Page 29 of Roughstock
The man, for the first time, grumbled something over the driver’s shoulder, and the driver nodded before slowing down. A minute later, he turned into a driveway, and I saw a garagedoor rising as the van pulled inside. The sound of the door closing behind us was ominous, and when we were inside, the driver turned off the van and turned around to face us.
“We’re gonna take you inside, and you’re not gonna give us any trouble,” he instructed. “If you do, I promise you’ll regret it. Are we clear?”
The girl’s eyes caught mine, and I nodded to the driver. She followed my movements, and he made a sound that said he didn’t believe us. He opened the driver’s door and got out, leaving us in the back of the dark van. The man with the gun didn’t make a move until the driver slid the back door open. Then he moved past the girl, making sure to keep his face concealed as the driver glowered at us.
“Let’s go,” the driver instructed as the man with the hoodie walked inside the house.
The girl was still tied up, and I looked at the man and asked, “Can I take the ties off her ankles?”
He rolled his eyes and motioned for her to come forward. She slid her feet out, and he used a scary-looking knife to slice through the binds securing her. I didn’t know what made him do the next thing, but she appeared grateful as he said, “Hands,” and cut those binds as well.
She flexed her wrists before pushing closer to the open door and getting out. I moved behind her, and when I was out, he closed the door and motioned for us to follow him. When we stepped into the house, I nearly threw up from the stench. It was a combination of garbage, feces and urine, rotten food, dirty animals, and vermin. There was so much trash on the floor, I struggled to not fall as Itried to walk.
“I don’t have all day,” the driver said as I swung my eyes around the room, looking for the man with the gun.
I didn’t see him, but I did see a few things that could be used as weapons if the chance presented itself. There were knives mixed in with some garbage and dirty dishes on the counter, and mixed with the crap on the floor, I saw a baseball bat, a broken golf club, and what looked like a broom handle.
The driver looked over his shoulder when he reached a closed door, and his mask-covered face seemed bored as he opened the door and gave the girl a shove inside. I followed without needing the push, and when we were both in the room, he simply said, “Stay here and don’t be stupid. I promise, you won’t like the consequences.”
With that, he pulled the door closed and the sound of a lock securing us inside echoed into the room. It was the only space that wasn’t disgusting. The single bed looked clean from the streetlight filtering though the cracked window. The girl had her arms wrapped around her body as I carefully walked up to her.
Lowering my voice to barely a whisper, I spoke to her. “My name’s Cheyenne. What’s yours?”
She stuttered and her voice was a little loud, so I motioned my hand downward, and she lowered her tone as she replied, “I’m Liz.” She looked around then asked, “Do you know what’s going on? Who took us? What do they want?”
I pulled her into a hug as a fresh round of tears streamed down her face. Carefully, not wanting to scare her any more than she already was, I whispered softly, “I don’t know, but I’m not going to let anything happen to either of us.”
“How do we get out of here?” she asked. I stepped back from her and nodded toward the window.
Taking her hand into mine, I walked over to the window to see where we were and whether I could get us out of here. The houses were run down to the point of needing to be condemned, but I could see people moving around the one in front of us. It could be a way out, but I didn’t know if those people would help or turn us in.
“Stay here,” I ordered, and she tried to grab onto me but I whispered, “It’s okay.”
Walking to the door, I carefully placed my ear to it and could hear the two men in the living room. They weren’t even trying to conceal their voices as I listened.
“He said we can’t touch either of them until he gets here in the morning,” said who I believed was the driver. “He said he had to make a good attempt to help look for the one before he could get away.”
The other man finally spoke. “That motherfucker’s not the boss of me. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want to with them. And why help look for her if the operation is moving to North Dakota to make the transport easier?”
“Stop asking so many fucking questions. Jesus, don’t be stupid,” the first man said. “All we have to do is sit on them tonight and we’ll get paid in the morning when he takes them off our hands. You know Blindspot’s good for the money, so stop bitching.”
“This is bullshit,” the other voice said, but the rest of his words faded as they either walked out of the room or outside.
Moving back to the girl, I whispered, “We need to get out of here, Liz.” A noise from outside drew us to the window,where we saw two men walk down the driveway and across the street to the other people. This may have been the only chance we’d get, so I looked at her and quickly explained, “They’re waiting on someone to take us from here, so we need to get as far away from them as we can.” She nodded, and I continued, “We need to get out of this room and find something we can use as a weapon.”
Her eyes grew wide as she shook her head, and I gripped onto her upper arms. As firm as I could be with her, I said, “Either you get a weapon and help save your life or they will kill us.”
I didn’t know if it was true, but it seemed like a logical assumption. She began to cry harder, and I shook her slightly. “Liz, I need you to channel your inner warrior so we can get the fuck out of here.”
Liz closed her eyes for a brief moment, and when she looked back at me, I could see the steel resolve in her gaze. “Let’s go,” I remarked, and she nodded before following me to the door.
I tried to pull on the handle, but it was locked, so I began to look around the room for anything we could use to pry at the door hinges. There wasn’t anything but the bed, and when I walked back to Liz, I sighed. “We need something to pry the pins out of the hinges.”
She looked around then reached down to unhook her belt before pulling it from her jeans. “Will this work?”
She held up the square piece of flat metal that held the belt together, and I smiled at her before taking it to the door. It took a few tries to get it shoved under the edge of the pin, but onceI was able to get it moved a little, I forced the first pin up and out.
Laughter from outside drew my attention, and I looked at Liz and whispered, “Go see what’s going on out there, but don’t let them see you.”
