Page 107 of Silent Threat
Fear and fury drummed in his head, pounding in his brain.
How bad was Annie hurt?
Was she even really here, or was this a trap?
Annie came to slowly, her head buzzing, her limbs heavy. Several seconds passed before she figured out where she was: in the deer blind, in the woods, in the middle of a hurricane. A squall pounded on the roof, making her head hurt. She couldn’t remember how she got here.
Her mouth felt dry.
In another few seconds, her brain began working better. Clearly, she’d been drugged, but the sedative was wearing off, thank God.
The burly shape of a man stood across the small room from her, looking out, into the woods.
Dan.Dan had come for her, drugged her, then brought her here.
Why?
She didn’t move, tried not to make any noise, closed her eyes again. If Dan turned around, she didn’t want him to know that she had regained consciousness.
Whatever his goal was and whatever his reasons were for kidnapping her, she was pretty sure the adventure wasn’t going to have a good ending.
Hehaddrugged her and kidnapped her. He hadn’t bothered covering his face. Because he was counting on her being unable to tell the police what he’d done?
Because she’d be dead?
Her mind still addled, she couldn’t come up with another reason. She couldn’t see how Dan’s plans—no matter what they were—would end well for her.
She eased one eye open to a narrow crack. Dan still had his back to her, peering into the rain as if waiting for something. Lightning flashed, and for a second she could see better—see the gun he held by his side, a glint of black metal.
A shiver ran down her spine, and not just from the sight of the weapon. She was freezing. He had on his big puffy coat. His tendency to overdress for cold because of his poor circulation was paying off.
The coat ...
He looked so much bigger in that coat than he really was.
Suspicion dawned. Bundled up, he could have been the man in her kitchen.Andthe man in the SUV that had run her off the road. Dan drove a deep-green 4Runner. His car could definitely look black in the dark.
Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
Because in a million years, she would not have suspected Dan. He was supposed to be a healer, like her!
And yet ... he’d asked her out, and she’d rejected him. She wouldn’t be the first woman to be killed for saying no.
Despair clawed at her. God, this was so insane.
OK, no. No despair. No panic.She couldn’t let him win. She was in her woods. This was her turf.
Think! Rush him and ram him over the side?
Under different circumstances, she probably could have. But her legs were still half-numb. The drug wasn’t fully out of her system yet.
She shifted to test just how wobbly she was.
He caught the small movement and spun toward her to watch her with disdain, a sneer on his thin lips. “You shouldn’t get involved with patients,” he said, as if they’d been in the middle of a conversation. “It’s a breach of ethics.”
Because kidnapping wasn’t? She didn’t ask him that. But she did ask, “Why did you bring me here?”
“To draw out your boyfriend. I sent him a text to let him know where to find us.”
