Tied up in the empty bedroom, time had lost all meaning for Vaughn. He was pretty sure it had been early morning when they had made the call to his father, but that was hours ago. Or was it? Maybe it just felt that way. The only way he had to judge was by the sunlight coming through the one small window in the room. Even that was deceptive, as the light was filtered through the trees outside and the dingy curtain covering the window. Vaughn was already beginning to feel as if he had been with his captors forever, and that the life he knew before was just a dream. He realized that, if he did come out of this alive, life would never be the same again. It would always be divided into before and after. The time I won that trophy? That was before I got kidnapped. The day I left for college? That was after I got kidnapped.
What if there was no after?
Thoughts like these tormented him relentlessly. Here, he had nothing to do but think.
What if they kill you? Why would they? They killed Ted. Dad will give them what they want and then they'll let me go. What if he doesn't pay the ransom? Of course he will. He's got plenty of money, and he loves me Loves you? He doesn't act like it. He's just busy sometimes.
The constant argument between his imagination and his logic was giving him a headache. The hunger pains that gnawed at him didn't help, either. Assuming it was at least lunchtime, he hadn't eaten anything in a day. He remembered Professor Zachary's lecture on the digestive system. He said a human can live without food for weeks, as long as they have water. The body would begin to digest stored fat, then muscles for energy. Great. Maybe they won't shoot you. Maybe they'll just leave you in this to room to starve to death.
From outside the door, footsteps sounded. Vaughn felt his pulse quicken slightly. Though being tied up on the bunk was uncomfortable, at least there no one was hitting him or holding a gun to his head. What are they going to do this time?
The footsteps came closer. Vaughn couldn't be sure, but they seemed lighter than the ones he had heard earlier in the day. Maybe it was Brady and not Jakes? He heard a click as the door opened. Vaughn looked up to see the last thing he expected: a woman.
Her surprised scream indicated that the woman was not expecting him either. Vaughn shrieked too. The woman slammed the door shut and stood frozen with shock for several moments. She finally composed herself and was reaching for the doorknob again when a gruff voice sounded behind her.
"Crystal! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Michael! There's someone in the bedroom!"
"I know that." He grabbed her arm roughly. "I said, what are you doing here? I thought you had to work today."
"I-I traded shifts with Jenny. I thought I'd come and see you. I haven't seen you in a week."
"I've been busy. What were you doing snooping around back here?"
"Michael, please. I was just looking for you. Why is there someone tied up in there?!"
Jakes looked around, then grabbed her arm tighter. He pulled her closer, so that his eyes were only a few inches from her own. "You weren't supposed to know. Now that you do, you're in on it as much as if you had known from the beginning."
Crystal pulled back, frightened. "In on what?" His only answer was to grip her arm even tighter.
"Michael...that hurts. Just relax and tell me what's going on. Please."
Jakes pulled away from the bedroom and to the living room couch. Vaughn could hear the muffled tones of their conversation. They weren't counting on this woman showing up. He felt a tiny bit of hope, almost enough to make him smile. Maybe he could use this to his advantage.
In low tones, Jakes outlined the kidnapping plot to Crystal. He left out the part about Brady killing the kid after they had the money. He hadn't planned on letting his girlfriend in on the plan at all. The fewer people involved, the better. Now he had no choice.
She was looking at him now with wide eyes. "Michael...how can you be sure you'll pull this off? If that man is as rich and powerful as you say, he will hunt you down. You'll go to jail."
Michael shook his head. "Brady's taking care of that. He goes way back with this guy. Pearson doesn't even know I'm involved, and he doesn't know me from Adam."
"But that boy, he has seen you. He'll tell them you were in on it. He'll lead them to this house!"
Jakes shook his head. "He was blindfolded when we brought him here. Besides, even if he does tell them, I'll be long gone by that time. With two-hundred and fifty grand, we can go anywhere we want."
She looked surprised. "We? You want me to leave with you?"
He nodded. "We can go anywhere," he repeated, "and we'll live like kings. You can get some new clothes at the best stores, diamonds, a new car; whatever you want."
A hint of a smile played on her lips. "You would buy me that stuff?"
"Of course!" He hadn't actually planned on that, but it was worth it if it kept her quiet. "We won't have to work crummy jobs anymore. We won't have to work at all, if we don't want to."
It was working. He could see it in her eyes. She was drifting away, imagining the fantasy life of ease he had just described. She smiled for real now.
"That would be nice," she mumbled. Then her expression became serious again, and she looked him directly in the eye. "But you won't hurt him, right? You won't hurt the boy?"
"Of course not," he said, his dark eyes meeting her green ones. "I could never hurt a kid. In fact, why don't you go in the kitchen and make us all some lunch? He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday, and neither have I."
She nodded. "I brought Chinese food."
"I thought something smelled good," he said.
She tried her best to smile, though horrible uncertainty still nagged at her. "I just hope this works."
He pulled her to her feet and gave her a quick kiss. "It will. I promise."
Even trapped in a back room, Vaughn could smell the food. The scent was torture to him. His stomach rumbled again and again, and he felt light-headed. He tried not to get his hopes up that he would get anything to eat, but the smell was impossible to ignore. Especially when it was accompanied by approaching footsteps.
"Give him what's left of that lo-mein and rice," he heard Jakes's gruff voice command.
"Aren't you going to untie him?"
"Nah. You can feed him."
"I'm not his mother. Untie him so he can do it himself."
Finally, the door opened. Jakes knelt down next to the bunk where Vaughn was sitting.
"Turn around," he commanded. Vaughn complied, wiggling around so that his back faced his captor. "I have Brady's gun, so don't get any ideas. He took the carton of Chinese food and a fork from Crystal and handed it to Vaughn silently.
Vaughn scooped up a mouthful of noodles greedily, nearly knocking it off the fork in his haste. The lo-mein was cold and gummy, and was the best food Vaughn had ever tasted. Almost before he knew it, the food was gone and Jakes was tying his hands.
"Wait!" Vaughn said as he started to walk away.
"What?" Jakes asked suspiciously.
"Can I have a glass of water?"
Jakes finished and pushed him back. "Go get him a drink," he commanded his girlfriend.
Minutes later Crystal reappeared, holding a tall plastic glass of water. Looking extremely awkward, she nervously held the glass to his mouth. She accidentally tipped it up too far, causing some of the water to spill. It splashed his neck and wet the front of his shirt.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, righting the glass. She nervously pushed her straight blonde back away from her face.
"It's OK." She corrected the glass so that the water went into Vaughn's mouth. He took a swallow, careful not to drink it all at once.
"Are you sure you want to be mixed up in this?" he asked.
She looked surprised. "What?"
He took another drink and continued. "Well, I mean, I'm guessing you didn't know about this kidnapping plan until today. Are you sure you want to be part of something illegal? You could call the police now. I bet they would go easy on you."
"Yeah, I'll call them right now so they can haul my boyfriend to jail. How dumb do you think I am?" She started to pull the glass away. Vaughn quickly leaned his head forward to take another drink.
"I don't think you're dumb," he said after he swallowed. "You can be smart and not get into trouble. You could untie me and let me go… your boyfriend wouldn't know it was you."
Crystal looked frightened. "He would kill me."
"Kill you? I thought you said he was your boyfriend." Vaughn glanced at her arm, noticing faded bruises there. "Did he give you those?"
Crystal frowned. "He loves me. He just…doesn't know how strong he is."
"If he loved you, he wouldn't hurt you," Vaughn said, thinking of Josie.
Crystal glared at him. "What do you know about it? You're just a spoiled rich kid who's never had to work for anything before."
"You don't know me," Vaughn replied defensively.
"Yeah, well you don't know me either. Obviously you don't know that I would never betray Michael." Crystal jerked the glass away and stood up abruptly. "Look, I know you're probably scared, but you don't need to be. Michael won't hurt you. You'll be uncomfortable for a day or two, then you'll go home and talk to your therapist and you'll be fine." She slammed the door before Vaughn could point out that Jakes had already hurt him. He sighed and leaned back against the wall, settling himself in for another long wait.