For Her Benefit - Nana Malone

1

Livy

The scent of gasoline singed the hairs inside my nose.

The acrid odor was what woke me. I tried to lift my head, but my mind was in a hazy fog. I was tired. So damn tired.

I must have been drugged. Lolling my head to the side, I tried to force my lids to open and blink. Beside me, or maybe it was behind me, there was a voice. It was saying blurred words. My fogged brain could make no sense of it.

Think. Wake up. Clear the fog. You need to think.

I finally managed to open my eyes, but when I did, all I saw was empty blackness.

I chanced another sniff and winced. That was gasoline. Where the fuck was I?

"Wake the hell up. We have to get out of here."

My brain started to process the words a little better. That voice. Why was that voice familiar?

I felt as if I was being jostled or moved. "Wake up, damn it. I do not belong here."

Suddenly, I knew why that voice was so familiar. That was April Van Linsted. She’d used the same pinched tone with me earlier. At the Gem Gala.

The Gala. Okay, the gala, the boys, the heist.

What in the world had happened? Think, Livy.

Piece by piece, as if an unseen hand started to put together the parts of the puzzle of my last hours, things started to click into place. And just like a real puzzle, my brain occasionally tried to jam the odd piece into places they didn't belong before finally finding the correct spot.

I had followed April Van Linsted. I’d thought she was after one of the guys. She’d been calling for one of the security guards, pointing back at the room and then... What? What had happened?

I had heard a sound? Sensed movement maybe? There had been a man, bigger than me, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava. But his eyes were flat, cold, not like one of our guys. I'd quickly turned on the balls of my feet to run toward security, but then I’d felt a prick in my neck, and...

And then I woke up here with April Van Linsted. I tried to force my mouth to say words. I made my throat contract and release, moved my tongue, all the things that signified speech, but I couldn't do it. No words came out.

I licked my lips and tried again, but all I managed was a scorching fire in my throat, as if someone had shoved a hot poker down it.

My last attempt was the best one, because actual sounds formed. "Are we?"

That wasn't right. I was missing a word. I cleared my throat, wincing through the pain. "Where are we?"

"Does it matter? And how the hell would I know? All I know is that we're in a couple of chairs, we're tied together, and there's no way out. Oh yes, and it's dark in here."

Why was she shouting? “Please don't shout. I have to figure this out. Do you know who took us?"

"As if I would associate with the kind of people who would kidnap someone. I'm April fucking Van Linsted."

I sighed. Clearly, she was going to be no help. I glanced around. Small slivers of light told me we were in a large garage or something. There were dark voids I couldn't see properly, but I thought I detected the outlines of some kind of large equipment. That would certainly account for the gasoline smell.

"Did they drug you too?"

“How would I know? All I know is that someone forced a bag over my head then shoved me into some kind of tight space with you. I must have passed out.”

Maybe they’d only drugged me. Why not keep both of us quiet? Or was I the more dangerous of the two of us? "Do you know how many people there were?"

"Why would I worry about such a thing? I was too busy worrying about my life."

As co-kidnappees went, April Van Linsted was the worst. "I'm asking so I can figure out how many men are holding us. Do you know how long we drove? It might give some clues to our location."

"I don't know. Thirty minutes I suppose."

Thirty minutes. On a Saturday night, London traffic was notorious. If April was even close to accurate in her time estimation, that left very few options. It might be safe to assume we were at least somewhere accessible to people, which helped with our avenues for escape.

Are you seriously considering escaping? Ben will come for you.

I