Three: Where Are You Taking Me?

The two-hour drive out of town was silent. His eyes were glued to the road, he put on his sunglasses and barely glanced at her. He seemed to know where he's going but the further they go the more she felt lost, she had no idea where they were.

Once in a while, he would roll down the window and light a cigarette. He checked on his watch and back to driving. She tried to keep still but the tape around her wrists was tightened because of her effort to loosen them. She wanted so badly to say something, to ask this guy questions, or at least to take off the tape from her numbed cheeks and mouth.

She just leaned her head to the front headset and looked out the window, tears started to fall again, there was no word to explain how scared she was.

The car was slowing down in the middle of the highway. She jolted to see what was going on. The man seemed calm and stopped the car on the side of the road. He took out his phone and dialed a set of numbers. He got out of the car and leaned his back on the front driver's door.

"I'm here."

She was listening in.

"What?" he sounded surprised.

"What do you mean? Whoa ... whoa ... that's not the deal man, I'm here ... let's get this over with."

Her heart raced.

"No ... no ... no ... that's not going to work ..." he sighed deeply.

He started to pace back and forth and dug his fingers into his hair. He was listening to what the other person was saying on the phone.

"How long?"

It went quiet for a moment, she tried to peek outside and see if he was still on the phone. He was.

"This changes everything ... this is not part of my job, okay? I don't do this ... you know that ..." he sighed again.

She wasn't sure what was going on, but it didn't look good.

He hung up the phone and got into the car. He put his hands on the steering wheel and stared into nothing.

"Fuck!!" he hit the steering wheel.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he hit it again three times.

She was frozen in fear.

He turned around with an intense look on his face. "I'm gonna take off that tape from your mouth if you promise to calm down."

She nodded.

He yanked the tape off of her and it stung. "There's been a change of plan."

She looked at him in confusion, she didn't even know what the initial plan was.

"You're gonna be stuck with me for a few days ... shit!" he muttered.

"Where are you taking me?" her voice was weak.

"Somewhere ... the less you know the better ... look ... if we're gonna do this, I need you to cooperate with me, okay? If you so much try to scream or yell for help ... if you try to run away ... I will shoot you."

His threat sounded legit, she believed he meant every word.

"But why are you doing this? Who would wanna do this to me? My parents ... they killed them ... I don't understand what's happening?"

"Yeah ... this is some shit you're going through, but if you play nicely ... " he hesitated to continue, "Just play nicely."

He started the car and drove away. It would be another 3 hours until they stopped again. They stopped in front of a motel in a deserted area where there was nothing else around. Her heart sank, she was going to be stuck with this guy in a sleazy motel and it scared her to death. She whimpered.

"What? We have to stop ... remember ... don't do anything stupid if you want to stay alive," he looked annoyed. He put a tape back to cover her mouth and got out of the car to check-in to the motel.

She looked around, it was a desert. A gas station right next to the motel and nothing else. There was no one around.

He was back in less than 10 minutes, he held a room key in his hand. He moved the car to the row of rooms and parked in front of room number 4. He went in first and dropped all of his stuff and came back to get her. He took off the handcuff and cut out the tape that bound her wrists. He held both her hands and kneel to meet her gaze. "You're going to walk normally into the room and not attract any attention ... and then you will do as I say without question ... do you understand?"

She nodded, she realized she had no other choice than to comply with her kidnapper, at least until she knows she can run and be safe away from him. So she did as she was told. They went into the room, locked the door behind them, hooked the chain, and closed the curtains.

The room was only big enough for a double bed in the middle and two side tables on each side of the bed. There was a TV hung on the wall across the bed and a desk with a chair in the corner. The bathroom was in the back and a wardrobe in front of it.

She struggled to walk inside the room with her extravagant gown, she wanted to sit but the bed was the only thing big enough to accommodate her. So she just stood, she hugged herself, it was the only way she could make herself feel somewhat better. She glanced at this stranger who had snatched her out of her wedding day.

"Did you want my necklace? Is that why you kidnapped me?," she took it off, "This was a gift ... but I know it's worth at least a million dollars, just please don't hurt me."

He chuckled, "Don't you think that necklace is as good as mine already?"

He threw himself on the chair and lit a cigarette.

"I'll give you anything you want ... just don't hurt me ... please," her voice was soft, she didn't want to provoke him.

He snatched the necklace from her hand and put it in a small paper bag, "I don't want your money lady ... I just need to get you somewhere and be done with this." He stuffed the paper bag in his duffel bag.

"Are you going to kill me?"

He scoffed, "You'd be dead by now if that's what I was going to do."

"Then what? I don't understand? Can you please tell me what's going on?" she was on the verge of crying again.

He let out a long exhale and rummage through his duffel bag. He took out a set of clothes and underwear and threw them on the bed. "You need to change your clothes, that dress is too distracting."

She looked at the outfit on the bed and looked at him.

He was staring at her without an expression.

"Here?"

He lifted his shoulders, "Do you prefer to do it somewhere else?"

She turned to look at the bathroom, there was no way she was going to strip down in front of him. She took the clothes and walked over to the bathroom. The door was too narrow for her gown to fit through. She looked at him again.

"You're gonna have to do it here then," he said and puffed a cloud of smoke.