Along for the Ride

“Untie me now or I’ll scream the place down!”

“No point. The walls are thick, and there really is no need. We don’t intend to hurt you, and you’ll be free soon. Just take it easy and choose yourself some lunch.” He propped the room service menu next to her on the bedside table. The two men walked away and had a quick discussion out of her range of hearing.

She was hungry, she couldn’t deny that, but she would resent taking their offer of food. However, if someone came from room service, they might realize her predicament and raise the call for help. She cast her eye over the menu with more purpose.

“Get me a steak sandwich, with fries, and a very strong coffee to sort my head out.” She glared at them.

The blob nodded, wide-eyed, and went straight to the phone and ordered for her, as if she were the boss. He was obviously a gofer by nature -- he even did what she said.

When the order had been placed, the men resumed their conversation by the window. They seemed to be at odds. The shaved-head man wasn’t comfortable with the situation; that much she could make out. She looked around the room, searching for potential tools or weapons. She noticed her clothes in a heap next to the bed, alongside her bag. Somehow the sight of her possessions made her sigh with relief; they were a tangible link to her real life. Somewhere out there, Cal cared about what was happening to her. He would be looking for her. Deep in her soul, she had to believe that, to make her brave.

When room service arrived and rapped at the door, the man in charge silenced the other one and came back over to her, pulling on a leather biker’s jacket as he walked.

He flipped a key card up in his hand and pointed at the door. “This is the only key, and when I go out, you are in here with Foster until I come back for you. When I come back, you go free. It’s that simple. Just enjoy your lunch. Have a drink from the bar fridge.” He smiled benevolently.

Georgie snorted in disgust.

“Foster will look after you, and don’t worry, he’s a big softy.” He laughed to himself as if at some private joke, and stood up. At that point, the one called Foster walked around the other side of the bed and sat down beside her. He put his hand over her mouth, keeping her still with the massive bulk of his body leaning over hers. She was pressed right down into the pillows. Her ears were muffled to sound, and she could only vaguely make out that there was a discussion going on at the door.

A big softy? Georgie thought, as she looked up at the huge man hovering over her. He looked like a bouncer. She blinked and twisted her head as much as she could beneath his hand. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other man accepting the tray and setting it down on the table, and then he disappeared out the door, which closed after him with a distinct vacuum suction sound.

“Is this what you do for a living? Kidnap women?” Georgie snapped when Foster slid his hand away from her face and allowed her to move more freely again.

“No.” He looked defensive, his eyebrows pulled together in concern. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m just a driver, that’s all.”

“A driver?”

“Well, I’m a fly-by-ferry.”

“What on earth does that mean?”

“I’m like a film runner. When the flashers -- the photographers -- get the stars on film at their premieres, or wherever ...” He looked shifty as he tried to explain. “I’m the one that collects the gear from them and takes it down to Fleet Street, while they go off in search of more action. Although there’s not so much work for me since all this digital equipment came along ...”

He drifted into silence for a moment, and Georgie wondered if that was why he was here, through lack of work.

“That’s all I do. I’ve never been involved in anything like this before. As far as I was aware, it was just another driving job.” He shook his head, glancing at her with a concerned expression.

Georgie considered him with curiosity. Presumably he had driven them all up to Edinburgh. When they hadn’t got the photographs directly, they’d had to come up with a new plan. They must have asked him to do this because he was the one who looked the most like a bouncer. So, she was supposed to find him threatening enough to be a good girl while he guarded her. Ha!

He was patently unskilled for the job they had given him. She might well be able to talk her way out of captivity. Her mind began moving rapidly, trying to figure out the best way to handle him. He was very large and strong. His shoulders were massive, and someone had obviously carried her to bed. It must have been him with those big, beefy arms of his.

She was still busy measuring him up when she reminded herself that she was supposed to be talking her way out of the situation, not speculating on the strength and physique of her captor. However, when she focused on him, she realized that he was doing exactly the same thing as her -- he was speculating about her body.

He was busy staring at the outline of her breasts where they marred the smooth surface of the sheet with their peaked nipples. When he glanced up and realized that she had caught him looking, he looked embarrassed. Georgie’s mind sta

rted to home in on a plan. She would embarrass him some more, and distract him with her body. She would bloody well seduce her way out of the place, if she had to!

“You undressed me, didn’t you?”

He actually blushed. He looked ashamed of himself, really ashamed, but also aroused, as if her confrontation had stirred him up some more. There was something decidedly furtive about him. How much had he secretly enjoyed undressing her? Had it turned him on, touching her and seeing her all naked and vulnerable? Was he a peeping Tom? The possibility of his dirty little antics was fast inspiring her with a plan.

“I guess you had to do as you were told?”

He nodded vigorously, his expression very sheepish.

“Look.” She wriggled her shoulders, hoisting herself up against the pillows. Her left breast was almost totally uncovered. She could see that he had moved his head marginally so that he could peek at the tightening nipple just under the edge of the sheet.

“Your mate said this would be over soon, right?”