Unfortunately, panic was a dirty film covering her body.
They couldn’t pretend anymore. This situation was so much worse than just being held for ransom or whatever they wanted from William in exchange for giving them back. The possibility of not being given back, even if Will did do what they ask, was something she tried not to dwell on. The possibility of being physically hurt...raped...she couldn’t set those thoughts aside.My fears are valid, butIcontrol them.Her new mantra.
“I feel like it’s been hours and hours. Surely even a strip club isn’t open all night.”
“The passage of time is damn hard to grasp when it’s always dark. It does seem like they should have been back a long time ago.”
“I was thinking that maybe they aren’t coming back. Maybe the people looking for us figured out who they were. Maybe theyknew they were about to be caught and ran,” Rowan felt foolish for how hopeful she sounded, knowing it was likely not true.
Katy remained silent, perhaps thinking over her own wild speculations. “This Thomas MacGregor you told me about. You mentioned his security firm is the best. They even work closely with the FBI. Surely Hugh would have called him as soon as he found out you’d been taken. And since he was with your family for so many months because of that stalker, he’d be familiar with your family.
“He would take the case if Hugh asked. Right?” Katy asked. Hope creeping in her voice.
“No question.” There was no way her family and the Stanton family, especially Diana Gaines, wouldn’t throw every one of their resources into finding them.
“Our situation is dire, Katy, but never hopeless. Not with our families.”
“Agreed.”
She heard Katy’s cuff clink. She must be trying for a more comfortable position. The cuff was digging into her wrist. It felt raw. The zip ties around her ankles were worse. Her skin felt swollen around the plastic strips. She’d worked her ankles more than once trying to ease the discomfort, the ties only bit into her skin worse.
“Once we’re rescued, I bet William will be so thankful you’re okay that he actually pulls his head out of his ass and listens to you.”
Katy chuckled. “I won’t hold my breath.”
She’d told Rowan about her plan to make William jealous. How William only cared about his work. How she felt like a dummy when he spoke tech with his colleagues. She’d never felt like she was enough. After this, she knew Katy was one of the strongest and best of women. Perhaps William wasn’t good enough for her if he didn’t relook at their marriage after this.
“I have to pee,” Katy whispered.
“Me too, damn it. Let’s lay down and try to sleep. If they haven’t come back by then, we’ll have to…I don’t know...figure out how to pee where we aren’t sitting in it.”
The kidnappers never came back.Days had to have passed. It felt like years. Rowan would cry, but her body was too dehydrated to waste any fluid on self-pity. She’d peed only once since the beginning of this nightmare. She and Katy slept, no guess as to how long, waking with bursting bladders and few choices of disposal at hand.
“I think we should scoot as far as the handcuff will let us toward the door where they came in. We only have underwear to pull down, thanks to those perverted bastards. We pee and scoot back to the pole as quick as we can.”
At least they’d been too busy with the logistics of not peeing on themselves to be embarrassed.
Rowan was laying half around the pole, giving her cuff the most slack. Her wrist was painful and crusty. She’d felt liquid oozing around the metal bracelet a few times. It could be blood from broken scabs, or it could be puss from an infection. There was a three-inch swath of skin around her wrist that was hot and painful to touch. Most likely infection.
There were also the zip ties. Her lower calves were a never-ending cycle of discomfort. Okay, she knew she was lying to herself. It was way more than discomfort. Throbbing excruciating pain was a way more accurate description.
Katy moaned occasionally. Rowan heard them even though the other woman tried to muffle the sound.
“Shared pain lessens the burden. At least, that’s what Nan used to say. Though right now, I call bullshit. If I thought sharing would make me feel…less, I’d scream at the top of my lungs.”Katy snorted in tired amusement. They’d tried the screaming bit, hoping someone might hear.
It managed to make their throats dryer and dishearten them further. It felt like they were in the belly of a soundproofed beast. The concrete floor would eventually soak up every last drop of their humanity until someday, someone would find nothing but bones and her frayed thong.
Rowan would have laughed at her morbid grossness if she had the energy. “I don’t think it’s been as long as we think, Kat.” They’d picked the nickname for Katy after Rowan explained that she and her sisters shortened their names.
“I’m sure you’re right. I know you’re right,” she amended. “I keep telling myself that no matter how long it’s been, Will and Hugh will find us. I know they will.”
Another round of silence. Rowan found silence held the perfect ingredient for negative thoughts to grow. She’d already daydreamed that Daniel was grown up and looking at pictures of his Auntie Row. Who he never knew. Not a road to stroll for long.
“I haven’t seen much of it, but your hair is stunning. I’ve always thought redheads won the beauty lottery.”
Katy chuckled, appreciating the distraction. “My father had red hair, which is funny because I was adopted.”
“I bet you your parents saw your red fuzzy head and fell in love.”
