Fake Boyfriend - Miley Maine Page 0,54
my head. I was in some kind of shed or barn type building. It was pretty big, and had high windows. It smelled more like motor oil and gasoline than hay, like maybe cars or motorcycles had been stored there instead of it being used for living animals.
I’d been tied to a chair, at my wrists and ankles with rope.
Damn, Jackson had gone over this with me… what to do if you’re tied up with a rope. I just had to get my head to quit pounding long enough to remember what I was supposed to do.
While I was twisting my wrists, and wracking my brain to try and remember what I was supposed to do, a man came stomping into the room, followed closely by another man.
I couldn’t remember ever seeing either of them before. Neither of them introduced themselves. “Who’s the guy you were with all night?” one of them asked.
They hadn’t done their homework? It wouldn’t take a genius to find out who Jackson was. Hell, I was hardly a super sleuth and I’d noticed that he was a soldier just from looking at his ID in the security line at the airport.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he’s been sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. We just wanna make sure he’s not gonna create any problems for you that we won’t be able to fix.”
Oh no. What had Jackson done? Whatever was going on, I was sure it had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with my family. I did not want to drag him into any of our mess. I knew he’d jump in headfirst, and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.
Especially because we’d parted ways so badly. I couldn't believe I’d threatened to have security drag him away from the wedding. I’d sounded like my cousin Marie at that moment.
“Answer us, girl. Is he your new bodyguard?”
“No. He’s not. I don’t have a bodyguard,” I said.
They roared with laughter. “We heard that little song and dance about him being in the Army. But we didn’t think it was true, based on us being able to sneak up and get you.”
The other man actually slapped his knee. “Yeah. When we needed to grab you, he was nowhere to be found.”
“He’s really a construction worker,” I said, hoping desperately I could keep Jackson off their radar. It was bad enough that I’d kicked him out of the wedding.
“That sounds more like it,” one of them said.
“How did I get here?” I asked. The last thing I remembered was looking for Douglas, but not being able to find him. I’d found the groomsmen, and moved on to get a few shots of them with Marie.
“You were looking down at that camera. Must be pretty expensive huh? We’ll be taking it too.”
“Did you drug me?” I asked.
The first guy nodded. “We shot you with a dart. The drugs will wear off within twelve hours or so.”
If they were talking about the drugs wearing off, then maybe they weren’t planning to kill me. So that was a good sign. “What do you want from me?”
“Money.”
“I can do that,” I said. Money was one thing that I did have. And lots of it.
“We figured you could.”
“Can you tell me who needs the money, and what it’s for?”
“Nope.” He looked at his phone. “But we are going to talk to the boss. Our job was to get you here. Now we need to see how he wants to do this.” One of them pointed at me. “You sit tight.”
I didn’t think I’d be doing anything but sitting. At least until I could remember how to get out of my ties. I let my head fall back. So far, the haziness of the drugs had kept any real panic away, but I was sure the panic would crash down on me soon enough.
I took long, deep breaths, hoping the oxygen would improve brain function and I could get the hell out of here.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jackson
Fucking hell. I ought to have my Ranger certification pulled. I’d trained many new recruits over the years, and if one of them ended up kidnapped and tied up after already being on high alert about a situation, then I’d slap him right up side the head.
Not really, but I’d probably recommend that he not be deployed.
I’d really fucked up by letting my guard down. I just had to hope that they hadn’t gotten to Loren yet. If I worked fast, I might be