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I let out a wail, not sure why I’ve tried to stay silent. It’s not like this guy is going to forget I’m back here and I’m certain they have a plan. I can’t let my mind go there. I can’t think about the what-if scenarios. I need to think about how I can escape. That should be my only thought.
“Aren’t you going to say anything, local heiress?” a voice asks, letting out a smarmy chuckle when he finishes, in reference to the name he’s just called me.
His voice isn’t familiar, but there’s something about it that feels fake, like he’s using something to change it. He doesn’t want me to know who he is. A part of me wonders if it’s even a guy with the way the voice sounds.
It was a guy who approached me at the end of Ethan’s driveway, but I didn’t get a good look at who was driving the car that pulled up behind me.
I swing my leg to the seat beside me, testing to see if there is anyone else in the car. When I connect with nothing, I continue to shove my foot around, seeing if I can find something other than the car. And that’s when someone grabs my leg by the ankle, their fingers digging into my skin.
“Don’t you fucking ignore me,” the voice hisses, and I pull hard, trying to get my leg from his grip. Flailing around, I get free, which seems to only piss this person off more. “You’re a feisty one.”
“Fuck you!” I spit, not caring in the least if I make him even more mad. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it already. Or at least that’s how it feels. I’m more use to him alive than I am dead.
He slams on his brakes, sending me flying into the seat in front of me, unable to use my hands to stop my face from hitting the seat. He’s fucking with me, but what he doesn’t know is that I’m not just going to lay down and give up.
I laugh, despite my head throbbing in pain, my wrists now raw from trying to free them. And I keep laughing, hoping this guy sees I’m mocking him, that I’m not afraid of his bullshit. Even if in reality, I’m fucking terrified.
I don’t have a plan. All I can hope is that Ethan has a plan and that he’s told my parents and Max that I’m missing. He has to know by now. I lost my phone just before I was hit a second time. I felt it leave my hand, hitting the ground and he has to have at least found it. I know he’ll be looking for me. We were looking forward to today, ready to tell my family and Delaney and Alex about us.
Whoever this guy is, he knows about the article. That’s what this is about. I’ve put a spotlight on myself and my family and this is where I find myself. Trapped in the back of someone’s car, trying my best to figure a way out of this.
“They’ll pay you,” I say as the car comes to a stop. “My family has money, like you didn’t already know that.”
The door whips open and I’m hit with the cold evening air, the guy reaching in and grabbing me. He hauls me out of the car, commanding me to walk.
“Take off my blindfold,” I demand. “I can’t see and if you want me to walk—” My words are cut off by him kicking me in the back of the legs, knocking me to the ground.
I let my fingers feel around, noticing the gravel surrounding us, the ground is cold, and I can feel snow, but not a lot. I can’t be that far from home. I memorize all of this not knowing if this will help me, but I need to hold onto something. I need something to give me hope.
“You think I’m that fucking stupid,” the guy says, hauling me to my feet as he pushes me along, his arm linking through mine, nearly dragging me.
I’m intentionally trying to be difficult, not moving the way he wants me to in the hopes that wherever we are, someone could be watching. Making it take longer for him to get me where he wants could help me escape or at least make him realize I’m not going down that easily.
“I recognize your voice,” I hiss, trying to throw him off, trying to make him think I know who he is. He doesn’t respond right away, and I realize I can manipulate this guy, get inside his head and make him second guess his plan.
Right now, he’s trying to come up with an answer, trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth.
“And Ethan has cameras all over his property. He’ll turn them over to the police and they’ll be all over your ass before you know it.”
“Love to see them try,” the guy responds, his voice different now, a slight hint of fear creeping through.
I hear the squeak of a door hinge, and I’m pushed forward, tripping over a threshold and falling to my knees. Again, I find myself feeling around. There’s carpet and it’s thin. It’s motel carpet and the room smells old and musty. It reminds me of the Mountain View Motel when I met with Gus.
There are so many old motels within a large radius of Badger Creek, and I have no idea how long we were in the car for. All I remember is being knocked unconscious. It could have been for ten minutes or it could have been hours that I was out for.
A few seconds later, I hear the door slam, there’s a scraping of metal and the sound of something making a loud click and I wait, listening. I feel hyper aware of everything around me, my heart racing, my breathing coming hard and fast, but I can tell I’m alone.
I don’t know how long I have, so I work fast, moving my arms under my ass and eventually managing to get my arms in front of me.
I push the blindfold up, looking around, and the tears begin to pour down my cheeks. I have no idea where I am and this motel room isn’t helping to figure it out. I feel overwhelmed and out of control, and I let myself cry. Sobbing hard and loud, I use the old bed to pull myself up, I scramble over to the window, pulling back the dust-covered curtains, but I’m met with a massive piece of plywood nailed over the window.
It was my hope to see the outside, to check to see if it was safe to open the door, but now I know there’s no way that door is going to open. What I heard was a lock, the sound of a padlock clicking in place.
I race over to the door, my joined hands grabbing for the doorknob, and it turns, but when I pull on it, the door doesn’t budge. It’s exactly as I thought. It’s locked from the outside, and with the window boarded up, I don’t have any way to escape. I’m trapped in an abandoned motel.
Again, I could be anywhere. I could even be in Nevada, but I’m not sure this guy would risk crossing over state lines with someone he’s just kidnapped. But I guess I can’t be certain.
My panic takes over and I fall to the floor, sobbing. I’ve never felt so out of control in my life, and it hits me that this is exactly what this person wants. He wants me to feel helpless and hopeless and scared. He’s winning right now, but I can’t let him.
