Page 2 of Twisted Empire

“Keepquiet,” Logan’s mom snapped. “I’m doing what I need to do to keep my son safe. If he matters at all to you, you’ll accept it.”

How the hell did kidnapping me keep Logan safe? My mind whirled with confusion, but before I could open my mouth again, the muzzle of the gun tapped my temple.

“Enough,” she repeated with a hard edge in her voice, as if she’d predicted what I was thinking.

It wasn’t as if she was telling me anything useful anyway. I pressed my lips flat and tried to track the turns and stops of the SUV as it rumbled onward. But at this point, I didn’t even know if we were heading into the city or farther away from it.

There was a long, unbroken stretch while the engine roared, and I suspected we’d gotten on a highway. Apprehension prickled over my skin.

Just how far were we going? Where was she taking me?

And what was she going to do with me there?

I didn’t like how much time seemed to pass before the car finally came to a full halt, followed by the click of the parking brake. Logan’s mom shifted on the seat next to me with a rustle of her clothes. The door at my other side opened, presumably at the driver’s hand, and she prodded me to go out ahead of her.

My feet thudded onto a concrete surface. The air was still and slightly damp around me, and the clang of the closing door echoed off a low ceiling. An underground parking garage?

That didn’t really narrow my location down.

“Come along,” Logan’s mom said, grasping my arm with her prosthetic hand. I let her guide me, adrift in the darkness behind the blindfold.

Hinges squeaked. We stepped onto a carpeted surface and paused there. Then there was a whir like an elevator door opening.

My suspicion was confirmed when the floor beneath our feet started to rise. My stomach flipped over with the rush of its ascent.

From the time it took even without any stops in between, we must have gone up several floors. The car glided to a stop, the door opened with a ping, and Logan’s mom hustled me out again.

I lost track of the space we moved through, past another door, around a corner, my foot bumping into the edge of a piece of furniture. I stumbled, and Logan’s mom yanked me upright.

“This way,” she snapped, and propelled me onward.

“If you’d let me take off the blindfold—”

“Forget about it.”

Another door opened, and she escorted me into a space that felt tighter than the others. Fabric rustled all around us. Logan’s mom yanked my arms behind my back.

My instinct was to shove away from her in self-defense, but I had no idea where the gun was now. I had no idea how many other armed people might be nearby. I wasn’t in a position to get the upper hand, so I forced myself to remain still while she wrapped what felt like a silk scarf around my wrists, binding them together behind me.

Then she set one hand on my shoulder and pressed down. I sank to my knees, and she backed away.

“I don’t want to be bothered by you, so if you scream, I’ll knock you out,” she said tightly. “Nobody else will hear you here, so it’s pointless to even try, but it will be an annoyance.”

Her footsteps tapped away, and a door smacked shut. Quiet settled around me.

I was alone.

After a minute of listening, confirming that Logan’s mom wasn’t immediately coming back, I scooted a little to one side and then another. Fabrics with different textures brushed my face and shoulders. My knee bumped into the pointed toe of a shoe. A picture started to form in my mind.

She’d locked me in a walk-in closet. It was probably about as effective as a prison could get in an ordinary apartment, all the clothing muffling sound from inside.

Had she been telling the truth about there being no one who’d hear me, or had she just been trying to take away my hope?

I needed a better idea of what I was dealing with. Experimenting too aggressively wouldn’t be worth it if I ended up unconscious as she’d threatened.

I squirmed around as quietly as I could until I found a bare patch of solid wall. Tipping toward it, I rested the side of my face against the plaster. Then I jerked my head downward.

Again. And again. And again.

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