Page 14 of In The Darkness

“She’s never had to worry about the roof over her head or having enough money to get lunch at school,” Nick said with a sneer he added for effect. Pointing toward the room where Persephone sat, he added, “People like her don’t get it. They never will.”

Before Drist could get himself worked up into a lather, Nick stood up to leave. “I can’t talk about this anymore or I’m going to want to go in there and make her pay for all people like her and her father have done. I know Clayton wouldn’t want me to do that, though. Whatever else she is, she’s going to help us do what needs to be done to change this messed up fucking world.”

Drist nodded, grudgingly admitting Nick was right. “Yeah, Clayton would be pissed if we did anything to her. He wants to get more money from her father, so we can’t mess up her face.”

Pretending to be disappointed he couldn’t beat the hell out of a woman, Nick frowned and nodded his head. “I get it. This is a long game. We have to think a few moves ahead. It’s like chess.”

“Exactly! Chess is exactly what it’s like, and those rich bastards aren’t going to know what hit them when we start playing,” Drist said excitedly and then let out an evil laugh as he pointed his gun at Nick to reinforce his point.

As he walked away, Nick wondered if Drist even knew what chess was. He had a feeling he would be terribly disappointed when he found out it didn’t involve guns or zombies or killing anything.

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Chapter Six

The bedroom dooropened, making a creaking noise that never failed to terrify her, so Persephone quickly turned her head to see who they’d sent in this time so she could brace for what was to come. Eyes wide with fear, she saw Nick again and breathed a sigh of relief. Still unsure what to think about him, she felt reasonably sure he wasn’t as horrible as any of the other men.

He walked up beside the chair and crouched down in front of her. Placing his hands on her legs to balance himself, he looked up at her and whispered, “They’re going to be moving you tonight. I’m trying to get assigned to be one of the people who goes with you.”

She nodded and made a noise to let him know she wanted the gag removed. He reached up and pulled the rag out of her mouth.

“Don’t talk loud. We can’t afford to have them hear you,” he warned.

“Where are they moving me to?” she whispered, each word painful as her mouth formed the syllables.

“Winchester. I’m going to try to be one of the men who moves you.”

Persephone didn’t understand why he had to do any of this at all. Why weren’t the FBI just handling this like any other kidnapping case?

“Why aren’t the police or the FBI involved in this? At the very least, why aren’t the state police handling finding me?”

Nick shook his head. “The FBI is involved, but after those farm pictures came out, they probably thought you weren’t being held against your will.”

A mixture of disgust and disappointment rushed through her brain. Not held against her will? Didn’t they look at those pictures? She couldn’t have been more obvious with how terrified she was in each and every one. For God’s sake, in some she had to force back the tears as that awful man screamed at her to look happy.

“So there’s just you trying to save me?” Persephone asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer to her own question.

Nick lifted himself up so he was eye-level with her. His dark eyes stared into hers and made her feel like what he had to say meant something important to him. At least he seemed to care.

“Your father hired me because this is what I do. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m doing everything I can to make sure you’re safe while you’re with these men, and I’m going to get you away from here as soon as I can.”

“What are they planning to do with me?”

“I don’t know yet. They don’t seem to either. Most of the guys here are just drifters or unemployed guys who have nothing else to do but a lot of anger about it. They have this belief that the world has given them a raw deal, and their leader has told them the way to remedy that is you.”

“Me?” she asked incredulously.

How the hell could she be the way to remedy their unhappy lives?

Nick nodded and rolled his eyes. He didn’t seem too convinced by what he had to say. “Yeah. I think the idea was that they’d kidnap you and get money for their cause, but something must have happened because your father already paid them five hundred grand and you’re still here.”

Suddenly, panic tore through her body. She’d seen enough movies and documentaries to know that once kidnappers got the money they demanded, if they didn’t release their prisoner that person wasn’t long for this world. Tears welled in her eyes as all hope she’d had of escaping slipped away.

“They’re going to kill me, Nick. I know how this works. They got the money, so now it’s just a matter of killing me. Did they send you in here to do it?”

Tears began to roll down her cheeks as her short life flashed in front of her eyes. She’d never married or had children. She’d never even been engaged. All those years she’d spent devoted to becoming a nurse and then getting ahead at the hospital now seemed for nothing. She’d die in this terrible place or the next terrible place they planned to take her to and her life would end as if she meant nothing to the world.

He shook his head and cradled her face in his strong hands. “No! Don’t think like that. Persephone, I’m not going to let them kill you. I promise you that. Something must have changed anyway because they demanded another five hundred thousand from your father already. I think they didn’t plan on this actually succeeding, so now they just figure they’re going to milk it for everything they can. To do that, they need you alive.”

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