Chapter 6

Half an hour later Lisa had finished her story. It had started with the red eye flight to Miami, and ended with Jackson's abduction of Sam and their subsequent disappearance. Amy and Tommy had listened, wide-eyed, the entire time, and neither spoke for several long moments after Lisa finished her narration.

"So, what do we do now?" Tommy finally broke the silence, ready to rush to his friend's rescue. "Any clue where they might be?"

"No." Lisa's eyes welled up, but she took a deep breath and didn't break down. "The last thing he said on the phone was that they were going away. As far as I know, that could mean out of the city or out of the country."

"There has to be somewhere we can start." Amy's tone was more hopeful than confident. The three of them fell silent once again, trying in vain to think of something, anything that they could do. The chirpy ring of a cell phone made everyone jump.

"That's Sam's ringtone." Amy said.

"I have her phone; Jackson left it at the restaurant." Lisa pulled the phone from her jacket pocket and checked the readout. "It's not him." She hit the ignore button and set the phone back down, sighing.

"It might be a good thing that he's not calling." Tommy said, trying to reassure her. "No news is good news, right?"

"Right." Lisa's voice lacked conviction. The phone rang again, and again she checked it. "Same number. I wish they'd just leave a message."

"Wait, what if Sammy got to a phone?" Amy said suddenly. Lisa's eyes widened and she quickly hit the talk button.

"Hello?" She asked hesitantly.

"Screening my calls for me?" Sam's cheerful voice was loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Sammy, oh my god are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, Leese. I'm on a train, probably shouldn't say to where. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. It's all worked out. I just wanted you to know." Sam's words were rushed, and concern was evident beneath the forced cheer.

"Wait, what do you mean? Where is Jackson?" Lisa heard a sound like a sharp intake of breath, and then felt her blood go cold when the voice that answered her was not her sister's.

"I'm right here, Leese. Your little sister is a clever one," he chuckled mirthlessly. "Remember on the flight to Miami, when I told you I may have to steal you? Well, you might be off the hook. I think I've found a replacement."

"No!" Lisa's plea was cut off by the beep of a disconnected signal. "No, no, no, this can't be happening. Not Sam. Not with him. She didn't do anything!"

"Shh, Lisa. Calm down, it's going to be okay." Amy wrapped her arms around the older woman, comforting herself at the same time. "It's Sam. She's one of the strongest people I know. If anyone can beat this guy, it's her."

"And we can help her." Tommy's statement came as a surprise, and both women shot him questioning looks. "We have a starting point now: the train station. I say we head over there and see what we can figure out."

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Sam found herself holding her breath as Jackson calmly closed the phone. Without even looking at her, he knocked on the compartment door and handed the phone back to the lady inside, who returned his smile. As soon as she closed the door, he grabbed Sam's elbow in a vice-like grip and pulled her back to their car.

"I didn't—" were the only words out of her mouth before he slammed her into the wall of the compartment, his hand closing around her throat. This won't end well she thought sardonically.

"You know, I thought you had a bit more common sense than this, Samantha." There was an edge to his voice, and his eyes flashed with anger, making them more unnerving than usual. Sam tried to say something, but all that came out was a choking gasp. "What did you think, that big sis was going to come to your rescue? Come on, you know better than that."

Sam shook her head, frantically prying at his fingers. The edges of her vision were going black and she felt herself start to slip away before Jackson suddenly let go and she collapsed to the floor.

"Get up." He instructed coldly. She managed a glare as she pulled herself into one of the seats, still trying to catch her breath.

"I didn't…want her to…freak out." She gasped. Then, recovering more, "I wouldn't have told her where we were going. I don't want her here."

Jackson stared at her for a few long moments, as though her were determining if she was telling the truth or not. Eventually he shrugged and turned his attention to his phone, which Sam noticed had the message light flashing. His eyes scanned the screen, probably reading a text message, and then he punched in a number.

"Hey, it's me. Uh huh. No, it's okay. Just keep on them, and keep me updated." He closed the phone and looked back up at Sam. "Your sister and friends are on their way to the train station. What exactly did you tell them?"

"Only that I was on a train, I swear. They don't know where we're going." Sam's voice was even, but keeping it that way took an enormous amount of self control. "I'm not trying to mess with whatever plan you have, I told you already that I'll cooperate, but I wasn't going to leave Lisa fearing the worst after not hearing anything for hours."

"Well, that was what I had planned." Jackson's tone made her wince, but then he did a complete one-eighty and smiled, though it wasn't quite pleasant. "But thanks to your little stunt, things are actually better than before. Now Lisa thinks I have no intention of letting you go, and that will be worse for her than not knowing."

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A/N: Look, I posted a new chapter within a week of the last one! Go me!