At least her feet had come back online. She made it up the stairs, the new man in front of her and Tom’s killer behind. She heard other voices talking upstairs and wondered how fortified this place was. She tried to count the voices and came up with at least four others, besides Tom’s killer and the pee-vert.
When they got to the top of the stairs they were walking on tile. Maybe she was in a kitchen.
“Can I get some water?”
“You’re lucky we let you piss,” the new man said. “Shoulda drank it out of the toilet.”
“Don’t be crude,” Tom’s killer said. “Now turn left.”
The tile turned to wood. By the echoes of their steps, Sylvie could tell the room was large. She imagined a great room off the kitchen.
“Take a right.”
Hinges squeaked as the new man opened a door in front of her.
“Two steps down.”
Now the air smelled like cut grass and cardboard and the air conditioning was gone. A garage maybe. The floor felt like concrete again.
Yup. She heard the sound of a car trunk opening. She wasn’t surprised.
“Stand still,” Tom’s killer said. “Put your feet together.” He zip-tied her ankles together. Both men grabbed her, picked her up, and into a small trunk she went.
But not just any trunk, she realized. She felt the unmistakable shape of her backpack.
This ismybaby!They’d put her into her own Mustang. That was great news.
“Wait,” Tom’s killer said. “Grab her backpack out of there.”
“Why?”
“Because she probably has things in it she can use to escape.”
I do. God, yes, I do. Her foot bumped against the backpack as the man lifted it out.
So much for that.
And goddamn it if he didn’t find the .38 too.
Please, just please stop looking nowSylvie prayed.
“And one more thing,” he said.
Sylvie cried out more in despair than in pain when she felt the needle in her arm. Then she went limp.
“That’ll keep her quiet.”
The trunk slammed shut. Sylvie fought against the deadly drowsiness overtaking her. Her heart pounded as she listened to their voices.
“Turn the car over to them too.”
“How am I supposed to get back?”
“Someone will pick you up when you’re done. Now get going.”
The car door opened and closed and the engine started. Now it was safe to move. As the car backed out, Sylvie felt around the trunk but it was getting hard to focus. Her head swam.I don’t think he found it. God, maybe he did. Please, it must be here somewhere!She rolled back and forth trying to find it…
* * *
