Page 57 of Saved from Obsession

But I need to.An explosion of clarity bursts through the fog, its heat making the confusion recede. I need to figure this out.Remember. It’s the only way out of this.

Remember what?

Oh, shit. Now it’s all coming back.

Arriving at the address sent to me—a deserted store all boarded over—and a text telling me to go around the back. Pausing at the back door and sending back a message before I opened the door.I won’t come in unless you prove Leo is safe.

Then the robotic voice—somehow menacing and impatient—calling me, saying, “You have no choice.”

“Yes I do,” I snapped, stress and fear making me bold. “I can leave right now. Prove to me that Leo is safe.”

A pause, and then, “Open the door. Come inside. Then you can hear me call my employee to tell him to back off.”

There was no other choice. I needed to know. So I walked inside, flinching as the door clicked shut behind me. A moment later, another voice joined the line. Standing there, trembling, I listened as the person following Leo was instructed to leave. That the job was complete.

I thought of running then, had my hand on the door handle, wondering if it was locked from the inside. But then a hand grabbed me, clamped over my mouth. Cold metal pressed against my head, hard and jabbing at my temple. Pushed further into the room, shoved to the floor, all I could see was the gun pointed at me.

The man spoke normally. Calmly told me to change into the clothes he tossed at me. Shaking, forcing back tears, I stripped down in front of the stranger and did what he said.Could I fight back? I remember thinking. But Rylan and Leo always said if an attacker had a weapon to wait until they weren’t paying attention.

This man wasdefinitelypaying attention to me.

I was scared, sweating, my pulse fluttering madly. But I still had the tracker. I knew Leo would come looking for me.

But then the man said, “All the jewelry too, Georgia. You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?” Pausing, he stepped closer to me until he was only a foot away. His voice coated me in poison as he continued, “If you don’t take it off yourself, I’ll do it for you. And you won’t like it ifIhave to do it.”

What else could I do? Fear exploding inside me, I took off the earrings and set them on the floor beside me. Before I could stand back up on my own, I was yanked up and something sharp jabbed into my neck.

Everything blurred, my legs went liquid, an arm came around my chest, keeping me from falling. Then black.

And now I’m here. Whereverhereis.

I keep my eyes shut, hoping I can keep up the ruse of being asleep a bit longer. Give myself some time to shove down the pain and nausea and figure out my surroundings.

I’m on something soft. A bed? A couch? Still dressed—thank God—but who knows how long I’ve been out. I shift experimentally and discover my wrists and ankles are tied to something. And that’s when panic really sets in, my heart throbbing in time with my head, my lungs shriveling into two useless lumps.

No tracker, I’ve been drugged, and I’m restrained God knows where. This isso bad.

“Georgia, I know you’re awake.” A voice comes from my left, close enough for me to feel the man’s breath, and I jerk instinctively away from it. “See,” he went on, “I knew you were awake. You might as well stop pretending.”

When I don’t open my eyes fast enough, he slaps me on the cheek—not hard enough to bruise, but enough to sting. I grit my jaw against my growing urge to scream and blink my eyes open, wincing as the light in the room sends jagged shards of pain shooting into my brain.

“Thereyou are.“ The man smirks at me, his eyes glued to my face. He’s average looking—brown eyes, neat brown hair, thick eyebrows, a few acne scars on his cheeks. A black shirt and faded jeans cover his slender body, but ropey muscles in his forearms hint I shouldn’t underestimate him.

“Sorry about tying you up, Georgia.” He leans over me and I get a strong whiff of aftershave and deodorant that doesn’t quite hide the scent of sweat. After a minute, my arms come free, and I yank them around my chest protectively.

Sitting back in the chair set next to the bed, he says, “Not your ankles yet. First we need to have a discussion. So you know what will happen if you try to escape.”

I force myself up to a seated position, fighting back the fresh waves of nausea. My head swims and I have to take deep breaths to push away the dizziness to focus on the man beside me. “What do you want?” I croak out, my voice hoarse from disuse.

It brings a flurry of new questions rushing at me. How long was I out? How far away am I from Sleepy Hollow? What did he do to me? Everything down therefeelsokay, but what if—

I don’t notice I’m rocking back and forth until he puts a hand on my leg. “I didn’t do anything to you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He sounds offended. “I wouldn’t take advantage of you like that.”

“But you’ll drug me? Abduct me? Tie me up?” I bark out a short laugh, slightly hysterical. I shouldn’t talk back to him, IknowI shouldn’t, but the words come out anyway. “Whyare you doing this?”

“Because, Georgia. It’s meant to be. It always has been. I just had to wait for you to be ready.”

I gape at him, my head spinning with all the nonsensical things he’s saying. “What are youtalkingabout?”

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