Chapter 12 Krista
KRISTA
“He’s a gray wolf?” I said, stomping into the gas station to go pee. “Like that explains everything! Who says stuff like that?”
“Men,” Claire said, walking along beside me. “Though it’s not the worst thing in the world. I mean, yes, the wolf is large, but he’s a sweetheart.”
Stopping, I looked her in the eyes. “He’s a wolf. A wild animal that my—” I stopped myself just before I was about to admit that Rob was my husband. “That Rob has decided to adopt like a puppy! Who does that?”
She cocked her head at me, a smile playing on her lips. “What were you going to say?”
“What?” I headed to the back, ignoring her questions as I veered toward the bathroom sign.
“You said that my when you were talking about Rob. What were you going to call him?”
Shoving the door open to the bathroom, I breathed a sigh of relief that it was a single bathroom with a lock. “Sorry, only one at a time.” I slammed the door and locked it, then stormed to the other end of the very short bathroom.
“Idiot!” I chastised myself.
I couldn’t believe I almost gave it away. Rob didn’t know we were married, and I wasn’t about to say anything now. Not until I found a better time. This wasn’t exactly something you just blurted out without any thought.
And frankly, I wasn’t even sure it was true. What would be the point in saying anything when I wasn’t even sure we didn’t just make it up? Maybe it was one of those things where we got drunk and were just pretending to be married to screw with people.
I could totally see that happening. A way to mess with the town and stick it to them about how gossip was bad.
Though I wasn’t really one for putting myself in the spotlight, so it most likely didn’t happen that way, but I could lie to myself for now and believe that’s what happened to make myself feel better.
“Are you gonna pee anytime soon?” Claire called out. “Some of us have been holding it since the hospital!”
“Crap,” I muttered, quickly going to the bathroom.
It wasn’t the cleanest gas station I’d ever been in, but it was better than a porta-potty. I did my best not to sit as I peed, and was extra careful when using the sink. Everything about this place screamed infectious diseases.
I slid my sleeve over my hand and unlocked the door so I didn’t get my freshly washed hands all germy. Claire was waiting impatiently and didn’t even bother waiting for the door to close all the way before she was pulling down her pants.
I tugged the door closed and stood sentry outside in case anyone else had to go to the bathroom. She was quick, much faster than me, and when she came out with a grin on her face, I was a little confused.
“I’ve never seen someone so happy to use the bathroom.”
“When you have kids, all modesty is gone.”
“But these aren’t your kids. These are strangers.”
“Yes, but I had to pee, and you were there. I wasn’t worried. Snacks?”
She changed topics so quickly, I had no choice but to go with it.
“Popcorn?”
“Ooh, and some Laffy Taffy. A road trip just isn’t the same without it.”
“And beef jerky for the guys,” I said, grabbing some as we passed.
“Ooh, and Nerds. I love them,” she said, snatching a few packs.
“Should we get water?”
“And a few sodas. They’ll need the caffeine.”
“I could go for some coffee.”
I beelined over to the machines, grimacing when I saw the selection. It wasn’t so much the lack of choices that made me wary, but the fact that the coffee pots looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in over a year.
By the time we made it up to the counter, our arms were loaded and my stomach was growling to dig into the multitude of choices.
The cashier slowly rang up our purchases, sighing every now and then as if we were ruining his day. And then came the time for him to bag everything. I was tempted to just grab the stuff and carry it out sans bag. At least then we’d actually get out of here sometime today.
“Listen, not to be a jerk, but we’re kinda in a hurry.”
The cashier looked up at me, his face bored and blank. “I’m going as fast as I can.”
He grabbed another bag, struggling to open it when the ends stuck together. I was barely holding it all in. I was on the run with people I hardly knew, had a dimwit for a cashier, and all I really wanted was a good night’s sleep.
When it was finally bagged, I snagged the items and spun around, only to run straight into a bulky man who was standing way too close for comfort.
“Sorry,” I murmured, only to be grabbed by the arms.
Pain ricocheted through my shoulder as he started dragging me toward the door. I vaguely heard Claire yelling behind me, but I was too focused on trying to break this giant’s hold.
I swung out, hoping to hit something vital, but the way I was being dragged prevented me from hitting anything but soft flesh.
“Hey!” I shouted over my shoulder. “These guys are kidnapping us!” I shouted.
The cashier watched while drinking his Slurpee, but didn’t make a move to help. As soon as the doors opened, I let out the loudest scream I could muster, knowing the guys would hear it on the other side of the building.
Except, as luck would have it, a semi drove past at the same exact moment, blowing his horn like a runaway truck on a steep mountain road.
A cloth was slapped over my mouth, cutting off all sound and hope of rescue. The world started to tilt and turn fuzzy all at the same time until it was nearly impossible to move my feet. I barely understood that I was being carried as everything turned black and the world started to fade.
I woke with a jerk as we came to a sudden stop.
Disorientation rocketed through me, and it was only when an unfamiliar face appeared above me that faint details started filtering into my addled brain.
Two men had grabbed us.
Something had been shoved over my face.
I passed out.
My heart kicked up a notch as I realized what that meant.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I willed my heart to slow down the race it was galloping.
Freaking out right now would not help anything.
I needed to stay calm and rational. I needed to think things through and come up with a plan if I had any hope of making it out of this alive.
Okay, you can do this, Krista. Just stay calm and go over what you know.
I took stock of my body, noting I was fully clothed, still had shoes on, and nothing felt violated in any way other than my brain.
So, they hadn’t taken us to rape and murder us. If that were the case, they would have done that right away. Then again, they could be taking us to some secret lair where they would torture us for days on end, making us watch as they slowly peeled away our skin.
You’re letting your imagination get the better of you. They’re after you because…well, I don’t know why, but flesh-peeler most likely isn’t the reason they took you.
This had to be connected with whatever Rob was telling me about. Not that I could remember precisely right now. All my memories of the last day were all fuzzy.
And I was getting really tired of my days being lost to other people’s decisions.
“Let’s get them inside. Once they’re tied up, we can grab some food.”
“Should we get them something?”
The man snorted. “Our job was to grab them, not make them as comfortable as possible.”
Two doors opened, and the men got out, closing them instantly. I held my breath as I heard footsteps walking around the back of the van.
“Just pretend you’re still out of it,” Claire hissed beside me.
I jerked my head to the side, only to find her perfectly content. Like this was a normal Tuesday for her.
Was it Tuesday?
God, like that really mattered right now.
The door swung open and I immediately went limp, closing my eyes and pretending I was still out of it. It took everything in me to keep my muscles loose and not strain as they dragged me out of the van, then hauled me up and flopped me over one of their shoulders.
My stomach ached from the sudden pain from the man’s shoulder, but I did as Claire said and pretended to be out of it.
My wrists hung limply together, held by the rope tied tightly around them.
As we walked, my fists thumped lightly against the man’s back, and I made sure that I was completely relaxed, even allowing my head to roll back as I was hauled once again, this time to the ground.
My skull cracked against the floor. It was impossible to hide the wince as pain shot through me, but the man must not have been watching me because he said nothing as he walked away.
“We should tie them up.”
“For what reason? They’re already bound, and it’s not like they can break out of here. I say we grab some food and wait to hear from DeLuca.”
“Chinese?”
“Are you kidding? I want spaghetti and meatballs.”
“What? Are you twelve?”
“Oh, I guess I have to be a kid to like spaghetti.”
“No, but when you wear that bib, you look ridiculous.”
“These are nice clothes. Excuse me for not wanting to get sauce on my suit.”
I rolled my eyes as they continued to bicker, but soon, the arguing faded with the slamming of the door.
“God, I thought they would never leave,” Claire muttered, sitting up.
I mimicked her movements, wincing at how tight the bonds were. “So, what now?”
“Now, we wait. Derek will be here soon,” she grinned.
“How? How could he possibly be here soon when he might not even know we were taken!”
“Oh, he knows. We were knocked out, which suggests that we’ve been gone a long time. Second, there is no way Derek would let anything happen to me, so he’ll definitely be here soon.”
“Please tell me there’s a third,” I groaned.
“Well, I also have a tracker, so he can see where I am.”
Narrowing my eyes at her, I huffed out an irritated sigh. “You might have led with that.”
“So, we just have to sit back and wait for them to rescue us.”
That didn’t sit right with me. I never waited for a man to do what I knew I could. I immediately started working on my bonds, squeezing my hand to the smallest size to fit through the rope. It wasn’t going so well, but damn if I wasn’t going to try.