Recap: Ranger discovers that previously Ramirez had taken a hostage to the shore. Stephanie plugs in the transmitter and hides it. Ramirez says he is pressed for time, and will make Stephanie do whatever he says.
Stephanie
I couldn't actually watch the TV. My mind was buzzing from fear and adrenaline. I didn't know what Ramirez had meant when he said he could make me scream forever, and I was certain I wasn't going to like finding out. I tried undoing the knot bound around my wrist. Sadly, I got kicked out of Girl Scouts in 2nd grade after biting Marge Columbo and never took a knot class. The flickering lights from the TV weren't much illumination, but it was all I had to work with.
Ranger
I called Tank as soon as Lula left the car and filled him in, as well as the team I could hear in the background.. "I'm grabbing Lester and heading to the Shore. You take Bobby and do the same. We start at Point Pleasant, I'll head South, you go North. Send out two more teams, whoever you have available. Anyone else canvasses town for clues, goes through his things, ect. We went from a needle in a haystack to a needle in a bale, but that's still a hell of an area to search."
"What you need is a magnet." I heard Hector say as he got closer to the phone. "I've programmed several more receivers with the frequency she was broadcasting. If you get within 2 miles of her, you might pick up a signal. But that's only if it's still transmitting, and we are long past the battery life."
Stephanie
My wrist and fingers were sore from working the rope. Tears streaked down my face, from frustration as much as anything else. I'd gotten the ropes a little bit loosened, only to find a knot that was melted, like someone had applied a lighter to the nylon. "Common Stephanie. You have a date to get to, and you're late." I told myself, willing myself to keep fighting. I was starting to understand how a fox could gnaw off its own paw to escape a trap. And the fox only faced death. Whatever Ramirez had planned for me, it was a lot worse.
Ranger
I was barreling down the highway, praying to a God I wasn't sure would listen to me. Please let her be safe. Please don't let anything happen to her. Not for my sake, but for hers.
Lester sat next to me, leafing through files. For once, he was quiet. No jokes or innuendos. No crude remarks about what would happen if we found Stephanie. When. Not if, when. You are GOING to find her.
"I might have found something" Lester said, perking up.
"What?" I asked, desperate for more information.
"I've been looking through his financial holdings we found in his apartment. Looks like he invested in something called Time To Get Away Holdings."
"What's that?"
"Timeshare company. You know, people pay to own a vacation home for one week a year. They're all over the shore. It's a lot cheaper than renting a hotel, and you have a real kitchen."
"And that means a lot of empty houses this time of year, that he owns. Isn't there something about how vampires can't come into a place they aren't invited? You're fucking brillient Lester!"
He pulled out his phone while I pushed the pedal even harder. The haystack had become a hay bale, and now was a…shit. What was a smaller unit of hay? I was a soldier, I didn't know what you called a small chunk of hay. A haylett maybe.
"Tank, it's Lester. Send all available people to any Time To Get Away location we can find. Looks like there's a few dozen around the state, but it narrows the search even further. Look for signs of life, lights on, cars in driveways, things like that. These places should be empty this time of year."
Lester pointed to an exit. "Closest location is right down the road. Take this exit. We have a lot of ground to cover."
I was starting to feel a tiny bit of hope.
Stephanie
I was starting to give up all hope. I was rubbed raw, my muscles were sore, and I really had to pee. But that didn't mean I was happy when I heard the door to the outside open. I tried to settle myself in a way that looked like I had just been laying there, helpless. I doubted Ramirez was the type of guy who would enjoy spunk in a woman. He seemed the kind who would enjoy beating it out of her.
When the door to the room opened, the first thing I saw was the knife in his hand. And I'm not proud, but I started to panic. I scrambled up the bed, clinging to the wall behind me. Without a word he grabbed my wrist and slashed at the rope, freeing me from the bed. But not from him. He turned and walked out of the room, dragging me behind him. I tried to keep vertical, to just stay on my feet instead of being dragged by the arm like a toddler's toy doll. I mostly succeeded until we stumbled out the backdoor, and I saw what he had been working on. A hole, six feet deep and four feet across, with wet sand on the bottom from the high water table this close to the ocean.
I've heard the phrase 'my blood ran cold', but I'd never understood it. Not really. Not like being faced with an angry psychopath and an empty grave. I turned to run. I knew it was hopeless, but I couldn't help myself. His foot lashed out and kicked me, I heard a loud snap and knew my leg was broken as I collapsed to the sandy ground. No way to run. No place to hide. I could barely feel the pain I knew must be there through the sheer terror. Ramirez hauled me up and stared in my eyes, his own empty and soulless. He licked the tears off my face in a move so disgusting I didn't want to contemplate it. "When you wake up, you'll be my little puppet. I think I'll have you scream all night long, just so I can revel in the sound. Or maybe I won't let you talk at all. Either way, I'm sure I'll come up with something."
And then he bit me, hard. I've read lots of romance novels where a vampire drinking your blood is sexy. But this was just pain. Pain in my leg that couldn't hold me, in my neck as he savaged it, in my arms as he held me vertical in a vice like grip. And as I fell into welcome oblivion, I felt something hard and wet and sticky pressed against my lips. And I drank as the world turned black.
