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CHAPTER 34
Serena
I woke slowlyto the feeling of the world moving underneath me.
“She’s still out,” the monster said.
I remembered being chased and grabbed. The bumpy ride and road noise combined to give me the bad news—I was now in a car, being driven away from my radio link to Duke and the guys.
Duke would be looking for me by now. But would he get to me in time? I wished I’d listened to him and stayed in the car.
As the fog cleared, I decided to play possum for a minute and check my motor control first. My hands were duct-taped, but my feet weren’t. Less than ideal for running away, but workable.
The master chief had made me practice running with my hands tied either behind me or in front.“Practice could make the difference,”he’d said.“You can’t afford to be off balance and fall.”
At the time, it had seemed silly in the extreme, but today, I thanked Dad for hiring him after the kidnapping and forcing those lessons on me.
I’d never considered being previously kidnapped a helpful experience, but in this instance, it certainly was. I knew from experience and the master chief that if I got a chance to escape, I’d have to act quickly and use all my might. Mentally, I recited his list of vulnerable areas.Strike hard at the eyes, throat, groin, or knee.
I chanced opening one eye. It took a second of blinking to focus.
Tony Spinelli, the Taser guy, was driving. We were going fast and straight next to a big truck—on the freeway, most likely—so trying to open the door and jump was off the table.
My purse was on the floor. My cell phone was zipped in the inner pocket. If they hadn’t found it, Duke could track us. They did it in the movies all the time. He’d come.
I closed my eyes again as Spinelli’s head turned. “It’s time to put her under again.”
The monster shook my shoulder.
I stayed limp.
“She’s still out,” he said.
“I don’t trust her. Put her under again.”
With only seconds to act, I sat up quickly, so quickly my head spun. I swung my elbow at the monster’s throat. I caught him in the jaw instead.
“Fucking bitch.” Then a bigger elbow than mine slammed into my head.
Spinelli laughed. “I told you she’d be a slippery one.”
The monster grabbed my hair with one hand and pulled out a plastic bag with his other. It held the cloth he’d used on me before. I struggled against him, without success. He got it on my mouth and nose.
I held my breath for as long as I could.Duke, I need you.
In the end, I lost out to the darkness.
Duke
The gas stationsetup was an old VCR that was easy to rewind, but figuring out how to select the camera we wanted from the eight small boxes on the screen took a minute.
“Pause it,” Lucas said.
The screen held a grainy image, but it was clear enough for me. “That’s the guy who grabbed her on the street Tuesday.”
Lucas leaned closer to the screen. “We’ve gotta ID him.”
I started the video again. “This isn’t good enough for facial rec.”
