Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (27 page)

The
next thing I knew there was a different ringtone filling the car. It was coming
from Randy this time. He pulled it from his pocket and answered it right away.

“Pete?”
he said into the phone.

I
couldn’t hear who was on the other end. It was quiet for a moment as Randy
listened to whoever it was.

“How’d
you…” he stopped midsentence and looked at me. I knew then it had to be Eli. He
must have taken Pete’s phone and called Randy’s number, and I couldn’t help but
smile. My message had gotten to him loud and clear. I felt proud. It was truly
amazing, the bond we shared. I was so grateful for it. I didn’t know what I
would have done without it.

“Wouldn’t
you like to know?” I heard Randy laughing into the phone just before he hung
up.

“Eli,
huh? Guessing he’s not too happy with you,” I said accusingly.

“I
don’t know how he knew I had you, but you better quit it!” he said angrily.

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve haven’t done anything,” I lifted my
confined hands to emphasize my point.

He
planned on surprising Eli with my disappearance, but apparently he was never
informed of our bond. When it came to me, there was no way to surprise Eli.

“What
did he have to say?” I wanted any connection with him that I could get. 

“He
wants me to release you, obviously, but he’s not getting his way,” he stated
matter-of-factly.

“Can
I at least call my mom so she doesn’t worry?” I asked reasonably. “I will lie
and ask to spend the night somewhere. I just don’t need to bring her into this
too. There are already too many people involved already.”

He
thought for a moment before he sighed and reached for my bag. He handed it to
me. “One call.”

It
was all I needed. Holding the phone to my ear was a lot more cumbersome that I
would have imagined with my hands held tightly together.

“Hey
mom!”

“Hi
honey, everything okay?”

“Oh
yeah, fine, can I spend the night at Bailey’s tonight? We have a project we’re working
on for school that's due tomorrow and we want to get it just right.” I waited.

“Uh,
I guess so honey, but call me before you go to bed, and in the morning before
school, okay?”

That
would be more difficult than she knew. “Okay mom! I’ll talk to you later! Bye!”
I hit end and looked at Randy. “She’s expecting a call before I go to bed and
before I go to school tomorrow,” I said. “If you want me to play nice, I will
be making those phone calls.”

I
quickly sent a text to Bailey so she knew to play along.

Bump
in the road, can’t explain now, my mom thinks I’m spending the night, play
along, please??

I
didn’t wait for a response and Randy had been so preoccupied driving that he
hadn’t even realized what I had done. I checked to see if I had any messages
from Eli, but sadly there were none.

“Fine,”
he said.

I
handed my phone back to him to show I was playing along and he put it right
back into my bag. I was glad he didn’t try to keep a hold of it. That might
make any getaway attempt impossible. 

We
were at the edge of town. We had been driving for over an hour already. “Are
you planning on stopping anywhere to rest?” I asked.

“Nope.”

Dang!
We were starting to get out into
the middle of nowhere. It was getting dark. I wasn’t sure where we were, but there
was desert on all sides of us. It scared me that I was alone with a guy that I
didn’t know. He didn’t seem all that bad the last time, but boy had I been
wrong. I tried to be nice by making sure Eli knew that it wasn’t him that had
cut my arm, but now I regretted it. He proved to me that he was a bad seed and
never deserved my protection in the first place.

“I
don’t know why you are doing this. I don’t know what you are planning, but I
was wrong about you,” I said to make him feel guilty. I had to try something.

He
huffed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. I’d obviously hit a nerve, might
as well keep poking at it.

“Would
you mind telling me what you plan to do with me?” I asked.

He
still didn’t answer.

“You
don’t know do you?” I asked.

No
answer.

“Wow.”
I hoped I was getting through to him. He had to know how stupid he was being.

I
proceeded to sit sulking instead of talking after that. I didn’t feel like I
was making any headway anymore. I glanced over at the gas gauge hoping that we
would have to stop soon, but was disappointed again, half full. He noticed me
looking and I saw his jaw clench. Maybe he knew what I was planning. I guess it
would be anyone’s plan of escape.

A
car went speeding by us at an unmentionable speed. I looked at our speedometer,
80 mph. The other car must have been going at least 100.
Wow, must have
somewhere to be
, I thought. I looked at Randy and figured he was thinking
the same thing because he kept looking in his rearview mirror, watching around
us like he was worried. I didn’t know what there was to be worried about other
than the obvious.

I
rested my head on the window and watched the shrubs go by. It was lulling me to
sleep. I found myself fighting hard not to fall asleep. I didn’t think it was a
good idea. There was no telling what I would miss. It wasn’t long until I
couldn’t fight it anymore and my body succumbed to sleep.

The
next thing I knew, there was a loud bang and the car swerved. My head jerked
sideways then back again, slamming it into the window.
Ow
!
I was instantly wide awake. I had no idea how much time had passed or where
we were. It was so stupid to have fallen asleep—we could be anywhere by now. As
I looked around all I could see what darkness. There wasn’t a car in sight.

“What
happened?” I stammered, completely freaked out. My pulse pumped through my body
at an alarming rate.

“We
hit something in the road. It’s fine.”

The
flapping sound of a flat tire and bumps made him realize that we, in fact, had
pierced the tire, in the middle of nowhere, at night. It couldn’t get much
worse than that. I only hoped that he was smart enough to have a spare.

He
pulled to the side of the road. In the distance ahead of us I could barely make
out another car that was pulled off the road. I briefly wondered if they too
hit whatever it was in the road. We came to a stop and he shut the car off. I
could tell he was unsure of what to do with me. He acted as though he feared I
would run.

“Where
am I going to go?” I asked him sarcastically.

I saw
his eyes look around. That seemed to satisfy him enough and he slowly got out
of the car. I don’t know why I was reassuring him that I wouldn’t escape, but
the truth was I didn’t want to escape there. Who knew what was lurking out
there, and it scared me. He opened the trunk and got to work.

I
took the opportunity to grab my backpack from the back seat, which I might add
was quite a feat with handcuffs on. First I found my cell phone, and the light
from the screen lit up the car. I hoped Randy didn’t see it, but I figured he
was preoccupied. There was one text message from Bailey and one from Eli. Eli’s
said,
I’m so worried about you right now, I love you. I hope you get this,
Randy will not get away with this! I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.

Trying
to imagine how Eli felt wasn’t possible. He was blaming himself more than
anything for it, it was his nature. His job as my
Protector
was to do
just that, protect me. At the moment he felt like a failure and I could totally
understand that. I only hoped that Ren was helping to calm him. I wished I had
the abilities Eli did, and then maybe I could help him for once.

Bailey’s
said,
Okay…I hope everything is okay. See you tomorrow, right?

I
didn’t answer either of them for fear that Randy would catch me with the phone,
but I put it in my pocket just so I had it. I peeked out the window and saw
that Randy was just standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Geez,
he must not know how to change a tire. At least my dad had prepared me for that
before I moved. I clutched my backpack, pushed my door open and climbed out. I
dropped my bag with a thud on the ground next to the car.

“Do
you know how to change a tire?” I asked flatly.

“Uh,
no. But I’ll figure it out. Get back in the car,” he ordered.

I
could tell he was embarrassed, as he should be. Nothing about him was
organized. I almost felt bad for him.
Almost.

“I’ll
change it,” I said as I tried rolling up the sleeves of my shirt. “Get me the
jack, spare tire, tire iron and stand back.”

He
stared at me for a minute before he finally retreated and did as I asked.

I
motioned for him to remove the handcuffs. “Think you could take these off?”

He
hesitated once more.

“What
am I going to do? Run out into the desert in the middle of the night without a
clue where I am?”

He
reluctantly unfastened one cuff, but left the other dangling from my arm.
Great! That would make it so much easier for me to change a tire.
 

“Take
notes,” I said sarcastically. “I think me bailing you out earns the right to be
let go. Just saying.” It didn’t hurt to try.

He
didn’t say anything in return. I heard a noise off in the distance behind me.
It scared me thinking about what it could possibly be. There was an endless
list scrolling through my head. 

“What
was that?” I asked Randy, looking around cautiously.

“I
don’t know,” he answered looking spooked himself.

Man,
could I have been kidnapped by a less manly guy?
The noise got louder. It sounded
like someone was walking through the desert. Someone who didn’t care how much
noise they made. Whatever or whoever it was, was getting closer. I stood up to
watch and wait, knowing any second I would be able to see it. A second later a
man stepped from behind a bush, illuminated by the headlights of the car. His
dark hair and icy eyes stared us down. He was tall and lean, but very muscular.
I instinctively took a step back. I did not want to cross this man. I hoped he
was friendly, but I have to say being in the desert at that time of night in
the middle of nowhere didn’t really bode well. The profile was more fit for a
psychopath then a nice normal person.

“Hi.”
The words tumbled from my mouth. Where they came from, I didn’t have a clue. I
certainly wouldn’t have been so bold.

The
man chuckled. I held tight to the tire iron in my hand with the handcuff still
dangling there like the hottest new fashion accessory. I spread the iron across
my body from one hand to the other as I stood there feeling helpless.

“Well,
Randy, you can’t seem to keep your nose out of business it doesn’t belong in,
can you?” the man asked.

I
looked at Randy, shocked that the man knew him. I couldn’t fathom what he
wanted or how he knew we would be there. I hoped that I wouldn’t get caught in
the middle of something else. That was the last thing I needed, being stuck in
the middle of some stupid feud between people that I didn’t even know. It was
precisely what happened to Bailey, and I didn’t envy the position she was in.

“What
are you doing here Vince?”

Vince?
Where had I heard that name
before? I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“What
do you think I’m doing here?”

“You
aren’t taking her,” Randy said sternly.

“Oh
yeah? Well, it looks like you are stranded and she is the one holding a tire
iron. I think she will be the judge of that,” the man chuckled.

Randy
looked at me with a frightened look and took a step back like I was holding a
gun to his head. I had no idea what was happening. What had I missed? I didn’t
know whom I should trust, but at the moment it seemed that I was the only one
holding a weapon. I took a step back from Randy and the man called Vince.

“Who
says I’m going with either of you,” I spat in their direction, finally finding
my backbone.

“Trust
me, you’ll want to come with me,” the man said. And with that he lunged at
Randy.

Instead
of trying to fight back, Randy just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his
face. Vince’s fist connected with Randy’s face hard, and sent him to the ground
in an unmoving heap. I looked at the man and took another step backwards. He
started towards me and held out his hand.

“Sorry
I didn’t introduce myself before, I’m Vince,” he said kindly in his gruff
voice.

I
refused to take his out stretched hand. “I’d introduce myself, but it appears
you already know who I am,” I stated. I was scared and I could hear the blood
pumping through my veins. “What do you want from me?” I asked.

“Whoa,
I don’t want anything from you. I think you have the wrong idea.”