be the only way for her to stay alive.
“Stop resisting me.”
The hard edge to her captor’s words told her staying alive meant doing what he asked, for now. She stopped struggling. Her eyes scanned the dark landscape. There must be some way to save herself.
She trudged forward, turning to see the warehouse and the junk field in her peripheral vision. The lights looked a million miles away. Who was this man? Why was he doing this?
He poked the gun in her back. “Open the door.”
A car materialized in front of her. They were on a dirt road behind the warehouse. Her hand reached out toward the handle.
She struggled to clear her mind of the horrifying images from ten years ago. Hands around her neck. Craig Miller grinning at her. She’d trusted him enough to go on a date with him.
Stay alive.
She fought to find her way back to this night and the new threat.
She knew from having covered abduction stories that once he had her in the car, her chances of getting away diminished.
He pressed close to her back, his clothes brushing against hers. She leaned forward as though to open the door but spun at the last moment, putting her head down and charging toward her abductor’s chest.
The blow made him grunt, but he remained upright. He yanked her blazer collar. Cold metal pressed against her temple.
“I said get in.” He pushed her hard against the car.
The impact knocked the wind out of her. She was shaking from the inside out as she reached for the car with a trembling hand and pulled open the door.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He jerked her hands behind her back and wrapped wire around her wrists before shoving her in the backseat and slamming the door shut behind her. Pain pulsed through her rib cage as she angled to sit up.
The driver’s-side door opened. The man sat behind the wheel. The car roared to life. Nausea roiled through her stomach as black dots filled her vision. She struggled to remain coherent.
As the car sped through the darkness, she wondered if this time she would die.
* * *
Zachery’s heart raced as he watched the dark figure push a woman into the car and speed off. That woman, who was probably Elizabeth, had clearly been abducted. He knew where that road led. He sprinted through the junkyard toward the side street where he’d parked his car, yanked open the door and jumped in. He thought to call the police but knew there wasn’t time for them to get here and follow the car. He’d have to follow himself, and call it in once he found out where the man was going.
The engine revved to life, and he zigzagged down city streets to the edge of town, where pavement met gravel. Up ahead, he could see the red taillights of a car as it rolled over the hills out into the country. That had to be the guy. There were no other cars out this way.
Taillights winked out. The kidnapper knew he was being followed. Zach slowed his own car, trying to discern the shadows in front of him. Moonlight provided a hint of illumination as he came over the crest of a hill. He didn’t see or hear any evidence of the car anywhere. His tires rolled silently over the dirt road.
After he drove for several minutes without seeing anything, he pulled over to the shoulder and got out. He saw no sign of a house or even a barn, no lights—no place where the man could have gone. Darkness consumed the road a couple of hundred yards ahead of him. To one side was a stretch of forest. Not even the mechanical clang of a distant car engine met his ears.
Time to call in one of his cop friends. He yanked on the car door.
Zach climbed back into his car, fumbling for his phone at the same time he turned the key in the ignition.
“Hey, Dan, it’s Zach,” he said as soon as the other man picked up. “I think I need your help. I’m out on Old Forsyth Road.” He gave Dan the details of what he’d witnessed as he pulled out onto the road. He scanned three hundred and sixty degrees around him. He wasn’t going to give up, and he wasn’t going to wait for the police.
Whatever it took, he’d find the guy. There couldn’t be that many roads out this way.
He turned onto a side road.
Backup would be nice when it arrived, but he couldn’t wait around for it. A woman’s life was at stake.
* * *
Hope rose up inside Elizabeth when her kidnapper switched off his lights. She turned her head and stared out the back window, seeing only shadows on the road. Someone must have seen the kidnapping and come after her. Why else would he turn off his lights?
As her body jostled on the seat from the car speeding down the road, Elizabeth wondered who had spotted them—maybe one of the police officers on the scene?
She lifted her head even as pain coiled around her rib cage and pulsated. “Why are you doing this?”
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
A jolt of fear shot through her, and for a moment, she wondered if the man who had date raped her in college had come back to torment her. She shook off the rising terror. This man had a big build. Craig had been short and muscular. She’d remember her attacker’s gravelly voice forever. She heard it in her dreams. This wasn’t Craig Miller, the man who had nearly destroyed her, and the reason she had left a promising career in Seattle.
She struggled for breath as the memories flooded her mind.
Hold it together.
She stared at the back of his head. With the baseball cap, she couldn’t see his face or even what color his hair was. All she had to go on was that momentary connection she’d made when he’d been a face in the crowd. She couldn’t even recall any of his features. “Where would I know you from?”
“Ha, nice try. The intrepid reporter always knows what questions to ask.”
Even his voice wasn’t distinctive. She twisted her hands, working the wires around her wrists loose.
Someone was looking for her. That gave her a fighting chance. All she had to do was stall for time. They drove for what felt like at least half an hour until he came to a stop. The back door cranked open, and he grabbed her arm just above the elbow. Squeezing hard, he yanked her out. She fell on the ground. Though the wire was now loose enough for her to slip free, she kept her hands behind her so her kidnapper wouldn’t know.
“Before this night is over, you’ll know who I am.” His voice held menace that made her shiver.
She lifted her head, noticing the outline of a house. The broken window and dilapidated porch indicated it was abandoned.
“Get up.” His words were filled with venom.
She tried to push herself to her feet, but movement made her torso hurt. She must have broken or bruised a rib when he slammed her against the car. Each breath caused a stab of pain.
He
