As the guy went limp, Jake looked around the parking area, making sure that no one had been watching them.
Desperate to free herself from the shackles, Rachel knelt beside the kidnapper and fumbled in his pocket for the handcuff key, which she extracted and tried to fit into the lock.
But it was hard to work with her wrists cuffed together. Jake helped her, and they pulled the restraints off her wrists, then clicked them onto Smithson. When he started to stir, Jake socked him again.
Together they hauled him into the cabin, across the carpet, and onto the bed, attaching the handcuffs to a bedpost.
“Be right back.”
Jake charged out again, heading for the guy’s car. When he returned, he was carrying a length of rope. Quickly they tied the attacker’s feet to the end of the bed so that he was pinned down at wrists and ankles.
When he opened his eyes and started to buck, Jake gave him a piece of advice. “Settle down, if you don’t want to get hurt–very badly.”
The guy gave them a murderous look but stopped struggling.
Jake turned away and pulled Rachel into his arms. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
They switched to silent communication.
I’m so sorry,Jake said.
It was my idea. Making him think I was defenseless.
Yeah, but it put you in too much danger.
The white cloud she had seen when she’d tried to contact him before, filled his mind again, but this time it resolved itself into a wrecked truck and a mass of chickens.
She blinked. “What?”
That mess is what held me up.
I don’t think either one of us was quite prepared for unforeseen disasters,she answered.You can tell me about it later. We’ve got work to do.
But he still couldn’t let it go.He almost had you in the car.
I would have kept pounding him with my mind.
If you’d still been conscious. Thank God you’re okay.
He hugged her tightly, and she clung to him, thankful that he’d gotten back in time.
Finally, she turned to the man on the bed. “You’re going to give us some answers.”
“Like hell.”
“I suppose you’re prepared to hold up under torture.”
Even tied down, the guy was defiant. “Try and make me talk. See where it gets you.”
Jake shrugged. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
“When he thought he was getting me out of here, he told me he worked for someone named the Badger,” Rachel volunteered.
The guy grimaced. “Fat lot of good that will do you.”
“And what’s your real name?” Jake asked.
