The Hunted Girls by Jenna Kernan (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

The familiar zipping sound of adhesive tape being torn preceded the tape being slapped across her mouth.

He smiled and stroked her cheek with a gloved hand. “You rest now and I’ll get us home.”

Nadine woke to discover she was on her side, trapped in a plastic container. From the jostling, she believed she was in a vehicle, traveling over rough road. How much time had passed?

Nadine thrashed inside her tiny prison, howling through whatever covered her mouth. She banged back and forth against the enclosure. Was it a coffin?

Not a coffin. She howled, the sound a sad mewling cry, muffled by the tape across her mouth. Tears leaked from her eyes, gliding down her sweat-damp cheeks. Back and forth she rocked, lifting her knees to crash against the walls of her enclosure.

How long she raged and thrashed in the dark, she did not know. But exhaustion took her at last. The dryness in her throat and the throbbing at her temples told her dehydration had begun.

She lay her head down on the hard floor of the container. She needed to think.

Stop moving. Figure out what to do next.

Did they even know she was missing?

How had he gotten past the cameras, protective detail, and security system? How had he even found the safe house?

Nadine’s heart slammed against her rib cage.

They’d followed Agent Wynns or Juliette. Or Jack had told him. She was certain and knew that, under torture, she would have done the same.

She struggled to control her breathing. Looking back wouldn’t help her. She needed to look forward.

Gradually her senses reengaged.

The air smelled of plastic and the temperature here was so hot and humid that sweat poured from her body and puddled beneath her.

She thumped back and forth in her tiny cage and discovered several things. First, her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape and secured together, placing her in an awkward position with her arms and legs tugged behind her so she was stretched like a bow. Second, she had both a gag in her mouth and tape across her face. And finally, someone had drilled airholes in the top of the container. By craning her neck, she could see the stars. She could also see that the holes were drilled in precise rows and columns as if punctured by machine or by a very orderly individual.

She tried and failed to topple the container. Craning her neck again, she noted that some of the holes were obscured, suggesting some kind of a strap secured her container in place. Listening attentively, she determined that she was in the open rear section of a truck. The familiar hum told her they traveled over pavement. She could determine nothing from the stars. But she could discern when they were passed by a vehicle heading in the opposite direction from the momentary light that flooded into the top of the container. From this she saw the box was black and the top yellow.

Some part of her brain recognized that this was useless information, since she could not pass any of it on to those who would be searching for her.

How long of a head start would he have? She knew the shift change happened at 1 p.m. and 1 a.m. She would assume that the Huntsman made his entry during the brief time when the alarm was off for agents to leave and their relief to arrive. Entry sensors were also disabled when any of her team came and went or when one of the agents took Molly out.

So her abductor could have arrived at 1 p.m. and waited in her room, or had entered at the same time that Wynns returned from the field office, or when Juliette returned from her autopsy, or when Demko left to pursue leads.

Nadine’s heart sank. There were dozens of times during the day that the security entry systems were disabled.

Security cameras were monitored both on-site and off-site so even if one of the agents was not at his computer monitoring the cameras, the off-site location should have registered motion and video of her abduction.

She knew it was close to 1 a.m. when she’d been taken and that Demko had not returned to the safe house.

Perhaps he would check on her and find her bed empty? But she feared this was not the case. Since she’d asked for time to consider his proposal, she and Demko had not shared a bed.

She wiggled her fingers and felt the engagement ring. She blew away a breath, uncertain as to why this discovery brought her any measure of relief.

If her capture had gone undetected, then it would likely be Tina who first noticed her absence sometime tomorrow morning after seven.

Seven hours. How far could a man get in six hours?

By truck, he’d be well out of the state. Somewhere in Georgia or Alabama by sunrise.

He’d made her a promise. Then he’d broken into her bedroom and taken her. Had he released Jack?

She might never know. But experience had taught her not to expect honesty from a psychopath.

The vehicle slowed and Nadine’s heart hammered in her throat. But then she felt the motion of a turn and acceleration as the vehicle sped. The swerve and sound of a car horn told her that they were now on some highway.

She glanced up in hopes of seeing streetlights. Instead she noted that the stars had disappeared. Was morning approaching?

The answer came soon after with a flash of light followed by the familiar rumble of thunder. When the rain began, she tipped her head toward the holes, feeling the sweet relief of cool raindrops. The gag and tape prevented her from drinking any of the water.

Lightning flashed, changing her world to brilliant white for just an instant. She knew from Arlo that if she slowly counted one Mississippi, two Mississippi, until she heard the thunder, she could gauge the distance of the strike. Four Mississippis for every mile.

On the next flash of lightning she counted.

One Mississippi…