Page 35 of Grey
“A gas leak? We don’t smell gas,” Mrs. Fielder said.
“It’s not always something that can be detected by smell, that’s why we use equipment,” the tall man said. “There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Just evacuate and we’ll clear the building and be on our way if nothing is wrong.”
Tatum’s instincts were screaming at her that therewassomething wrong with the two men. Immediately, she thought about Grey and the other herd that was causing problems for them. Would they target her? And to what end?
“You know, I thought the fire department handled this kind of thing. Have they been alerted?” Tatum asked, trying to give herself time to think. Her phone was in her purse, which was in the break room.
“We’re handling things, if you’ll just evacuate,” the taller man said, starting to get annoyed.
“Let’s just head outside, dear,” Mrs. Fielder said. “They’ve got ID badges and we wouldn’t want to hold things up if there is a leak.”
The shorter man took a step toward Tatum and she stepped backward. “I’m going to grab my purse, it will just take a moment.”
Before she could take another step, the shorter man lunged at her, grabbing the front of her blouse and jerking her toward him. He dropped the tool bag as the taller man pulled something from the clipboard and held it up. It looked like a dirty rag.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Mrs. Fielder demanded.
Tatum struggled in the shorter man’s hold, kicking and scratching, as the taller man slapped the cloth over her mouth and nose, manhandling her along with the shorter man.
The rag was wet and it had a weird chemical smell. Tatum tried to hold her breath as she fought to get out of their hold, but no matter how she moved or tried to get out of their grips, she couldn’t get herself free.
Mrs. Fielder shouted for them to stop, and Tatum saw her reach for the phone on the desk, but the short man let go of Tatum and rushed to the desk, slapping Mrs. Fielder across the face and jerking the phone from the desk. The taller man’s hold on Tatum increased and her lungs burned as the need to breathe overrode her desire to not get drugged by whatever was on the rag.
A great gulp of air later, and the thick, chemical smell saturated her senses, making her eyes water, her nose burn, and her throat constrict.
The world went sideways and Tatum’s vision darkened as she was half-carried and half-dragged to the door. The blast of heat against her skin and the bright sunshine told her she was outside, but her senses were dwindling fast, overcome by the rising darkness.
Her last thought was of Grey, and her hope that he’d figure out she’d been taken and get her back. She didn’t want to be used as a pawn, she didn’t want him to get hurt.
Hell,shedidn’t want to be hurt.
There was an echo of a door shutting and an engine revving, and then there was nothing.
Grey and Ford headed into town that afternoon for a supply run. He’d had lunch with Tatum at the library, stealing a few dozen kisses in between talking about the first half of their days, and then he’d grabbed Ford for errands. The conversation turned to Colton and his herd, and the driving need Grey had to keep Tatum safe.
“I wish that fucker would stay the hell away from us and find somewhere to set up his herd,” Ford said.
“Yeah, but he’d clearly rather just take over after someone else has put in the hard work. It’s so damn insulting,” Grey said.
They stopped at the farm supply store and Grey chatted up the owner for a bit while Ford got what he needed, and then they were back in the truck on the way home.
He had a passing feeling, a fleeting moment of being unsettled.
He couldn’t place the feeling, and he certainly didn’t feel anything except excited to see Tatum at the end of the day.
But there it was again, a weird feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Grey had always trusted his instincts, and maybe since he and Tatum had gotten closer he was more in tune with hissurroundings than he’d ever been before. Mainly because he was worried about her safety and her happiness.
“You okay?” Ford asked as Grey pulled into the farm’s gravel driveway.
Grey nodded, but he couldn’t shake the feeling. “Yeah, I just feel like something is off. I don’t know what it could be, though.”
“Just missing Tatum?”
He parked near the storage barn and got out, looking around for anything out of place. It was quiet, nothing that shouldn’t be there.
Had Tatum called?
