BONUS Terminal Voyage
Teagan
Luciano killed her. I’m sure of it. And I’m going to prove it.
Wait, let me back up. This all started a month ago…
The hairs on the back of my neck stood tall when I realized my apartment door was unlocked.
I don’t know what made me turn the knob. That little voice in the back of my head that said something just isn’t right. The voice that whispers. The one I should pay attention to more often.
This time, it screamed.
I was positive I had locked it when I left.
Didn’t I?
I’m not that absent-minded.
With wireless earbuds and my phone in my purse, I said, “Tyson, we’ve got a problem.“
That’s when a figure approached from the stairwell and shot me with a taser. It happened so fast. No time to react. 50,000 volts jolted through my body.
Every muscle seized.
I twitched and convulsed and ended up on the ground. I dropped my purse and my keys.
Before I knew it, the assailant had my wrists behind my back. He slapped the cold steel against my skin and ratcheted the cuffs tight. Cheap, sex-store handcuffs.
I screamed, “Tyson!”
The thug yanked me to my feet and stuck a pistol in my rib cage. “Keep your dumb mouth shut and don’t give me any trouble. Otherwise, I’m going to put a bullet in you. Then I’m going to do dirty things to your corpse.”
My stomach churned, and my throat squeezed.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and my heartbeat throbbed my ears. My skin slicked with sweat as he dragged me into the stairwell. I shouted again for Tyson. He was the only one who could save me. But even that seemed impossible at the time.
Too far from my phone, the connection dropped.
Earl Vernon Maddox had been in the bar earlier. I knew right away he was trouble. He just gave off bad vibes. I didn’t want to serve him, but did anyway. That was a mistake. I didn’t know who he was at the time.
Just out of prison, he was going to earn a ticket right back.
Earl was the kind of guy who looked dirty fresh out of the shower. Greasy, stringy hair, narrow, puffy eyes, unsettled energy like a coiled viper, ready to strike. Those eyes. Eyes that just looked through you. Eyes that made you feel like he could see every private thing.
Earl had killed before.
I didn’t want to be his next victim.
Footsteps clunked against the metal switchback staircase as we spiraled down to the parking garage below the building. I trembled with fear, the barrel of his gun poking my rib cage.
“Keep moving!" Earl grumbled.
I tried to keep myself calm and not go into a full-blown panic attack. Panicking about a panic attack is a never-ending doom spiral.
Amid the terror, I found myself mad. Mad that I hadn't paid more attention to my surroundings. Mad that I hadn’t seen this coming.
Maybe I did and just blocked it out.
From the moment I got up this morning, I had that weird feeling. I just knew something bad was going to happen. But in my eternal quest for optimism, I just pushed it aside.
I needed optimism now more than ever.
Still dazed by it all, I was stuck in my head, trying to process what had happened, how it had happened, and what was going to happen next. My brain went into overdrive, trying to think of a way out of this. I screamed, my shrill voice echoing off the walls in the stairwell.
CRACK!
Earl pistol-whipped the back of my skull, sending a jolt through my brain and down my spine. It opened a gash, and I felt the warm blood trickle down the back of my scalp.
Earl barked, "I told you to keep your dumb mouth shut!”
I got the message.
We pushed into the parking garage, and Earl forced me into a white cargo van. He hopped in with me and pulled the door shut with a rumble.
I swallowed hard, my eyes round with fear. What was going to happen next? I had made it this far in life without getting… you know. I didn’t want this to be my first.
Earl looked at me with hungry eyes.
He drew near, and I scooted toward the back of the van. Soon, I ran out of room to scoot. At the rear cargo doors, there was nowhere to go.
My eyes welled with tears—a mix of rage, fear, and helplessness. "Tyson’s going to kill you!"
I felt like a child making idle threats. But I had no doubt, if Tyson ever found this man, he would kill him.
Earl grinned as he closed in.
I kicked him.
His grin faded, and a diabolical scowl twisted his face. "Don't make me hurt you.”
"Stay away from me!”
A car pulled into the parking lot, and the headlight beams raked across the garage.
Earl closed in, and I kicked and flailed.
It didn't do any good.
Before I knew it, he was on top of me. With his dirty hand across my mouth and the gun to my temple, my eyes widened. Earl stank, and his foulness washed over me. The whiskey on his breath hit my nostrils. He whispered, "You keep your mouth shut, you hear?”
The car parked, and a door opened and closed. Footsteps walked across the parking garage to the elevators. A moment later, the bell dinged, and the door slid open. The footsteps walked aboard, and the door closed.
The garage went silent again.
Earl rolled me onto my stomach and pinned me to the floorboard. He holstered his pistol, grabbed my wrists, then flex-cuffed me to a tie-down D-ring.
My heart punched my chest.
Earl climbed off me and scampered toward the front of the vehicle.
I breathed a little easier.
For the moment.
The dirtbag slid behind the wheel, cranked up the engine, and put the van into gear. The tires chirped as he pulled out of the space and hurried through the garage. The automatic gate opened, and Earl gunned it. Tires squealed as he turned onto the road, leaving my apartment behind.
Find out what happens next. Read Terminal Voyage.