Chapter 9
The Stranger’s Name is James
Hillary Beck
All I knew was that my head was pounding and my eyes hurt. I knew I was still very drunk, despite throwing up on the poor man’s shoes. A part of my brain was chastizing me for sitting in some stranger’s car and letting him drive me God knows where. For all I knew, this man was some sort of serial killer. He was going to kidnap me and make me his captive. I thought of Christie and Erica, drunk on the dance floor, and poor Julie running around looking for me. I should drop them a message. Tell them what happened. They might be able to help the police if I ended up disappearing.
I fumbled around, looking for the small black clutch that held my phone. It took my inebriated mind a whole minute to realize that I didn’t have it on me.
“My purse!” I shouted! “Where’s my purse!”
“You threw up on it, so I left it there in the club,” the man replied.
I looked at him, completely outraged at what he had just said. That was an expensive purse! It was one of the only expensive items I owned. Not only that, it had my phone and wallet in it!
“But, it had my phone!” I stammered. “My beautiful purse—”
“You can get another one,” he stated simply.
“Get another one?” I asked, livid. “Do you know how many months I had to save up for that purse?”
“I’ll reimburse you,” he said, casually.
“Reimburse me? As if you have that kind of money lying around!” I shouted at him.
“Please, keep your voice down,” he said, rubbing his ear.
“You lost my purse!” I shouted again.
My lips trembled at the thought of my beautiful beaded black clutch. I had spent five months saving for it. I remembered when I had first seen it in the shop window; I had fallen in love with the design. I just knew that I had to have it. So I saved up and worked an extra job to make up for it. Now, it was gone forever.
Before I knew it, I burst into tears, sobbing at the thought of my purse and phone. The man turned to look at me, bewildered.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“My purse!” I wailed loudly.
“I said I’ll reimburse you! I will give you double its value, then you can get two!” he said, clearly just wanting me to shut up.
“You’re lying!” I accused. No one had that much money to throw around…did they?
“Look, I’ll pay you right now,” he said. He pulled out his wallet and took out all the cash he had and threw it at me.
I looked at the wad of notes in my lap in utter shock and confusion. I could live on this amount for the next few months.
“Who are you?” I asked, wondering how someone could have so much money.
“Umm…I am James,” he said quickly.
My imagination was running wild as I thought about how a man could have so much cash on him. Now that I thought about it, he had a very nice car, and he was wearing an impeccably-cut, expensive-looking suit. He could be some businessman, with a huge company under him. Although I couldn’t imagine some millionaire being nice enough to give anyone a ride home. If he was, indeed, taking me home and not trying to kidnap me.
On the other hand, if he was a criminal, or maybe even a mobster, it made much more sense. I gasped at the thought.
“Let me out!” I started to scream.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, swerving the car as I started to bang on the windows.
“You’re going to kill me! I knew it! I knew you were some criminal!” I shrieked.
