It was stiflingly hot in the trailer, but with her hands tied behind her back and attached to her ankles, Enya couldn’t roll over to see if there were, or to fan her hands in front of her face to try and relieve the heat. The heat wasn’t the only thing that needed relieving. Her belly hurt so badly with the need to pee. Time had lost all meaning. Despite her resolve to escape, she knew doing so would be almost impossible until she had the use of her hands and feet.
God, please save me.
Daddy, please find me.
What she wouldn’t give for a routine traffic stop. She’d even take a fender bender. Something, anything that would draw attention to the vehicle. Maybe then she and Maria could escape.
It’s hopeless.
It’s not.
She refused to allow the despair that threatened around the edges of her mind to paralyze her into doing nothing to help herself. Enya twisted as much as she could, trying to see the other girl, but couldn’t.
“Maria?” The word came out like a croak, and the corners of her lips were so dry they cracked when she opened them. “Ma-Maria?” She stilled as a faint and uneven sound came from somewhere near the front of the trailer.
Is that Maria?
God, I hope that’s Maria and not one of them.
“I’m here.” Maria’s voice was barely audible and filled with a tremble that sounded as if it bordered on the edge of panic.
Relief at not being in this nightmare alone shifted something deep in Enya’s chest. “Good.” She bit back a sob, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “Try to rest. We’ll figure it out when they stop.” The trailer shuddered from side to side as it went over a bump. Her shoulder hit the side, sending a shock of pain down her arm. The zip-tie cutting into her wrists had already carved raw grooves that throbbed with every heartbeat. She swallowed the cry that rose and turned it into a slow and measured breath. At least she tried to, but she couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped despite her best efforts.
“Maria,” she whispered again. “Can you move at all?”
There was a long pause, then the sound of cloth dragging against metal.
“A little. My hands are tied in front of me with a plastic thingy you use to keep stuff together.” That was a confirmation that the assholes had used zip-ties.
“Don’t waste your strength yet.” Enya shifted her weight, trying to ease the pressure on her shoulders. “They have to let us out of here sometime. When they open the doors and cut the ties at our feet, if we are fast enough and they don’t expect it, maybe we can jerk free and run.” While she frantically tried to remember the steps in the video she’d watched on social media about how to break a zip-tie, she silently prayed her words of reassurance weren’t a pipe dream.
Think, Enya, think.
It was hard to think of anything but how thirsty she was and how much she needed to pee.
We have to have been traveling for hours, maybe even days.
Her bladder ached, her throat burned, and fluid she couldn’t afford to lose in the form of sweat traced lines down her forehead. She closed her eyes and pictured Rain, his steady breath warm against her palm, the sound of his nickers. She searched for anything she could use as an anchor to keep herself from dissociating from everything. She could almost hear her daddy’s voice in her head.
‘Hold your rhythm, and keep your wits about you.’
She’d sell her soul without a second thought to be able to crawl into his lap and hide away from the world for the next ten years.
‘You’ve got this, baby girl.’
The trailer lurched and slowed, and the sudden shift threw her sideways into the wall again. She grimaced at the taste of copper in her mouth as her teeth snapped together from the impact.
Ouch.
But at least we’ve stopped.
Outside, two or three male voices rose over the sound of the idling engine, but she still couldn’t understand what they were saying.
I wish I’d paid more attention to Spanish class in school.
She ignored the stench and forced herself to draw a slow breath through her nose as she pressed her cheek to the floor.
“Don’t make a sound.” She hoped Maria could hear her and that the men outside couldn’t.
