“Mrs. Pennington is fine, Daphne,” Hack responded, his calm demeanor doing a good job of keeping me from losing my mind. “She called Stone the minute she realized what had happened. That’s why I was contacted. I have worked with, uh, your brother’s team before.”
He sounded like he was going to say something else and then changed his mind, but I didn’t have the brain capacity to dig into it at the moment.
“Is someone coming to get me?” If I didn’t have to try and manipulate my way out of this situation with either Mr. Chill or Spaz, that would really be the best thing ever. “Do you know where they are taking me?”
Hack continued to type, the sound so normal to my ears in what was a completely abnormal situation. “I’m working on your location, and—” his voice cut out, the signal failing again for a second before I could hear him again. ”—as soon as possible. You just need to sit tight.”
“Sit tight!” I huffed. “With two mad men with guns? You want me to just sit tight? Maybe I should make us all some tea while I’m at it? Perhaps we can discuss the latest stock market trends, huh?” Sarcasm had always been my go-to response to stressful situations, and this was about as stressful as it got.
After what sounded like a reluctant chuckle, Hack was all business again. “You said there were two attackers? That’s consistent with the reports from the woman at the store. Can you tell me anything else? What they looked like? Tattoos or scars? Anything like that?”
“They were both wearing ski masks. Totally cliché, right?” Again, he gave me a surprised grunting laugh. “They had hoods pulled up, but one was bigger than the other, and they are both freaking nut jobs!”
“That’s something, at least. Is there anything else?”
“The car they have me in is old. Like, senior citizen kind of old. Huge and long and dark. I think it’s—” My words cut off as the car slowed. “Hack!” I whispered, gritting my teeth as the car took a sharp right turn, tossing me sideways into the wall of the trunk. My bound hands were starting to tingle with numbness, and I dropped the phone. As I scrambled to pick it up again, my hands shaking with a new round of adrenaline, I strained to listen to what was going on outside the trunk.
“Daphne!” his calm exterior was a bit cracked as I placed the phone back to my ear, hearing him calling to me.
“I’m here. We just—we turned a corner.” I strained my ears as something else changed. “Hack, I think we are on a gravel road now. I can hear the difference.”
“Okay, Daphne. You might be getting close to wherever it is they are taking you. That’s good.”
“Good? How is that good?” The more I considered facing those two psychos again, the more I was realizing I didn’t mind being in the trunk.
At least I was alone.
“It’s good,” Hack continued. “Because you aren’t too far from the city.”
I guessed that made sense. They must have a hide out or something. Didn’t all bad guys have, like, a club house or an evil lair or whatever? Or was that just in the movies?
Damn. I was so out of my depth with this stuff.
“Daphne, listen to me. When you get to where you are going, do whatever you can to stay safe. Do what they say, and don’t make them mad, alright, darlin’?”
“Yeah, but, Hack?” I asked meekly.
“Yeah?”
“What if,” I swallowed, the reality of my uncertain future looming before me like a gallows. “What if they…hurt me?”
“Daphne,” he said softly, like he was talking to a child, and at that moment, I felt like one. I was trying to be strong, but in that second, I let myself feel the fear, feel the terror of the unknown. But only for a second. Then I locked that fear back down hard.
Otherwise, it would drown me.
“They might hurt you, Daphne,” Hack continued, not making me feel much better, even though I appreciated his honesty. “I hope they don’t, but the truth is that they might. But know this: you are strong enough to survive it. And you are not alone.”
I sniffed at his words. Since I had packed up my life in Nevada and ran from all my problems by moving back to New York, alone was really all I had felt. My father was in Texas, my brother and Penelope back in Vegas, and I was in Manhattan, surrounded by millions of people yet feeling like I was on a deserted island instead of the world’s busiest one.
I had changed schools and knew no one; even my previous friends were distant, most of them happy to live the socialite lifestyle like Constance. A vapid existence that consisted of lunches and shopping and talking about people behind their backs. None of them could understand why I wanted to go to college in the first place. Why would I put effort into getting a career when I could just live off my daddy for the rest of my life like they did?
They didn’t get that after watching my mother and my sister live that way, it was literally the last thing I wanted for myself. I wanted to be proud of my own achievements, not benefit from the hard work of others. I was so much more like my father and my brother than anyone realized.
And I missed them both terribly.
So the thought of not being alone was a bright light for me to cling on to in the darkness. I grasped it with both hands.
“Okay.” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. Stone would find me. I knew he would.
“I want you to hide the phone, Daphne, but leave it on. Mute it and do what you can to hide it. I haven’t been able to track your location because the signal is so weak and there are so few towers where you are, but I have a general idea. The longer you leave it on, the closer I can get to your actual location.”
The tires were slowing again, and I had a feeling this was going to be it. We were at our destination.
“I think we’re here,” I whispered.
“Okay, Daphne. Hide the phone. You got this, girl. I know you do.”
With that, Hack muted his end of the call. I set the phone to silent and tucked it back in my bra as deep as my moderately sized boobs would allow. My shirt was billowy, which was probably how they had missed it the first time.
I pulled the neck of my shirt up higher again just as the car came to a stop and the engine turned off. The darkness of the trunk surrounded me again, making the space feel like a tomb now that the buzz of the road noise was gone. My breaths came in a rapid pant, and I could feel the sweat on my face and rolling down the back of my neck.
This was it. Whatever happened next, I could deal with it. I knew I could. I just had to wait until Stone found me.
I listened as the doors to the car opened and then closed again, one after the other. I could hear Spaz as he walked to the back of the car, yammering about how much he hated long car rides.
Ya think, asshole?
The sound of the keys clanging against the back of the car was loud in the darkness, my hearing seemingly stronger without my vision. I took a deep breath and grit my teeth, ready for anything these two meatheads would throw at me.
Anything except the sight of four men staring down at me.