The van came to a stop about an hour later. Or maybe two hours. It was hard to judge the time, given the blindfold and the darkness. My ankle was starting to hurt where the scrab had bit me, now that my panic was wearing off.
“Up,” Webb said. “Don’t take those blindfolds off, I’ll help.” I felt him tap a finger to my wrist. I was still holding Edan’s hand.
I slipped my fingers from his and found the hand that Webb had extended. I got to my feet, keeping my head down so I could see the edge of the van. I jumped out.
Through the crack in the blindfold, I could see light flooding the ground from a source overhead, and two people standing nearby. Curtis and Sanchez, maybe. They wore matching dusty black boots.
It was noisy around me. Murmured voices and running footsteps. In the distance, someone called, “In stall five, please!” A cricket chirped.
“Whoops, sorry,” I heard Edan say from behind me. “I can’t see where I’m going. Could you just . . . thanks.” I heard his feet hit the ground a moment later. His fingers brushed against my arm, like he was checking to make sure I was still there.
“Can we get a restroom?” I asked no one in particular. “We were locked in a closet for hours, and if you don’t let me go soon, you’re going to regret it.”
“There’s a toilet in the room,” Webb replied. “Follow me.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific,” Edan said dryly.
“Oh. Right. Grab your girlfriend’s hand. I’ll lead you in.”
Edan’s hand slipped into mine again. Webb yanked my other one, and I stumbled as he pulled me forward.
We crossed a threshold, and I saw a rug and wooden floors at my feet. A house, maybe?
Webb led us up the wooden stairs to the second floor. A door creaked as he opened it.
“Sit tight,” Webb said. “You can take the blindfolds off, if you want.” The door shut. I heard a lock click.
I yanked the bandana off. We were in a dark, totally empty room. A crack of light sliced across the floor from an ajar door to my left, and Edan pushed it open. The bathroom.
There was a small window on the other side of the room, but it was covered by something black from the outside. I rushed over to it and tried to find a way to push it open. There wasn’t one. I could break it, but they would surely hear that. Not to mention that we’d just gone up stairs. We were on the second floor.
Edan disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me in darkness for a few minutes. When he reemerged, I ducked inside.
The bathroom was almost completely empty too. There was nothing but a toilet, bathtub, toilet paper, and a bar of soap by the sink. Not even a towel to dry my hands. I cleaned the bite mark on my ankle, which didn’t look too bad. Luckily that thing didn’t have many teeth yet.
Edan was standing by the window, examining it, when I stepped out of the bathroom.
“How’s your leg?” I pointed to where blood was crusted to his pants.
“It feels OK. Yours?”
“Nothing serious.”
He swallowed nervously. “I have to confess something.”
I raised my eyebrows expectantly. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet.
I stared at it blankly for a moment before realizing. “That’s not yours, is it?”
“It’s Webb’s.”
“Why would you steal it? How did you steal it?”
“That shirt was a crappy blindfold. I could see if I tilted my head up a bit.”
“I’m still waiting for the why.”
“I thought it would tell us who these guys are. Honestly I was really hoping they were taking us to some high-tech facility and then I’d have his key card or something. And we’d just swipe it and go.”
“That would have been helpful,” I conceded. I glanced back at the door. “I mean, we could break down that door no problem. I’ve done it by myself before.”
“Yeah, we—wait, what? You’ve broken down a door before?”
“Did you find out who he was?” I asked, ignoring the question.
He flipped the wallet open. Webb’s picture was next to an MDG logo.
“What is the Monster Defense Group doing in France?” I asked.
“Well, they’re doing something with those scrabs we just found, that’s for sure.” He closed the wallet, an abashed look crossing his face. “But I realized right after I took it that I was putting you in danger too, and . . .” He met my gaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s fine,” I said. At least he’d been trying to think of a way to get us out of here. I’d just gone along with it. “We should hide it, though. He’ll probably just think he lost it somewhere. He’s not going to suspect that you lifted his wallet when at least two other guys were watching while you were blindfolded.”
He looked like he was trying very hard to hold back a laugh.
“What?” I asked.
“You accused me of being a bad criminal once. You seriously doubted my skills, you may remember.”
“Oh my god.” I rolled my eyes, but a smile spread across my face.
“I’m just saying.” One side of his mouth lifted a little higher than the other when he grinned. “Blindfolded. And motion sick. And I had to pee, which was very distracting. And like you said, at least two other guys were watching.”
“Fine, yes, you are the best pickpocket ever. I’ll admit it.”
“Thank you.” He walked into the bathroom. “I’ll put it in the toilet tank.”
“Do you feel better now?” I asked. “The motion sickness?”
“I still feel a bit dizzy, but it’ll pass,” he called as the water turned on. He emerged a minute later, shaking out his wet arms. He wiped them on his pants and pulled out his phone.
“They didn’t take your phone?” I asked.
“They sure didn’t. I think this is their first kidnapping. There’s room for improvement.”
A laugh bubbled up in my chest. I realized suddenly how grateful I was to be with Edan, of all people, in this situation. I couldn’t have handled a horde of scrabs or kidnapping amateurs with someone who defaulted to angry or hysterical in scary situations.
“Their Wi-Fi is password protected, though.” Edan sighed and slid his phone back into his pocket.
The door opened, and I jumped at the sudden intrusion. Webb stood with one foot in the room, two rolled-up sleeping bags tucked under his arms. He tossed them on the floor.
“All right, kids, change of plans. You’re going to need to sit tight here until we decide what to do with you.”
My body went cold. “What to do with us?”
“You can’t keep us here,” Edan said.
“I can, and I will,” Webb said. “The fewer morons we have running around making my job harder, the better. Stay quiet, and we won’t have any problems, OK?”
We both just stared at him.
“With any luck, Grayson’s teams will implode in the next couple days, and you guys can get out of my hair permanently.” He stepped back, starting to pull the door closed. “We’ll send up some food soon. And I mean it about being quiet. You start making trouble, and I can’t be held responsible for what some of these guys will do.” He looked at us seriously before pulling the door shut.
I took in a shaky breath and listened to his footsteps fade. “Why would they keep us here? How does that make any sense?”
“They were really excited about all those scrabs,” Edan said. “I think they’re worried that if they let us go, we’ll tell Grayson about it.”
“And, what? They want first crack at it? MDG doesn’t even hunt scrabs, do they?”
“I have no idea. But I think we should try to get out of here. I don’t want to wait around to see what they decide to do with us.” He looked at me expectantly.
I hesitated. It sounded like Webb would let us go if we were patient. Of course, he’d also basically threatened to kill us if we made trouble, so maybe it was stupid to trust him.
“They’re up to something with that nest,” Edan said, when I didn’t reply. “I want to get word to Grayson as soon as possible.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“What’s holding your bangs back right now?”
I put my hand on my hair, confused. “A bobby pin?”
“Perfect. Do you mind if I use it to pick that lock?” He jerked his head at the door.
“You know how to pick a lock?”
“What, in our time together, makes you think I don’t know how to pick a lock?”
I laughed. “Good point.” I reached for the pin.
“You can keep it for now. I can hear people in the house. Let’s wait until tonight, see if it quiets down.”
“You really think you can do it?”
“Absolutely.” He held my gaze. “We’re getting out of here.”