Avery rubbed her chest, hoping to ease the ache she felt in her heart. The fear she felt for him worse than any physical pain she’d ever experienced.
Because you love him.
No, that couldn’t be right. True love didn’t happen that quickly. In her favorite books, sure. But not real life.
Yet, Avery had never felt this way for any man…no matter how long she’d known or dated him. So maybe…maybe the whole insta-love thingwasreal, after all.
Great. I finally find a man who checks all my boxes and then some, and then this happens.
Damn, fate had a seriously sick and twisted sense of humor.
As the minutes dragged on, Avery’s mind eventually wandered to her sister. More questions formed, like did Alex know she’d been taken? Had she gotten the call asking for money in exchange for Avery’s life?
She still couldn’t believe it when Garrett had told her what he’d overheard. A million dollars? Who had that kind of money just lying around?
She sure as hell didn’t. Neither did her sister.
Which opened up a whole new can of questions. The main one being…what would these men do to those in the group whose families couldn’t pay?
Would they be executed? Raped or tortured? Both?
Oh, God. Please let someone find us.
“Maybe someone from the ship contacted the local police.” Jessica’s small, scared voice reached her from the far corner of the room. The poor girl was curled up with her back to the wall and her knees pulled protectively against her chest. “Maybe…maybe there’s a giant search party out there right now, looking for us.” Her hopeful blue eyes slid to Avery’s. “Do you think that’s possible?”
About as possible as Santa Clause coming through that broken window we can’t reach and handing us an Uzi so we can blast our way out of here.
Her voice of reason—the snarky bitch—was right. The ship had probably taken off without them. Avery had read horror stories of that happening to passengers who missed the cutoff to reboard. Not that she would ever say that to a petrified child.
Instead, she limited her response to a quiet and simple. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
The only thing theydidknow was that they’d been locked in this ten-by-ten shack of a room for over an hour…and there was no way to escape.
The walls were made of old, decrepit cinder blocks, but even though most were cracked or chipped, they were still surprisingly sturdy.
A single window was the room’s only source of light, but even with Jessica standing on Avery’s shoulders, their bodies still weren’t tall enough for her to reach it and break free. They knew this because they’d tried…and failed.
Many,manytimes.
They were scared, tired, thirsty, hungry…and both she and Jessica just wanted to go home.
A sound like keys jingling came from the other side of the door. Avery pushed herself to her feet, but Jessica only pulled her knees in further with a whimper.
“It’s okay,” Avery tried reassuring her. “They’re probably just bringing us some water or something.”
Praying she hadn’t just lied to the poor girl, Avery moved herself over so she was standing in front of Jessica. Working to control her fear, she forced her spine to remain straight.
She’d read about guys like these. How a woman’s fear turned them on.
Well, she may be scared out of her wits, but Avery was determined to stay strong. For herself, for Jessica…and for Garrett.
You’re stronger and more daring than you give yourself credit for.
He’d told her that back at the river. She hadn’t believed him at first. But now, more than ever, she needed it to be true.
The door opened, and the man from earlier stepped inside. Still wearing the mesh mask, he pointed to Avery. “You. Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” Her words came out surprisingly strong.