Page 34 of Tormented Heir

“We’re in the bay,” I say. “That’s all I know. I was taken, and we’re in the bay. My name is Adriana.”

“In the bay? Still? God, they are idiots. Why didn’t they leave?”

Leave? Then I feel it. The movement below me finally registers. The swaying is gentle, but it’s definitely there. “I think we’re on a boat,” I say.

“Yes, we are. But why didn’t they leave the bay?”

“I don’t know. What’s your name?” I can’t make my mind work, and thinking logically is harder than advanced algebra right now.

“Josie,” she says. “My name is Josie.”

“Well, Josie. At least if we’re on a boat and still near the city, we can maybe escape. Did they…. Um, have they hurt you?”

“No.” She sniffs again, and I reach for her. “They moved me in here, though, and I don’t know why.”

My fingers find hers across the ocean of the bedding separating us, and I give her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Be brave,” I say, even though I feel anything but. “We will get out of this somehow.”

“Oh, yes, we will. I’ll be getting rescued and when I do, I’ll make sure they help you too.”

What? How does she know this?

“These men will pay,” she says, and it’s guttural.

The hairs at my nape tingle. “How do you know?” I ask.

“Because there is a girl here whose father is a very important and dangerous man, and her uncle, even more so. He will find her. She told me so. She said when he does, we will be freed, and these men will be dead.” She coughs and sucks in a breath. “I was in her room at first, but then a man came for me, and then I woke up in this room.”

“Her uncle will find her?”

“Yes. That’s what she told me.”

She is so certain that I don’t want to break her bubble, but how can she be so sure?

We spend the next few hours dozing on and off, but we talk too.

“How old are you?” I ask.

“Eighteen. Nineteen in a few weeks.”

“Are you in college?”

She sighs. “I’m not going. I need to find a job and start making money. I won’t be able to afford the loan payback if I put myself into any more debt.”

She touches my finger with her own. “What about you?”

“I studied in England. I was hoping to do a creative writing course after my degree, but my father couldn’t afford to help me with fees and living expenses. So it would have meant debt upon debt, and my accommodation ran out, so I came back; pretty much the same issue. I hate student debt. I missed my dad too, and I told myself it would be just for a while, and that maybe I could take courses here, or work and study part time. We lost Mum a while ago, and my dad remarried recently.”

“I’m sorry about your mom. You’re British, right?”

“I have dual citizenship. My Dad is American, and my mum was English. I met my stepmom at the wedding; can you believe that?”

“How is that going?” She starts to giggle. “I mean, other than the whole being kidnapped thing.”

I laugh too, shocked that she can make light of this but finding laughter a much-needed tension reliever.

“You won’t believe this, but I think my stepmom is the reason I’m here. I think…” My voice catches in my throat. “I think she did something terrible. I think she arranged for me to be kidnapped.”

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