Hey Bartender, Love me (book 2)

Chapter 21

The early evening air was chilly, the setting sun cast dark shadows in between the buildings. The parking lot was hidden between two tall buildings. Only one person was present, standing wrapped up in a coat as little puffs of air were released from his mouth.

It had been over an hour since Luke had arrived, having followed the directions on the note he'd been left. He had to ditch his security (they'd told him exactly when he should leave to not be seen) and leave his cellphone home and show up at this address outside the city if he ever wanted to see Ashton again.

Everything in his mind told him not to go, to tell one of his friends, secretly bring the man Ashton hired to watch him, but he was being watched. If he did something sneaky, something could happen to Ashton, and he'd never be able to live with himself then. He couldn't take the chance.

"This is ridiculous," Luke mumbled to himself as he hopped from foot to foot trying to keep warm. "I FOLLOWED YOUR INSTRUCTIONS," he shouted into the night air. "I did everything you asked, now where's my boyfriend?!" He shivered, biting his lip to keep from crying. "Where's my fucking boyfriend," he whispered.

Just as he was about to give up and leave, headlights flashed by the entrance. He looked up, heart beating as a black car with dark tinted windows got closer, slowly rolling to a stop in front of him. He could hear his heart pounding, feel the pulse running through his fingers as the door slowly opened. He looked inside but there was no one there.

Hesitantly, he climbed onto the seat, immediately regretting it when the car made a sharp U-turn, the door slamming shut and narrowly missing his fingers, and sped out of the lot. He quickly buckled his seatbelt. Luke looked around the small car; there was a plexi-glass window in between him and who he assumed was the driver. He tried to open it so he could ask what was going on, but couldn't find anything to roll it down with. He looked at the doors and windows, but there were no buttons or handles there either. He was completely stuck.

Instead of panicking, he remained calm and looked out the window, trying to figure out where they were headed. Panicking wasn't going to get his Ashton back.

It seemed they were leaving the city and going towards Jersey.

45 minutes after he'd gotten in the car, a small tray slid out of the wall, revealing another note.

Geez, whoever's doing this to me really likes spy shit.

He picked up the note.

"You're going to be dropped off at a bus station. Find locker 304. It will be unlocked. Inside will be a key that matches a vehicle. Walk to the closest help desk and say, "I'm Lucas, I need help finding my vehicle". The employee will help you. From there, follow their instructions, get in the van, and wait. If you react to anything, don't follow the script, or speak out of turn, your precious boyfriend will be killed."

Luke was hesitant. He wasn't sure what was going on, but something was bothering him. Something about this seemed vaguely familiar, there was something that just set him on edge but he couldn't tell what it was.

A couple of moments later, they arrived. The door was opened for Luke and he quickly stepped out. There was no one around, it was pretty deserted, only one beaten down car sat in a faded parking spot at the end of the lot. Luke looked back to the car, almost wishing he could get back inside before the door shut again and it pulled away, the crunch of the loose gravel the last thing Luke heard before he was alone.

Luke walked inside the door he was dropped off in front of and entered. The bus station was strange, there weren't many people there despite it being early afternoon. He had hoped someone would see how anxious he was and offer to help him, but he had no such luck.

He found a row of silver lockers in one of the corners of the room and located the numbers at the top. 100, he walked to the next row. 200, he kept going. 300. He walked down the row until he stood in front of 304. Taking a deep breath, he opened the locker, and just like the note said, a single car key was inside. He took it, looking around for the help desk.

Left or right? He wasn't sure which direction he should go in. What if he went the wrong way and picked the wrong desk? Would Ashton still be killed then?

He went right, figuring that was the right decision. Ashton's entire life currently depended on the choices he made, and here he was, picking things based on jokes.

Fortunately, the help desk was very close by, and he hadn't seen one when he glanced in the other direction. He took another deep breath before approaching the desk.

"I'm Lucas, I need help f-finding my vehicle," He hadn't even wanted to say 'uhm' in case that would be considered him "deviating" from his instructions.

Luke wondered why he had to say Lucas since that wasn't even his real name. His family called him that on occasion to make fun of him, but otherwise, no one used that name.

"Ah, okay, do you have the key?" Luke handed it over to the man behind the desk. He looked like a normal person, tired and grouchy, but he would expect that from most customer service people. Was this person part of his captor's plan or was this truly just random?

After looking something up on his computer, the man handed Luke his key back.

"Your RV is going to be out the back door. Row 5S, spot 05. If you go that way," He pointed to the left, "And follow the hallway all the way, you'll find it." Luke nodded, heading in the direction he was told to go. "Have a good day, Mr Clifford."

Everything crashed around him at the same time.

He suddenly knew who was behind this. He realized what he was walking into. Michael was here. He had kidnapped Ashton—Ashton hadn't left him—this was all Michael's doing! He wasn't supposed to see Michael ever again. What was he supposed to do? Would he get Ashton back?

It had only been about 5 seconds that he'd been frozen, paralyzed, but the note had said not to react, so he walked the direction he'd been pointed, his breathing uneven but trying to play it off like he was fine.

He made his way through the building, out the door, and to a yard in which there were all sorts of vehicles parked. His slot was 5S, 05. The yard didn't look that big, and it was numerically set up so it didn't take too long for him to find it. He'd said RV, so Luke walked to the back of the yard where all the bigger vans were.

With shaky hands, he brought the key to the lock and turned it, climbing up the steps and shutting the door behind him. His message only said to go inside and wait, so that's what he did.

***

Hehehehehe. Lukey figured it out. Y'all figured it out way before him, but. He gets points for trying. And "Lucas Clifford" has a nice ring to it, yeah?

ALSO I NEED SOME GUESSES. I'm dying to know who you think Michael's partner is. I'll tell you this...we know him/her. Who do you think?????

~ashtonfortherwin