Page 101 of Pied Sniper

“At least they didn’t shoot you. I thought I might die,” she said, her chin wobbling like she was preparing to cry. “Who are you?”

“Lexi.”

While she was speaking, I patted my jacket and jeans pockets. Just as I expected, my phone was gone as well as the car keys. So was my small wallet with my ID. My PI license was inside! I hoped I dropped it somewhere when I made my way from the car to the cabin. If they had it, they knew who I was and would logically deduce I was searching for Tiffany. Hell, all they had to do was see the advertised tip line with the reward connected to The Solomon Agency to realize I was on the case.

“Lexi who?”

“Lexi Graves-Solomon,” I said, wondering if she already knew that. I couldn’t work it out. I was sure I saw her in the cabin arguing with a man. Yet, now she did seem very dirty and upset. Was she that good of an actress? My head throbbed again. Or was my mind playing tricks on me? “So who are you?” I asked, playing stupid so I could use the time to look around for anything else that would serve as a weapon. I had no doubt I was expendable as far as the kidnappers were concerned, no more than collateral damage to their plan. Not that they would necessarily kill me. They might just leave me locked up in here to slowly wither away. I shivered, banishing the thought of my tragic corpse awaiting recovery for months. My only focus had to be centered on what I could do now. The shed didn’t have a lot of tools inside it. There was an old workbench and some shelves with plastic bottles that looked like garden sprays, but no tools. A couple of rusting bicycles were propped against the far side. A generous stack of logs occupied one corner that appeared to be just the right size for a fire, so I figured the cabin must have a wood-burning stove. If I were MacGyver, I could rig a car out of the bicycles and mix the garden sprays into a dangerous flame thrower. Unfortunately, I was just Lexi and all I had for a weapon was my pocket knife.

“Excuse me?” said Tiffany, her eyes flaring with insult. “I’m Tiffany Rose.”

“Okay?” I said.

“The reality star?”

“What’s that?” I asked, biting my lip so I didn’t laugh out loud. Here was Tiffany, injured, and ostensibly kidnapped, but the thing she found most offensive was the woman tied up with her did not know who she was!

“I was kidnapped live on air while I was filming!” she continued. “It’s a big story! My face is plastered everywhere!”

“Oh? Is it? How do you know that?” I asked, pretending to glance around, looking for the television that obviously wasn’t there.

She sniffed. “They took me inside the cabin once and I saw the news.”

Gotcha! So she was inside the cabin! But instead of alerting Tiffany to her mistake, I said, “That must have been really scary. I’m sure lots of people must be looking for you.”

“They’re going to let me go soon,” she said, with a confident toss of her head. “There’s a ransom for me and once it gets paid, they’ll let me go. They said so.”

“Oh? And what about me?”

“Oh,” she pouted. “I don’t know. Do you have anyone who will pay a ransom for you?”

“No clue,” I said. I thought Solomon would consider it but he’d probably blow the whole amount on recruiting a small army. I could just see them, all clad in black fatigues, armed and dangerous, as they crawl through the brush towards the shed. How exciting! My family would pool together the ransom money but they’d probably use it to buy a machine gun that my mother would commandeer and rain hell on these idiots. Maddox would probably supply the grenades. Suddenly, I was actually looking forward to being rescued.

“You should think of someone who’ll pay a ransom for you and how much they can afford,” said Tiffany. “Then after they get the money, they’ll let you go too.”

“That’s a terrific idea!”

“Much better than being dead,” added Tiffany. “They have guns, you know.”

“Yup,” I agreed. “One hundred percent better.”

“A hundred and fifty percent!”

“Is anyone else being held captive or just us?” I asked.

“Just us. What did you expect? A surprise party?” she snorted.

“So it’s just us and the captors. A couple of guys. Maybe up to four? Are they all armed?”

“I guess so. I mean, it’s not like they told me anything. There could be a hundred guys out there, for all I know!” Tiffany pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “But someone knows you’re here, right? You told someone you were driving out here?”

“Of course I did,” I lied again. “I told my husband, my mom, and my best friend. If I’m not home soon, I’m sure one of them will call the police and locate me.”

“Right. How will they do that?”

“Uh,” I thought, “my cellphone signal. They’ll trace it here.”

“I overheard one of the guys say they don’t get any phone reception out here.”

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