CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CAYLEE
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My body jostles about painfully in the back of the van as we speed along the road, and my head swirls.
I expected to be knocked out by whatever they injected me with, but the drug seems to only make me feel spaced out and lack the ability to focus.
I probably know what it’s called, but I can’t think.
I can only feel a paralyzing amount of fear.
Trembling, I glance around for Trinity and find her to my right. They gagged her when she wouldn’t stop screaming.
Nothing in my life has prepared me for this. Cole taught me to shoot guns. I wasn’t a fan and never carried one. It would have made no difference. These masked men moved so fast I wouldn’t have had time to get it out of my purse.
If I had, these large men would’ve overpowered me. I guess I might have got one shot off.
It’s all semantics.
They have kidnapped us.
Oh my god, I’ve been kidnapped.
Trinity glances at me with absolute terror in her eyes and I’m sure mine looks the same. I’m trying to push through the fuzziness in my brain, remembering what happened to those other girls. To Louisa.
Why did they take me?
Trinity was clinging to me, screaming, and that’s when the man picked me up and tossed me in with her.
“I’ll take this one,” he said in a slimy, horrible voice.
“Fucking idiot, you should have left her on the side of the road,” another one of the men says, confirming my ever-growing dread.
“She’s pretty.”
“She’s too old.”
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
I shouldn’t be here. They were here for Trinity. They want children, young teenagers, not an almost thirty-year-old woman.
I feel a little sleepy, but the adrenaline is keeping me alert. I watch the men, trying to read their minds.
What will they do with me?
I find out.
“Maybe the boss will let me have her as a bonus for a few hours. Then I’ll dispose of her.” He reaches and tears my lab coat off me.
I scream, curling away, but he slaps my face.
“Fucking bitch.”
Next, he rips my coat completely off and tears my T-shirt right down the middle as the other man laughs, holding on to the side of the vehicle as we turn a sharp corner.
“We’re being followed!” the driver yells.
“Get rid of them,” one of the men says.
I can’t keep focused on who is who, except the one eyeing up my tits.
He reaches for one, and that terrifies me. “Stop!”
Trinity screams around the gag, trying to back away to nowhere.
“Look at these titties.” He cups both my boobs and I start to whimper. “I bet you have a nice, wet, experienced pussy.”
Oh god.
“I like kiddies, but a nice, submissive woman like you could be a fun change.”
“She’s not yours until the boss says,” one guy reminds him, like they’re talking about a packet of cookies and not a human being.
Me.
“Just a taste.” He squeezes my boob hard, and it hurts, as his face gets up close.
I spit at him. It’s instinct, and I regret it immediately when his gun is pushed against my cheek.
Oh, my god.
We bounce around, and I stop breathing, thinking he’s going to accidentally pull the trigger. I swear I’m going to have a heart attack.
“Do that again, and I’ll fuck you with this.”
Oh, my fucking god.
I need Jake. I need him to help me. He doesn’t even know I’m here, but all I want is him. And maybe a hundred police officers and a helicopter.
Tears roll down my face as I stay focused on the man’s crazy eyes, hoping he won’t shoot me.
“Good girl,” he replies calmly, like the insane asshole he is. “When we get to the depot, you do as I tell you. You can come home with me.”
I blink.
This can’t be happening.
“If they let her live that long,” the other guy states, as if he’s sharing the weather. “Unlikely, buddy.”
“I know.” The crazy fucker smiles. “But I’d like to fuck her before I kill her.”
Reality sinks in further. These people are child traffickers. They don’t want me. I was grabbed by accident by this sick motherfucker.
Best case, I live long enough to be raped.
Worst case is that I’m shot when we reach our destination.
My sob breaks through, and I let the tears flow as the man grins with pleasure and sits back down. He seems to like staring at my breasts, which are exposed and bouncing away.
I don’t want my life to end like this.
I want to be a mother.
I want to tell Jake I love him and ask if he could love me, too.
I want to see the Empire State Building and go to Australia to see the Sydney Opera House. I want to swim with dolphins and get a tattoo.
I should have gotten a tattoo.
When I hear Trinity crying, I realize I could be the lucky one. I don’t know much, but I do know that if no one finds us, she has a life of horror, pain and abuse ahead of her.
This isn’t right—these people have no right to take away our freedom!
The fact is, we’re powerless.