Gem Stone (13 page)

"Hey, look at that. Her eyes are saying the same damn thing her boyfriend's did." The porkier of the two men grinned down at her.

Boyfriend.
Her fears deepened. If they'd caught Mark or Reid, then where were they?

"I wouldn't be laughing about it right now. You let that bastard get away. There's going to be hell to pay for that."

"Hey, I didn't do nuttin' you didn't do. You're not blaming this screw up on me."

"The boss is going to blame someone. You've already got one black mark against you, so it's likely to be you."

Gem couldn't believe what they were arguing about. She didn't know what the hell these two men were up to, but she knew the men were liabilities to whoever was behind this mess.

What dimwits.
Not for the first time, she felt her juvie years had prepared her better than most other people for real life. Like these two idiots really should have done Reality Check 101.

She tried to stare out the van's windows. The skyline offered nothing but the occasional streetlight. No highway signs, no identifiable apartment buildings. Nothing helpful. She closed her eyes.

Think, damn it. Think.
What would Mark have done? Gotten away just like he had done.

She was the only that hadn't escaped, damn it. Great. It could take awhile to live that down. She hated to think of herself as a victim that needed to be rescued.
Shudder.

As she lay there with her eyes closed, she tested the ropes around her wrists. Tied tight, but not excruciatingly so. A little leeway and she could slip her hands free. Of course, her hands were also behind her back. Five minutes without these two guards and she might be able to change that. If she could get her hands in front, she could use her teeth and really work on the knots.

Not that she'd be able to run far. Her ankles had some kind of bungee strap twisted around them. Burned like shit. She could only separate her feet by less than an inch before they snapped back together again. Not being able to see the closure, she had no idea how to get it off.

First things first.

"Is there any water?"

"Nope. No food either. You'll have to do without."

The shorter of the two men, sweat still drying on his forehead, twisted in the front seat to look at her.

"Don't worry sweetheart. You won't have to suffer long."

Both men laughed.

"Good then I can pee in the van then, right? You guys can clean it up."

The van screeched to a halt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Humpty snapped.

Dumpty glared at him. "I'm stopping. Do you have any idea what piss smells like after it has sat for a day or two. In this heat?"

"Hell no. I don't plan on it, either. She's faking it."

Shaking his head, the driver said. "I don't trust her. That's carpet back there."

"Oh for the love of…" The two men peered out at the streets around them. "We can't just expect her to take a leak on the side of the street. Not tied up like that. Someone is sure to notice something."

"Ya think?" Humpty, spat out the window. "So where's the closest gas station? We'll take her there."

Dumpty, brightened and pulled the vehicle back out into traffic. Gem's mind raced. She had one chance at freedom here. What the hell could she do? The vehicle made a couple more turns and twists around corners before coming to a stop.

Through the window Gem could see a large sign for Shell gas.
Where were the Shell stations?
She knew there was one on the corner of Picard and 1st Avenue.
Was there a second?

She hoped not. And if she knew her general whereabouts, escaping became that much more feasible. The restraints were still an issue though.

Humpty hopped out of the vehicle then turned back to speak with Dumpty. "Back up to the washroom so we can open the side door and let her out without being seen."

"Will do. What are you doing?"

"Going to get the key."

"Right." Dumpty waited until the door shut and then backed the van up in front of the washroom door. Gem rolled around in the back, her stomach knotting.
Now or never.

"No tricks out of you, young lady. We won't take it kindly if you try any funny stuff."

Gem widened her eyes in her first attempt ever to present an innocent look. This was so not her, but Misty managed to get away with murder using that look.

"Just so you understand."

The side door slid open. Humpty held up a key with a large piece of plastic that had 'washroom' handwritten across it.

Humpty came over and swung Gem's feet around so she could sit on the floor of the van and look out. Dumpty hopped out from the driver's side and raced around to snag Gem's arm before hauling her to her feet.

"Be a good girl now." He tugged her forward, while she glared at him. Gem deliberately allowed her body weight to sag sideways.

Humpty jumped forward to grab her around the waist so she didn't hit the cement. "Hey. Stop that."

"Stop what?" Gem snorted in disgust. "I can't walk and he's pulling me forward. Of course, I'm going to lose my balance. What did you expect?"

"I expect you to be cooperative and hop three hops to the door so you can go to the bathroom. However, if you aren't going to be, you can piss your pants where you stand and we'll just strip the wet clothes off you before throwing you back in."

He leered at her as if contemplating her half nude. Gem's stomach churned and she straightened immediately. "If you help me to the door, I'm sure I can manage from there."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Both men grabbed her by the elbows and lifted her to the door. Humpty used the key and unlocked it. They shoved her forward, almost carrying her to keep her upright. Then he turned on the light and shut and locked the door behind her.

"Thank God for that," she whispered to the empty room. Glancing around quickly, she realized there was nothing she could use as a weapon. Also there was no window in the small room.
Now what?
She fell the rest of the way to the ground and twisted so she was sitting with her feet in front of her and her hands behind. With a short shuffling movement she brought her hands under her bum until she pulled them forward toward her feet. Within minutes she had her hands resting in front of her. She immediately gnawed on the ropes. With all the movement, the knots had loosened. The rope dropped off almost instantly.

Bending her knees, she reached for the weird bindings on her ankles. They were only clipped together. Nice. She stood up and rotated her shoulders as she surveyed the small cubicle. She did have to go to the bathroom so she took care of that first. As she washed her hands she knew time was running out – she still didn't have a plan.

Grabbing her restraints, Gemma tucked the rope into her back pocket and snagged the bungee thing. She didn't know what to do with it, but it had possibilities.

One of them pounded on the door. Hard.

"Come on, already. You can't get out and you can't postpone the inevitable forever."

About the only thing she could do once the door opened was to make as much of a kerfuffle as she could. And as loudly as she could.

Gathering her courage she pounded on the door with her knee, pretending her restraints were still in place. The door pushed open with Humpty grinned at her. "There. Now that's more like it."

Her nerves clenched as she grasped a plan of action.

"Let's get a move on." He reached over and grabbed her arm, tugging it forward.

Gem tried to not let him see that she was free, but there was no way to hide her feet. She hobbled forward in her best imitation. She made it a couple of steps outside as several vehicles drove into the station. Her instincts screamed at her to run. But she didn't know where Dumpty was. The van honked.

"Come on let's go!" Dumpty yelled.

One more hobble, then a side jump out of Humpty's grasp. She opened her mouth and screamed the loudest, craziest, panicked scream she could.

And she didn't have to pretend. She
was
terrified.

Gem bolted into the middle of street.

***

Mark groaned as he struggled upright yet again. Damn it. The sunlight had slipped behind the trees and just putting one foot in front of the other was a major chore. He was tired and sore…but worse than that – he was lost.

Somehow, he'd ended up losing all signs of civilization, and even worse, any sign of the creek. If he'd kept the creek in sight, he could at least have followed it back to the main road. When he bolted initially, he'd actually thought he'd turned in the right direction to circle around and head home, but somehow it hadn't worked out that way.

Now he needed water, food – and better yet – a way to get the damn handcuffs off. Such was his life. Groaning, he plunked his butt down on a fallen tree and leaned his head back for a moment. The only good thing about being lost was that the assholes weren't likely to find him here either.

Surely, there had to be people somewhere close by. He listened carefully.

He struggled to his feet and pushed forward through the brush. He tried to visualize the area, but the town was small and the woods surrounding it went on for miles. If he wasn't careful, he could be lost for days. He wished he had a working cell phone. His had suffered from his impromptu swim. Hell, he'd even be happy to call the police again, at this point.

Surely with all the damn trucks people drove in this town, some of them went out 4x4ing out here? With his luck they went every day except today.

He paused his headlong rush through the trees.
Had he heard a dog?
Was someone out searching for him? He dismissed that hope immediately. Anyone looking for him wasn't likely to be someone he wanted to see.

Pushing the brush out of his way, he kept going. If luck were with him, maybe he'd find some people to help him before night fell. Even a nice warm barn would feel good right about now. At least a place to hole up for a bit. To rethink and regroup.

Of something.

Anything.

G
em ran for her life.

Around the corner, she raced toward the gas pumps and vehicles. Anywhere with people. One car had parked on the far side of the first pump and a young woman was filling the tank. No other cars were parked out front. Gem screamed louder and raced out onto the street, running for her life.

Brakes screeched to a halt. Some swerved around her as people tried to avoid crashing into her.

Other cars, that hadn't seen her yet, still raced toward her.

She couldn't stop screaming. Her faith in society hadn't lent much trust that someone would be there to help her, but she had to admit, today, there didn't appear to be a shortage of people wanting to save her.

One woman grabbed her arm. "Take it easy, slow down. You're safe."

Gem trembled and gasped for air. People surrounded her, crowded her. She closed her eyes and swayed unsteadily.

"Give her room. Back up everyone. She looks about ready to collapse."

"Is she hurt?"

"Look her wrists are chaffed. Was she tied up?"

"Yes," Gem whispered.

"Yes? Yes what?"

"Tied up." She twisted, panicked that the men might have followed her. "Where are they?" She hated that her legs were rubbery like warmed up marshmallows. "Are they behind me?"

"Where are who?"

Gem still didn't know who spoke, it seemed like everyone was trying to talk to her at the same time. The noise was deafening. She mumbled but wasn't sure anyone was listening, "At the gas station. I persuaded them to let me go to the bathroom. On the way out, I bolted."

"Smart."

"Good thinking. Who was it?" A creaky voice behind her spoke up.

"That's not good. Where are they now? We need to make sure these guys are caught. The next girl might not be able to escape." This man sounded concerned.

She couldn't sort out speakers to attach to words but she had no trouble understanding the admiration in their words or tone. She straightened, and lifted her face to the many curious onlookers.
Weird.
Admiration is not something she'd thought to hear from others. Besides, she'd messed up royally today.

Without any explanation, she found herself led to a park bench and pressed gently to sit down. A blanket was wrapped around her shoulders while she stared at the faces crowding her. She tried to focus on her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar. How far had she run?

Shakes set in, so strong she couldn't think anymore.