Page 51 of She's Mine

I was lost in thought when I heard the door to the room creak open. I looked up to see Joseph standing in the doorway, a tray of food in his hands.

“I thought you might be hungry,” he said, setting the tray down across my lap.

He unbound my arms, but left my legs still shackled to the cot, so that I couldn’t escape.

I eyed the food warily, wondering if he had poisoned it or tampered with it in some way. But as I looked at him, I realized that he was watching me closely, waiting for my reaction.

I picked up a fork and tentatively took a bite of the food. It tasted bland and unappetizing, but at least it didn't seem to be poisoned.

As I ate, Joseph watched me, his eyes flickering with suspicion. I knew that I had to be careful, that I couldn't give away any indication that I was planning something.

After I finished eating, Joseph rebound my hands to the bed, and then took the tray and left the room, locking the door behind him. I was alone again, with nothing but my thoughts for company.

I lay there on the cot, uncomfortable, cold and scared, for who knew how long. I was trying to come up with a plan. But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't see a way out of this situation. I was trapped, and there was nothing I could do about it.

As the hours ticked by, my thoughts drifted to David. I wished I was in his arms right now. I wish I’d had a chance to tell him about the baby. Would he be happy? We hadn’t planned to start a family so soon. Hell, we hadn’t even discussed having children together, but something inside me told me David would be happy. I was certain he loved me, and he’d love our child, too.

But now, all of that seemed so far away. I didn't know if I would ever see him again, or if I would even survive this ordeal. The uncertainty was overwhelming, and I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes.

I tried to wipe away the tears as best I could, not wanting Joseph to see me cry. I had to be strong, I had to keep my wits about me. I couldn't let him see any weakness.

As the day wore on, I heard footsteps in the hallway outside. I tensed, wondering if Joseph was coming back, or if it was someone else.

The door opened, and I held my breath. But it wasn't Joseph who walked in. It was Tomas Hernández, the leader of the Bloodline.

I felt a surge of fear and anger as he looked at me with his cold, dark eyes. This was the man who had ordered the death of my family, the man who had turned my own brother against me.

“Miss Blythe,” he said, his voice smooth and controlled. “I understand that Joseph has informed you of our plans.”

I looked at him, my jaw clenched. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me scared.

“What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep calm.

“I want you to make your father stand down. I know he is working with Jeffrey Garcia and J&J Security to find the Bloodline. Well, they won’t succeed.”

As he spoke, Tomas Hernández withdrew a phone from his pants pocket, and I knew this might be my one and only chance to get in touch with David.

I had to get a message to him. At any cost.

23

DAVID

I’d spent the last few hours watching CCTV footage from around Blue Jay, following Joseph as he’d incapacitated Alyssa, and dragged her out of the cafe. I couldn’t believe no one had even batted an eye at a man leading a semi-conscious woman away to an unmarked car, but people had just gone about their daily business as though nothing out of the ordinary was going on around them.

From Blue Jay, Joseph had driven to Crestline and switched vehicles, and that’s where I’d lost his trail. I had no idea what car he’d taken to leave Crestline nor which direction he was heading.

With no other leads, I headed to Crestline to see if I could find any clues.

Ishouldhave gone back to the cabin and told Lawrence and Mavis what was going on. Ishouldhave called Jeffrey and told him Joseph had taken Alyssa. But like a fool, I hadn’t. I was worried that if the whole security company stormed in together, Joseph would hurt Alyssa. Alone, I’d have an easier time of sneaking in and rescuing her.

That was, if I could find out where Joseph had taken her.

I went toeveryused car dealership, asking if the car Joseph had been driving had been sold or traded in, but no one had seen a car matching its description. Nor had anyone seen two people matching Joseph and Alyssa’s descriptions.

That didn’t mean much though. If Joseph was involved with the Bloodline, they likely had a safehouse somewhere in the town, and that’s where he’d gone to change cars. I needed to findthatsafehouse.

The easiest way to do so would be through CCTV footage, but that meant convincing the Crestline police department to view public security footage from the town. And how was I meant to do that, without letting them know what was going on?

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