Where am I?
Blinking in the dark, momentarily disoriented, she tried to remember what day it was.
When she realized that her hands were bound, memories came roaring back. Vine forced her to go with him, and the big guy with him had tasered her.
She wiggled herself to a seated position and saw she was in a small, dark room. Thin light showed at the bottom of the door and along the sides. A closet maybe? The room rocked gently. She was on a boat. But where?
Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dark. It looked as if shewasin a closet. Every so often there was a bump, like the boat was hitting the dock. That brought some relief; they weren’t out in the open sea.
She tensed when she heard footsteps. They passed by the door, and she relaxed. Her shoulders were cramped and stiff, and when she tried to pull her arms free, she could tell the ropes around her wrists were well tied.
On the positive side, her legs were not bound. She was able to push herself to a sitting position. The effort made her shoulder ache, and for a few minutes she sat still, trying to get her bearings.
She frowned. How much time had passed since Vine showed up at her door?
She would be missed, she was sure, but it was a given that no one knew where she was.Did anyone see me taken out of my apartment?
Lainie heard voices and again tensed, but again, no one opened the door. She could not make out what was being said.
She strained at the ropes, realizing that she’d never be able to pull them apart. Blowing out a breath, she squinted as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She needed something sharp. There wasn’t much, but there was a cabinet with an edge.
Bracing herself against the throbbing pain in her head, Lainie pushed herself to a standing position. The wall creaked and the floor groaned. There was nothing she could do about the noise. After backing up to the cabinet, she began to rub the rope around her hands up and down on the edge. It was not sharp, but it was an edge. Lainie prayed as she moved up and down that the friction would be enough to weaken her bonds.
It wasn’t long before sweat dripped into her eyes. And then the boat lurched. A motor roared to life.
The boat would soon be moving.
She redoubled her efforts on the ropes around her wrists. Her shoulders and thighs ached from the effort, and the stuffy air in the small space was stifling. She heard voices close by and stopped, holding as still as she could. They were coming from above her. Lainie knew nothing about boats. She could only guess that she was down below deck in a storage cabinet. She paused to listen to what was being said.
“This isn’t what I meant.” A male voice Lainie did not recognize, sounding as if he was right above her head.
“It’s what needs to happen.” Vine.
“I’m not behind this, not at all.” The first voice again.
“Then get off the boat. You can have it back when we’re finished.”
“Please don’t do this.”
“You owe me,” Vine said. “Don’t ever forget that. Off. Now.”
The sound of feet against the deck. The boat creaked and groaned, something slammed.
“I beg you, don’t...” The first voice sounded farther away now.
More footsteps, something else slammed.
“Clear the lines, let’s get underway.” Vine one more time.
Now there were more sounds, steps, bangs, and the boat shifted. Lainie almost lost her balance, then they were moving.
Oh, Lord, help me get out of this.
She continued to work on the ropes. Her head kept hitting the ceiling, and she could barely stand up straight in the tight space. Her wrists ached and she felt blood dripping, but she couldn’t stop. Right now, the boat was going slow. Once it started going faster, it would mean that they’d left the marina and were in the open ocean.
Finally, when the pain in her wrists was almost unbearable, she felt the bonds loosen. Gritting her teeth, with all her strength Lainie pulled, and the ropes broke apart.
Her hands were free. She brought them around to the front, and her shoulders stopped screaming in pain. Blood dripped down both wrists, but there was nothing she could do about that now. Flexing her hands, she turned her attention to the door. She tried to open it, but it was locked.
