Page 83 of Cognac Secrets
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Sandrine…
I threw up. I couldn’t stop it. It was violent and I did my best to not panic and to get it out from around the gag and to not choke on it or have it come out my nose. I saw stars, and the world felt like it was melting or sliding sideways or some shit and I knew that was bad. I knew that wasreallybad.
I’d had a bad concussion before, but neverthisbad, and I wasafraid.
I struggled against my bonds and tried to figure out what they were made of. They hadsomegive, but they were tiedtight. Like,reallytight. Still, anything that was fiber and not metal handcuffs or plastic zip ties, if you worked at it hard enough and long enough, they would loosen up and make escape possible. How did I know? Like most modern white women, I had a thing for true crime. True and I would watch all kinds of shows about some of the most heinous shit sometimes and pick out and up all kinds of little tips and tricks on hownotto be a victim.
Or… in this case… if youwerea victim – how to get away.
I mean, wasn’t that whyanybodywatched those shows?
I didn’t know how long I lay in the bed of my brother’s truck under the flapping canvas tarp, the wind cutting, and the humidity suffocating, but damn was I grateful for the shade and such even as I was bitter as hell at the thought,how many other people were on the road around us and they had no clue that I was back here?
Well, that was just something I would have to fix. Just as soon as I could get these ties or whatever around my hands to give. If I could use my hands, I would be inmuchbetter shape. If I could untie myself, I could flag someone down or make a scene. I could maybe wait and flag down or make a ruckus in front of a state trooper – a trucker who could radio – anybody with a fucking cell phone, becausewho didn’t have a cell phone!?
I was worried about so many things. Gideon and Jacob figuring out I was awake was one of them. Bystander syndrome and the general apathy of the American public nowadays being another. How far were we from the city? Had we crossed state lines yet? Did True do what I told her?Of course,she did what I told her. She’d grabbedmyphone, with Bennie’s number in it, that she knew how to open.
I was proud of myself for that one. For thinking to have her grab it when I knew I was too far from it, all the way across the kitchen like I was.
God, how nice would it have been to have it in the truck with me, that tracker app or whatever telling Bennieright where I was… I felt like such an idiot not keeping my phone on my person. I felt like a double damned idiot for answering the door without looking, and I felt like a thrice damned fool for letting my guard down at all.
False sense of security and all that, I guess.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda, bitch.I thought savagely to myself as I worked my hands back and forth and pulled at one wrist over the other, trying to wriggle free.You’re no damsel in distress, you’re a dragon in a dress. Now get out of this and breathe some fucking fire.
I pulled, my skin on fire, my hands tingling from how they’d gone to sleep and cold, likely from a lack of blood flow. Whatever they’d tied me up with was giving, giving, giving, but it felt like it was taking the skin from my hands right along with it!
I took shallow breaths trying not to think too hard about the pervasive smell of my own puke invading my nose and also trying really hard not to think about how I was covered in it as I worked at trying to free myself.
Whoop! Whoop!
I think my heart all but seized in my breast.
Wee-oow!
I nearlypissedmyself with relief!
The truck started to slow and drift to one side, changing lanes, and tears sprang to my eyes.
Holy shit,I thought to myself.Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit – could it be? A cop at the right fucking place at the right fucking time?
Okay, Sandy – stay cool. Stay cool, alright… you can’t go all gung-ho. If you tip the cop off that you’re here, Gideon can just gun it and take off and you don’t want that. You gotta be smart, girl. Smarter than the problem. Smarter than your dumbass neanderthal brothers. Breathe, you got this, you got this, bitch. Just breathe.
I edged my way to the back tailgate of the truck and tried not to make any noise or shift weight too hard or cause any kind of vibration to let the two dolts arguing in the cab know that I was moving.
They must not have had air conditioning in this thing, because I could hear Jacob trying to argue with Gideon in furtive whispers and Gideon harshly whispering back in what could only be a whispered shout tojust shut up and be cool!
I swallowed hard and stayed still. So incredibly still, and my heart cried out in gibbering relief when I heard the crunch of footsteps along the side of the truck as the cop walked up.
“Afternoon, gentleman – you know why I stopped you?”
I listened to the cop go back and forth with my brother who was as religiously obstinate and showing his usual disdain for anything other thanGod’s lawto the cop in question who was getting damned irritated with him.
“Well the great state of Louisiana and Mississippi doesn’t give a good God damn! Now you can wait right here and argue your point in front of a judge for all I care. You just got yourself a damn ticket!” he cried and I listened as he walked the length of the truck and the door open on his patrol care beyond.
“Yeah, dispatch. I’m gonna need you to run a plate and ID for me…” I heard and my heart thundered in my chest.
