Chapter Six

My neck and arms ached, and my hands tingled with numbness. My mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. My eyelids sprang open to complete darkness. Where am I? What happened? Panic bloomed in my chest, but, as I lifted my head, I became aware of the hood over my face. Memory rushed back.

I’d been drugged unconscious and kidnapped.

I slumped on a hard chair, my wrists tied behind me, each ankle strapped to a wooden leg. This is not good.

Stay calm. Assess. Listen. Think. I strained to pick up whatever sounds I could. No voices. No squeaks or scrapes. No buzz of hovercraft traffic. The silence afforded no hint as to where I’d been taken, but it did suggest I was alone.

“Hello? Anybody else here?” I croaked. My throat was so dry.

I got no reply, so I tested the ties around my wrists and ankles. Tight and secure. Too tight, which explained the numbness. I wondered how long I’d been out; I had no way to tell.

“Asshole fuckers!” I swore at my kidnappers. Employed in government service for a decade, tempering my emotions and couching concerns in euphemism had become second nature to me, but I let loose with curses that would make Millie Rogers proud.

I’d just gotten home! How could I have been kidnapped again? This had to be akin to being struck by lightning twice. Which meant more than bad luck had come my way. This was no random abduction. I hadn’t merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time—I’d been targeted.

Who were the men who’d taken me from the garage? Could one of them have been the intruder who’d been in my apartment?

One kidnapper had a high voice, so it wasn’t him. The intruder had a deep bass. However, he and the kidnapper had spoken in perfect, unaccented Terran Universal. The other man in the garage hadn’t said a word.

Thank goodness, I had managed to alert the president about the abductions. Unlike Garrison, she had taken me seriously. She would investigate.

But that didn’t help me.

Nobody knows where I am. They won’t have a clue where to look. I rocked a little and discovered thechair was armless. If I could slip my arms over the back…

I stood up hoping to free my arms, but the back was too high, and I wrenched my shoulder. I plopped down again. Maybe if I topple the chair…

I tried to envision how that might work. Once I knocked it over, if I couldn’t free my arms, I might not be able to get upright again. Maybe there’s something sharp I can use as a tool. I flung my head from side to side trying to dislodge the hood. Maybe with gravity assist, I can shake it off? If I stand up and bend over…

Before I could try, I heard shuffling from outside. Somebody’s coming.

I let my head droop and slowed my breathing as the door squeaked open. Electronic doors didn’t squeak. They could hiss or snick, but they didn’t squeak. I filed away that tidbit of information and counted footsteps. Two sets. My heart thudded. The blood rushed in my ears. Don’t react. Don’t react.

I heard a couple of thunks as if they’d dropped something on the floor.

“She’s still out,” an unfamiliar male voice said. No accent.

“Maybe. Hey! You awake yet?” The high, mocking tone warned me to brace myself, and, a second later, he kicked the chair. I toppled over and hit the floor. Pain splintered through my arm. I’m sure my expression would have given me away, but the hood hid my face, and I managed to remain limp and still.

“Still out. Must have been a hell of a dose you gave her.” He laughed. I dubbed him Asshole A.

Neither voice belonged to the man who’d broken into my apartment. I remembered his deep growl—and his smell, a piney musky scent I might have considered sexy if he hadn’t been trying to rob me.

“No more than the norm,” said the other one I tagged as Asshole B. “Why didn’t we just put her in with the others?”

Others?

“Boss said pick her up. Keep her away from the others. I don’t ask questions. I just do as I’m told,” said A. “If you’re smart, you’ll do the same.”

Could this be another slave ship operation? After the kidnapping of the Star Cross passengers had been foiled, I’d assumed the cartel would lie low for a while. Then again, why would they? The embargo afforded them carte blanche to kidnap whoever, whenever they wanted.

Except these men were human…or were they? I only had their voices to go on. The intruder had sounded human, too, and he was an alien.

One of them kicked the chair leg, hitting my shin in the process. Under the hood, I winced. Then the chair was yanked upright. I let my head flop forward. A cold metal blade slid between my wrists, cutting loose the ties. My arms drooped. It took great willpower to maintain my unconscious act and not rub my burning, tingling hands. My gut told me if I had any chance of escape, I had to pretend to be out of it.

“She can undo the rest when she comes to,” A said.

Footsteps receded, and the squeaking door slammed shut.

I yanked the hood off to find myself in a dim room. The orange glow of the setting sun seeped through cracks in boarded windows. Additional artificial light trickled in from under the door. This room must be in a larger building that has the lights on. Is it guarded? Are there men stationed outside?

I untied my ankles and got to my feet. The ten-by-ten room was empty except for a gallon of water, a box of food bars, and an empty metal bucket. What am I, a cat? Basically, they had left me water, dry food, and a litter box. Did this mean they weren’t coming back anytime soon? I thought of poor James. Before leaving for the Jericho, I’d given him food and water, but it wouldn’t last more than a day or two. How long would it take before Mrs. Abercrombie realized she hadn’t seen me in a while and checked on him?

I tried the door, but, as expected, it was locked tight. I considered pounding and yelling for help but figured the only people who would hear would be the kidnappers.

The sun was fading fast. While I still had some light, I dragged the chair to the window. Standing on the seat, I yanked on a board. Riveted.

Board 1, Jessie 0, but the game had just started.

Maybe I could break a leg off and use it to pry off the window boards? I tried banging the chair against the floor, but the stupid heavy chair was solid as a rock. I sat on the floor, grabbed a front leg with both hands, and kicked at the rear. Not so much as a budge. Why can’t they build cheap crap like they used to?

Give me a tool, any tool, please. I squinted in the darkness. Besides the pet supplies, the only other item in the room was the twine that had tied me to the chair. A three-foot section had been used for each ankle. I eyed the twine. What if…

Although the boards were riveted on, there was a sliver of space between board and the wall. I worked the twine under the slat and then yanked on the twine.

No joy.

Board 2, Jessie 0.

Game still on. I didn’t have the strength to rip the board through the rivets, but maybe my body weight would do the trick. It worked for suicides.

I’d belonged to Wilderness Kids as a child and moved up the ranks to trek master. Among the anachronistic skills I’d acquired, I could tie a mean knot.

With the twine wedged under the board, I knotted the ends to form a loop then wrapped the hood around my hands to protect them. Standing on the chair, I grabbed hold of the loop with both hands and jumped.

And nearly popped my arms out of the shoulder sockets. With a cry of pain, I fell to the floor. Bad idea. Bad idea. Rocking in agony, I rubbed my shoulders.

Board 3, Jessie 0. I was fresh out of ideas, even bad ones.