Lilly was a new addition and the link that turned our trio to a quad. She was a spontaneous girl I’d met in the parking lot of my therapist’s office a few short years ago.

  She’d been on her way in as I was on my way out. It was an unconventional friendship, but it worked—for us at least.

  She and Marcy had taken an immediate dislike to one another, but aside from their occasional back and forth bickering, they usually attempted to be cordial.

  We all did.

  I hoped that remained the case over the next two weeks. I wanted us to enjoy ourselves.

  This was the first trip my father had felt comfortable with me going on since I was sixteen. It was to Millennium Resort and Spa of all places, thanks to Ryker. I was not going to let cattiness ruin this much needed vacation.

  Lilly removed the nozzle from the tank and placed it back in its little clutch before turning to face me again.

  I braced myself for the contempt I knew was coming in regards to Marcy, preparing to get my own point across once she’d finished what she had to say.

  Fortunately, I was saved from further discussion on the topic by Camilla as she approached us.

  “You couldn’t find anywhere else to get gas, Lil? It’s fucking creepy out here. And there’s no place to get snacks.”

  Eyes rolling skyward, Lilly turned and slapped my hand away from the receipt the pump had just ejected.

  “Ouch.” I jerked back and rubbed the sting away, narrowing my eyes at her. “I just wanted to see it.”

  “There’s no need for you to see it. I told you I was paying for the gas.”

  She quickly pocketed the small slip of paper before I could try to take it again. “And my bad for not wanting to break down, but this is the last area I’d want to be stuck in.”

  “Yeah, I’m with you on that,” Camilla agreed.

  We piled back into the truck and began getting resituated for the rest of the drive.

  Marcy unsurprisingly remained mute, behaving as if the three of us were invisible.

  I was tempted to climb in the back seat and choke slam some damn sense into her.

  “Hey, did you guys hear what happened to the chick that used to work at this place?” Lilly suddenly asked.

  “I’m guessing something not good?”

  Her head bobbed up and down as she started the truck, slowly pulling away from the pump.

  “She was kidnapped right from behind this building.”

  “I think my mom said something about that when it first happened,” Camilla recalled.

  “Well, that’s not surprising. The chick’s parents were all over the news begging for their daughter’s safe return.”

  I frowned at her protruding lip.

  “That’s messed up, Lil.”

  “No, what’s really messed up is that the guy who took her had a cabin in the woods behind the gas station. No one ever questioned it. The sick fuck had her for two years. I swear someone on the force was helping cover it all up.”

  I’d been referring to her faux sympathy, but hearing details on the abducted girl had me not only agreeing with her previous statement, but sent a chill straight down my spine.

  “And you thought it would be a good idea to stop there for gas?” I peered at her from the corner of my eye as I buckled my seatbelt.

  “Well, not on purpose. This was the closest station on the GPS.”

  “If you would have taken the expressway like hundreds of other travelers, we wouldn’t have been anywhere near here. We’d have been at the resort two hours ago.”

  Marcy’s sudden response had me internally groaning.

  “Do you—”

  “So what happened to the girl?” I butted in before an argument could transpire.

  Lilly’s eyes flickered to me in irritation before going back to the road.

  “Shit, I don’t know. I think she got away somehow. I can’t remember; it was a while ago.”

  “It’s hard to believe stuff like that happens in real life,” Camilla mumbled.

  “What makes it so unbelievable? People go missing every day.”

  I tuned out their unpleasant conversation, studying the white van as we rolled past where it was parked. It had no back windows, giving zero visibility inside.

  I’d already decided the thing was broken down and temporarily abandoned, so when a face stared back at me through the driver side window, I involuntarily jerked in the opposite direction.

  “Whoa! What the hell, Faith?” Lilly did a double take in my direction.

  Her sudden lack of focus had the Tahoe nearly swerving into the other lane.

  “Watch the road!” Marcy snapped.

  “Shit,” Lilly grumbled, easily guiding the truck back onto the straight and narrow.

  “Sorry,” I squeaked. “That guy scared the shit out of me.”

  “What guy?” Camilla twisted her upper body to look out the back window.

  “I didn’t see anyone,” Marcy said.

  “He was just sitting in that van.” I gestured over my shoulder and brought a hand to my chest.

  “Seriously?” Lilly muttered, doing a quick check in the mirrors. “Well, he isn’t following us.”

  “That doesn’t make it any less creepy.

  “He was there the whole time we were at that gas station. Probably watching us.” Camilla shuddered.

  “Okay, yeah, that is all kinds of disturbing, but we’re fine. We’ll be on the highway in like, five minutes.”

  I nodded and checked behind us one last time to ensure we weren’t being followed before settling back in my seat.

  No matter how hard I tried to relax, I was still unable to shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong.

  CHAPTER TWO

  FAITH

  Five minutes quickly turned into ten.

  I toyed with the ends of my hair for another two before throwing the black locks into a messy pony-tail.

  When ten turned to twelve, my feeling of unease was no longer something I could ignore.

  And it wasn’t just me.

  A quick sweep of the backseat confirmed Camilla and Marcy were just as uneasy as I was, if not more.

  “Where did your GPS say the highway entrance was?” I asked as we sailed by yet another sign that listed the max speed limit at forty-five miles-per-hour.

  “Um…”

  “That thing hasn’t said a word since we left the gas station. She never turned it back on,” Marcy answered me.

  “Lilly!”

  “Hey, don’t start freakin out on me. There’s gotta be an entry ramp coming up sooner or later.”

  “Sooner or later? I shook my head and immediately opened the Maps app on my cell, plugging in our destination. “There is a ramp. It’s fifteen minutes in the opposite direction,” I quipped.

  “So we need to turn around,” Camilla groaned.

  “Where does this lead then?” Lilly asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been anywhere near here before.”

  “Right. Turning around now.”

  She slowed to a near stop and, right there in the dead-center of the lane, shifted into reverse and whipped the large SUV in a semi-circle.

  “Jesus. Who taught you how to drive?” I reached up and gripped the assist handle.

  Had it not been for the car behind us refusing to brake, I might have found the situation somewhat amusing.

  “Look out!” Marcy yelled over the sound of a horn.

  “Shit!” Lilly threw the truck back into drive and hit the gas.

  My grip on the assist handle tightened as we lurched forward. The sound of squealing tires filled the air as the vehicle in the other lane swerved at the very last second.

  Doing so caused a near head-on collision as the Tahoe came full circle.

  I barely registered that the other driver didn’t have their headlights on.

  “Hang on!” Lilly shouted at us.

  She jerked the wheel again, this time so severely we were sent careening off the road.

  She hit the brakes to slow our momentum, causing an ugly grinding sound to erupt from the pads. I could hear the earth being shredded beneath the sliding tires.

  The front of the truck dipped down into a roadside ditch, a slight bang resounding from the undercarriage. The downward motion had my body falling forward, immediately being met with harsh resistance of the seatbelt digging into my navel.

  The impact wasn’t strong enough to engage the airbags, which I was grateful for, saying a silent prayer of thanks.

  “Holy fuck,” Lilly breathed, shifting the truck into park.

  “Aside from probably pissing yourselves, is everyone okay?” I asked with a shaky laugh.

  “If I hadn’t just peed, I definitely would have now,” Camilla said.

  “Thankfully the seats are leather,” Marcy joked.

  I looked in the side mirror but couldn’t spot a damn thing other than the faint glow of brake lights.

  “Did anyone see what kind of car that was?”

  “No, it happened too fast,” Lilly replied.

  My mind went back to the man in the van I’d assumed was broken down. But he’d been sitting there before we came along, so why choose to follow us?

  If Lilly was right, that was the only gas station to refuel at for a good few miles.

  We couldn’t have been the only travelers to cross his path.

  Sitting there trying to reason with myself that it couldn’t possibly have been that same guy did very little to reassure me it wasn’t.

  There was only one way to know for sure, and it involved walking my ass up to the road, which needed to be done anyway.

  “Okay.” I expelled a breath and wiped my clammy palms on my cotton shorts. “Lilly, see if you can get us unstuck. If you can’t, we’ll need to find a tow company that’s still open or push this thing out, which doesn’t seem all that smart considering it could crush one of us if it rolled.”

  I undid my seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

  “Wait.” Lilly’s hand shot out and gripped my upper arm, effectively stopping me from going anywhere.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need to make sure the other driver is okay.”

  “No! Are you crazy?” she lilted. “Of course they aren’t okay. They didn’t even try to stop. And they’re driving around without freaking headlights on when it’s pitch fucking black outside.”

  “She’s right. What if it’s that guy you saw?” Marcy said.

  Seeing as I’d just had that same thought less than two minutes ago, I couldn’t argue her point.

  A set of oncoming headlights distracted us all enough to halt the debate. They were approaching from the direction we’d been heading. As they drew closer, the feeling in the pit of my stomach intensified.

  “Am I the only one who finds it strange there are now two cars when there weren’t any?”

  My voice was calm and steady, but inside, I felt the complete opposite.

  “No stranger than someone following us with their headlights off,” Marcy replied, clearly realizing what I had.

  Something was undeniably wrong with this whole scenario. I didn’t believe in coincidences.

  The story about what had happened to the girl that used to work at the gas station whispered through my mind.

  A sudden flash of light and the sound of a door slamming had me checking behind us again. This time, I caught clear sight of the van.

  My gut twisted into a painful knot as a second, nearly identical van came to a stop in the opposite lane, and alarm bells went off in my head.

  “We need to get the fuck out of here.” Camilla’s voice broke the heavily pregnant silence.

  “We’re kind of stuck,” Lilly snapped, shifting from park to reverse.

  ”And whose fault is that?” Marcy shot back.

  Lilly ignored her, hitting the gas to no avail. “Come on, come on,” she pleaded, repeatedly tapping the pedal.

  The back tires spun as the engine revved, and the scent of gas filled the air. The truck rocked slightly but we went nowhere. The clumps of grass flying past my window were a clear indication we’d just made things much worse.

  Everything that happened next seemed to do so in flashes.

  The rear passenger door on the left hand side was wrenched open and a man wearing a ski mask filled the doorway.

  Marcy’s terrified scream erupted through the cabin, ending in a yelp as his fist smashed into her face.

  “Stop!” I yelled at him, already climbing over the middle console.

  The man didn’t say a word. He simply grabbed hold of her hair and dragged her from the truck, effortlessly undoing the seatbelt when it snagged.

  None of us could move fast enough to help her. Camilla’s arms grabbed for her, enclosing around empty space as she disappeared.

  Now in the backseat, I jumped into action without thinking through what I was doing.

  “One of you call the cops and keep them on the phone!”

  I practically dove out the open door, ignoring the yells of my friends to stay in the car.

  Why would I do that? Had they not just seen Marcy dragged out of it as if she were nothing more than a ragdoll?

  I landed in the bottom of the ditch, scrambling up the now muddy embankment as quick as I could.

  In the street, I caught one last glimpse of a limp Marcy before she was all but shoved into the back of one of the vans.

  My pulse raced in sync with the rapid beating of my heart.

  I didn’t know what to do.

  Three men in total, all wearing black ski masks, stood holding a conversation, speaking too low for me to understand.

  They didn’t seem too concerned that there were more women still in the truck, or that one of us could potentially get away.

  “Faith!” Lilly yelled, coming around the front of the Tahoe with Camilla right behind her.

  Why did they get out? Why did neither of them have a cellphone in their hands?

  Her shout drew the attention of the men directly to where I was standing.

  “Run!” I screamed, whirling around to face them. “Go!” I wildly gestured to the corn field on the other side of the ditch when they faltered, rushing towards it myself.

  I knew putting my back to a trio of thugs wasn’t the smartest move, but if Lilly and Camilla could at least get away, it didn’t matter.

  Every muscle in my body turned to iron when I felt the presence of someone running up behind me.

  My feet skidded across the ground as an arm came across my chest and hauled me backward.

  I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping someone around would hear and get help. I blindly threw an elbow, successfully nailing the guy in the side of his face. I tossed my head back next.

  “Fuck,” the man grunted as I made impact with what felt like his nose.

  A gloved hand muffled the scream pouring from my throat. Keeping that same hand cupped over my mouth, the man began to apply a painful amount of pressure to hold me still while he dug in his pocket.

  My upper teeth felt as if they would snap backward at any second.

  I continued to struggle, even after feeling a sharp prick in the side of my neck.

  Within a matter of seconds, my body felt as if all its weight was being pulled downward, my legs gave out completely.

  I should have never discredited my gut instinct. I’d known something was wrong, and I’d foolishly ignored it.

  In the midst of my hearing distorting, I heard Camilla screaming my name.

  The last thing I saw before my vision blurred was Lilly dragging her into the corn field.

  A thick fog ascended on my brain, enshrouding me in darkness.

  CHAPTER THREE

  FAITH

  I woke with a weighted feeling in my chest and an overly dry throat.

  Soft whimpers and quiet sniffles reached my ears, all sounding as if they were just a few feet away.

  Momentarily confused, it took a minute for the memory of what had occurred to come roaring back to the forefront of my mind.

  My lids fluttered once, twice, before remaining closed.

  “Is she awake?” Lilly’s low voice broke through the fog surrounding my brain.

  “I don’t know. Faith?” Camilla whispered, gently shaking my arm.

  There was a tightening in my chest upon discovering neither of them had gotten away.

  Now I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to wake up. If all four of us had been taken, who was going to get help?

  The answer came to me as swiftly as logic did. I couldn’t just lie there like a bump on a log and wait to see what happened.

  “I’m okay,” I attempted to say. My mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

  Fighting my way back to full consciousness, I forced my eyes open and blinked a few times to clear the haze away. The first thing I saw in my line of sight was a massive chandelier hanging from an arched ceiling.

  “Hey, you okay?” Camilla asked. She scooted forward on her knees and helped me into a sitting position.

  I swallowed a few times and licked my lips to get some saliva circulating.

  “I think…so…” I trailed off when I felt more than a little of her skin against mine. I glimpsed down and got a full view of her large tits and lacy red bra.

  “They took our clothes,” Lilly explained somberly from where she had her back resting against the wall.

  Looking down at myself, I belatedly realized that just like them someone had indeed removed all of my clothing, leaving me in my cotton bra and a pair of boy shorts.

  “They haven’t touched any of us,” Camilla quickly reassured.

  That didn’t make me feel any better. Our clothes being removed without consent was still a major violation.

  Being kidnapped was a major fucking violation.

  I did a quick body check just to be sure nothing had happened when I was unconscious, expelling a breath of relief when I found everything felt normal.

  They’d even left my prayer bracelet alone.

  I wrapped my arms around my knees and shivered from the chilled air coming from someplace above.

  Goosebumps dotted my exposed flesh but voicing such a complaint seemed meaningless when being cold and half-naked was the very least of my problems.

  “You’re the last one to wake up,” Marcy croaked.

 

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