Chapter 24 – Kenzie
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kenzie
I woke up slowly, unable to get my bearings. I’d had another nightmare, but this time, it hadn’t been about the rattlesnake. It had been about Jensen lying hurt on the floor.
My heart began thundering in my chest as the memories came flooding back. This wasn’t a nightmare. Or at least, it wasn’t one I could wake up from.
The jostling rhythm of tires let me know I was in a vehicle, but I kept my eyes closed. I didn’t want them to know I was awake yet.
Staying as still as possible, I took inventory of my body, cataloging what hurt and where. Pain radiated from several places, but overall, I felt intact. Though I knew I would have a bunch of bumps and bruises, out of all my aches, my head and stomach hurt the most. I also felt sluggish and disoriented and a little sick to my stomach.
But that was nothing compared to what they’d done to Jensen.
The last thing I’d wanted was for my family or friends to be hurt back in Denver. But I couldn’t stand the thought that anything had happened to him either .
I could still see the baseball bat swinging. Still hear that sickening thud as it hit him.
I had no idea if he was even alive.
My eyes burned with unshed tears, and I tried hard to keep them at bay. Jensen couldn’t be dead. I refused to believe it. He just couldn’t be, not so soon after I’d found him.
He had to be okay. As soon as I got back to him, I wouldn’t waste a single second to tell him how much he mattered to me. How thankful I was for him.
But first, I had to escape. I needed to focus and figure out what was going on now. How I could get away. Where was I being taken?
I forced my eyes open and wiggled my fingers. My wrists were still bound, in front of me now. At least I wasn’t blindfolded or gagged.
I opened and closed my mouth, then swallowed hard. My skin was tight. My mouth was dry. I needed to get used to moving again, and while I did, I studied the two men who’d taken me.
They’d taken off their masks, and I could make out some of their features. I didn’t recognize either of them, not from real life and not from any of the photos I’d looked at from the hotel. Was one of them my stalker?
Hell, were both of them my stalker—two people working together this whole time?
I flexed my hands, testing the strength of the zip tie and how well I could move my fingers. Not tight enough to cut off circulation, but I couldn’t get much range of motion with the plastic digging into my skin.
I silently twisted and tugged but couldn’t get my hands out. Whatever I did would have to be with that handicap.
I shifted my view to the door. The handle was right there, only inches from my face.
Could I open the door and jump out ?
I wasn’t sure I could. The way I was positioned and with my wrists bound, I’d be clumsy and slow to move. The men in the front would realize I was awake. I envisioned them slamming on the brakes. I’d be tossed forward, unable to break my fall. Then by the time I’d twist and reach for the door, they’d be on me.
Or even if they didn’t, it still wouldn’t work. Leaping out of a car going this fast was only going to get me killed.
But I refused to lie here and do nothing. I would have to use the only thing that gave me an advantage. My mind.
“Which one of you is my actual stalker?” I cleared my throat, desperate for water, as my words came out hoarse.
The tall guy in the passenger seat grunted, turning just enough to see that I was awake. He glanced over at his partner, a bald man, who met his eyes but kept driving. Neither of them answered.
“It obviously has to be one of you two if you kidnapped me. Why are you doing this?”
“Look, lady,” Tall Man responded. “We don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Neither of us are stalkers. We don’t even have any idea who you are.”
“What? Then why the hell did you kidnap me?”
Silence reigned once more.
I decided to go another route. “How did you find me?”
Tall Man shook his head. “We were given the location.”
Given ? Okay, this was making a little more sense. These guys had been hired by someone, undoubtedly my stalker. “By whom?”
More silence.
A thought came to me. “Either of you ever been in prison?”
“Jesus,” Baldie said. “What is this, twenty questions? Shut the fuck up.”
“Did you meet Alan in jail? Is he the one who hired you?”
Tall Man spun to look at me. “For fuck’s sake, lady, neither of us have ever been in jail. Just be quiet. ”
Hadn’t been in jail. But he could be lying. Alan could still be behind this.
“Did Alan put you up to this?” I demanded. My voice rose with each question.
Baldie snorted as he sped up on an incline. “We don’t know an Alan.”
“You’re telling me you don’t know Alan Ard?”
“Fucking hell, woman. We don’t know anyone named Alan anything.”
Baldie’s frustration was evident, but I still didn’t know if I believed him.
It didn’t matter anyway. Whether he was telling the truth about Alan or not didn’t change my plan.
“Look, I’ll pay you. I’ll pay you more than whoever hired you is going to give you. I’ll pay you anything if you just let me go.”
Tall Man turned, scowling at me. “Shut up.”
So, more money didn’t capture their attention. Was it a matter of delivering me to Alan dead or alive? Did they care? “Have you been hired to kill me?”
“I said, shut up,” the tall one repeated louder.
I ignored them and tried again. “Why are you doing this?”
“Final warning. Shut. Up.” Baldie barked the order at me and caught my eye in the rearview mirror. I could see his full face in the reflection.
That couldn’t bode well for me, could it? If I could identify them, they must not be planning on allowing me a chance to talk to law enforcement.
It scared me enough that I stopped asking questions. I had to figure out another plan.
Eventually, we turned off the paved road and onto a dirt path. The car bumped and jostled, and I struggled to keep myself upright with my hands bound. No buildings stood nearby. We had to be somewhere remote .
But this was Montana. Damn near everywhere was remote.
The only thing I could see in the moonlight was the snowy landscape as we drove down the rough path. We were going slowly enough that I could jump out now. But what good would that do? I was in my pajamas with no coat, only slippers. It would take them mere seconds to catch me.
Finally, we slowed, and I saw a single vehicle waiting up ahead. Through the darkness, I saw a person stepping out of the waiting car, and I stared, not able to process what I was seeing.
I realized Tall Man and Baldie hadn’t been lying about Alan, if this was who had paid them to kidnap me.
It was a woman. And it was clear they were expecting to meet her in this remote spot in the middle of nowhere.
As she strode closer, a faint memory was triggered.
I knew her. She’d been to one of my workshops a while ago. Had asked some normal questions about commercial real estate. Nothing that had made me think twice about her.
I recalled my conversations with this woman, and while I struggled to place her and why in God’s name she’d hired two men to kidnap me, Baldie got out and opened the back door.
I didn’t have a chance to try to bolt. The door was wide open, but I was blocked by the woman striding up to me.
She lifted her arm, and before I could open my mouth to ask what the hell she wanted with me, she activated the stun gun in her hand. I cried out and jerked as my body convulsed in spasms of pain and white-hot heat.
I felt the tiny sting of a pinprick, and everything went black once more.