Taken Read Free Page A

was most likely remembering all the news stories she had heard about young women being abducted and hacked into pieces, or found strangled and raped in fields in the middle of nowhere.
    Jack realized that he might have captured himself a real live firecracker, and decided not to light any more matches. He left her to her thoughts as he concentrated on the highway.
    She was silent for so long that he thought she had fallen back to sleep, but that turned out to have been wishful thinking.
    “So….” she said. She let the word stretch out about four times longer than it normally should. “Who is this ‘Dianne’ you mentioned?”
    “Dianne is my Goddess,” he responded hesitantly.
    “Goddess, eh?”
    Rayne sounded dubious.
    “And you’re taking me to her…why?”
    As the waitress waited for his response, Jack looked back at her and felt a pang of compassion.
    He cleared his throat loudly before he spoke.
    “She thinks I did her wrong, thinks I tried to get laid by a hooker in a truck stop, but I didn’t. I told her the truth - I got robbed; but she didn’t believe me. Now this is a test of my loyalty to her, that’s what she says. She wanted to see if I had the guts to snatch a beautiful girl for her, to prove that I do love her. She made it clear that no one would get hurt, so you don’t have to worry.”
    The waitress fell silent again. Several minutes went by as they both sat in contemplative silence.
    “It’s funny, but you look a lot like her,” he said eventually.
    “You’re a sick-o,” she replied, and laughed at him.
    Now, the weigh station loomed ahead, glowing yellow in the darkness of the interstate. Jack tapped the brakes gently and veered ever so slightly to the right, maneuvering the rig carefully onto the bumpy shoulder where it came to a jerky stop.
    “What are you doing?” the girl asked, the first tinge of unease creeping into her voice. Her eyes darted furtively around the sleeper, her temporary prison cell.
    Jack put his index finger to his lips. “It's okay. I have to hide you. There’s a weigh station ahead.”
    He attempted to be both comforting and menacing at the same time, and failed miserably on both counts.
    “You try to get anyone's attention, and I'll kill you,” he stated, in a matter of fact tone. “And if someone finds you, they die, too - their blood is on your hands. Got me?” he said as he climbed into the sleeper with her.
    He didn’t wait for her response; instead, he yanked a four inch strip of duct tape from the roll and used it to make sure her mouth was no longer an issue. She didn’t struggle as he muted her, but there wasn’t anything she could have done, anyway. He had bound her well.
    Jack inspected her wrists and ankles, to make sure she had not started to wriggle herself free, and then pulled a tarp from the floorboard in the sleeper.
    He then rolled her up like a human burrito, leaving only a small opening just big enough for her to breathe through. She shot a homicidal look at him as her face disappeared beneath the tarp.
    That look on her face frightened Jack at some base level; he had never been the target of someone else’s murderous intent. He reminded himself to control his emotions and get down to business.
    There were no other drivers waiting in line at the weigh station. Jack maintained a calm demeanor as he exchanged pleasantries with the inspectors as they hastily checked his truck. They waved him through quickly, and he let out a huge sigh of relief as the officers bid him a good night, and safe trip.
    Jack hated that more than anything. He hated people telling him to have a safe trip; as if that was something he had any control over. Sure, he could be as cautious as a city transit van carrying a bunch of senior citizens to their doctors appointments, and that would guarantee he was being safe; but any drunken, sleepy or inattentive driver could wipe out all his hopes and dreams as easily as the tarp-wrapped girl could surely erase any