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Men in ski masks.
At USD.
It came back to her in a rush.
She tried to sit up, but she was on her belly, with legs bound and arms restrained behind her back. Duct tape over her mouth. In a vehicle.
She could tell from the sounds, the movement. The change in inertia pitched her to the side, jostling her body.
“I don’t understand why you need me.” A woman’s voice.Aubrey.“I did my part like you told me. Just let me go. Please.”
Aubrey had helped them get in. The conversation, talking about wanting to take classes, asking to the use the bathroom, had all been a ruse. To give her a chance to unlock the back door for those men.
And Charlie had fallen for it. How stupid could she be.
“There’s something else I need you to do first,” a man said.
At the sound of that voice, Charlie’s heart dropped.Seth Olsen.
His truck was at his brother’s ranch, but he hadn’t been there. Instead, he’d been lurking behind USD, waiting to ambush her. Had he found the GPS tracker?
“What else?” Aubrey asked, her voice panicked. “Tell me and I’ll do it, so I can get out of here.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Seth said. “We’re almost there. In the meantime, be a good girl and keep your mouth shut.”
Momentum rolled Charlie to the side. They were turning. From the change in the sound of the tires, they had left a paved road for a dirt one. A little bumpy, too, as they continued along it for a while.
Finally, the vehicle came to a stop.
“Get her up and out,” Seth ordered.
There was a tug at her ankles, and the restraint fell away. Someone had cut the zip tie, but her wrists were still bound together.
The hood was snatched from her head. She blinked, getting her bearings. Her gaze flew around wildly. She was on the floor of a cargo van.
A man wrenched open the side door and grabbed her arm. “Come on.” He hauled her out of the van.
Cool night air brushed her face. A stark relief from the hot hood that had been suffocating. In the bright moonlight, her vision cleared. They were in the woods.
None of the men wore their masks. She was able to make them out clearly.
Seth led the way down a path. Detective Colvin shoved Aubrey forward, causing her to stumble in her heels while Detective Eklund kept a tight grip on Charlie as he hurried her along.
The fact that they were no longer hiding their identities meant they didn’t intend for her to survive this encounter. Charlie swallowed the bile in her throat.
She wasn’t ready to die. Not like this.
Brian.The thought of never seeing him again was too much to bear.
The meaty hand on her arm jerked her forward. They passed Seth’s truck along with two other vehicles.
The air held an unpleasant stench that only became fouler the closer they got to a barn. A cacophony of squeals and grunts rose, filling the air. As they came around the side of the barn, about two dozen pink hogs came into view.
The pigpen was dimly lit by the flames crackling in a stone firepit.
Charlie tugged her arms, trying to weaken the zip tie. Maybe she could pop it if she got her wrists at the right angle and put enough force behind it, or wriggle one hand out. She dug her heels in the dirt and tilted back to slow down their approach.
Eklund yanked her to his side, nearly taking her off her feet.
