Page 25 of Toy

I knew he was right, but I didn’t give up. I couldn’t.

I tried to kick out at him again. He picked me up and threw me back like I was nothing but a rag doll, aiming for the wall on the other side of the room. My body smashed against Buddy’s aquarium, and I felt the glass crack on impact. Winded, I fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Danny picked up his dart gun and aimed it at me.

“Goodnight, Jolie.”

A dart whizzed through the air. It landed on my upper left arm, and there was a quick pinprick of pain as it pierced the bare skin. I choked down a deep breath and ripped it out as fast as I could, but it was too late. The tranquilizing agent from the tip of the dart was already in my system.

My limbs turned heavy, and it felt like I was crawling through thick, sticky mud as I tried to move. The room spun around me, its contents losing shape as my vision went blurry. It felt like hours were passing, though it couldn’t have been more than five or ten minutes.

Then everything went black.

* * *

With a moan,I stirred and opened my eyes. My whole body ached, and the middle of my back felt extra tender. I must’ve cut it when the glass in the aquarium cracked against me.

I whipped my head around, trying to figure out where I was, but the room around me was pitch black. I was lying prone on something cool and leathery and my wrists were tied in front of me. That was all I could tell.

I once read that it took roughly twenty minutes for the human eye to adjust to darkness. During that time, the surrounding blackness would become gradually detailed by shades of gray. Finally, whatever was previously obscured by the inky darkness would be revealed completely by the dark-adapted eye.

I lay back and waited, counting the seconds. After ten minutes, I began to make out hazy shapes, and by the seventeen minute mark, I’d figured out where I was. The back seat of a car. The hazy shapes in front of me were clear now, and I could see they were dark tinted windows. Just below them were arm rests and door handles.

I wriggled my hands, trying to loosen the rope around my wrists. It was no use. They were tied up far too tightly.

A sudden burst of light made me squint and groan as a divider opened up on my left. “You awake yet, whore?” Danny called out.

“Yes,” I murmured, still squinting. After I’d spent so long adjusting to the darkness, the flashes of artificial light from the street outside made my eyes feel like someone had driven sharp spikes into them.

“Good.”

“Am I in a limousine?” I croaked out. My throat was as dry as a desert.

Danny chuckled. “Yes, you are.”

“Why?” I asked. Despite the quaking terror I felt, I almost wanted to laugh too. It was just so ludicrous.

“Because I’m sure Mason will have every cop in the state out searching for you. They’ll be checking for shady-looking vans and stolen cars. No one’s gonna look twice at a rented limo. They’ll think it’s heading back from a wedding or some sort of school dance,” Danny said. “Even if these windows weren’t completely tinted, I doubt anyone would blink at the sight of a woman lying in the back. They’d just think you’re a stupid rich bitch who got wasted and passed out.”

“Yeah. Passed out with my wrists tied up,” I muttered. “Totally normal.”

“Like I said, the windows are tinted, you smart-mouthed little slut,” Danny growled from the front. “So it doesn’t matter anyway.”

I smiled at his annoyance. Even though he had the upper hand, making him look stupid still felt like a mini victory to me.

“Where are we going?” I asked a few minutes later.

“Right now, nowhere.” Danny stopped the car and twisted around in his seat to look at me. “There’s something I need to do now that we’re out of the city.”

He got out and opened one of the side doors. “Sit up,” he muttered.

“Are you serious?” I dipped my chin toward my wrists. There was no way I could maneuver my body to do what he said when they were still bound in front of me.

He rolled his eyes and untied the knots. Then he ripped the rope away hard and fast, leaving burning grazes on my skin. I gritted my teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a pained moan.

I sat up straight on the buttery leather seat. On the floor below me, there were several black zipped bags. Beyond the open limo door, I could see a dark road and a few scattered street lights in the distance.

“Don’t bother screaming or trying to run,” Danny said, leaning forward to open one of the bags. “There’s no one out here. Your legs will still be weak from the tranquilizer, too. You’d probably only make it about three feet.”

He sat up straight and placed a black wig in my lap. “Put this on,” he commanded. With that, he turned away and began to tap away on the keyboard of a cell phone.

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