23. Kayla
“Are you a duck or what?” I mutter.
Jace blinks and then looks down at me in genuine surprise. “What?”
I just raise my eyebrows expectantly. “A duck.”
A group of young women who look like tourists suddenly stop on the middle of the sidewalk to look down at what’s presumably a map on one of their phones. Jace effortlessly steps out into the street and even manages to swerve around a stray arm that someone flings out to point at the building across the street. After stepping back up onto the sidewalk, Jace falls in beside me again.
Faint amusement tugs at his lips as he frowns down at me. “Do you usually just skip past the beginning of a conversation and simply start it in the middle? Or did I finally manage to block out the sound of your voice for the past few minutes?”
I roll my eyes at him. “Funny.”
“I know.” He grins and wiggles his eyebrows before shooting me another questioning look. “It still doesn’t explain the duck comment, though.”
Drawing a hand over my hair, I fix my ponytail while we turn the corner and start down another street. It’s Friday evening, pleasantly warm, and most people got paid yesterday, so the streets are full of people out for a night of fun. I dodge a couple who cut past right in front of us to get to the Italian restaurant on our left.
“It’s just…” I begin, not even sure how to phrase this. “Nothing ever bothers you. It just runs right off you like water on a duck.”
He raises an eyebrow in silent question. “What would bother me?”
“I don’t know. Our fight last night? Everything I do?”
A soft chuckle escapes his chest, and he gives me a knowing look. “I grew up with three older brothers who are all various degrees of unhinged. Last night wasn’t exactly the first time someone called me a waste of space and slammed a door in my face.”
I wince, and guilt seeps through my chest.
“You should’ve seen Kaden when he was thirteen,” Jace continues, a smile full of mischief on his face. “Such a drama queen.” He tilts his head to the side. “Though to be fair, I did steal his knife collection and hid it for like three days. He almost tore our house apart trying to find it.” Another smug chuckle rolls from his chest. “Good times.”
Pain slices through my heart, and I fiddle with the strap on my watch.
God, I wish I had that. A brother that I could drive absolutely crazy with my stupid pranks but who would still always have my back.
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I glance up at Jace and say softly, “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.” I clear my throat a bit awkwardly and then add, “I just don’t want you in mine.”
“Oh, trust me, I’m aware. But unfortunately for you, I am in your space. And I will continue to be for another few months. So let’s just make this as easy and hassle-free as we can, okay?”
“Fine.”
He dramatically presses a hand to his chest and stares down at me in a show of exaggerated shock. “Did you just agree with me? Oh, what a momentous day.” He starts patting his pants as if looking for his phone. “Hold on, I need to call the scholars so that they can put this in the history books. Kayla Ashford, the most stubborn woman on the planet, finally agrees that Jace Hunter, the hottest, funniest, and all around most exceptional guy to ever walk this earth, is right. This really needs to be written down.”
A laugh escapes my throat before I can stop it. Quickly drawing my eyebrows down, I give him a shove and my best attempt at a glare. “Don’t push it.”
He just grins back at me.
On our left, a small café at last appears. I turn towards it. Sidestepping a guy in a suit, I cut across the sidewalk and head for the door.
“Hold on,” I say to Jace over my shoulder. “I just need to use the restroom.”
Before he can reply, I pull open the door.
Warm air and a faint scent of incense meet me as I step across the threshold. Since I know that Jace will follow, I hold the door up to him before walking inside.
The small café is dimly lit, full of dark wood and green plants in wicker baskets. About half of the tables are occupied, and most people in here are either reading a book or typing on a laptop.
I approach the counter. “Hi.”
“Oh, Ms. Ashford,” the girl behind it says with a smile since I’ve been here several times before.
Smiling back, I motion towards where the restrooms are located. “Sorry, is it okay if I just use the restroom.”
She nods. “Of course. Go right ahead.”
“Thanks.”
I cast a glance over my shoulder to check what Jace is doing. As expected, he has taken up position about halfway across the room. His perceptive eyes scan the entire space for threats.
Amusement ripples through me. This is a café that the quiet and well-behaved university students go to when they don’t want to spend the night at home. The only threats in here are the ones they read about in their books.
Only dark wood panels watch me as I walk down the short hallway towards the restrooms.
But when I reach the door, I walk right past it and open the ‘employees only’ door instead. With three quick strides, I’m across the empty breakroom and to another door.
Fresh air washes over me as I open it and slip out into the alley behind the café.
A victorious grin spreads across my lips.
I’ve done this exact trick with like six other bodyguards, so the cashier already knows that I didn’t go to the bathroom. It will take Jace a few minutes to figure that out, though.
Through the side window, I can just barely see the back of his head where he’s still standing in the middle of the café.
Because of what we just talked about, I almost feel guilty for pulling this disappearing act on him. Almost.
Excitement pulses through me like sparkling waves.
Jenn said that a bunch of people were heading to the meadow tonight, so if I can just get to a taxi before Jace notices that I’m gone, he will never find me. He’ll spend all night searching through the city while I’m finally enjoying a night of freedom with my friends out by the woods.
“Sorry,” I whisper, still looking at the back of Jace’s head from outside the window.
Then I take off.
Hurrying down the alley, I make my way towards the street on the other side of the building. Not the one we came from, since that is probably the first place Jace will check.
My dark blue dress flutters around my thighs as I jog the final distance to the mouth of the alley, and I can’t stop a wide smile from spreading across my face. Finally. I will finally have a night all to myself.
With that excitement still bouncing around inside me, I round the corner and stride out onto the sidewalk on the next street.
A hand grabs my arm.
My stomach lurches as I’m yanked to the side.
Irritation burns through me. How could Jace have possibly managed to get here before me? I saw him in the café less than a minute ago, and the only way here is through the alley that I used.
I let out a huff as I’m slammed chest first up against the wall. Twisting my head, I get ready to snap at Jace.
Panic crashes over me like a bucket of ice water.
Three men wearing black masks surround me.
I open my mouth to scream.
The guy pushing me up against the wall quickly yanks up his hand and locks it underneath my jaw, snapping my mouth shut. A moment later, the man on my right gags me with duct tape. I fight and try to yank the tape off or at least push myself away from the wall, but the third guy grabs my wrists and shoves them together behind my back.
Fear and panic pulses through my chest like electric currents as what feels like zip ties are yanked shut around my wrists.
I try to scream through the gag, but only muffled sound makes it out.
Then the world goes black as someone blindfolds me too.
The purse with my phone and keys and wallet is quickly yanked away from my shoulder.
My heart spasms as I’m lifted off my feet. Bucking my hips, I thrash wildly to get free. But it’s like trying to fight against immovable steel bands. I kick my legs and wiggle furiously while screaming behind the duct tape. My pulse thunders in my ears.
A jolt shoots through me as I’m heaved down again. But it’s not the ground that I land on. It’s hard but covered in some kind of soft fabric.
Dread spikes through me.
A trunk. This is the trunk of a car.
I land on my stomach, and before I can even start trying to twist around, hands appear on my ankles. Within seconds, my ankles have been zip tied together and secured to my bound wrists, leaving me in a hogtie.
The loud thud of a trunk being shut cuts through the air like an executioner’s blade.
It’s followed by more thuds as car doors are slammed shut.
Then the sound of an engine.
The floor of the trunk vibrates slightly underneath me as the car speeds away.
Twenty seconds.
That was all it took.
In the span of a mere twenty seconds, I’ve gone from excitedly skipping out of an alley to being blindfolded, gagged, tied up, and locked in the trunk of a car.
Terror washes through me. Yanking and pulling, I try to kick against the trunk, but I’m so tightly hogtied that I can barely even wiggle. Let alone move my legs.
A sob rips from my throat, muffled by the gag.
How the hell did things go so wrong so quickly?
In the movies, the victim always sees the van pulling up. They always have time to scream. To fight. To draw attention. It shouldn’t go down like this. It shouldn’t just happen quietly in the span of a few seconds.
If I had just had time to scream, Jace would’ve heard me.
Regret washes over me, and I thump my forehead against the floor.
Jace. How long before he figures out that I’m not in the restroom? How long before he finds the street where I was taken? Is there even something back there to find? Some kind of clue that will help him figure out that I’ve been kidnapped?
Another wave of regret crashes over me. It’s mixed with anger and fear and desperation. Those feelings swirl inside my mind, pulling at me until I feel like I’m drowning in a cold black sea. The car keeps driving, taking me farther and farther away from any chance of a quick rescue.
Something between a snarl of rage and a sob of panic rips from my lungs, and I thump my forehead against the floor again.
This isn’t even supposed to happen! People don’t just get kidnapped. I don’t get kidnapped. This?—
The car stops.
Because of the anger and fear, I have no idea how much time has passed since I was thrown in the trunk.
I twist my head, listening intently as car doors are once more opened and closed.
Then fresh air whooshes over me as the trunk is popped open as well.
My heart hammers against my ribs. Craning my neck, I try to see something, anything, through the blindfold. But it’s impossible.
I suck in a sharp breath through my nose as someone grabs me and lifts me up.
Since I know that we’re still outside, I immediately start trying to scream through the gag and wiggle my way free again.
The guy just throws me over his shoulder, as if I’m no more challenging than a weak child, and starts walking.
Behind me, the trunk is slammed shut again. I strain my ears for any clues as to where I have been taken, but I can barely hear anything over the loud pounding of my own heart.
I should never have left the café. I should’ve stayed home tonight. I should’ve?—
A door is opened.
The soft winds disappear, which means that we must have moved indoors. Footsteps sound on the floor as my captors continue walking across whatever room we’re in. Then another door is opened.
Dread spikes through me as we suddenly start down a set of steps.
Oh God. Are they taking me to some kind of torture chamber?
Does that actually happen? I thought people didn’t get kidnapped except in movies, but apparently they do, so maybe the torture basements are real too.
I suck in shuddering breaths through my nose as the guy carrying me sets me down on a cold stone floor. I try to crawl away, but barely manage to wiggle.
Shock clangs through me as someone suddenly cuts the zip ties from my ankles. Yanking my legs back down, I roll over and get into a kneeling position. But before I can get to my feet, I feel the barrel of a gun against my forehead.
I stop moving immediately.
My heart slams against my ribs and blood rushes in my ears.
But one of the other men just cuts off the zip ties around my wrists too and then moves me until I’m sitting on the floor with my back against the wall instead. The gun stays at my forehead while my captors grab my wrists and raise them above my head.
Metallic clicks echo through the room as my wrists are handcuffed to the wall above my head.
Then the gun disappears.
Twisting my head from side to side, I try desperately to catch a glimpse of something. But I’m still blindfolded. And gagged. And now I’m handcuffed to the wall of someone’s basement.
My heart thrums in my chest and panic crackles through my veins.
A sob threatens to rip from my lungs.
Oh God, what have I done?
I wish Jace was here.