Shawn
I woke up a little after seven on the morning of game day. I was nervous for the game, but mostly for Alice. I had a bad feeling about her going to the office alone. I trusted her instincts, but I didn’t trust Chris.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to balance my team responsibilities with my boyfriend duties. If Coach caught me with my phone, I would be in huge trouble. Then, if something actually did go wrong, how was I supposed to get up and leave? If I left in the middle of the game, I would be letting my team down. Not to mention that I’d never see a minute of playing time the rest of the season.
What could Chris possibly do? Alice was tiny, but she was strong. If Chris tried to attack her, she could totally fight him off. At the very least, she could run or scream.
She wouldn’t need to though. I was letting my imagination get the best of me. At the most, if they met, he would probably say something incredibly nasty to her. I could totally kick his ass, but I know that Alice wouldn’t like that.
Jack joined me for team breakfast at the dining hall before the team meeting. I was shoveling breakfast meats and pancakes into my mouth but tasting nothing. There was too much on my mind. It was a big game, and I didn’t need the extra distractions. I hoped that Alice would grab her stuff and go well before warm-ups.
“Did you go to the Kappa party last night?” Jack asked.
“No, and I hope you didn’t either. We have a big game today, and everyone needs to be at the top of their game.”
“That’s not like you, man. You didn’t show up at all? Even for an hour? The girls were incredible.”
“Nope. I went to bed early.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, poking me in the arm.
“Nothing. I just want to have a good game.”
“Nah, you’re usually a little peppier on game day. Something is up.”
“You can’t tell anyone, especially Coach,” I said in a hushed voice.
“What’s up?”
“I told Alice about Chris and she’s going to his office alone today to get her work.”
Jack raised his eyebrows. He instantly understood, but I didn’t feel very reassured by his reaction.
“Oh,” he said. “He’s not going to be there, is he?”
“No. But I still don’t like her going alone in case he shows up. He won’t hurt her, will he?”
“I have no idea.”
“She has a warning app on her phone that will notify me if she’s in trouble, but what if we’re on the field?”
“Yeah, you definitely can’t have a phone on the sidelines. You’d be in such big shit.”
“So what do I do? I won’t feel better until I know she’s safe.”
“Can you leave your phone with one of the back-ups? Maybe they can let you know if the alert goes off,” Jack suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea. What do I do if I have to leave though? I could call the cops, but I’d probably get there just as fast, if not faster, from where we are.”
“I’ll tell Coach that you’re feeling sick and had to go to the bathroom. You might not get to play second half, but we’ll figure it out if the time comes.”
“Thanks. I really hope she’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be fine. I mean, who wants to go to the office on a Saturday? Especially on game day.”
“You’re right.”
With a plan in place, I felt a little bit better. I washed down my scrambled eggs with a tall glass of milk. Jack and I took our empty trays to the kitchen and headed off toward the stadium.
It was hard to listen to the game plan when I was waiting for Alice’s text saying that everything was okay. I noticed the offensive coordinator eyeing me a few times, like he wasn’t sure if I was ready to play. I tried to sit up straight and look interested, but I kept slipping into daydreams.
I imagined standing next to Alice as she sneaks in to grab the files. Chris shows up and absolutely loses his shit. He lunges at Alice, and I knock him on his ass. When the police show up and take him away, we clear the papers off the desk and have passionate sex. She tells me she loves me, and I score three touchdowns for the win and we live happily ever after.
In reality, she’d probably just grab the papers off the desk and come to the game. My imagination often got the best of me.
Jack grabbed me by the shoulder before we left for the locker room.
“You never really told me what was going on between you two,” Jack said, fishing for more information.
“Eh, it’s nothing,” I said, not wanting to get into it. I knew that he would make fun of me for settling down. Jack and I had always been like that. It was more fun to hang out with each other on the weekends and not have to worry about girls getting in the way.
“Bro, you’ve gotta tell me,” Jack pleaded.
“Fine. Yeah, I guess we’re together now,” I said.
Jack laughed and slapped me on the back. I braced myself for the onslaught of mockery.
“Congrats, man,” he said. “I don’t know her well, but she seems like a really cool chick.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty great,” I said.
“I hope this doesn’t mean that your party days are over.”
“No way. The only thing that’s going to change is that I’ll always have a girl to bring home at the end of the night.”
“Yeah, the same girl,” Jack joked.
“I think I’m okay with that,” I said. “Does this make me soft?”
“No. To be honest, I’m actually a little jealous of you. I wish I had someone like that.”
I was surprised. As long as I had been around campus, I had been taught that football players didn’t need girlfriends because they could sleep with anyone they wanted. I had bought into it the most, especially after seeing how much everyone loved the party guy.
But now, things were different. Nothing about me had changed besides my attitude toward women. I didn’t want the chase anymore. I just wanted Alice.
We continued down into the locker room to get suited up for the game. We had warm-ups in an hour, so this gave us plenty of time to get pumped up and ready to play.
Alice finally texted me to tell me that she was on her way to the office building. I quickly responded,
Okay, good. If anything seems suspicious, leave immediately. We can always go back another time and get the stuff. Text me as soon as you leave. I’ll be looking for you in the crowd.
She sent back a short response,
Will do.
I grabbed my uniform, but I didn’t want to put it on until I knew she was out of the building. I thought about how much fun it would be to celebrate with Alice after the game. She could stay the night at my place, and then we could go out for a late breakfast in the morning.
Everyone else was nearly dressed, so with no word from Alice, I put on my uniform pants and undershirt. I laced up my cleats and was about to put on my shoulder pads when I heard a shrill sound coming from my locker.
It was Alice’s alarm.
Dropping everything, I sprinted out of the locker room past Jack and the coaches. I didn’t have time to explain.
I had only felt this kind of fear once before. One time, I was driving to the lake house late at night after a high school basketball game. I was being careless and speeding down the icy roads. I hit a sharp turn and skidded out of control. If my car had slid another foot or so, I would have fallen down the mountain. It was the kind of fear that froze every muscle in my body yet made me shake uncontrollably.
It was the fear of not knowing if the outcome would be okay or if it would be a disaster. I really needed Alice to be okay.
Alice
I accidentally overslept on Saturday morning. I set my alarm for seven so I could be in and out of the office before Shawn even stepped foot into the locker room, but instead, I rolled out of bed a few minutes before eight.
I wrapped my towel around my body and grabbed my shower tote. I had planned on doing my hair today
for the game, but that wasn’t happening anymore. Instead, I scrubbed at my face and let the warm water from the shower prepare me for the long day ahead. After I grabbed the papers, I would have more time to make myself look perfect for cheering on Shawn. Until then, I’d just have to go out with crazy hair and a naked face.
That didn’t really matter to me, though. I was focused on retrieving all the work I put into Chris’s stupid project. My idea could help young women like me who were fooled time and time again by manipulative men. My hard work could actually be put to good use.
After I got dressed, I grabbed my phone and ran out the door. I sent Shawn a quick text to let him know that I was almost to the building and I assured him that I’d be careful. We were making a big deal out of nothing, but I still appreciated his concern.
I was really excited to see him play. After missing out on the last game, I was ready to cheer him on. We were keeping our relationship discreet in case Chris found out and so Shawn and I could focus on school and football. He told me that he had big plans for me at the end of the semester, and I couldn’t wait to find out what all that entailed.
I tapped the electronic lock on the door with my student ID and pulled the door open when it flashed green. It was clear that I was the only person in the whole building, but I checked my surroundings every couple of seconds. The only light in the building was through the hall windows, and my footsteps on the tiles were the only sounds.
As I walked up the stairs, I realized how silly it was to be so nervous about getting my work from the office. Chris had no reason to be up so early, as he had probably seduced another freshman girl and handed his work off to her. He just wasn’t a morning person.
Phone in hand, I quickly turned the office’s door handle and forcefully pushed the door open before stepping inside, just in case Chris was waiting to jump out at me. My heart was racing.
When I turned on the light to reveal a completely empty office, I giggled. How silly was I to think that Chris would be there to bash me over the head with a paperweight or something? I carefully looked through the untouched papers on my desk to make sure everything was accounted for. Every paper was in place. I bent down to place an empty folder in my folder’s place so Chris wouldn’t notice a difference right away.
As I stood up, a white cloth smashed into my face. At first, I didn’t even register that something bad was happening. It took a few seconds to register that someone was attacking me. I attempted to scream, but only a muffled screech came out. There was no one else here. No one could help me.
“It’s okay,” Chris’s soft, reassuring voice said into my ear as my eyelids suddenly became heavy and my breathing slowed. He pressed his mouth to my head, just above my temple. I tried to open the warning app, but my fingers felt slow and uncoordinated. I wasn’t sure if I sent the message to Shawn or not.
Then, there was nothing.
I couldn’t even guess at how long I was unconscious before I woke to find myself tied to a cold metal chair in a basement storage room. It could have been seconds or it could have been hours. I wasn’t sure where I was, but I assumed that I was still in the Psych building because there were too many people on campus to take me anywhere else.
Chris was nowhere to be seen. I tried to scoot my chair, but I still felt so sleepy and weak. Whatever he had gassed me with was making it hard to think, let alone move. I tried to inch my phone out of my pocket, but it was empty. There was no way to call for help.
I wasn’t sure what Chris was going to do with me. I knew he had a knack for creating scenes to make himself look like the hero, so my first thought was that he left me here and would be back any minute with the police in tow so they could witness his heroic actions. I just hoped that Shawn wouldn’t be accused of kidnapping me. Chris would be foolish to try that because Shawn would have a strong alibi, and he carries more clout on campus than Chris could ever have.
I tried my best to stay calm, but I was starting to freak out. I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn’t think Chris would physically harm me. At worst, he was probably trying to scare me or threaten me into being back with him. I would tell him whatever he wanted to hear, but the moment I knew I was free and safe, I would tell the police everything. He was not going to get away with this.
Sitting in the dark basement, I thought about my options. I could try to escape, but I was tied pretty tightly and running away was not a possibility. I wiggled my hands to see if I could loosen the rope. Nothing. I tried to move the chair by shifting my body weight, but I almost tipped over. Moving was not going to help.
My only other choice, besides sitting exactly where I was, was making noise. I doubted that anyone was in the vicinity, but just in case, I let out the loudest, shrillest scream I could. I screamed until I was out of breath and my voice was hoarse. Certainly, someone passing by the building would have heard it and called for help.
I closed my eyes and counted to one hundred to pass the time. I wanted time to go quicker so someone would find me and release me.
I made it to thirty before I heard footsteps coming toward me.
“There’s no need to scream,” Chris said, carrying a small tray covered in a towel. “I’m right here.”
“You,” I growled. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He looked defeated, like he expected a different reaction out of me. His cool demeanor really freaked me out.
“Please don’t hurt me,” I said in a gentler voice.
“Alice, I’m not going to hurt you. I just thought that since you’re stealing all of my data for my project and hanging me out to dry, that it would be fine to get one last favor out of you.”
“What kind of favor?” I asked, my voice quivering.
“Oh,” he said casually, “it’s nothing much. I just need a test subject for a little something I’ve been working on with a buddy in the pharmacy department.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Recently, I’ve been dabbling in psychiatric research. You know, like drug therapies. I thought this would really do great things for my study.”
“How so?” I asked, stalling for time before he did something insane.
“I’m working on a new drug that can be extremely useful in romantic relationships. It changes the brain’s chemistry in a way that makes the user feel happy and comfortable, so they’re less likely to lose interest in their mate. In fact, if it works how I hope it will, it could work almost like some sort of love potion.”
“It sounds like a new date rape drug,” I said. “Complete compliance isn’t healthy.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said, waving me off. “This is the future. Relationship woes will be a thing of the past. This could make billions.”
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“It’s not your place to say. I’m the researcher. You’re just my assistant. Now hold still while I administer the drug.”
I squirmed. “Please don’t.”
“You’re the whole reason I’m doing this in the first place. We’re meant to be together, Alice. How are we supposed to be happy when you’re off with another guy? It really hurts my feelings that you would think about anyone other than me.”
“That’s not it at all, Chris. If you hadn’t cheated on me, we would probably still be together.”
“I’m sorry, but monogamy isn’t easy. I can’t help that I’m a man with feelings and desires. I’m trying to do better, but it’s hard.”
“Honestly, I’m glad I caught you because it showed me the type of person you are. You abuse me, Chris. And now, you’re going to poison me, for all I know.
“Don’t worry, Alice,” he said, stroking my hair. “It’s perfectly safe. Let me explain what I’m going to do.”
He pulled the cover off the tray, revealing two filled syringes.
“One syringe has the drug, and one has a simple saline solution for the control.”
“Which one are you going to give me?”
&nbs
p; “I’m going to mix the two up so neither of us knows which is which. I’ll give you one now, and then the other in an hour or so. They aren’t large doses, so I’m guessing the drug will wear off in no time.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course not. I haven’t tried this on humans yet. I tried it on some rats, but it only made them lethargic and weak. I’m excited to see how it works on humans.”
Chris reached for one of the syringes and I screamed again.
“Please stop,” he said anxiously. “If you can’t keep quiet, I’ll have to gag you, and I really don’t want to do that. Do you understand?”
I nodded once. By this point, I was convinced that I hadn’t deployed the warning. No one was coming for me.
At this point, my fears had less to do with what Chris was going to do with me after I was drugged, but more what the drug would do to my body. It was some mysterious chemical mixture created by very inexperienced college students. This drug could potentially destroy my organs or even kill me. There was no way of knowing what to expect.
The reason Chris was so dangerous was that he thought he was perfect in all aspects of his life. Unlike the rest of us, who harbored a little self-doubt every now and again, Chris genuinely believed that he could do anything. He believed he could have a girlfriend while sleeping around with whomever he pleased. He believed that he could submit his study to scholarly journals without doing any of the actual work himself. Now, he believed that he could create a drug to make romantic partners compliant and submissive and inject it into his ex-girlfriend against her will.
He grabbed my arm and exposed the crook of my elbow.
“Relax,” he ordered, prodding around at my veins. “If you tense up, it might hurt.”
I was in no position to argue, so I used all the control in my body to soften my rigid arm.
Lethal Seduction: A CIA Romantic Suspense (CIA Agents Book 1) Page 35