Karen came to in the back of the van. Not the one the man had driven up to her dorm—that had been an SUV. This was a service van, and she was bumping along on the metal floor. It was the jouncing that had woken her.
She tried to stand up and fell on her face. Her hands and feet were tied. Why? Didn’t the door lock? Could it be opened from inside? Her pulse leaped.
Was this her chance?
Karen struggled to her feet. It wasn’t easy. Her hands were tied behind her, so she couldn’t use them to push up.
There were no windows in the van. There were curtained rear windows, with the blinds just loose enough to let in the tiniest sliver of light. She wobbled over there, supporting herself against the side, praying she wouldn’t fall, afraid she’d never get up again, and tried to move the curtain with her nose. She pushed it aside but there was nothing to see. The only light was from the headlights shining in the opposite direction. Behind the van there was only darkness, a void.
That couldn’t be right. There had to be some sort of light. Was there another curtain beyond the one she was looking behind? No, then the light from the headlights wouldn’t show. The van was simply driving where there were no lights.
And where the road was bumpy. It was all she could do just to stand.
The van pulled to a stop in the middle of nowhere and she felt an icy rush of fear. Was this where it was going to happen?
An instinct for survival told her she shouldn’t be found standing. She threw herself to the floor of the van, forced herself not to cry out as she banged her head.
The rear door opened. She kept her eyes closed. The big man dragged her out of the van, picked her up in his arms. He carried her up a couple of steps. Karen heard the squeak of a door.
He banged her head going in. He didn’t seem to notice, just kept going.
He sat her down on what seemed like a mattress. Only he’d lowered her too far for her to be on a bed. She heard the floorboards squeak. The big man was going away.
She risked opening her eyes.
She was on a mattress on the floor in a tiny room of what appeared to be a cabin. There was a small window in the back wall, but it was too high for her to see out. There was a door on the opposite wall, or at least a doorway. A tattered sheet had been hung from the top of it to form a curtain. The room was bare except for the mattress on the floor.
Where the hell was she?
And why had they brought her here?