Page 2 of Saved by Him

I’d left, I remembered suddenly.

Jalen had demanded a paternity test, saying that he didn’t believe the child was his, a statement that had reminded me of my father’s accusations of infidelity against my mother. I’d gotten my head on straight about that though. Jalen had caught Elise literally in the act of having sex with another man. His doubts regarding who she’d been sleeping with were completely founded.

But I’d still left. Why? I hadn’t been angry at Jalen, and my feelings about Elise were…multi-layered. I’d been invited into the house, asked to stay. Elise hadn’t. Even though Jalen had clearly wanted to talk through this with her, he hadn’t asked me to leave. I’d done it on my own.

Another memory clicked into place.

I’d wanted to give them time and space to work out all the ways their lives were about to change. And I wanted some space of my own. I hadn’t broken up with Jalen, but I had told him that I needed time to figure out how he would fit into my life differently now that he had a baby on the way.

Cold. Damn cold. Not surprising considering it was the beginning of December in Colorado. Snow in the mountains could come year-round. With Christmas on the way, I was surprised I hadn’t been snowed in yet.

I was cold because I’d been walking. I called for a car, but I hadn’t wanted to stay at the house with Elise and Jalen while I waited.

There’d been a car, I remembered. No, not a car, a van. A dark van.

Someone had gotten out of it.

I gagged, the memory of a damp cloth, the same sickly-sweet smell that was now coating my tongue. Shit. Chloroform. The name didn’t matter though. What mattered was that my brain had finally caught up to my surroundings.

I’d been kidnapped.

Someone had literally knocked me out and taken me somewhere against my will.

Saying it a different way didn’t make it any less surreal.

What the fuck?!

I let myself have a few seconds to panic, and then I forced myself to focus. I hadn’t gotten through hell with my father only to die here, alone, tied up in the dark. I’d lived through nearly being eviscerated. I would live through this.

With that thought in mind, I took inventory.

My head hurt, but it didn’t feel like I was bleeding from anywhere. I didn’t remember hitting my head. That was good. It meant I didn’t need to worry about a concussion or anything like that. My headache was just the after-effect of the chloroform. Unless whoever had taken me had dropped me on the floor, and I’d hit my head then.

I opened my eyes, but it didn’t make a difference. I really hoped it was because wherever I’d been stashed was dark and not because I was blind. My eyes didn’t hurt, but if I’d gotten hit hard enough… no, I refused to consider that. It was just dark in here.

That was fact number one. Fact number two was that my hands and feet were tied. Based on the lack of give and how sticky it felt, I was going with duct tape. I knew how to get out of it. I’d been one of the best in my class when it came to escaping various kinds of restraints. I needed to evaluate my situation more before I decided whether it would be advantageous to have my hands free or not.

I’d probably have only one shot at escaping, and I didn’t want to ruin it because I got impatient.

I wasn’t gagged, which meant I was most likely stashed somewhere isolated or soundproofed, maybe both. If they were worried I could attract attention, they would’ve gagged me even while I was out. Which meant screaming wouldn’t do any good, even if it might’ve made me feel better.

I cleared my throat, then coughed. The sound didn’t echo, but it wasn’t flat either. My gut told me that I was in a room, but not a huge one. No windows. I put my hand on the ground and felt something smooth, cold. Probably tile or concrete. Same with the walls. It reinforced my thought that I was in a basement.

Wonderful.

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