I didn’t normally use much profanity unless the situation called for it. And this situation definitely called for it. Somehow, I’d suddenly jumped genres from a meet-cute to a high-stakes drama. I really wanted to go back to my slice-of-life experience, thank you very much.
“You’re acting calm, but I can hear your heartbeat going crazy,” the guy said as he pulled onto the highway.
I nodded, before my brain caught up with his words. Was he being literal or metaphorical? Surely metaphorical, right? There was no physical way he could actually hear my heartbeat.
The guy didn’t look like the type for abstract speech, though, so I answered him as if he were speaking quite literally.
“I’m recovering from a hyperthyroidism episode, specifically called a thyroid storm,” I said slowly and carefully. My speech did sound pretty measured, but honestly, most of it was from me barely being able to draw in a full breath. I had to concentrate on every single inhale and exhale to get a single ounce of oxygen into my body.
The man grimaced. “I’m sorry you got involved in this and are now in the middle of things.”
Involved?
Maybe it was the teacher in me, but that seemed like a very pointed and specific word choice. A word choice that meant this wasn’t a random carjacking, but rather a targeted action.
Had I stepped into something so much greater than myself? I hoped not. Really, I had enough on my plate. And sure, grand larceny along with a kidnapping wasn’t exactly small potatoes,but I would take it over some giant mafia or criminal scheme any day.
“What do you mean?” I asked carefully. My temples throbbed from my heart hammering so hard, and the pulses made me dizzy. I needed to calm down, but it was growing harder to do that by the second.
The man didn’t answer me, and we continued to speed along the highway. Time moved strangely. Sometimes it felt like we had just left the restaurant, and I was in some sort of strange fugue state; other times it felt like we had been driving for hours, and I was about to pass out from exhaustion. I flickered between those two extremes, and it made me feel like I was going to be sick.
Damn it! I didn’t want to lose all the good food and calories I’d managed to get down. On top of stealing Ben’s car and ruining our date, this guy was also sabotaging the progress I’d made towards my weight goals. Sure, it was just onemeal, but it had been arichmeal and very calorie-dense.
If I got lucky and he did drop me off on the side of the road, I’d have to make sure to grab my leftovers before he sped off.
That impulse was so silly that I chuckled at myself, which made the man look at me sharply. I shrugged. However my mind chose to deal with the stress of the situation was my business, not his.
Granted, that stress increased exponentially when he signaled to get off an exit that led towards the state park.
Oh, we were in thecountry-country.
I didn’t have to be a true crime fan to know that was bad.
I thought about opening the door and just flinging myself out onto the exit, but given my fragile frame and that I’d just gotten out of the hospital, I was sure I wouldn’t survive it. That didn’t mean I couldn’t do it once we got on a back road that led through the woods. Yes, I’d be risking getting lost or even attacked bya wild animal, but it was better than being taken to God knew where by a random man who didn’t have good intentions.
I didn’t know if it was my body language that gave me away, or if the man had come to the same conclusion, but as soon as we slowed down and pulled fully off the highway exit, he hit a button on the door that made my side of the car click. Had he just hit the locks?
I’d thought my heart was already beating as hard as it could without me passing out, but it turned out that there was a whole new level that I was unfamiliar with. It swallowed me whole as soon as I heard that muffled click.
I grabbed the door handle, but nothing happened when I pulled it.
Fuck me.
I glanced back at the man, and this time I knew my expression was one of pure fury. Because I was fucking pissed. I’d burned myself out to the point where I had ended up in the hospital, and only recently had I promised myself to be better to myself. And now this jackass was blowing up my life for who knew what reason. If I’d had my purse with me, I’d have hit him over the head with it, but I had nothing. I was nearly overcome with the urge to slap him.
Maybe I needed to calm down.
As satisfying as it would be to deck the man, I didn’t. At least he looked a little contrite about how upset I was. Although he had put his hands on me when he’d first entered the vehicle, he hadn’t since, and he had also apologized. Perhaps there was a chance that this could end somewhat amicably between us.
I really didnotcare what happened to the car.
Maybe this was a sign from the universe that I shouldn’t date.
“Sorry.” Goodness, if he didn’t sound like one of the kids from my class when I caught them doing something mildly naughty.
But this went beyond mildly naughty. In fact, this was a total nightmare, and the only thing keeping me from spinning off into the stratosphere was the fact that I really had to focus on my breathing even more now.
My chest was growing tight, and my palms were clammy as we pulled onto a dark, narrow dirt road that was little more than a hunter’s trail. The only illumination was the headlights from the car.
