Page 63 of Operation: Discovery

Dee’s kidnapperrowed until he came to an area of the river with a small outcropping that created a shallow pond. He paddled to an area with a narrow flat beach, then jumped out and tugged the canoe onto the sand.

“Get out and don’t try anything.” He pulled a gun from his pocket. She’d heard him cock the pistol earlier and it frightened her that he would shove it into his pocket armed and ready to fire. He clearly had no fear for his own life.

Dee wobbled even with the grounded boat and almost fell as she tried to get out. He gripped her arm and dragged her across the sand, opened the back of a big black van, and tossed her into the back. With her arms tied, she couldn’t shield her face as it scraped across the floor.

He slammed the door behind her, and she realized the back of the van was completely enclosed, separated from the front with a metal wall. There were no windows on either side and the whole box was pitch black. A moment later, something scraped on the roof that she assumed was the boat. He wouldn’t leave it there as evidence that someone had been there.

His voice on the outside of the van surprised her. “Yeah, I got her. It was easy. People are too curious for their own good. I’m just cleaning up the beach now, so they won’t know I was here. I’ll be there in about thirty.”

There was a moment of silence, then he answered again. “Fine. But don’t ask me to do this again.”

She couldn’t hear anything from him for a minute and took that time to try to get her hands out of the ties behind her. She hadn’t done what she knew to do, which was to fist her hands so the ties weren’t so tight. In the moment, she hadn’t been able to think of those things. Now, she couldn’t budge the tight ropes.

Her captor climbed into the van, swaying it as his weight settled in the front seat. He started it and she felt the van back out of its spot and drive away. The only thing she could do was to try to remember the turns. If they went somewhere close, she might be able to find her way back to Wayside if she could keep track of the way they went and then follow it in reverse.

Assuming she ever got the chance to run. This guy seemed to know every method of escape, like he’d kidnapped people before and knew what they would try in order to get away. She doubted he would drive straight to the place they were going, but that was her only way to keep a grip on any sort of calm.

Minutes ticked by and her arms went painfully numb, especially the one she was lying on. If she tried to sit up, she might get rolled around by the motion of the van. She was safer in the position she was in.

When the van rolled to a stop and the engine quieted, she held still. If she tried to sit up or fight, he’d just manhandle her more. Her best shot at survival was to keep her head down, do what she could, and hope for a moment when they ignored her. Even if she only had a second to react, she’d have to take the opportunity.

He came around the back and opened the doors. The bright sunlight blinded her, reminding her that it now had to be after nine in the morning. Rebecca had to wonder where she was. Maybe she’d report Dee as missing, or maybe she’d just assume Dee forgot all about her and not say anything.

He said nothing, just waved his pistol at her to get out on her own. She rolled, trying to go as quickly as possible. If she didn’t fight, she’d be fine. As she made it to the bumper of the van and finally got her feet back on the ground, she noticed two familiar black vehicles. The same two that had been parked at the garage.

Dee swallowed the bile in her throat, afraid that if she got sick she might aspirate it with the tape sealing her mouth shut. He shoved her toward a huge warehouse with broken windows. Torn plastic floated on the breeze from broken window frames. Some kind of hawk called from nearby. She looked all around but didn’t recognize anything. Were they still in Piper’s Ridge?

A door swung open, and an older man marched toward them. “What took you so long? Ramona is in a temper. She wants to know where the kid is. You’d better have him.”

“Of course, I don’t have him. No one even knows where he is. We had our eye on him before the blood drive, and then he just disappeared.”

“She isn’t going to want to hear it. Wait…. Isn’t she the one from …?”

“Yes, the one who keeps getting in our way everywhere we go. She knows where the kid is.” He shoved her forward. “So, take her to Ramona. I don’t care.”

The other man grabbed her as he turned around and marched her inside. Even though all the windows were broken, the inside of the huge warehouse was dark, and she was unable to see anything more than a few feet away. He led her to an office about 80 yards away from the front door.

A woman sat behind the desk and Dee knew who she was before she looked up. The scrubs were a giveaway. Ramona swung around to face Dee and her eyes narrowed. “You.”

Dee wanted to say the same, but the tape over her mouth kept her from saying anything. Ramona reached up and tore off the tape in one swipe. Dee’s eyes instantly watered and a burning pain covered the bottom of her face, but there was nothing she could do about it with her hands still tied.

“Put her in the chair. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Ramona stood and she was a good four or five inches taller than Dee.

The man gripped her arms and shuffled her through another door to a dark hall where many doors hung open. Dust floated in the air. He kicked one of the doors out of the way and led her to a chair that had been hand-welded with shackles on the legs, arms, and throat. Once she was in that chair, she’d be at the mercy of the nurse.

Dee squirmed, but her captor was far stronger and boxed her ears, momentarily disorienting her. He used the advantage to cut her ropes, spin her around, and get her locked into the chair before her ears quit ringing enough for her equilibrium to come back.

With as tight as the shackles were, she couldn’t move more than an inch from side-to-side on the seat. The cuffs on her wrists were tight enough that she could barely move her arms. Dee fought against the chair as Ramona walked in with three syringes. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Where is the boy?”

Dee shook her head, but fear chilled her to her core. “I’m not telling you anything. You’ve hurt enough people.”

“You think I won’t keep hurting people after you die? I won’t stop until my son is well. Adamisthe chosen one to help my son and I will get him.”

Adam was the chosen one? Dee couldn’t fathom why Ramona would want to kill a boy she equated as being like her own. “I don’t believe you and I will never help you.”

“I see. Then we do this the hard way.” She took out one of the needles and flicked the syringe a few times. She yanked Dee’s hair until the side of her neck was exposed then jabbed the needle in. A burning sensation heated the area and within seconds Dee’s head was woozy and heavy.

“What did you give me?” Her speech was already slurred. Was this what had happened to those poor children? Was she about to die?

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