Page 42 of Be Courageous

With a gasp she looked down. A syringe glinted in the man’s gloved hand as he withdrew it, tossing it down onto the cement floor. Shock kept her frozen.

He just stuck a needle in my arm!

He snatched her purse from her limp grasp and tucked it under his arm, then dragged her toward her Range Rover. The heels of her boots scraped over concrete.

I’m being abducted!The realization encased her in ice. It paralyzed her. Or maybe it was the drug because her field of sight was shrinking. With her vision tunneling, she willed herself to scream. But nothing more than a whimper issued from her throat.

Finding her keys in her purse, the stranger unlocked all four doors of her Range Rover, as if he owned it.

Fight him!Tony had taught her dozens of ways to defend herself, but her body refused to cooperate. Her head, too heavy to hold up, dropped onto the man’s shoulder.

The ceiling of the parking garage became the ceiling of her SUV as her attacker lowered her onto the rear seat. He grunted, pushing her farther into her car across the trundle seat in the middle, until he could bend her legs and stuff her feet inside, shutting her in.

Ruby lay on her right hip with one foot dangling over the edge of the seat. A seat belt buckle gouged her rib cage. Her head was propped against an armrest.

Stay awake!she ordered herself.

The part of her brain still capable of functioning came to an appalling conclusion: This wasn’t some random abduction. This had to do with her interview with Katz yesterday—she just knew it.

He’s going to kill me!

That certainty preceded utter darkness.Tony!Her heart cried out in remorse. God forgive her. She ought to have told him the truth—not just the truth about her interview with Katz but also the truth about their baby. Now, he would never guess what had become of her, unless Corinna gave him clues.

Oh, Corinna, please tell Tony. Tell him everything!

CHAPTER6

Corinna checked her cell phone, only to frown at the empty display. It was 12:15 P.M., and Ruby had yet to call her. They’d promised Tony they’d be home by noon. At this rate, they would return late, making her brother worry for no reason.

“I’d better call her.” She released Robert’s hand so she could access Ruby’s number and put her phone to her ear. Ruby’s voice mail answered in lieu of a ring, and Corinna frowned. “That’s weird.” With a prickle of concern, she A prickling of concern, she finished her mocha Frappuccino in one big gulp. “Something’s wrong. Her phone’s not even turned on.”

Robert met her statement with skepticism. “She’s probably listening to the organ recital. Maybe they ask people to turn their phones off.”

“I doubt that.” Macy’s giant organ, the largest functioning pipe organ in the world, gave a thunderous Christmas recital every two hours during the holiday season. A ringing cell phone wouldn’t begin to disturb the sonorous performance. Corinna’s phone buzzed and she immediately snatched it up, only to cringe as she recognized Tony’s number. “Hello?”

“Yo, where are you girls? You said you’d be home by noon. Mama’s got lunch ready.”

“Uh…” Dread strangled Corinna’s vocal cords. She pushed a reluctant confession through her tight throat. “I’m not actually with Ruby right now.”

“What?”

His confusion inspired guilt, though she wasn’t about to bring up Robert. “She…she said I could go to Starbucks while she finished her shopping, and I haven’t heard from her since.” The silence on Tony’s end had her holding her breath.

“Have you tried calling her at all? Has she answered her phone for you?”

“All I get is her voice mail. Maybe her battery died.”

“She charged it all night. You were supposed to stay together.”

The reproach in his voice made her face burn. “What about your Find My service?”

“I’ll try that now. Then I’m gonna come pick you up and we’ll go looking for Ruby. You still at Starbucks?”

“Yes.”

“And the keys to your Escort are where?”

“On my dresser in my room.”

---