Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I thought a lot of things and didn’t wait to respond.
Exactly one week later, I was fitted with new tech stud earrings. One was a camera. The other was a mic. I couldn’t wear a traditional wire because the criminals would expose my belly for the ultrasound to confirm that I was pregnant.
When I got off the plane in Salt Lake City, I went to meet the undercover agent. I’d been given the agent’s name, Mitch Scranton, which didn’t say much. I assumed it was a false name. The only other thing I’d been given was the car make and model and license plate number. I was to meet them at the arrivals pickup at a certain time.
Lots of things ran through my head as I waddled forward, having spotted the car. My feet moved faster as I saw a mop of brown hair. With only a carry-on, I yanked the passenger side door open and dipped down to see this Mitch. All the hope I’d carried for the past week died. It wasn’t Shawn.
“Do you need help?” Mitch asked as I stared at him.
I shook my head and straightened. I opened the back door of the sedan and put my carry-on in. There wasn’t much in there. This was a one or two-day op. My doctor had given me clearance to fly as long as I stopped flying before thirty-six weeks. I got in the front passenger seat and stared straight ahead.
Mitch pulled into traffic and went over the plan as we drove over an hour out of town. We passed by plenty of farmland. Mitch explained the place where we’d go in the morning was surrounded by wheat fields. They were tall and the only cover FBI teams would have when infiltrating the place.
We pulled off the highway and drove a couple of blocks to a low-end motel. There weren’t many cars in the lot and he pulled right in front of a bank of doors. He got out before I did and got my carry-on for me. I might have considered his chivalrous action if I hadn’t wished I was home. I’d accepted this assignment with the deranged idea that Shawn would be here.
Mitch opened the door and held it open for me. I stepped inside the room and was assaulted by a faint, musty odor, but I was grateful there were two beds. I took two more steps in when everything changed.
A grunt sounded, and I turned in time to move out of the way as a fight between Mitch and a masked intruder ensued. My movement left me unsteady, and I fell back and landed with a bounce on the first bed. My rounded belly did not help me put my training into action. I rolled to get to my feet, but it was over before I stood.
The intruder was on me in that second. A bag was pulled over my head and my hands were secured in zip ties faster than I could blink. I tried to make it harder for the person to move me, but I was scooped up. Thrashing my legs didn’t stop me from being removed from the motel room. Next thing I knew, I was placed in a chair and my feet were secured as well. Kicking hadn’t helped.
I didn’t give up but stopped trying to rise. It was no use, and I was wasting energy. I told myself if I hadn’t been so pregnant, I would have made it out of the situation. None of that mattered. Instead, I used my other senses, specifically hearing, to gauge where I was.
A door opened from a distance, so I was likely in the back of a van of some sort. The engine started, and we were on our way.
“What do you want?” I asked, not caring if it was futile.
He didn’t answer. I assumed it was a he for how easily I’d been picked up. When the question didn’t work, I started counting time. If I had some idea of how far we traveled, it might give me an idea of where we’d end up. The car slowed about twenty minutes later. The door opened, but he didn’t come for me.
Shortly after, I heard muffled voices. I could make out some of the conversation.
“You have her?” I was pretty sure that was a female voice.
There was a metallic knock. Likely, my captor had indicated that I was inside. “—doctor here?”
I missed some of it. “—back soon.”
The door near me opened. I was dragged out as I fought. But bound as I was, there was nothing I could do.
“Honey, why don’t you make it easy on yourself? You can live or die. We don’t need you.”
I felt the muzzle of the gun at my back and stopped. There was no doubt they would kill me. The calmness of her voice made that perfectly clear.