Gone (Gone #1) (3 page)

Of course, she knew that once the truck stopped she would probably give anything to be bored again.

How was she going to fight him? She should know something about self-defense given how many hours she'd been forced to watch her brother's karate tournaments and practices. There was something to do with pressure points, but she couldn't remember what. She had never paid any attention, usually playing a game, texting, or reading.

Why hadn't she agreed to take the lessons with him? The sound of her dad's voice telling her that it would be good for her bounced around her head. Why hadn't she listened? There were so many things Macy would have done differently, if only she'd known. So many things.

The truck hit another bump, and as Macy went into the air she realized she had to go to the bathroom. Bad. What was she supposed to do? Peeing in his truck would have made her happy, but she didn't want to have to smell it, or worse, land in it at some point.

They went over another bump, and she knew that she had to do something before she lost control of her bladder. The last thing she wanted was to soak her clothes. Macy squeezed her pelvic muscles and looked around in desperation. She noticed something behind one of the tires. Was that some kind of container? Why hadn't she noticed that before? Her stomach sank as she realized it was there for her to pee in.

Holding her breath to keep control of her bladder, she crawled over to it. It was an empty juice jug. That was going to have to do the job. They hit another bump, and she dropped the container as she leaked a few drops of urine. "Crap!" She scrambled for the jug and, feeling like an idiot, dropped her pants.

When she was done, a feeling of relief washing over her entire body, Macy grabbed the lid and twisted as tight as she could get it. If she knew she was getting out soon, she would relieve herself in a corner to spite him.

She pulled her pants back up and returned to the blanket. It was so cold, and she was starting to shiver. Lowering her pants hadn't helped. Even with the blanket, she hadn't been warm enough. As she settled down with the blanket, the pee jug caught her eye.

Oh, that was gross. How could she even think that?

But it
was
warm, she couldn't deny that.

No. She would wait. She wasn't going to warm up with a pitcher of her pee. Macy looked at the ceiling, but before long, she was shivering.

Shoving the blanket aside, she crawled over to the container and brought it back to the blanket. Sticking it in her lap, she pulled the blanket over her again. The warmth from the pee felt good, as disgusting as that was. Macy imagined it was one of those heat packets she put in her pockets when they went skiing.

Macy must have fallen asleep again, because the jerk of the truck stopping woke her up. She blinked her eyes, trying to get her bearings. She felt groggy, and that had to mean she had been asleep for a while. Were they out of state? When she had been in the cab of the truck, they were heading east, more than likely leaving Washington. But where?

The canopy opened again. Her abductor looked around, and then smiled when he saw her.

"Don't get any funny ideas. If you try to escape, I'll go back and kill your entire family."

"What?"

"I got in once. I can do it again. If you get away, I'll go after them instead of you. Well, I will go after you too, don't get me wrong." He laughed. What a freaking psycho.

Macy shuddered.

"You still haven't eaten the burger I was nice enough to get you? Get one thing straight: you're not getting anything else to eat until you finish that first."

"But it's old and gross."

"Maybe you should have thought of that when I gave it to you. Don't test me, girl. I will wait as long as it takes for you to eat it before I give you anything else. It saves me money."

"But you know I don't eat meat."

"Looks like you're going to have to. It's going to be even less enjoyable as cold as it is. I wouldn't let it get any older, because it's sure not going to get better."

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Eat the burger."

"What'll you do if I don't?"

"Don't you listen? I won't give you anything else to eat. I need some rest, so we're going to stop for a bit. Eat that damn burger, if you know what's good for you."

He slammed the canopy door shut, and locked it. Tears filled Macy's eyes. Was he serious about killing her family? He was crazy enough to kidnap her, so he was probably serious about killing them.

They hadn't done anything wrong. This whole situation was on Macy, and she knew it. She had been the one stupid enough to get herself into the truck in the first place. She would have to figure something out.

Her stomach rumbled again. Macy looked at the burger, disgusted. Would he really make her eat it? Why did he care what she ate? There had to be a way she could hide it, so he would think she ate it. Where? There weren't exactly hiding places in the truck bed.

She tried to focus on calming her stomach. Once it relaxed, she stared at the burger, imagining she was having a staring contest with it.

"I'm losing my mind," she muttered. If she was going to eat it, it needed to be soon. The burger wouldn't get any fresher. Which was the more appealing choice? To starve, or to eat the cold, greasy burger? She would have chosen to go hungry, except that she didn't want to be forced to eat it a day or two later. At least it was somewhat edible right now.

The minutes ticked by as Macy stared at the burger. But the more she thought about it, the more she thought about having to eat it days down the road. That convinced her. She crawled across the cab and carried the burger back to the blanket.

"I'm sorry," she said to the cow she was about to eat. She unwrapped the waxy paper, and looked at the wilted bun, shaking her head. Her stomach growled, begging her to give it the nourishment.

Closing her eyes, she bit down. The cold grease shocked her taste buds, and she had to force herself not to spit it out. The way it felt as she chewed it up only made it worse. It stank too. She plugged her nose, and took another bite, relieved to discover she almost couldn't taste it.

She shoveled it in, eating as fast as she could without choking. Macy tried to pretend she was eating a veggie burger, but it didn't work. It was an old, disgusting slab of meat cooked in grease, no matter what she told herself.

After finally finishing it, she threw the wrapper and tried to ignore how disgusting she felt. Her skin felt oily from the grease, and her stomach didn't feel right. Hopefully once it settled she would have more energy for getting away—if she could.

Interrupted

Chad Mercer was typing at his typical 120 words per minute when there was a knock on the door. He ignored it. His family knew to leave him alone when the door was closed.

The knocking continued, distracting him. Why couldn't they let him get his work done? Well, it wasn't actually work. Not yet, anyway. He had a popular sports blog, where he posted his opinions. People loved his sense of humor, and he always had good statistics.

With his monthly page views and low bounce rate, he was able to get a lot of really good advertising on his site that actually paid some of the bills.

He was popular online. People loved him. Unlike at home, where no one appreciated him.

The knocking wouldn't stop, and Chad lost the funny quip he'd been searching for. He sighed. "What is it?"

"Dad! Let me in!" Alex pounded on the door again.

Chad shook his head. "You know I'm busy." When would they ever start appreciating what he was trying to do for the family? His wife already didn't have to work, but no one seemed to care.

"Dad! Macy's gone!"

Gone? He got up and unlocked the door, and then opened it. "What do you mean, she's gone?"

"She's not here. She posted something online about running away."

Shaking his head, Chad went back to his desk. He minimized his blog and opened up a new window. Nothing from Macy showed up on his news feed. He typed in her name to pull up her profile. Sure enough, her latest update was one big, public tongue-sticking at him.

The house phone rang next to him. He looked over, seeing the caller ID. It was his in-laws. His mother-in-law must have stopped playing Sugar Saga for three minutes and seen Macy's update. He shook his head. Alyssa was going to chew him out. They had argued nonstop about Macy and what age she should be allowed to date.

Alyssa had told him countless times that he needed to give Macy room to grow up or she would rebel. Macy had been giving him attitude for a while, and now she had taken it public. This was just a publicity stunt. His daughter wanted to rally support.

Chad's cell phone rang. He picked it up from his desk. It was Valerie Carter, Zoey's mom. He clicked ignore and put it back down.

"What are you going to do?"

He had forgotten Alex was still there. His son looked like he was going to be sick. Macy would never believe how worried her brother was about her. With all his teasing and picking on her, he still adored his sister.

Chad took a deep breath. "I'm going to look online and see where her phone is. You guys have those Child Protect phones where the GPS tracking can't be turned off." He turned to his computer screen, went to the site that tracked the kids' phones and logged in. He could only see Alex's phone, which of course was at their address.

He scrolled the site for contact information and called them. When someone answered, he interrupted them before they could say two words.

"I have one of your Child Protect phones, and my daughter's phone isn't showing up. Mind telling me what's going on? I was told that this couldn't happen."

"Sir, if the battery has been removed, we can't track the GPS. It has to have the battery."

"What good are you? Do you know how much we pay for these? I want a refund!"

"If you calm down and give me your information, we can—"

"My kid is missing. You guys are supposed to be a technology company. Use it to figure out who I am and then send me a refund check." He ended the call. "Dipsticks."

The house phone rang again. This time it was Sandra McMillan from the homeowners' association.

When he found Macy, he was going to give her the punishment of a lifetime.

"How are we going to find Macy?"

Chad looked back up at Alex. His lips trembled.

Did Macy think of no one besides herself? First with the whole vegetarian—no, "vegan" thing, and now this. Did she find joy in making him miserable? He could see her sitting somewhere, laughing at the stress she was putting everyone through. All because he wouldn't let her to go on a date. After this stunt, she wouldn't be going on any dates until she graduated.

The home phone rang again, and this time he took the batteries out. That girl had close to a thousand friends on social media, and now every single one of them knew she had run away. Chad took a deep breath and then turned to his son again. "Do you know anything else? Anything besides what's in her update?"

Alex shook his head.

"Well, I guess she'll come home when she's hungry. Why don't you go check on your mother?"

Alex nodded, and Chad was struck by how much his usually tough son looked like a little boy. It was easy to forget how young thirteen really was. The look on his face reminded Chad of when Alex was a preschooler, chasing after his big sister and wanting to do everything she did.

For a moment Chad thought he should give his son a hug, but he stiffened. There was no need for that. "Don't worry about her. She's trying to scare us. I'll bet you she's at Zoey's house hiding out. She's going to lose her phone for a long time for this one. Don't you ever try it."

Alex didn't look convinced. He turned around and left the room.

Chad ran his hands through his hair. If only his parents were still alive. There was nothing better than talking with his dad when he had a problem. He had always had a level head and could point Chad in the right direction. They had been killed in a car accident when the kids were really young, so he hadn't had their advice for any of his parenting questions.

Sick

Macy's head slammed into the truck's side and she woke up, realizing she'd fallen asleep again. She rubbed the new bump, hoping they would stop soon. Her stomach felt worse than it had after eating the burger. The movement of the truck hadn't helped, she was sure. The motion and the bumps wreaked havoc on her.

Her stomach lurched, and she turned her head in time to throw up without getting anything on the blanket.

She wiped her mouth and put her forehead against her knees, crying so hard she shook. What had she done to deserve this?

What if it got worse? What did that psycho have in store for her? Would he really kill her family? Or was that something kidnappers said to keep their victims in line?

Some kid in the news had recently escaped after being grabbed at the mall. Hadn't Macy heard that that kidnapper had made the same threats? He never killed the kid's family. But he was also in jail.