Page 1 of Terminal Voyage

1

TEAGAN

Luciano killed her. I’m sure of it. And I’m going to prove it.

Wait, let me back up. This all started a month ago…

The hairs on the back of my neck stood tall when I realized my apartment door was unlocked.

I don’t know what made me turn the knob. That little voice in the back of my head that said something just isn’t right. The voice that whispers. The one I should pay attention to more often.

This time, it screamed.

I was positive I had locked it when I left.

Didn’t I?

I’m notthatabsent-minded.

With wireless earbuds and my phone in my purse, I said, “Tyson, we’ve got a problem.“

That’s when a figure approached from the stairwell and shot me with a taser. It happened so fast. No time to react. 50,000 volts jolted through my body.

Every muscle seized.

I twitched and convulsed and ended up on the ground. I dropped my purse and my keys.

Before I knew it, the assailant had my wrists behind my back. He slapped the cold steel against my skin and ratcheted the cuffs tight. Cheap, sex-store handcuffs.

I screamed, “Tyson!”

The thug yanked me to my feet and stuck a pistol in my rib cage. “Keep your dumb mouth shut and don’t give me any trouble. Otherwise, I’m going to put a bullet in you. Then I’m going to do dirty things to your corpse.”

My stomach churned, and my throat squeezed.

Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and my heartbeat throbbed my ears. My skin slicked with sweat as he dragged me into the stairwell. I shouted again for Tyson. He was the only one who could save me. But even that seemed impossible at the time.

Too far from my phone, the connection dropped.

Earl Vernon Maddox had been in the bar earlier. I knew right away he was trouble. He just gave off bad vibes. I didn’t want to serve him, but did anyway. That was a mistake. I didn’t know who he was at the time.

Just out of prison, he was going to earn a ticket right back.

Earl was the kind of guy who looked dirty fresh out of the shower. Greasy, stringy hair, narrow, puffy eyes, unsettled energy like a coiled viper, ready to strike. Those eyes. Eyes that just looked through you. Eyes that made you feel like he could see every private thing.

Earl had killed before.

I didn’t want to be his next victim.

Footsteps clunked against the metal switchback staircase as we spiraled down to the parking garage below the building. I trembled with fear, the barrel of his gun poking my rib cage.

“Keep moving!" Earl grumbled.

I tried to keep myself calm and not go into a full-blown panic attack. Panicking about a panic attack is a never-ending doom spiral.

Amid the terror, I found myself mad. Mad that I hadn't paid more attention to my surroundings. Mad that I hadn’t seen this coming.

Maybe I did and just blocked it out.