34. Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Four
Riverview Hailey
L ucas. He’s called every day since the morning Hailey and Gavin broke up for good. She hasn’t felt the need to talk to her brother, and she really doesn’t feel like talking to Lex, who also keeps calling.
They’re on break, and most people go home. Not Hailey. No, she stayed in the dorms to avoid any possibility of seeing Gavin in Griffin’s Beach. If she sees him out with the waitress, she might actually lose it. And she cannot afford a criminal record.
Turning her phone off, she tosses it onto the bed, not caring that it slides under her pillow. The one person she wants to call hasn’t even texted her since she left that morning.
It doesn’t help that Lindsey’s found herself a boyfriend. She won’t stop talking about the older guy she met at that party Hailey dipped out on, and it’s driving Hailey crazy. Last night, she dreamed about cutting out Lindsey’s tongue just to stop hearing about this guy.
It’s only because I’m jealous. She shouldn’t have to hide her happiness because I miss Gavin. Even if I’m still pissed at him, I can’t get him off my mind.
Something about Lindsey’s boyfriend seems off even though Hailey’s never met him. He buys her clothes to wear out with him, but they’re all child-like. It’s mildly disturbing, especially because she looks like a slutty preteen out on Halloween.
Today, Lindsey left the room wearing a plaid skirt, white button-down shirt tied just below where her boobs should be to show off her belly button, and knee socks with Mary Jane pumps. Put her in pigtails, and she’d look like she’s trying to look like Britney Spears from her first music video.
“Hailey, you’re here!” Lindsey calls as she opens the door. “Good! I want you to meet my boyfriend, Gary.”
Hailey turns in her chair to find Lindsey beaming up at a tall man who looks to be about twenty-five, at least. Not only does it seem disturbing that he wants to dress her younger than she already looks, the way he looks at Lindsey screams RED FLAG.
God, he even looks like a Gary. “Hey.”
His eyes roam over her with a satisfied smile. “Roommates, huh?”
“Well, Gary, you did walk into a dorm room, which is typically where college students live with another person. Not to mention that the two beds, two desks, and two closets should have been a dead giveaway.”
Her sarcasm has no effect on him, and he licks his lips. “You look like you’re studying.”
“Nothing gets by you, huh?”
“You’re supposed to be on break. All work and no play, huh?”
Yeah, this is one creepy dude. Way to go, Lindsey.
“So… do you two ever… you know? Play the naughty co-eds when you’re horny and don’t have a date for the night?”
Lindsey giggles and slaps his chest playfully. “You’re crazy!”
Barf. “Into guys and only guys, thanks,” Hailey says. “That’s not disturbing or weird at all to bring up upon first meeting someone.”
“I’m willing to try if you are,” Lindsey says. “My goal is to please my man.”
“Yeah, that’s not my goal, and I’m not willing. Also… What the fuck, Lindsey?”
“Come on, Hailey. I’ll join you once you make each other come,” Gary says, shifting behind Lindsey and sliding his hands up under her shirt to tug on her nipples. “College is supposed to be the time where you experiment, right?”
Turning more in her chair, Hailey rests an arm on the back of it, fully disgusted.
“Gary, is it? I can tell you that if I decided to munch some chick’s carpet, it wouldn’t be in front of you or for your pleasure.
And I sure as hell wouldn’t do it in the hopes of having you jump in the sack with me. You’re not my type.”
“Is Lindsey your type?”
“Does Lindsey have a cock?”
One of his hands slides down to lift her skirt, showing no panties underneath, and he toys with her clit. “Nope, no cock. A wet and ready pussy, though. I think the thought of you naked turned her on.”
“Well, you have fun with that. Just… not here. While I am.”
“I think she doesn’t want to admit this turns her on,” he says and sucks Lindsey’s earlobe into his mouth. “I bet she couldn’t turn away if I fucked you right in front of her.”
The eye contact Gary tries to hold with Hailey while he finger-fucks Lindsey creeps her out. She’s spent enough time around sketchy people thanks to Harold and Iris, and the one thing Hailey’s learned is to trust her instincts. They’re rarely, if ever, wrong in situations like this.
The moment Gary finally looks away, Hailey grabs her phone and slips it discretely into her jeans rather than her pockets. Something about this whole thing screams bad news.
The guy isn’t just a horny creep looking to score with a girl who looks like she’s underage before inevitably crossing that line. No, something more sinister is at play, and Hailey debates between getting out of it by herself or helping Lindsey.
“I’m just gonna give you guys the room and study in the library.” Hailey stands when the desire to just bolt wins out. Lindsey’s the one who picked him, after all.
“No, stay,” Lindsey says and moans.
“Yeah, I don’t want to.”
Lindsey’s body shakes, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, and Hailey feels grossed out watching her roommate orgasm. It’s like free porn being shoved in her face. And it only gets worse when Gary takes his two fingers and sucks them into his mouth as he stares Hailey down.
When he lets her go, he winks and pulls out his phone. Hailey takes the opportunity to pull Lindsey aside. “He called a friend for you. I know how upset you are after finding out your ex was sleeping with someone else.”
“I don’t want any friend of his. Lin, something about this dude is suspicious,” she says, her voice low to avoid Gary hearing her as his hand slips into his pants. “There’s something very fucking off, and you should get away.”
Rolling her eyes, she leans against the bedframe beside the desk.
“Relax, okay? I’ve already had sex with him, like, twenty times.
He’s a good time, I promise, and I can guarantee whatever friend he’s bringing for you will be, too.
You don’t need to become his girlfriend, but the best way to get over someone is to get on top of someone else. ”
“When you talk like that, it makes me want to dry heave,” she says as her entire body begins to vibrate in warning.
“No, this is sketchy, and I don’t want any part of it.
You need to tell him to leave. I mean it, Lin.
Something is wrong, and I know you don’t understand because you’ve never been around someone like him before, but trust me. Something bad is going to happen.”
“What could possibly go wrong?”
“Famous last words,” Hailey says when a man wearing a long, black jacket steps into the doorway.
Everything in Hailey screams run! She would run, but this guy blocks the only exit to the room, and they live on the sixth floor. The drop may not kill her, but she knows she’ll never make it out in time.
Plus, she can’t leave Lindsey behind. Not now. Even if she is pissed as all hell that her roommate brought this situation to them. Hailey’s now responsible for her innocent and stupidly na?ve friend.
“Oh, they’re perfect, Gary. Now get your hand off your fucking cock.”
Gary pulls his hand out and smiles. “Thanks, Mel. Thought you’d like them.”
Mel looks to be around fifty, and it’s clear that Gary works for him. He scouts out the women to lure, and Lindsey reaches out to grip Hailey’s arm, suddenly aware that things aren’t what they seemed.
“You might be right.”
“No, shit,” Hailey hisses back.
“You know, we’re both suddenly not feeling very well, so I think maybe we should do this another night,” Lindsey says. “Sorry to waste your time. It was great meeting you, Mel. Gary, I’ll call you.”
Oh, innocent, sweet Lindsey. If only you realized that you already gave the devil an engraved invitation.
“No, we’re doing this tonight,” Mel says, his long, crooked nose reminds her of a snowman. “Hailey and Lindsey. We can sell them as a duo. The names have a nice ring to it, and they’ll be exactly what our clients want.”
His large arm grabs Hailey the instant Gary pulls Lindsey into his arms. She tries to fight, but there’s no use. And when his hand covers her mouth to muffle her screams, she knows she’s in trouble.
They’re quickly carried down the main floor without issue because the entire campus is on break. The few people who are around are either locked away in their rooms or out partying. Of course, she’d bring her new boyfriend to the room at one in the morning.
A third man waits for them outside and opens the trunk of the car right outside the dorm. He zip ties their hands before they’re tossed inside.
We’re fucked. Totally and unbelievably fucked.
“Oh my God,” Lindsey whimpers. “What’s happening?”
The shake of her voice in the darkness of their confined space is a telltale sign that she’s crying, and it annoys the hell out of Hailey. “What have you told Gary?”
Swallowing, she begins to breathe deeply as she sounds on the verge of hyperventilating. “Nothing.”
“What have you told him, Lindsey?”
“I just told him that I’m from a small town in Oregon, and my parents are there with my brothers. He knows we don’t have money, so this can’t be a ransom thing.”
Panic rises, and Hailey forces it down. “What did you tell him about me?”
“I told him that your parents are dead, and you don’t have any family. I didn’t think it was a big deal, I swear.”
“It is a big deal, Lindsey! It’s a really big fucking deal!”
“Who are they?”
Taking a few deep breaths of her own, Hailey tries to calm herself before snapping and completely breaking whatever small amount of sanity Lindsey still has. She knows she has to figure out how to get them out of this. “You just got us kidnapped by men who are going to sell us out.”
“Sell us out?”
“We’re tied up in the trunk of a car with human traffickers behind the wheel. They targeted us because the chance of someone looking for us is slim to none. And by the time someone finally does notice we’re gone, it’ll be too late.”
Rather than speak, or even apologize like she should, Lindsey just sobs next to Hailey.
Well, clearly it’s up to me and only me to figure out how to get us out of this. But how the fuck am I going to do that?
There’s no telling where they are or how far they’ll be taken.
They may be crossing state lines for all she knows.
She should have been honest. Hailey has a family.
A family of scary bikers, and maybe, just maybe, they would have backed off.
The threat of the Deranged Drifters deters a lot of people.
Why do I have to be so damn stubborn? I have a family who wants me, but I just refuse to let people in. Lucas was right, and look where it’s gotten me. In a trunk of a car about to be sold with my roommate as a duo. I wish I’d gone home now. Home. Will I ever see it again?