She nodded.
Then the other guy drew out a small flashlight she had in there in case she needed to see things. Because who liked the dark? No one.
The last thing to come out was Snaggles.
Addie dove around Number Two and grabbed Snaggles from the first guy’s hands. Then she hugged her toy tight while glaring at him.
“Hey, it’s all right,” he told her with his hands up. There was a softness to his voice that hadn’t been there before. Did he think she was weird? That maybe she was emotionally or mentally not right?
She was standing there holding a saber-toothed tiger toy, unable to speak, trembling so hard that her teeth chattered, so maybe he wasn’t wrong.
Crouching down to make herself smaller, she kept Snaggles close. This was a disaster. She had no idea where Monroe or Dotty were. She’d seen a man carrying around a dead body, then she’d hidden in the back of a stranger’s pickup and now these two guys were demanding to know what was going on and touching her stuff.
And even if she’d known what to say, she couldn’t because her anxiety was riding her hard.
“Hey.” Number One crouched in front of her. “Why don’t we go inside where it’s warm, and then we can call your friends, okay?”
She shook her head. That didn’t sound like a smart idea. What she needed to do was just call for an Uber and head back to the bar.
Or should she go to the hotel?
Oh, God. She didn’t know.
Number One looked up at the other guy, who now held her phone. She held her hand out for it and he immediately gave it to her.
Addie attempted to tap the screen with her shaking hands, despair filling her as she realized that it was dead.
Her breath started to come in sharp, short pants. What was she going to do? Her phone was dead. She had no way of callingfor transport or contacting Dotty or Monroe. How was she going to get back to the hotel?
Tears dripped down her face as she fought the panic.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Number One said.
Great. Now he was going to leave. Not that she could blame him or expected him to do anything. The last thing she wanted was to be alone in a dark and strange place.
He reached out and picked her up, standing with her in his arms.
She didn’t even have time to react as he walked up to the front door of the townhouse. Number Two walked ahead of them, opening the door, before they stepped inside. A wave of warmth hit her. She hadn’t realized how cold she was.
“Get us a blanket, will you? And maybe some hot chocolate or something?” Number One said.
She just stared up at him as he moved into what seemed to be the living room. This was where these guys lived? Somehow she’d expected something rougher, maybe even a bit dirty, but everything was neat and clean. There was a comfortable sofa, a large TV, and a coffee table with coasters on it.
Coasters!
These guys didn’t look like coaster people.
Instead of placing her on the sofa on her own, Number One sat with her on his lap. Addie tensed before attempting to get off, but he just held her tight.
“Stay where you are, Stowaway,” he told her.
Stowaway? What kind of name was that? She glared up at him.
“You don’t like your nickname?” he asked, sounding amused.
“You could tell her your name,” Number Two called out before he appeared with a blanket and a phone charger.
He handed the blanket to Number One who tucked it around her. She felt kind of ridiculous sitting on his lap like this. Stiffand unsure. No doubt it wasn’t very comfortable for him either. She was all bony. There was nothing lush or curvy about her.
