Page 79 of Fight
Early the next morning, Alexis and I were in the common room while the Caden showered and Devon slept, trying to decide what to do with the day while we waited for Reese to make his decision.
"I'd kill for a real cup of coffee."Alexis collapsed onto the sofa.
"There's a coffee pot in kitchenette."I suggested.
"That's not real coffee, it's a coffee substitute."
I laughed."Well, there's a coffee shop on the corner, we could go down and bring coffee up for everyone."
"Do you think we should?"
"Why not?"I said, "We're not going far and we're not meeting anyone."
I scribbled a quick note for the guys, in case we didn't get back before they started looking, we grabbed our purses and left.
"What was your impression of Reese last night?"I asked, while we waited for the elevator to reach the ground.
"I like him.I'm confident he'll make the decision carefully and get back to us."
"Do you think he's going to want to do it?"
"From his reaction last night?I think it's likely.Will you have a problem with Ridges being there?"
I thought about it for a second before shaking my head."No, I have no problem with it, as long as he doesn't keep me from concentrating. I get the feeling that he's more curious than anything, which I expect will be a common reaction once word gets out."We stepped off the elevator and headed out the front door together, nodding to the doorman as we passed.
"Once word gets out, you'll do more traveling but I'm willing to bet that there will be some who come to you too."
We started for the coffee shop that Devon and I had been visiting for the last couple of days.It was just down on the corner and not far enough to justify taking the car.We'd made the trip a couple of times and I knew we could walk the distance, get coffee, and be back in ten to fifteen minutes, no big deal right?Wrong.
Someone had been waiting for us to leave the hotel.I don't know if they would have struck if the guys had been with us but they made their move now.We hadn't gotten halfway down the block before I felt a sharp sting on the outside of my arm.Thinking I'd been stung by a bee, I reached up to touch it and felt something sticking out instead.I pulled it out and looking at it, discovered it was a small dart.Confused, I turned to Alexis, to see if she knew what it was, only to find her missing.I looked around and down, and there she was, lying on the ground beside me.I knew something was wrong, very wrong.I started to look around again, looking for whoever had shot us, but my knees gave out.I fell to the ground as the world went black around me.
Chapter 24
The pain woke me.I didn't hurt just a little or in one spot, I hurt everywhere.I slowly became aware that I was lying mostly on my stomach, but my arms were pinned together under my body as I lay in an uncomfortable position on my stomach that didn't account for all the pain.I opened my eyes slightly, and moving only my eyes, I looked around, I could tell that I was lying in the back of a full sized van, my head turned toward the rear door.The rhythmic movements told me the van was in motion.I tried to move, to roll off my arms, and into a less painful position only to realize that my wrists were cuffed together and somehow tied to the floor.I couldn't go anywhere.
Something was wrong, very wrong.I was groggy but I tried to remember how I'd gotten here.The last thing I remember was leaving the hotel with Alexis to get coffee.I struggled to remember, did we even make it to the coffee shop?Where was Alexis?I could only hope she was safe and that she could get back to Devon and Caden.I knew I couldn't wait to be rescued, how would they know where to find me?Logic told me I must have been drugged in order to have been taken, bound like this, and not remember it.My thoughts were cloudy and sluggish but I kept pushing.I struggled to think, to use the senses that had become almost second nature to me in the time since my first shift.
I realized I was pushing too hard and tried to calm myself, if just enough to think, to rationally evaluate my situation.I took a deep breath and noticed the scent of salt.I was still near the ocean or the bay.I also caught the scents of at least four different humans.I concentrated.I could hear the sound of the engine, and the voices of men in the front seat talking.I didn't try to make out what they were saying, it wasn't important.Figuring out how to get free was.I knew from the fact that they weren't burning my skin that the cuffs holding me weren't silver, which meant that whatever attached them to the floor likely wasn't either.The scents of excitement and eagerness were in the air, something told me that these men didn't know what they'd gotten themselves into.
I opened my eyes again and didn't see anyone.I shifted my body slightly, hoping no one would see it.
"Looks like she's waking up."an unfamiliar voice came from behind me.I felt a sharp blow to my side as someone kicked me."You awake, Bitch?"The same voice asked.
I tried not to react.I wanted more time to figure out what was going on.The foot hit me again, harder this time and just a little lower, hitting me just above my kidney.I couldn't hold back a whimper of pain.
"Yeah, she's coming out of it."The voice spoke again."What should we do?"
"Just let her be.She's not going anywhere for a while."Another voice said, farther away and muffled as if he was facing another direction.
"You sure?"The first voice asked."I could have a little fun with her before we get where we're going."He kicked me again, not as hard but still enough to hurt.
"Leave her alone.We were paid to take her and deliver her untouched.A few bruises will be forgiven, but you're not going to screw it up for a little fun you can get from any hooker for a fraction of what we're making.And stop kicking her, you'll damage the merchandise."
The first voice grumbled but the kicking stopped, leaving me relieved but wary it would start again.Still trying to push past the fog still clouding my mind, I tried to figure out how to get out of here.I laid on the carpeted floor of the van, my head turned so that my face was no longer buried in the stale smelling rug.I flexed my fingers, trying to work out the pins and needles that were the first signs of restored circulation.At the same time, I unobtrusively brushed my skin against the chain locking my cuffs to a metal loop in the floor where a seat would normally attach.
There was no burn, no sting to indicate silver in the chain, which meant two things.The first was I could probably break the chain, it might take a few tries but I was sure I could snap it and free my hands, at least from the floor.And second, that it was another clue that these humans had no idea what I am.They weren't prepared for what someone with my strength or abilities could do.
Something suddenly popped into my head.If I lowered the shields that had become second nature to me over the last few months, I should be able to hear what the men who'd taken me were thinking.I might be able to figure out who had paid them to kidnap me, or where they were taking me.
