1
SAVANNAH
They tell me my name is Savannah Stone. Congratulations. Now, you know as much about me as I do.
As you’re about to see, I’m in big trouble.
It was a stupid mistake.
Situational awareness is key, but I was too preoccupied with all the recent drama swirling around in my brain. I should have paid more attention to the cargo van parked near the dock. There were a lot of things I should have paid attention to.
In my defense, I was having a bad day. Okay, a bad week. Well, let's be honest—a bad year. On top of that, I had a headache. I’d been getting them a lot lately. Anytime I… Well, I'll get into that later.
It wasn't one of those take-two-ibuprofen headaches either. More of anelephant-standing-on-my-headand anice-pick-through-my-skull-type headache. An incessant throbbing pain, heightened by every beat of my heart.
I strolled the dock, my head down, digging through my purse.
A Taser crackled my rib cage, sending 50,000 volts through my body.
Muscles contracted involuntarily.
My fingers curled, my back arched, and my knees gave way. I hit the dock, twitching and convulsing as the Taser discharged.
Masked thugs dressed in black grabbed me.
My wrists and ankles were zip-tied with law enforcement-style restraints. They threw a black bag over my head and dragged me into the white cargo van. The door slid shut, and tires squealed as the van rocketed away. The vehicle rolled from side to side as it weaved through the streets. The engine growled.
In the span of a few seconds, I'd been abducted.
My heart punched against my chest, and adrenaline coursed through my veins. A sour sensation twisted my belly, and my body vibrated with nervous energy. A thin mist of sweat coated my skin. The black bag over my face didn't do wonders for my ability to breathe.
Despite the natural fear response of my body, I was surprisingly calm. Disoriented, to say the least, but I did my best to make note of every twist and turn and keep a running count of the time I was in the vehicle.
"Do as you're told, and nobody gets hurt," a gruff voice said.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
My questions didn't merit a response.
This town had really gone to hell.
It all seemed pointless to me. It's not like anybody would pay the ransom.
Strange things had been happening recently. This was surprising and unexpected, but with the way my life had been going, it was just another crazy event. A new normal. Then again, I didn’t really know what normal was.
I wasn't in the van long. Maybe five or six minutes until we reached our destination. I could see hazy shapes through the fabric of the black bag, but nothing with any detail.
The door slid open, and the two thugs grabbed either arm and dragged me out. One of them scooped me up and carried me up a short flight of concrete steps. The faint traces of his cologne wafted. He didn’t smell bad.
A door opened, and I was brought inside.
I didn’t resist or struggle. There was no point. I needed to conserve my energy and pick my moment.
The goon set me in a chair. By the echo, it sounded like we were in a cavernous space. I suspected an old warehouse.
There wasn't an easy way out of these restraints. They weren't like standard zip ties that could be snapped with just the right amount of force. These were purpose-built devices. Pro-level flex-cuffs.
I took slow, deep breaths, trying to center myself amid the chaos. I didn't let my mind spiral down the path of negativity. That's a never-ending loop that goes straight to a panic attack.
