Thirteen
Bay
The opulence of my surroundings was what I was trying to focus on instead of the nightmare I’d just lived through.
Don’t think about the humiliation. Think about the plane.
It was impressive. I now understood why some of my colleagues took private flights.
This was much better than having to take care of an entire section in first class.
But then I might not get that chance. To work on a private flight or another commercial one.
I still had no idea where I was being taken.
Would I be shipped off on some boat before anyone realized I was missing? The chances of ever being found were almost zero once I left the US.
I tried to calculate how long it would be before someone was on the correct track.
When would Dan know I’d gone missing? He was the primary witness, and it might be forty-eight hours before they even started to look for me.
I wasn’t sure if that was the case or not when one lived alone and there was no reason to run away.
When I didn’t show up at After the Bell, Belinda and Reggie would get concerned, but they wouldn’t necessarily go looking for me until after the center closed tonight.
Even then, they might only call or text.
When they didn’t hear from me tomorrow, they might come to my apartment.
Maybe? But it would be after the center closed tomorrow night.
By that time, I could be long gone, never to be found.
Dread pooled in my stomach as the plane climbed through the cloud layer. I had no other ideas.
My one hope—the phone—had been taken, and I’d only sent out the singular SOS.
How had he known? Had he gone back out to the Escalade to get it and it wasn’t there?
I didn’t even know if it had worked. If it had, the location would be checked.
They ran scans on those things, right? To see whose phone it had come from?
He still had the phone on him. That was a good thing.
If he’d known I’d sent out an SOS, he would have left it behind after destroying it.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I glanced over at the monster sitting across from me. He was sending a text with one hand and holding a whiskey glass he had refilled twice already with the other. Seemed he was a heavy drinker.
It was ironic that I’d been correct in my first assumption of this man. He was dangerous. The edge to him went deeper than his looks, but there was something in his eyes. A darkness that shone from the soul. I’d seen it and, like a fool, overlooked it.
His silence and refusal to answer any of my questions only heightened my fear.
Not that he would care. He seemed to thrive off it.
I wanted to demand answers, but I also knew this man had no moral code.
I could end up gagged and tied up. I much rather preferred to have a semblance of my freedom.
For however long it lasted. That thought sent another wave of horror over me.
Was that coming next? Being tied up? Put in the dark?
I swallowed hard, trying not to send myself into a panic attack.
Not now. This was not the time. I hated the dark.
I’d spent too much time in it as a child.
The phone in his hand began to ring, and I jumped, startled by the noise.
He slid his finger across the screen and stood up as he placed it to his ear. Turning my gaze back to the window instead of watching him, I listened for anything, something, to give me clarity on where he was taking me and why.
“Yeah. An hour. No. I was leaving that for when we got there.”
He let out a sigh.
“All right. Fine.”
I watched his reflection in the mirror as he put the phone in his pocket and went to pour another drink. Okay, so he wasn’t just a heavy drinker, but it seemed he was an alcoholic. Either that or he was a nervous flyer. I doubted it was the latter. That man didn’t appear afraid of anything.
He turned around, and our eyes locked through the reflection as he caught me watching him.
I immediately dropped my gaze to my hands holding my jacket together.
Sure, I’d once thought he was attractive—because, damn him, that was hard to ignore—but I was over his looks. That didn’t matter when one was evil.
“Planning the next lie? He really should have prepared you for this,” Hale drawled as he sank back into the plush leather across from me. “He knew this was a possibility. Getting you involved was a shit move. Remember that.”
Who was “he”? Why did he keep referring to a man? I wished he’d give me a name! Anything so I could understand who in my life had caused this. It made no sense. If I was being sold into the sex trade…then why did he keep saying something about a man and me being a liar?
“If I knew who he was, that would be helpful,” I said tightly.
Hale scowled. “Don’t start more of the bullshit. I’ve read a very thorough background check on you. One that the average person can’t pull. I know every detail of your life. So, cut the fucking lies and just tell me the truth. It will be easier on you if you do.”
Perhaps most people would be horrified to know that their personal life had been printed out for someone else to read, but I couldn’t think of one thing on mine that would warrant me being here right now.
Nothing to make me a target. Unless he had been in search of a very boring, schedule-oriented female over thirty.
“You might want to get your sources checked. I don’t think you got the correct information. There isn’t one thing in my life, past or present, that would be reason to abduct me and…and demean me.”
His deep chuckle sounded more villainous than amused. “Your loyalty is stupid, or he really didn’t tell you who he would be pissing off.”
There was the “he” again. I had very few hes in my life.
None who were major factors. Dan was the only male I considered a friend, and he was more feminine than me.
This was not about Dan—that much I was one hundred percent sure of.
So, who was it about? Pooky? Had Hale decided that I was in some way attached to an eighteen-year-old gang member?
“When we land, it won’t just be me you’re dealing with. And when you’re asked questions and you lie to the man I’m taking you to, it will get very unpleasant for you.”
“As opposed to how pleasant it is right now?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Please, God, don’t let the next man make me get naked too.
He smirked. “You have no idea, darlin’.”
I straightened, pressing my back against the seat as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Did Vilmer tell you who I was that night on the flight? Or was it later that you were informed?”
I frowned. Who the heck was Vilmer? I stared at him. I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Come on now. I was there. I watched him grab your wrist, whisper in your ear the entire flight. Don’t try and act like you don’t know him.”
There had only been one person on that flight who grabbed my wrist and whispered to me.
“Guy in 1A, Bloody Mary,” I said slowly, thinking back at the name on the passenger list. “McKennon…no, McKenzie. Million Miler status.”
“You’re going with that then? Still pretending like you don’t know him.” He sat back up. “All right. You do that and see how things go for you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I do know him,” I said defensively. “He always sits in 1A and wants a Bloody Mary before takeoff and another when we are in the air. He has the highest-points status for our airline, and because of that, I have to endure his grabbing me and whispering. I don’t like it, but I do like my job.”
He gave me a seething look, then shook his head. “Whatever, Snow White. What-the-fuck-ever.”