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Stuck by a Drummer- The Adventure Continues
Sleepy. So sleepy. I didn't want to wake up at first. My head ached, my stomach felt queasy, and my muscles were so sore that I knew I'd spent a good part of my 'out' time lying on the floor of the van where we'd been ambushed. But finally I forced myself to pierce the veil and came into the land of the conscious.
I was lying on a cot in a room whose whitewashed concrete walls reminded me of a school or lower class hospital. There were no windows, not even barred ones. The door was shut. I didn't bother going over to it: common sense dictated that it was either locked or had a welcome wagon waiting for me to be dumb enough to poke my head out.
I sat up, keeping my head low until the room stopped spinning. Once I felt steadier, I got shakily to my feet and walked around. Where the hell was I? Who had brought me here? And where was Steve?
I heard the door hinges creak as I was pacing up and down, so I got against the opposite wall and waited with fear and curiousity. I wasn't in terror for my life. If whoever had arranged the kidnapping wanted me dead, it would have been easier to do the deed while I was snoring away earlier. But by the same token, anyone with the nerve and cunning to successfuly kidnap two people in broad daylight was someone to be seriously concerned about.
A raven-haired head poked around the corner: the girl whose request for an autograph had caused this mess in the first place. When she saw that I was awake and looking right at her, her eyes widened and she pulled back quickly, closing the door behind her.
I waited, positive that I'd be having company soon. Sure enough, about ten minutes later, she returned, this time entering the room. I could see the shadows of people behind her, waiting out in the hall.
"Miss Payden," she said, reaching into her satin jacket pocket and pulling out a small handgun. "Please stand in the corner and put your hands behind your back. Don't worry- I don't plan to use this unless you give me a reason to."
I obeyed, but asked, "Who are you? And why am I here?"
"The second question is moot, Miss Payden. You're going to be leaving. As to who I am, that's useless information: you won't be seeing me again."
She approached me and grasped one of my wrists, positioning it to be cuffed or tied. I was about to bring up something that might not be considered moot when a terrific commotion sounded in the hallway.
"What the fuck?" The girl released me. We both turned around in time to see Steve and the two men who'd been in on the abduction fall into the room in one tangle of arms, legs, and curses. One of the guys yelled, "I thought the bastard was still out, for God's-" before a sock in the jaw from Steve made his head snap back and connect with the concrete floor.
I jumped on the slack-jawed girl, never dreaming that I'd have to put all those self-defense courses to work on another woman. I grabbed her in a headlock and brought her wrist down onto my raised knee, forcing her to drop the gun. I let her go the second the weapon hit the floor with a dull clunk, and made a dive for it. She tried to block me, but I was faster, and snatched it up.
Steve had thrown the second guy a few feet away from him. They were preparing to lunge for each other again when I shouted, "Steve, stop!!"
They both froze. Steve quickly left his opponent and went to stand by me. He looked paler than usual and his jacket was torn from the recent scuffle, but other than that he seemed all right.
"KC," he said urgently, "let's just shut them in this room, get the fuck out of here, and call the police."
"Wait." Keeping the gun trained on both the jailers-turned-prisoners, I said, "Why the hell did you kidnap us? Who sent you?"
They glanced at each other. I curled my finger around the trigger and said in firmer tones, "I'm waiting."
From somewhere upstairs, a door slammed. Before I could ask my question again, Steve grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room. Once we were out in the hallway he shut the door and turned the lock.
"They'll be in there awhile; I don't think these doors can be unlocked from the inside." He started down the corridor at a brisk walk, dragging me behind him. "Come on. With our luck those are reinforcements banging around upstairs. We've got to find a way out."
"Ok. Right behind you."
We raced toward a pair of double doors at one end....just as the set at the other end started to swing open.
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