‘Ouch.’
The splinter of wood Jade had managed to pick off the edge of the bedside table scratched the delicate skin of her wrist as she tucked it up her sleeve. She wasn’t sure if it was sturdy or long enough to stab through skin, but it should do some damage to an eyeball, which was her intended target even though the thought of it made her feel a bit squeamish. It was something her dad had taught her and his voice had rung in her ears during the many hours it had taken her to pick at the wood.
If all else fails, go for the eyeballs, love. Jab them with your thumbs, fingers, keys – whatever you can get your hands on. Trust me, that’ll make whoever attacks you wish they’d never bothered.
She had never yearned for her dad as much as she had these past two days. Even her desire to see Mason was trumped by a certainty that, if Clive Reynolds knew where she was, he’d be getting her out of there and taking care of her. It was what he’d always done, since she was little. He was the one who’d taught her to stand up to bullies, encouraged her to play football and climb trees and do anything just as well as boys, and it was he who’d pushed her to do well at school because qualifications are important, love. I didn’t get any, so I know what I’m talking about. The slew of GCSEs she’d achieved was the reason she was able to get on the Nursery Nursing diploma course; Clive said the day she graduated was the proudest of his life.
Jade tried not to dwell on why he hadn’t come for her. She had to believe he was trying everything he could to find her, but that it wasn’t easy being in a foreign country where you don’t know the language. She’d even managed to make herself laugh thinking about it – as much as she loved her dad, he was no Liam Neeson. Clive Reynolds was so short he could probably fit in Liam’s pocket.
She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her skin was clammy and she didn’t feel well, but it was probably because she was starving hungry, the last thing she’d had to eat now a distant memory. The bottle of water on the bedside table she’d finished as well. Before he’d left her alone again last night her captor had removed her wrist binds and handcuffed her left hand to the metal frame of the bed, so she could use her right one to drink and to also reach for the chamber pot to bring it closer to the bed. She’d almost wet herself in the time it had taken to shuffle off the mattress, pull down the pyjama bottoms and knickers and angle her body near enough to use it. It helped that she’d been able to remove her blindfold though – he’d said she could, as long as she waited until he’d left the room first. She’d been too scared to disobey.
Then she realized he’d removed her engagement ring and that had set her off again. She’d cried so much in the past two days she was amazed she had any tears left.
An hour later, she heard him return.
Jade, lying on her side, tucked her right hand up her left sleeve and curled her fingers around the piece of wood, ready.
It was a few moments before he came to her room, however. She could hear him walking through the villa – she’d made the assumption that’s what the building was because the shutters obscuring the windows were the same as the ones they had in their villa – opening and closing doors. She had managed to keep track of the days and knew it was Thursday and she wondered who he was that he wouldn’t be missed. Round her way, Thursday was the start of the weekend, when everyone went out. The thought of not seeing her friends made her want to cry again.
He was humming a tune to himself, an upbeat little number that made her angry. How could he be so cheerful when she was like this? She was going to enjoy sticking the splinter in his eye. She hoped it hurt like hell.
As he came into the room, she went through the pretence of rousing from a supposed sleep, eyelids flickering open slowly. Immediately he commanded her to shut them again, and when she did he came over and told her to sit up so he could release her from the bed frame and put the blindfold over her face. He was so close she could smell coffee on his breath.
Jade tensed as she felt her wrist be freed and the blindfold go on. He was behind her now, about to fasten it. She didn’t know exactly where his eyeballs were in relation to her position, but she was going to have a damn good guess.
With a cry, Jade thrust the piece of wood over her shoulder in the direction of what she hoped was his face. Her hand slammed against something and an agonized, high-pitched scream ripped through the room. Jade spun round, sending the unsecured blindfold flying, to see her abductor on his hands and knees, back to her, clutching his bloodied scalp as he sobbed in pain. She might’ve missed his eye but the wood was sticking out at a ninety-degree angle and wasn’t going to come out easily.
Now she had to move fast. Legs still shackled, she half staggered, half crawled for the door. If she could just make it outside, she could lock him in and go and get help.
She was almost at the threshold, heart pounding from the effort, when she felt two hands grasp her ankles and pull her back.
‘You’re not going anywhere!’ he roared.
Jade fought as hard as she could but he was far stronger and managed to drag her across the floor on her stomach towards the bed. Then he roughly rolled her over so she was on her back – and that’s when she finally saw her abductor’s face again. He was better looking than she remembered and to her surprise he was wearing one of those fancy black suits that celebrities wore on the red carpet. Then, before she could say anything, he jabbed another needle in her neck.