“…Think you and I should talk out front… know I’ve been like a yoyo with you, but…”
Sophia reached for consciousness, desperate to stop Blayze from finishing his sentence.
“…don’t really see a future for the two of us…”
A groan sounded somewhere in her throat as the ache kicked in.Thiswas what she hoped to avoid. How could she step onto that stage—but then it hit her. She alreadyhad.
In a flash her eyes popped open. They closed just as fast as she flinched from the light. She felt something soft like velvet at her cheek. But the reality of where she was—or at leastwhoshe was with—was sandpaper to her senses.
She sat up, trying to orient herself while her head spun and swayed. A quick pry of her lids revealed a row of hooded, industrial bulbs hanging from a pitched, metal roof overhead.
When she allowed herself to fall back, something stopped her. She was in some sort of chair. Her mind begged her to force her eyes back open, see where she was, and just what was happening, but her body was stuck.
She was alive. At least there was that. And the conversation she had with Blayze hadn’t gotten that far. He hadn’t said what she imagined after all. The idea gave her hope.
Sophia sighed in relief as her body sank further and deeper into the chair. Then beyond the chair… through the floor… and into the ground.
No, don’t drift off!She pinned her lips hard between her teeth to keep from falling back to sleep.Feel that. You’re awake. Stay awake.
“Before you and I talk, I need to know that Sophia’s safe.” It was Blayze’s voice.
Sophia’s eyes shot open once more. She tried speaking his name but couldn’t get it to move from her mind to her lips. A small gasp pulled at her chest as Frank suddenly walked into her periphery, and then out. In, then out again. He held a phone inches from his face, pacing in front of a massive shelving unit before disappearing down an aisle.
“There are a lot of things I need too,” Frank said. “So…”
“I want to hear what you have to say, Frank,” she heard Blayze say through the phone’s speaker. “I do. But first let me hear from Sophia.”
“She’s fine. I didn’t hurt her. I used a tranq-shot so I could get her down here, that’s all.”
Sophia mentally felt for the rest of her limbs. Wiggling her toes. Twisting her ankles, breathing life into each as she put her focus on them. Her shoes were still on, she realized, feet planted on the floor. But her arms… they were strapped behind her back somehow. She hoped he’d used zip ties or duct tape. Blayze had taught her how to escape those, even from behind.
“Tell me what your name is,” Frank demanded.
For the first time since waking up, Sophia realized how bizarre it was that Frank was the one who’d kidnapped her. What did he have to gain from all this?
“My name is Blayze. I’ve been hired to help keep Ms. Vasco safe. If I promise to help you out, I’ll need you to help me in return and keep her safe for me.”
“No, I’m not promising anything.Imake the rules now, not you.”
“Okay,” Blayze replied. “Why don’t you tell me why we’re here?” Blayze sounded out of breath, a fact that caused a rush of questions to run through Sophia’s mind.
Where exactly were they? Seemed to be in a shed or warehouse. She figured only a short time had passed since she passed out, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Sophia squinted as she took in her surroundings. An odd, seventies style lamp stood on an end table beside her, the bulbous, orange glass catching reflections of light hanging overhead. The floor was cement, but someone had set up a room of sorts. One of those oval, braided wool rugs lay beneath a coffee table before her, just a foot or so away from an empty sofa.
“You want to know why we’re here?” Frank’s voice was wound up tight. The trapped energy behind it causing his tone to rise in pitch. “Why don’t I start with the fact that I have a bomb set to blow in here? And if I don’t get what I want, I’m going to kill Ms. Vasco and myself too.”
“Yourself too?” Blayze asked.
“Yes,” she heard Frank assure from somewhere along the far corner of the shed. “Is that hard to believe?” he screeched. “If you saw me right now, you wouldn’t find that hard to believe.”
“Well, that’s just the problem, man,” came Blayze’s calm voice. “I can’t see you at all because I’m locked out of the shed. What would I see if I were on the other side of this door? Can you describe that for me?”
Sophia pulled herself away from the back of the chair and wiggled around a bit, testing. If she had to shoot to her feet and run, could she? The mere question made her woozy.
Frank’s footsteps picked up again. “If you could see things from my side of the door, you’d notice an explosive device ready to blow the second someone dared to open it. It’s there to discourage anyone from trying to come in.”
“What else would I see, Frank?”
