Page 112 of Rescued Heart

Eddie swiped the screen and pressed the phone to his ear. “Sorry, Zack, can I call you?—”

“Grace is here. She’s hysterical and not making any sense. How fast can you get here? Maybe you can talk to her?”

Eddie started his truck. “Don’t you think Bianca would be better to talk to?—”

“Rice…Bianca might be missing.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Bianca had been tied up and blindfolded for a movie once. It hadn’t prepared her for the very real-life knotted rope biting into her skin. Or the black stocking hat pulled down over her face.

Her heated breaths made an awkward rhythm against her unsteady steps; However her thoughts remained steady.

For the good and bad, God was with her.

She pressed her chapped lips together.

And she really wanted to live to see Eddie again. Tell him that he’d been wrong about them.

“Keep walking.” Their kidnapper no longer sounded like he was right behind her and Nathan.

“That would be a lot easier if you released us,” Nathan mumbled.

As they staggered forward, his shoulder bumped against hers—or at least she assumed it was his. The air smelled like mud and sweat and maybe a little gasoline mixed in. Gravel had been around the limo, but for the past thirty steps, her tennis shoes—thankfully not her heels—had almost sunk into what appeared to be soft dirt or sand. The rustling of the tree branches no longer seemed as loud. But if they were heading deeper into the woods, that shouldn’t be the case, should it?

Nathan huffed. “This isn’t a game. Release me this second, or pay the price.”

Great. Apparently, they had slipped into every-man-for-himself mode.

When the gunman had demanded they exit the limo, he’d been wearing a black masquerade mask, but it couldn’t hide his short stature and muddy boots and carpenter pants.

His stocky steps thumped over in Nathan’s direction. “You’ll pay. Now, shut up before you make me go against the plan any more and shoot you.”

He was definitely on the other side of Nathan now. Which meant he probably couldn’t see her hands.

Please, God, let him not see me.

Bianca kept her pace as she wiggled her wrists. The rope burned against her skin. She gritted her teeth and inched her thumb up. If only she could get a little slack.

Nathan scoffed. “You stupid fool. Yourplanwill never work. You have no clue who you’ve taken.”

“I know who you are, and you’ve become a liability.” A thwack sounded, followed by a groan from Nathan.

Bianca froze from her feet all the way to the thumb she had squirmed in between the rope and her wrist.

“Go ahead. I dare you to speak to me again.” The kidnapper’s tone dropped an octave. “Then you’ll never know the plan. Now get in.”

Hands landed on Bianca’s shoulders and shoved her down. Her head knocked against something hard, and the vibration echoed not only in her head but also in her ears. The space was cool to her exposed legs. Perhaps something metal?

Something collapsed on top of her stomach. She gasped at the same time the something—or rather someone, Nathan—groaned again.

An engine started, but not the limo. A deeper, more rattling noise. Smoke infested the air. The ground underneath them shook, and Nathan’s head lifted off her. Had he fallen? Or…wait. They weren’t going down, but forward…and also up.

What was happening? She needed the blindfold off.

She tugged against the ropes on her wrists. Crawled her thumb up. Still nothing. If she could only loosen them a bit, she could slip her arms down over her behind and pull her legs through. Then at least her arms would be in front of her.

Her ex shifted, and something wet landed on her arm.

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