Night was falling, and Mitch was starting to panic. “It’s been hours. If they’re going to use her to get to me, why hasn’t she called?” He stood and began pacing. “What if they just decide to take me some other time and have already…” He left unsaid what they were both thinking. In this case, no news was not good news.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Come on, lady. Hurry it up.” The big oaf who’d been driving her around for the last few hours was suddenly in a rush.
“Coming,” Maggie muttered. This whole kidnapping thing had gone much differently than she expected. The entire way to the store, she was picturing handcuffs, blindfolds, and windowless vans, but so far, it had all been relatively civil. Minus the guns.
When she arrived at Pampered Pets, she was glad to see Steph had already put up the sign indicating the store was closed. At least no customers would inadvertently stumble into a kidnapping. Steph was sitting on the stool behind the register and looked up hopefully when Maggie entered. A large, burly man dressed in a black suit and wearing a ski mask was standing behind her. Neither looked very happy.
Maggie had barely entered the store, when the man (she was calling him Moe in her head) walked around the counter, grabbed her by the arm, and without saying anything, led her back out the door to a waiting car. He pushed her into the back seat and got in next to her. They got a couple of odd looks from people on the street, but no one questioned anything or made any effort to make sure she was okay.
“Why’d you wear a mask, dude?” the driver asked as Moe removed the mask and stuffed it into his pocket.
“So I wouldn’t have to kill the witness, dumbshit,” Moe said bluntly.
“Oh, yeah. Good thinking.” The driver wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box.
“Give me your purse,” Moe demanded. Having no choice, she turned it over. He rummaged around, found her cell phone, and without preamble, opened the window and threw it out.
He then made a call, presumably to Manuel, to let him know they had Maggie, were headed to pick up Jaime, and would then return to the hideout.
The driver, she’d dubbed him Joe, drove them to the New Jersey airport, where they waited for almost an hour before picking up a third goon whom she assumed was Jaime.
“Hired goons fly coach?” Maggie asked no one in particular.
“You’ll shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you,” Moe growled.
Maggie knew what was good for her and hadn’t said another word until now.
“Where are you taking me?” She’d been unceremoniously hauled out of the car and was being escorted on foot through a part of town she’d never been to.
“Shut up,” Jaime said. He was the grumpiest of the bunch. Must have been a long flight.
Up ahead was a brown, six-story building. It was the last one on the block, so she figured it must be their final destination. She made a mental note of the street names.
Outside the building, there was a homeless man, huddled up in blankets and sitting on the sidewalk. “Do you mind?” Maggie asked Moe, who was holding her arm. She reached into her purse, which had been returned to her, and handed the vagrant a handful of coins and dollar bills. She hoped it would be enough for him to remember her.
Moe looked at her as if she was from another planet, shook his head, and then picked up her arm again.
Things changed once they got inside. They gave her a brief pat-down focused mainly on her breasts, tied her hands in front of her, and left her in a dank, smelly room sitting on a wooden chair. Her purse lay on a decrepit, old desk, which was the only other furniture in the room.
Joe left the room, and the ominous clicking of the lock let her know she was officially a prisoner. She hadn’t been too scared until now, but being all alone had her imagination running wild. Would Mitch be able to find her in time? Would he try all that hard or just assume she was a lost cause? What if they already had Mitch, and he wasn’t coming to her rescue? Oh, God, the horrible possibilities were endless.
She stopped, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Letting the terror take over wouldn’t help. It was imperative that she keep calm and think up a plan in case she needed to save herself.
Fifteen minutes later, the door was unlocked, and Manuel entered with Moe, Joe, and Jaime right behind him. As much as she didn’t like to swear, all she could think wasFuck!
She stayed completely still and didn’t say a word.
“You’ll do what I say, when I say it, or I’ll gut you like a hog without blinking. Do you understand?”
Any bravado Maggie had mustered died with Manuel’s opening comment. Her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded.
“Phone.” He opened his hand, and one of the three stooges slapped a phone in it.
“Call Officer MacDonald.”
She fumbled with the phone trying to dial, but eventually got through. Good thing she’d memorized his number. He answered on the first ring.
