Chapter 21

Rory thought they were going to make her walk. Instead, they came into the room and gave her a shot. She passed out and didn’t wake up until hours later. When she woke, she thought she was dizzy, and then she realized the movement wasn’t from her head swimming. The floor she was sitting on was actually moving.

Where was she? What type of floors moved? Certainly nothing stable. They had to be moving. Was it a truck or a train? The way of movement wasn’t like a truck, maybe a train. She needed to think, but her head ached, and her stomach churned.

She pulled her knees in close and closed her eyes. That was a mistake. She opened her eyes, but it wasn’t much better. Darkness surrounded her. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust so she could figure out what was going on. Was she in a boat? Metal groaned, and an engine hummed. She tried to quiet her breathing. She swore she heard something sloshing. They’d put her on a boat.

Holy shit. Where were they taking her?

She passed out or drifted off at some point and woke when she heard metal screeching against metal. She was on a ship, which was probably big based on how far away that door sounded.

At first, she saw nothing, but then a faint light appeared. Fear tingled along her spine. She drew her legs in, hugging them to her chest. She’d moved around a little and figured out she was in a cage that wasn’t tall enough for her to stand or long enough to stretch out fully. With the light approaching, she could make out more of her cage, but she couldn’t see much beyond that.

“Eat,” the man said, placing food and a water bottle into the cage.

She reached for the water and pulled it to her. Without food, she would live, most likely. Water was a different thing. She wouldn’t survive long if they didn’t supply her with water.

“Where are we?” Her voice shook with fear. She hated that she sounded so weak. She wanted to tell this man to go to hell, but what could she do?

The man snorted and walked away. She had no power, no threats she could lob at him. She was powerless here in this cage. Whoever had captured her was making sure she knew she was at their mercy.

She wished she would have stayed at Harry’s place. If she ever made it back to California, she would tell him how she felt. Maybe he wouldn’t want her. There were few reasons women were abducted and put on boats to be shipped overseas. Her life would be hell wherever they sent her.

She’d gotten ahead of herself. She’d bought a burner cell, but she hadn’t thought about how to protect herself against being abducted. The reality of investigating a human trafficking ring versus actually having to deal with the eventualities of taking down a human trafficking ring didn’t sink in far enough for her to figure out she was in real danger.

The two drives she’d mailed out had no information. There was nothing tying back to her, so the newscasters and the FBI wouldn’t come looking for her. The only hope she had was Harry finding the envelope she’d stuffed between his couch cushions.

Even if he found the envelope, they would only know who to blame, not where she was. No question, she’d messed up terribly. There was no trace of where she’d gone. She would never be found. This was her life now.