Chapter 48

The place wasn't too busy so Danika worked on finishing her shift early. She thought about texting James and telling him she was going to be home soon and ask if he wanted her to start dinner. Most nights they ate early then had another snack before bed. Well, hers was a snack and sometimes his was another full meal, depending on what he did at work that day.

She smiled to herself, thinking about his little idiosyncrasies. Even back in high school she'd like his little differences, things that made him uniquely James. Sometimes, when she thought back to that time, her heart almost hurt with wishing things had been different. They'd been too young and na?ve to make long-term decisions back then. They would have failed, that much she was sure of, but she wished they'd been strong enough to stay together.

"I'm almost done, Randall."

"Have a good evening. There is a storm rolling in, so be careful."

"I will be. Luckily, I'm not driving, so really, the bus driver needs to be careful. "

Randall rolled his eyes and laughed. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

Danika waved and then stepped out of the bar, noticing the clouds off to the southwest. There weren't many storms, but she'd been here for one that was awful. Someone had told her the worst storms were from hurricanes that hit in Mexico and made their way north. After the last one she'd seen, she believed it.

Of course, the one tropical storm she'd been through in Savannah had been way worse than anything she'd experienced here, but for an area that didn't get too many bad storms, even medium squalls seemed terrible.

She had about ten minutes before the bus came. Having some form of public transportation had saved her. Eventually, she would buy a car of some sort, but for now, it was nice on days like today with the high potential for rain, and she could just sit back and let someone else worry about driving on slick pavement.

It took a while for the light to change so she could cross the street. When she was out in the middle of the road, an odd feeling traced down her spine. She picked up her speed and made it across, glancing back but seeing nothing. It was like when she was home alone and got up to grab a glass of water, she would rush back to the bedroom, feeling like someone was watching. Of course, no one was, but the dark of night lent for dark imaginations. The storm was messing with her. Everything was perfectly fine, and she had nothing to worry about.

She stepped over to the bus stop and reached into her pocket for her phone, right as someone stepped close, grabbing her arm and poking her in the side with something hard and metal.

"If you scream, I'll put a bullet through your head."

The voice made her knees almost give out. She tried to look back, but he wrenched her arm, sending pain through her.

"Don't."

His one-word command struck fear straight through her. "What do you want?" Her voice shook and was barely above a whisper. Ezra didn't answer. Instead, he took a few steps back, forcing her to go with him.

If he got her into his car, she wouldn't survive. She was about to scream when she felt the prick of a needle, and she went slack against him. For a second, she swore her phone rang, but the blackness took her, blocking everything around her out.