Page 114 of Never Fall Again

Landry stared into the still-open refrigerator. “Regardless of anything else, we need to take our antibiotics.” She found her purse lying on the floor near the door. She dug through it, and her fingers wrapped around a pill bottle. She pulled it out, stared at the label, and an idea hit her.

It might not work.

Or it might work too well.

But she had to try. She poured the pills out of the bottle and put them in her pocket. Then she dug around some more until she found her antibiotic.

Ignacio bolted through the bathroom door and barreled to them, a huge grin on his face. “Fastest shower ever, huh? I couldn’t wait to be back with you. I’m so glad you’re here. What’s for dinner?”

She hadn’t had time to warn Eliza about her plan. Hopefully she’d go with it. “Eliza and I are both on antibiotics. The doctortold me we need to consume yogurt. You know, to help keep the good bacteria in our gut.”

Ignacio nodded. “Makes sense.”

“So I need to make us some smoothies first thing. Then I’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Awesome.” Ignacio pulled a massive blender from a cabinet. “Will this help?”

He’d stocked the kitchen. “That will be great. Thank you.”

“Okay. I’m going to watch a little TV.” He grabbed her and pulled her into a bear hug. “Isn’t this amazing? Our new life together. So good.”

He released her and walked into the den. “Eliza! What do you want to watch?”

Eliza looked at Landry, terror in her eyes. Landry called out. “I need her to stay with me so I can give her the antibiotic. We’ll join you in a few minutes.”

“Sounds good, darling.”

Landry couldn’t figure Ignacio out. On the one hand, he acted like he had no idea that she was not okay with this. On the other hand, he was giving her some space—but not much. That really had been the fastest shower in the history of showers. And now the open layout of the home meant that even though he was in the other room, he could still see them. Was he waiting for her to react? To throw a fit? To run?

It didn’t matter. She had to do whatever she could to get them out of here. She had no idea where they were. No way to call for help. And no way to know if anyone was coming.

Eliza wrapped her arms around Landry’s waist. “Mommy?” The question was quiet, the fear unmistakable.

Landry found the Greek yogurt, fruit, and a few other items in the fridge and poured them into the blender with some ice.

Before she turned it on, she took a dishcloth, laid it on the counter,and set the six pain pills she’d found earlier on it. Then she covered them with another layer of the dishcloth and turned on the blender. As soon as the blender hit peak volume, she smacked them three times with a meat mallet she’d located in a silverware drawer.

She lifted the cloth. The pills were now in small pieces. Hopefully small enough that even if they weren’t completely crushed by the blender, it wouldn’t be obvious what they were. She poured out small cups—one for her, one for Eliza—and then dumped the pills in.

She pulsed the blender a few more times.

Lord, please, please, please let this work.

She poured the doctored smoothie into a glass. “We’re coming!” she called out in her cheeriest voice.

Eliza followed her into the living room. Landry settled her into the corner of a sofa, as far away from Ignacio as she could get, and then took the glass to Ignacio. “Join us, won’t you? We’ll have a smoothie toast to our new life.”

“Sounds great!” Ignacio took the glass and raised it, then Landry clinked hers with his. They all drank their smoothies. Landry watched, and when Ignacio got to the end of his glass, she hopped up from where she’d gone to sit by Eliza. “Let me take that for you.”

She took it, walked to the kitchen, and rinsed it out. She didn’t see any obvious signs of the pills she’d put in there. Hopefully that meant they were now swimming through his digestive tract on their way to dampen his nervous system and ultimately put him into a sleep deep enough for them to escape.

They watched TV—some show about special effects in movies—for fifteen minutes. Landry watched Ignacio, looking for any sign of fatigue. She’d almost given up when he lowered the leg rest of the recliner, stood, and then stumbled toward the spot where she and Eliza sat on the couch. He knelt beside her, one hand on her knee.

“I realize this has all been a bit of a shock to you.”

A bit? Because being kidnapped in broad daylight by a manwearing a mask of your boyfriend’s face and driving your boyfriend’s truck was so close to a normal day that it was hardly worth mentioning? Landry did her best to remain calm. “I have to admit, I was unaware of your feelings for me.”

“Oh, my love. You’ve had my heart from the first day. I knew. I flew home and immediately started making plans for our home and our life together.”

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