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I continued to the hovercraft garage located at the top level of the Jericho Conner New Terran Alliance building. All branches of government had offices in the sprawling complex named after the captain of the first colonial vessel to arrive.
Probably because I’d been on vacation, someone had deemed it acceptable to use my assigned parking space. When I’d arrived, I’d been forced to park at the end of the row. Striding toward my vehicle now, I dug out the starter from my pocket.
With a chirp, my vehicle unlocked and fired up.
I heard a hovercraft door spring open, a footfall, and then my peripheral vision caught a dark blur. A hood was dragged over my head. “No! Stop it! Help!” I screamed and struck out. The hovercar remote flew from my hand.
My arms were wrenched behind my back. I continued to thrash, almost yanking my arms from their sockets. I felt myself being dragged away.
“Help! Let me go! Somebody, help me!”
“Hurry up! Do it! What are you waiting for?” A man swore in a high male voice.
There must be two of them. At least two.
How could this be happening? “What do you want with me?” I cried, trying to delay, praying somebody would be watching on the security cams and would rush to my aid.
“Watch where you jab with that thing,” growled the same man.
I felt a sharp sting. No. No. No. The drug burned through my veins. Within seconds, my arms and legs drooped like lead weights, and my head lolled on my neck. Darkness descended, and I succumbed to nothingness.
Chapter Six
Jessie
My neck and arms ached, and my hands tingled with numbness. My mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. My eyelids sprang open to complete darkness. Where am I? What happened? Panic bloomed in my chest, but, as I lifted my head, I became aware of the hood over my face. Memory rushed back.
I’d been drugged unconscious and kidnapped.
I slumped on a hard chair, my wrists tied behind me, each ankle strapped to a wooden leg. This is not good.
Stay calm. Assess. Listen. Think. I strained to pick up whatever sounds I could. No voices. No squeaks or scrapes. No buzz of hovercraft traffic. The silence afforded no hint as to where I’d been taken, but it did suggest I was alone.
“Hello? Anybody else here?” I croaked. My throat was so dry.
I got no reply, so I tested the ties around my wrists and ankles. Tight and secure. Too tight, which explained the numbness. I wondered how long I’d been out; I had no way to tell.
“Asshole fuckers!” I swore at my kidnappers. Employed in government service for a decade, tempering my emotions and couching concerns in euphemism had become second nature to me, but I let loose with curses that would make Millie Rogers proud.
I’d just gotten home! How could I have been kidnapped again? This had to be akin to being struck by lightning twice. Which meant more than bad luck had come my way. This was no random abduction. I hadn’t merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time—I’d been targeted.
Who were the men who’d taken me from the garage? Could one of them have been the intruder who’d been in my apartment?
One kidnapper had a high voice, so it wasn’t him. The intruder had a deep bass. However, he and the kidnapper had spoken in perfect, unaccented Terran Universal. The other man in the garage hadn’t said a word.
Thank goodness, I had managed to alert the president about the abductions. Unlike Garrison, she had taken me seriously. She would investigate.
But that didn’t help me.
Nobody knows where I am. They won’t have a clue where to look. I rocked a little and discovered the chair was armless. If I could slip my arms over the back…
I stood up hoping to free my arms, but the back was too high, and I wrenched my shoulder. I plopped down again. Maybe if I topple the chair…
I tried to envision how that might work. Once I knocked it over, if I couldn’t free my arms, I might not be able to get upright again. Maybe there’s something sharp I can use as a tool. I flung my head from side to side trying to dislodge the hood. Maybe with gravity assist, I can shake it off? If I stand up and bend over…
Before I could try, I heard shuffling from outside. Somebody’s coming.
I let my head droop and slowed my breathing as the door squeaked open. Electronic doors didn’t squeak. They could hiss or snick, but they didn’t squeak. I filed away that tidbit of information and counted footsteps. Two sets. My heart thudded. The blood rushed in my ears. Don’t react. Don’t react.
