d stay here for the night. Thankfully, we were only a few hours from home, so we didn’t have to rush in the morning. It was a nicer spot than we used for runs. I wouldn’t put Daisy up in a place like that unless I absolutely had to.

When several cracks of thunder and lightning hit, I got aggravated with the machine for being so slow and kept pressing the keys before giving it a few good bangs on the side. If I wasn’t getting hangry, I would have just waited, but a hit of sugar would do me some good after the day we had and with the storm, delivery would be a while.

I stopped back by the counter and collected our key card. So much for customer service; that little fucker was blaring music in his headphones but had left the envelope for check in on the counter.I gave up trying to get his attention for towels a pillow.

Drinks in hand and the envelope shoved into my back pocket, I walked through the first set of automatic doors and took in the rainfall. Hopefully she didn’t mind getting a little wet because there was no way to get her inside without it, even if we had an umbrella.

Tucking the drinks under my arm and shoving the candy bars in my pocket so I could quickly collect the bag, keys, and her from the truck, I sprinted through the next set of automatic doors. I’d parked at the other end of the building, since there weren’t any spaces right by the office and the only lights that worked were where I left Daisy. Only a few cars were in the lot, but when I made it past those that were blocking my line of sight on the truck, the drinks fell from my arm and a rush of every bad emotion one person could feel coursed through my veins.

Only pausing long enough to drop the drinks, my feet moved faster than my brain. I took in the scene in front of me through the heavy rain. I stopped at the truck and horror filled me. The windows were shattered, both doors were open, and Daisy was nowhere in sight.

Another rumble of thunder sounded, and a crack of lightning hit nearby. Then I noticed a body on the ground on the passenger side. It was a man in all black, from the ski mask over his face to the boots on his feet. Reaching down, I turned the figure over and his blood covered my hand. I pressed my fingers to his throat, and he had a pulse. A very faint one, but it was there.

Looking around, I saw a kid standing on the balcony. “Hey, did you see anything?”

The kid who was probably not even five shrugged. Searching the area, I saw nobody else. I reached under the seat and pulled out the tackle box. I didn’t fish, those supplies weren’t as obvious if you got pulled over. I grabbed the stringers used for large fish and strapped the asshole’s arms behind him, then found some loose rope and bound his ankles before lifting him into the truck and slamming the passenger door.

When I went around to the driver’s side, the .38 I’d left for her was lying on the ground, so I snatched it up before I climbed in. Pulling my phone out, I put it on speaker. Backing out of the space, Daisy’s phone flew off the dash; it wasn’t with her. Just as Keys answered, I yelled, “Fuck!”

“Falcon? What’s up?” Keys asked.

Looking over, I yanked the mask off the man slumped over in the seat next to me. His dark hair had probably been slicked back, but now it was a mess. No beard, olive complexion, thick neck. He was a heavy fucker, but not out of shape. Even if he wasn’t out of it for real, it didn’t matter. He’d be dead soon, either from his wounds or from my hands. “They took Daisy. Ping me with the address of the closest chapter to where I’m at.”

“Fuck, let me check her phone.”

“It won’t help. Her phone was left behind, so the tracker is with me. Just find me a place to take this guy. I need to get some answers before he bleeds out. I’m just outside Knoxville.”

“Sent. They’re in Bristol. Looks like you’re about an hour away. I’ll let Hawk know so he can get with Knox. Let me get on the traffic cams near you. Where were you?”

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