Josh jangled the ring of keys in my face.
“Think I’ll go have a little fun. Don’t mind making myself at home in your house. Hell, it’s only five minutes away.”
“There’s nothing in my house that’ll interest you.”
Josh moved in fast and furious and gave me a hard punch to the throat. The pain was beyond belief, and I couldn’t speak. I was lucky the hit didn’t kill me.
“Hurts like hell, doesn’t it? Keep that in mind the next time you try to call the shots. I’m in charge, not you, and yeah, I know what you’re thinking. A dumbass like me will set off your high-tech security system and the cops will have me in custody in the blink of an eye. Sorry to ruin your fantasy, but I know how to disable things, remember? Sit tight, McCord. I’ll be back soon enough. Oh yeah, I better tape that mouth of yours closed. I wouldn’t want anyone to hear you yell for help since I have big plans for you tonight.”
He disappeared into the kitchen and came back minutes later with a roll of duct tape. With his teeth, Josh tore off a three-foot length and wrapped it around my head multiple times. I couldn’t open my mouth even if I tried.
“Next time, I’ll cover your nose, too, asshole. It would be like watching one of those crappies flopping around out of water. See you later.”
I waited to hear the overhead lift, but it never did. He was smarter than I gave him credit for and likely knew that a BOLO would have been issued for Hanna’s Explorer by then. He was probably walking the alleys to my house. Cutting through alleys would get him there faster and keep him off the streets in case the cops knew he’d escaped. I was desperate to get to that knife, but every time I attempted to scoot the chair one way or the other, the slipknots around my neck tightened. My mind spun as I searched for ideas, but nothing worked. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape my restraints.