Relief made my voice quake. “Thank you.”
He hit the brakes and looked at me. “I kidnapped you. Remember that. You don’t get to thank me for this.”
Keep it friendly. Make him like you. “Right now, you’re the guy who is going to help me find my grandfather. Why wouldn’t I thank you?”
“Enough talk.”
He gunned the car backwards out of the deserted parking lot. I stared forward, watching as his lonely truck got smaller.
“Are you leaving your truck here?”
He backed the car onto the road, and then he lifted his hand and clicked a remote.
The light of the explosion hit us first, nearly blinding me, before a deafening sound tore through the air. My entire body came off the seat in fright. At the same time, the truck bounced in the air from the force of the explosion. The entire vehicle seemed to fly apart at the seams before being engulfed in a roaring fire.
“Holy shit.” My hands covered my mouth. “You just blew up your truck.”
“Wasn’t my truck.”
He gunned the car forward, and then we were roaring down the dark road.
“How do you even know how to do that?” I gasped, looking over my shoulder at the massive flames.
“What’s it going to cost me to buy your silence?”
I didn’t understand his question at first. “What?”
“I need to think. How many answers will buy your silence?”
I gambled high and suggested, “Five.”
“You get two.”
Two questions answered was better than none. “How are we getting to Asia? I don’t have my passport.”
“I’m buying our illegal passage and entry via a cargo company.”
I thought hard about my next question. “What’s your name?”
“Does it matter?”
“I don’t know how to address you.”
“Call me whatever you want.”
“You said I could have two answers.”
He let out a long-suffering breath. “Viktor.”
“Viktor, do you think—”
He silenced me with one look, reminding me that he was a big, dangerous man with a gun. When he looked so hard and menacing, why did I continue to push at his boundaries?
I wrapped my arms around my body. The car wasn’t offering much heat, and I was only wearing his T-shirt and sweats. I felt exhausted, chilled, and filthy.
I jerked awake. “What happened?”
We were still driving, but I had no idea where we were.
“What happened was you gave me about three minutes of silence.”
“That’s how long I slept?”
“Yes,” he grumbled. “Go back to sleep.”
I shifted in the seat. “I’m too cold.”
I froze when he reached into the back seat, but a moment later, he tossed the blanket onto my lap. “Night-night.”
I woke up, disoriented. It took a moment to remember that I had been driving with Viktor in a car. Now that car was parked in the shadows beside a long building. I could see a tall light pole in the distance that illuminated a long chain-link fence and smooth black asphalt.
I glanced into the back seat, but his bag was gone.
I couldn’t believe he had left me. I should have been grateful that he was sparing me those truly bad odds of staying alive, but I didn’t feel spared. I felt nothing but panic. How would I save my grandfather if he left me here?
Listening, I realized I was at the airport, probably the cargo airport. I needed to get out of the car and go looking for help. Even if he was coming back for me, this was my chance to escape. I just needed to find someone to call the police for me.
I looked around, wondering which direction to take. I grappled in the dark for the door handle, but when my fingers found it, they trembled with indecision.
I didn’t know what Drake looked like. I only knew his first name. I only knew my captor’s first name. The information wouldn’t help the police at all.
What if Viktor can help you find your grandfather?
It was ridiculous to contemplate sticking with my captor and letting him take me to Asia based on the fact that someone else said they knew where my grandfather was.
Get out of the car!
What if I managed to survive, but my grandfather was sacrificed? Would I ever be able to live with myself?
My indecision turned to a sick relief when Viktor came out of the building. The decision had been made for me. Now I was committed to trying to save my grandfather. I ignored the small voice inside me that told me I could have gotten away.
He walked toward the car, and his long strides chewed up the distance between us. He’d washed his face, and it made him look less warrior and more man. His nose seemed particularly straight, but the most interesting thing about him was his hair. Without his hat, his shaggy dark hair almost touched his collar. For some reason, I had expected him to have a military buzz cut.
He opened the passenger door. “Time to go.”
I stared at his face, trying to get a read on him, but he showed me nothing.
“You left me,” I accused.
He reached in and yanked the blanket off me. “Listen hard.”
“What?”
“The men here get upset when someone fucks around.”
“What does that mean?”
He sounded exasperated that I wasn’t grasping what to do next. “You don’t leave my side, and you keep your eyes on the ground. You don’t look at anyone or see anything. You don’t speak, ask questions or tell anyone anything. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“They don’t care if you’re my hostage. Don’t appeal to anyone for help—no one gives a shit. And if you try and plead for help, it will just piss everyone off.”
God, what kind of world does he live in? “I have a question.”
“Go.”
“What happens if they get upset?”
He motioned for me to stand up. “They shoot first and ask questions later.”
I definitely wasn’t going to fuck around.
He reached in and stuffed the blanket in my arms. “You’re going to need this.”
I watched as he wiped out my side of the car before he motioned me to move. When we walked into the large cargo bay, it took all my effort to quell my curiosity and keep my gaze on the cement floor.
He wrapped a big hand around my arm and steered me across the large bay before stopping in front of a door.
When he let go of my arm, I whispered. “What?”
He pulled the blanket out of my hands. “It’s a long flight. You have three minutes to clean up.”
I lifted my head and realized he had led me over to a washroom. Without raising my eyes, I opened the door and shut it behind me. The single room was small and functional. I rushed to use the facilities before I staggered to the sink and mirror. I stared at my reflection in shock. My face was covered in mud, and my hair was a tangled web of twigs and leaves. My hands were a bloody mess.
I gingerly washed my aching hands before bending to splash water on my face until it ran clean. Was I really going to get on a plane with this man? Did I trust him to help me find out where my grandfather was? I stared at my solemn reflection as I dried my face off with a crunchy paper towel. Was this madness?