CHAPTER 13

Veronica didn't know how long that she had been in Duncan's car, but she didn't think that it had been too long; maybe an hour or so. An hour was long enough to make her body cramp up because of her position. She didn't think that she would be able to move her legs if she had a chance to.

Her cell had ringed once earlier on then stopped, but Duncan couldn't hear it because of how loud the radio was. If it hadn't been for the slight vibrations that it had made against her stomach, Veronica wouldn't have heard it either. Her cell was in her jacket pocket, and she wanted to make sure that it stayed there.

Veronica was happy that Duncan hadn't heard the phone go off, because he knew that her father would be able to track her from the cell. For the moment it seemed like he had forgotten, but she didn't want to jog his memory.

That was the only reason that she had stopped crying. Because she knew that her dad would find her. All it depended on now was how long it would take for people to realize that she was gone.

Veronica was depending on Logan for that.

Logan swore as the machine came on at Keith's office. He had already left to go find Veronica. Logan would have phoned Keith's cell, but he didn't know the number. He swore again as he sped away in his SUV. He needed to get to Veronica's house before Keith left.

Logan had to speed through half of Neptune before he got there and he prayed the whole way.

When Logan pulled up to the complex he was relieved to see that Keith was just getting out of his car.

"Keith!" Logan called out as he got out of his SUV. Keith paused and looked over, smiling wryly when he saw who it was. Logan jogged over to where Keith was standing.

"Duncan isn't at school either" Logan said right away. Logan knew that he might be over reacting but he didn't care. He didn't want to wait and see if Keith was right; all he cared about was that Keith know the threat she might be in.

Keith's smile dropped away when he heard the news and he started to walk faster to his door. Logan was just about to follow when he kicked something and heard a jingle. He looked down and he almost threw up.

Veronica's keys were lying afew inchesaway from his foot.

"Keith" he tried to call out, but his throat was choked and the word could only rasp out of him. Keith must have heard it anyway because he turned to look at Logan curiously. Noticing Logan's gaze, Keith followed it down to where Veronica's keys were.

Veronica almost cried out when the radio was suddenly turned off. Her ears had slowly adjusted to the harsh noise, and it was a shock to hear the almost complete silence. The quiet only lasted for a minute though; Duncan was soon getting out of the driver's seat and moving to the rear door.

Veronica held her breath as the door opened. The breath was expelled quickly when the blanket that was covering her was torn away. She blinked from the bright light that hit her eyes.

"Come on Veronica" Duncan said in a gentle voice. Veronica wasn't sure if Duncan's new calmness was better or worse then the anger from before. Both of them scared the hell out of her.

Veronica turned her head and looked up to where Duncan was standing near her feet. He had ducked his head into the door and was crouching over her, his hands near her ankles. Veronica whimpered and tried to evade his touch. It didn't work. Duncan caught her feet and held them firmly as he fumbled with a set of keys.

Veronica realised that he was going to undo the handcuffs on her ankles and stopped fighting. Even though the cuffs were padded, they had still hurt; and having to hold her body in that position hadn't helped much either.

When Duncan moved her legs up to get to the lock Veronica couldn't help but cry out at the pain. She closed her eyes tight and tried to stop herself from crying. She didn't think that she would be able to stop if she got started up.

"I didn't want to hurt you Veronica" Duncan said softly as he gently laid her legs down again.

Veronica thought that her legs were free, but she couldn't tell. She moved one leg a little and it went far enough from the other leg to confirm it.

"See?" Duncan said eagerly. Veronica looked at him again. He had a small smile on his face. "I'm going to help you" he continued. Veronica felt a chill go down her spine. Duncan didn't seem to realise that whatever pain she was in was his fault.

It was worth a try to talk some sense into him. It would be better now then when he was angry again. And Veronica didn't doubt that he would be angry again; because she didn't plan on giving into what he wanted.

"If you want to help me, then let me go" Veronica said with her voice raspy from her earlier screams.

Duncan frowned at her. "No" he said simply and lifted her from the seats.

"Logan, phone the sheriff and tell him everything that you know" Keithordered brisklyas he walked quickly to where his car was parked. "Tell him to call my cell and I'll tell him where to go"

Logan walked next to Keith and shook his head at the words. He knew what Keith was going to do; track Veronica by her phone. What Logan wasn't planning on letting Keith do, was go alone.

"I'm going with you" Logan said as he moved to the other side of the car and opened the passenger side door. Keith opened his mouth as if to say something but shutit and got in too.

Neither of them said anything as Keith programmed his GPS system to locate Veronica's phone. It took a minute but when it was ready, Keith smiled.

"I've got her" he said as he turned his car on and sped out of the lot.

Logan buckled his seat belt and smiled humourlessly. This time he was going to make sure that Duncan left Veronica alone for good.