Don't Talk to Strangers

II

Dan peered around the corner, listening. We hadn't left the corner for half an hour. I was getting nervous and impatient. I prayed the car would keep looking elsewhere.

So far, the car had been driving around this area again and again, obviously trying to find where I'd gone. The seventh time the car passed by us, it stopped down the street, too close for comfort, and a man got out.

He seemed angry and he called someone on his phone. I heard angry shouting even from around the corner. Dan pressed me farther into the shadows and we both listened intently.

"Yeah, I can't find her! Yes, I checked there. And there. What do you take me for, an idiot?" the man was shouting. More anger flew out of the phone and I could hear the man pacing. "Sure, of course, sir," he said after a moment, seeming to have been put in his place. "She just seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Do you—Do you think someone might be helping her? Is someone on our—?"

Bitter cursing cut him off and he stopped and sighed. "Fine." He hung up and slammed the car door, the vehicle creeping past our hiding place yet again.

Dan made us wait for another ten minutes—possibly the longest ten minutes of my life—before he shifted and turned to me. "I'm going to scout out, see if we can make it to the car. Do. Not. Move. If I don't come back in five minutes, go into the back entrance of this building here and find a phone. Don't talk to anyone unless you have to; even then, keep it minimal talk. Call this number." He handed me a business card and I shoved it in my pocket. "Got it?"

I swallowed. "Yeah... Got it..."

He left me standing there, gripping the corner with white knuckles. He glided down the sidewalk with confidence, but I could see the slight movement of his head as he looked from side to side. He disappeared from view after a few yards and I waited, holding my breath.

I pressed my face against the wall stone, delighting in the cool feel of it. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to calm my heart. It felt like someone was slamming their palm against my ribcage rhythmically. It was going to drive me mad.

Dan finally returned after about four minutes, hissing, "Quick, follow me and keep your head down." He hesitated a moment before whipping off his jacket. "Wear this."

I shrugged it on as quickly as I could and followed at his heels. We made it past the streetlamps he'd met me at and down an alleyway, where a dark car was waiting. For a brief moment, I worried he was my kidnapper. But he let me go around to the passenger side on my own, and I buckled in with shaky hands.

He started the car, which was curiously quiet, and crept around the corner. He drove slowly for a few miles, turning down ways I'd never been before, but sped up once we reached a more lighted road.

I felt him relax and breathe out a sigh. I pried my fingers from the edge of the seat. "Are—Are we gonna be okay now?"

Dan ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at me. "To be perfectly honest?"

I gulped, nodding. He shrugged and looked back to the road.

"Probably not for a while."

I sunk back into the seat, pursing my lips. Lovely. Just lovely. I tried to trust him, but I couldn't help my nervous butterflies. I reached over to switch on the radio, but Dan's hand stopped mine. He seized it and gripped tightly, holding it up.

"Not right now, alright?" he said solemnly.

I tried desperately to ignore the warm feeling flooding my hand from his, and how cold it felt when he let go.