Page 65 of New Year

Nat looked around again. They were on a paved road heading up, into the forest, but the road didn’t have painted lines or a shoulder. And he also realized they were in Chase’s car, not Austin’s. Nat had hidden a Taser under the driver’s seat, and had put pepper spray in the glove box. If he could get to the pepper spray when they stopped?—

“I see you thinking,” Austin said. “I found the pepper spray.”

Nat didn’t have to hide his disappointment, and he wasn’t dumb enough to ask if Austin had also found the Taser. Then his brain really kicked in. “What did you do to Chase? Did you hurt him?”

“Now, why would I hurt Mr. Sampson? Because he helped harbor you from me for months? Do you think I’d hit a cripple?”

He hated that word. “Yes, I do. Did you?”

“Why ruin the surprise?” Austin glanced over his shoulder.

Alarmed, Nat tried to twist and look behind him, but he only caught a sliver of the rear driver’s side seat. “Chase!? Fuck, did you put him in the trunk?”

“Oh, relax, I didn’t bring him with me. He’s dead weight, and besides, we need to be alone for our final date. As much as I adore fucking you in front of other people, I’m making a very special goodbye video. One just for me, and no one else.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, Austin is taking me somewhere to rape and kill me.

Panic clawed at the back of Nat’s mind, but he fought to stay focused. If he gave in to despair and his old habit of fawning, of just doing what Austin wanted, he was going to die a painful death. He had to think, damn it! “Our movies were always spicier when we did them for a paying audience.”

“True, but I’ve been planning this for weeks. Tailing you around town. Tailing you and Chase. Tailing Zack Matteson back and forth to River Bistro.”

Nat bit back an agonized moan.

“I’m not a fucking idiot, Natty Boy. After you vomited all over me at Shindig, I found a spot to clean up, and then I waited. I saw you leave with them. Saw Matteson go get his car. Took a picture of that car and his license plate. Did you know I even had lunch at River Bistro today? I honestly expected Matteson to recognize me and kick my ass to the street, but the moron didn’t know.”

Austin navigated a sharp incline, then reached out and squeezed his sore thigh a little too close to Nat’s crotch. “I’m hurt that you didn’t tell your new boyfriend more about me. You both underestimated me, and now your idiot boyfriend will be waiting for a review that’s never going to get posted, while I’m busy playing with you.”

That didn’t make any sense. He’d shown Zack pictures of Austin and played a clip of Austin’s voice. Zack was smart enough to know who Austin was immediately, but he’d let Austin eat without fuss. Why?

So Austin thinks he has the upper hand. Because Zack knows Austin would have pitched a public and online fit. And now Austin is underestimating Zack.

Not that it would matter if Nat was dead before Zack came home and realized he was missing—and whatever happened to Chase. That tore at his heart, not knowing if Chase was alive or dead, hurt or just tied up and abandoned.

“You weren’t worth talking to Zack about,” Nat retorted. Partly true. Austin was toxic garbage. But Zack had listened to all of Nat’s stories. He knew what a monster Austin was.

The car passed over a narrow wooden bridge that seemed familiar. He studied the trees, trying to get a sense of their elevation. Damn it. Their picnic spot by Sparrow Creek. It wasn’t a tourist spot, not on any of the major maps. Only locals knew to stop there. It was remote as fuck.

Nat shivered. “Are we going to our spot?”

“Yup. What better place? And we’ll be there soon, so I need to get you ready, on the tiny chance someone is there when we arrive.”

“What?”

Austin pulled slightly off to the side and shifted into park. He grabbed a roll of duct tape off his own floorboard and ripped off a strip. Nat tried to protest it being pressed over his mouth. He struggled uselessly when Austin leaned across him, pulled the lever, and pushed Nat’s seat down until he was nearly horizontal. Nat stared at the ceiling of the car, and his bladder almost let go when a black handgun appeared in his line of sight.

“Don’t move, don’t make a peep, because I have this? Okay?”

Nat whined and nodded. Real, terrified tears stung his eyes, but crying with the tape over his mouth was a bad idea. He’d already been suffocated once today.

All he could do was stay calm and present while Austin kept driving.

* * *

Zack was going over numbers during the mid-afternoon lull, and wondering what was being whipped up today for family meal, when Chase called his cell. “Hey, what’s?—”

“Nat’s missing.”

No two more devastating words had ever landed in Zack’s lap. “What do you mean missing? Where are you?”

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