“I’m more than ready.”
Hand in hand, we walked toward the elevators and I took one last look at the glowing city below. It was strange how something so beautiful could be filled with corruption, violence, and death. I was ready for the waiting game to be over and I knew the end was coming. Once off the elevators, we walked out to his car and drove the four miles back to the Bellagio. Instead of the valet parking, he drove us to the parking garage – which was almost full – and parked the car himself.
“Is there a reason you don’t like using valet?” I asked curiously.
We got out and started toward the elevator. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t feel the need when I know I’m capable of parking myself.”
I held onto his arm. “Good answer. I admire that you’re not like some of the people here. I’d be parking the car myself too.”
He kissed the top of my head. “And that’s why this is going to work.”
When we got to the elevator, I instinctively reached for my gun and realized I’d left my purse in the car. “I need my purse. Hold the elevator, I’ll be right back.”
Putting his foot in the door, he pulled out the key fob and pressed the unlock button. I watched the lights flash and hurried over to open the door. Before I could get there, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Something was wrong and it was close by. I’d been dealing with evil for a long time and I could always tell when it was near. I turned around to find a man dressed in black with a hat hung low over his eyes, sneaking up behind Jason with a two by four in his hands.
“Jason, look out!” I screamed. I tried to get the words out but my voice felt like it was moving in slow motion while the rest of the world moved on fast play. Jason didn’t even have time to react before he was hit in the head with damaging force, his body dropping hard to the ground. I could see his blood on the two by four and rage consumed me. I wanted to run to him to see if he was okay, but the attacker started toward me.
My hands shook with fury and I sprang into action. Ripping open the car door, I reached for my purse but a searing pain exploded in my head. My vision blurred. What the hell? Then it hit me when another blow knocked me to my knees. There were two people.
Before the last blow dragged me into darkness, I looked over at Jason. He lifted his head and I heard his voice scream out my name before I fell into nothingness. He was alive . . . that was all that mattered.
Pain and darkness.
Whatever I was lying on was uncomfortable and felt like a ton of bricks. I tried to open my eyes and realized I was blindfolded. My hands and feet were secured by what felt like cable ties biting into my skin. The room spun and bounced as if there was an earthquake, but by the sounds and smells around me I was in a vehicle, most likely a van of sorts. There were people talking but their words were jumbled together and I couldn’t make sense of their conversation.
All I knew was, I didn’t have my gun and I had no clue where they were taking me or who the hell they were. The car bounced forward and my head hit the floor, the pain causing me to hiss. But that wasn’t the only thing I felt. There was a body beside me. Was it Jason? My captors grew silent and it wasn’t long before I felt the presence of a person hovering above me.
“I see someone’s awake,” the voice said low.
I froze and tried to concentrate on the voice. Everything was so loud and my head throbbed to the point of agony. Fingers grazed along my cheek and then I felt a needle pierce the side of my neck. Whatever was inside burned through my veins and made everything feel heavy. I couldn’t move and the voice whispering in my ear grew farther by the second.
“We have a long drive ahead of us. When you wake up, that’s when the fun’ll begin.”
Before the medicine could knock me out, I breathed in and gasped. I knew who it was, I recognized her by the smell of her perfume.