Chapter 7

CHAPTER7

Clearing her throat, Bailey said, “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize,” hoping that it would be enough to appease the large man who somehow managed to look angrier by the minute, which she had to admit was starting to concern her.

When he didn’t say anything, mostly because he was busy glaring at her from across the room in the unknown location that he’d taken her to, Bailey decided to take this moment to take in her surroundings and-

That was some really good coffee, Bailey thought with a happy little sigh as the bed slowly rushed up to meet her. “This is a really nice bed,” she mumbled against the really comfortable mattress, only to groan when she slowly fell over onto her side.

“Start talking,” Quinn said as she reached back and grabbed hold of the large comforter and pulled it over her so that she could cocoon herself in its fluffiness.

“Do you think we should start a softball team?” Bailey asked, snuggling back into the comforter only to decide that wasn’t enough and decided that the most efficient way to go about this was to roll over until the comforter was securely wrapped around her and-

“This is better,” she murmured with a nod, deciding that the floor allowed her to curl up more efficiently in the comforter that she loved more than anything.

“God, you’re a pain in the ass,” came the heavily sighed words as she found herself scooped up off the floor and returned to the large bed that hadn’t been able to handle her needs.

“I know,” Bailey said, nodding solemnly as she moved to roll off the bed again, only to grumble when he picked her back up and placed her in the middle of the bed. The move caused the bandage taped to her forehead to pull at her stitches and reminded her that he hadn’t answered her question.

“I think we should do it,” she said with another nod as she watched the incredibly angry man who’d been glaring at her all morning check the front door again.

“Do what?” Quinn absently asked as he made his way back to the couch and went back to doing whatever it was that he was doing with those guns that he laid out on the coffee table earlier.

“Start a softball team,” Bailey said with a firm nod as the euphoric haze that was making her day better continued spreading over her body, making her wonder if she’d imagined the pain earlier.

“And why would you want to do that?” Quinn asked, throwing her a questioning look even as she couldn’t help but wonder if she should be concerned that the man who kidnapped her was heavily armed.

“Because Pam has a really good swing,” Bailey said with a dreamy sigh, imagining all the games that they could win with her on their team. Not that she wanted to play softball because she didn’t, but she felt that was something that they should do at the moment. She also wanted more of that delicious coffee that he’d given her after she’d refused to take any more pills.

“That she does,” Quinn murmured in agreement as she took in the large, one-room cabin and once again found herself wondering how he’d managed to get her here.

“Which is why I can’t fire her,” Bailey said with a forlorn sigh and a sad shake of her head that was somewhat impeded by the comforter encasing her.

“Because she can swing a bat?” Quinn asked as she took in the view of the woods surrounding them and couldn’t help but frown in confusion because those didn’t look like Florida trees.

“Ummmm, where are we exactly?” Bailey found herself asking even as she wondered why she was suddenly struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Georgia,” he said before adding, “I drugged you.”

“Oh,” Bailey mumbled, unable to help but frown as she went on to wonder why she didn’t care.

Probably the drugs, Bailey thought with a nod, only to realize that she couldn’t properly nod, which led her to realize something important.

She was trapped.

* * *

“You’re fine,”Quinn said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stood there, wondering where he’d gone wrong.

There was a sniffle, and then, “I’ll talk!”

“Please, don’t,” he said, feeling a headache coming on as he prayed that she took pity on him and passed out again.

He never should have put those pills in her coffee, but at the time, it had been his only option, and now…

“W-Why is it so dark in here?” came the mumbled demand that had him dropping his hand away so that he could reach down and pull the comforter away, only to have Bailey gasp, pull the comforter back over her head and promptly curl up into a ball with a whispered, “Shhhhh! They’ll see me!”

“There’s no one else here,” Quinn reminded her, beyond fucking exhausted. Between taking care of her all night and finding out everything that he could about this job, he was ready to pass the fuck out.

“That’s what they want you to think!” came the paranoid announcement that had him realizing that this actually explained a lot.

When they were kids, she’d been banned from the vending machines at school, but he never understood why until this moment. Some days, she acted like a pain in the ass, and other days…

She was like the Energizer-fucking-Bunny.

“I need to know who broke into your apartment, Bailey,” Quinn said, taking the chance that she might say something that would help him figure this out quickly so that he could wash his hands of her and move on to the next job.

“They’ll be mad if I tell you,” came the softly mumbled announcement that had him damn near sighing with relief as Bailey pulled the comforter down just far enough so that she could peek up at him.

“You can tell me,” he said soothingly, trying for a reassuring smile, only to watch her eyes narrow as she slowly pulled the comforter back up.

“They said you’d say that,” she said, and god, was she a pain in the fucking ass.

“And who are they?” Quinn asked only to mutter, “Fucking hell,” when Bailey said, “Leprechauns.”

Deciding that he’d wasted enough time trying to get answers out of her, Quinn pulled his phone out and scrolled through his contacts to call her brother when she said something that had him going still.

“I’m really sorry about the train, but I couldn’t keep letting them hit me,” Bailey mumbled around a heavy sigh as she moved to turn over only to realize that she couldn’t and settled for curling on her side with a grumble.

“Kelly?” Quinn asked, watching her closely.

Shaking her head, she said, “Jennifer and Steve.”

“They hit you?” Quinn asked, swallowing hard as he thought about all those times that she showed up at school covered in bruises and assumed that Kelly and her group of bitches were making her life a living hell.

“I didn’t move fast enough,” Bailey mumbled sadly, only to add, “Can’t tell Nathan. Don’t want him to know,” changing everything.