Page 42 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
“Please,” I said. “You could go home now if you just let me go.” Neither man answered, so I tried something new. I read somewhere once that calling someone by their name builds a connection. “I’m Grace. What’s your name?” I asked, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.
“I said shut up. He doesn’t want to hear it. He has bills to pay, just like everyone else, and you are the way he pays them. Got it? That’s how little you mean to us.” The little one kept answering and the big one stayed silent and squeezed me tighter, making it difficult to breathe.
The world spun and blackness crept into the edges of my vision. I knew that was a sign that I was about to pass out. I must have hit my head very hard. I fought to stay conscious, knowing that once I blacked out, it was over for me.
Little One had pulled the rope out of a bag I hadn’t noticedduring my attempts to free myself and started wrapping it around my feet first. Guess he didn’t want another kick to the balls.
I moved as much as I could while he did it. Not because I thought I could prevent him from tying me up, but because I figured he might do a bad job if I made it difficult. It seemed to work. Even if the knot was good, which I wouldn’t know until I tried to work it loose, the ropes were at least not cutting off circulation to my feet and I could rub my legs together a bit. That was promising. If my efforts also landed a few blows to Little One’s face, all the better.
He moved to my arms, and this time I couldn’t pull the same trick. Big Dude had my arms in such a vise that I couldn’t wiggle them even an inch.
Seriously, what did this guy do for exercise? I don’t think even Anders was this strong, and he was the strongest man I had met until this point.
The thought of Anders had my heart sinking. He was on a wild goose chase, no doubt. It was too much of a coincidence that he left to find the very thugs that were here now, kidnapping me, just as they threatened. It was a mistake to underestimate them based on the note. I hoped Anders was safe. I knew he would know what happened. He had enough cameras, hidden and obvious, to see the whole thing when he went back to watch. That was if he could and they just drew him away instead of deciding to spring a trap and take him out longer term.
My heart squeezed, and it wasn’t just because of the powerful arms around my chest. Anders had to be safe. Hehadto. I can survive this only if he is safe.
Somehow, the kidnappers got me out of the apartment and into the trunk of the car without anyone seeing. I must have actually passed out for a minute because I didn’t remember getting from the apartment to here. I tried to focus on the carthey were putting me in, in case I needed that information later.
White. Old. Toyota.
I memorized what I could about it and prepared myself to track turns and count the seconds. All things Anders had taught me in our many hours of self-defense lessons. I held onto those lessons and the thought of him. I would see him again. I would.
They locked me in the trunk with just my thoughts and keeping track of where we were to occupy me. I was surprised to find that I wasn’t panicked. Sure, I had a panic attack about kissing a guy, but being kidnapped? No. Big. Deal. I got this. Provided I didn’t pass out again. The world lurched and spun just to taunt me. Or maybe that was the vehicle moving. I wasn’t sure, and that was a little frightening.
After I counted to a thousand dozens of times, give or take, we finally stopped. I had tried my best to work the ropes around my legs and arms loose, but hadn’t managed by the time we stopped. I had even tried to kick out the taillights of the car, but with my legs tied together and the angle, I couldn’t quite get enough force for it.
The trunk opened, and they wrenched me out into the bright afternoon light. I blinked several times, temporarily blinded by the contrast. Eventually, my vision cleared and I could see that we were in the loading dock of an old wooden building, two stories tall and looking shabby. The weeds grew tall and crept in close to the building, making it look like it had been abandoned for some time.
The distinct odor of sulfur and wet grass floated on the air, a sign that we were close to the river. I tried to look further afield and see what else was around us, but the big dude crowded in close to me before he hoisted me onto his shoulder and took me inside.
I did my best to get a feel for the building we entered. They brought me along a narrow hallway with multiple doorsleading off the sides and through a door at the very end into a large room. We walked along the stained, matted carpet. Off to one side, I could see a bar top and to the other were various platforms with poles. I couldn’t think clearly enough to put the pieces together, though.
They dumped me unceremoniously on the ground with my back to one of the poles and tied my bound wrists to it before heading off to another area of the space that had some chairs set up in it.
The room spun from the blood rushing from my head after being upside down and it took me a moment to get my bearings and process the room.
A black lump on the counter caught my attention, and I sucked in a breath at the luck. An old landline telephone. There was no guarantee that it had service, but it was something to strive for. A literal lifeline to the outside world if I could get to it. The chance at safety. If only I can get free.
I started working on loosening my ties. Bile rose in my throat from the trauma my body had already experienced. Anders had talked about ways to get free of rope, but we didn’t have anything to practice with. I should have taken the laces from his shoes and insisted he show me for real. I was too confident in my ability to evade capture, and now I paid the price for it.
I must have made a sound because the little one turned back to see me trying to free myself.
“I don’t think so,” he said as he stalked towards me. I swallowed down a whimper, refusing to show fear. “You’ve been enough trouble. I think it’s time you go to sleep for a bit.”
I saw the blow coming, fear lancing me, unable to even move and dodge. It landed with devastating force.
It didn’t knock me out, but the world spun and the bile I had swallowed down earlier came back up.
“That won’t work,” big dude said with an impatient note tohis voice. He must have decided he could do a better job.
A giant hand shoved a stained white cloth in my face. I tried to turn my head and hold my breath, but big dude’s big hand held my head tight and forced the cloth against my mouth and nose until I had no choice but to breathe in the vile too sweet chemical. It invaded my senses and took over my body. Blackness pulled me under before I could fight it off.
Chapter Twenty-One
that kiss I shared with Grace before I left was probably the best kiss of my life. It was not the hottest I’d ever had. It wasn’t even the hottest Grace and I had shared, but it was the best. I couldn’t get the soft brush of her lips on mine out of my head as I drove to the small hotel a few miles from here. Hotel is too nice a word for it. Motel would still be too nice a word for it.
I recognized the place. Some guys from physical therapy had stayed here. Too many pieces of their mind or bodies gone to do much besides exist. I was lucky. I had the guys and Grace, even if it was just those damn letters. They gave me just enough hope to keep going.
