Page 110 of Betrayed

Adam joined him. “I’d say she did not transfer easy. And look, it stops abruptly here.”

“Like she got into another vehicle?”

Adam nodded.

They searched the car but didn’t find anything useful.

Logan walked away and yanked the gloves off. Despair loomed again. Where is she? Please lead us to her.

How many dead ends would they run into before they found her? Would it be too late? Was it already too late?

If AJ hadn’t had her watch on, she would have been completely lost for time. But her watch said it was nine in the evening. Miles had been gone for hours. He’d told her he would sneak through the back door since a cop was sitting out front. He was pretty confident he wouldn’t get caught. She wished he would but at the same time, if they did catch him and he didn’t give up where she was, she could die in this place. The police had searched it, and she was there the whole time. Logan had been outside the wall and never knew she was behind it.

She distracted herself by quoting all the Scripture she had memorized, singing hymns and any other song she could think of, praying, and practicing what she would say to Logan if she got a chance. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. But words weren’t what they needed. They needed years, a future filled with opportunities to live out the love that overwhelmed her heart. They’d so easily taken each other for granted when they were younger. But if she got out of here, they’d live differently.

But how was she going to get out of this mess?

Logan had to be a wreck. He’d known pretty early she’d been taken and it was Miles. But how? She’d tried to figure it out, but she couldn’t. There were pieces of the puzzle she had no way of knowing.

But what was Miles planning? What was he going to do with her? Did he really think he would win her over by keeping her hostage?

Stockholm syndrome was a real thing, but she couldn’t imagine it working on her. She wasn’t going to be stuck with Miles long enough for that. She’d find a way to escape or die trying.

The minutes seemed to inch by. She’d fallen asleep at some point and tried to do some exercise, but that was limited when chained up with hands still zip tied together. Despite her best effort to keep the zip tie from eating into her skin, it did anyway. Her wrists were raw, and one spot was at risk of bleeding if she didn’t keep them still.

The door opened, and AJ sat up straighter. Miles came in.

“Hey, sweetie. It’s about time to go to our next location. It’s nice and hidden here, but a little cramped.”

“Don’t call me sweetie.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you prefer pumpkin?”

“No.” Was he really this delusional?

“We’ll have to figure out what fits best then. A pet name will make changing our identities easier.”

Yep, delusional. One hundred percent.

Would playing along give her a better chance of escape? Though completely revolting, it was tempting.

Miles walked over and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands.

It took everything not to pull away.

“I have wonderful plans for us. You’ll appreciate it eventually. Now, let’s get these cuffs off, so we can get moving.” He inserted the key into the lock.

“Can’t you take the zip tie off too? It’s cutting into my wrists.”

“Not yet, dear. We need to get you safely to dinner. Are you hungry?”

She was starving; the prepackaged snack food he’d provided earlier in the day was long digested. But if he made her food and it didn’t come out of a wrapper opened by her, she wasn’t going to eat it. She wouldn’t risk him slipping some sort of drug into her system if she could help it.

“Not going to answer?”

Her stomach growled, giving her away.

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” He turned the key, freeing her from the cuffs, but he took her hands by the zip tie.