She had told him. Alyssa buried her face into her hands, feeling dizzy.
"I'm going to get Dad."
Alyssa nodded, not even looking up. She had to do something. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called Macy's number. She would tell Macy that the age restriction was lifted. Who cared what Chad wanted? She had to get her baby back.
The call went straight to voice mail. She listened to the entire message, feeling a small sense of relief at hearing her daughter's voice. She ended the call, doubtful that Macy would get the message if she had turned her phone off. Alyssa found Zoey's number and called. Zoey was Macy's best friend. She would know what was going on.
"Hello?" Zoey sounded half-asleep.
"Zoey, this is Macy's Mom."
"Mrs. Mercer? What's up?"
"Have you talked with Macy?"
"Uh…no. Why?"
Alyssa took a deep breath. "Did she say anything to you about running away?"
"What? No. Oh, crap. This is bad."
"Yes, this is very bad. Anything you know will help. Don't worry about getting her into trouble. We need to find her. That's the only thing that matters."
"I'm guessing you didn't know about her date last night."
"Her what?"
Zoey sighed. "She was getting together with a guy she met online."
The room shrank around Alyssa. "What…?"
"Yeah. Jared something. Wait. Hold on. He messaged me on online, asking some questions about her. Let me look."
Alyssa took several deep breaths as she listened to the rustling sounds of Zoey on the other end of the line. Things were going from bad to worse.
"I can't find his message, Mrs. Mercer. Wait a minute. Oh, I see the problem. He deactivated his account. I can still see the messages, but his name's gone, and there's no picture. I wish I could remember his last name. Is Macy going to be okay?"
"I hope so. Listen, Zoey, if you hear anything else, or think of anything, call me back. Okay?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll see if I can find anything else."
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye, Mrs. Mercer. I'll do anything to help find her."
Alyssa nodded, knowing, and not caring, that Zoey couldn't see her. She opened the app on her phone and went to her daughter's profile, searching for clues.
Awake
The ground beneath Macy bumped up and down, waking her. She looked around, her head pounding, and reached for the side of her head. A tender bump stuck out near her forehead. The last thing she remembered was going into the truck with the madman who had pretended to be Jared.
She rolled to the side of the truck, slamming her already-sore head as they took a sharp turn. On all fours, she crawled to the back of the truck to see if she could unlock it. Everything was sealed tight. Not that she was surprised, given how much effort the guy had gone to with everything else.
The two of them had spent hours and hours messaging and texting. "Jared" had always seemed so interested in her, like she was special. But all he really wanted was to figure out her passwords. She wanted to kick herself; her parents had told her countless times not to give out personal information online. She had thought Jared was safe, but she had obviously been wrong.
Macy went to the sides of the truck, feeling around for anything she could open. She searched every single inch of the truck bed and canopy. It was no use; he had made sure everything was locked. All she found was a blanket, folded up and tucked into a corner.
Where was he taking her? And who was Heather? That name seemed important to him. Maybe if Macy could figure out why, she could figure out a way to escape.
The truck stopped, and the engine cut. Her stomach rumbled, and Macy realized how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and who knew how long ago that had been? She'd been planning to eat with Jared, who didn't even exist. She leaned against the corner of the walls.
Minutes ticked by as she waited. She shivered and grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around herself. It had the light scent of a girl's perfume.
As she started to doze, a loud click snapped her back to reality. The door of the canopy opened and the madman looked in. "Good. You're awake. I got some food. You'd better eat it because we're not stopping again for a while." He threw a wrapped hamburger at her. "I know you're vegan, but that's what you're getting. Eat it or go hungry."
He lowered the canopy door.
"Wait! Where are we going?"
"You'll find out soon enough." The door slammed, and Macy heard the lock slide into place.
She stared at the hamburger, sitting on the blanket. She hadn't eaten meat in more than six months, but her stomach roared, begging her to eat the greasy, dead animal.
The irony didn't escape her. Macy had gone vegan to lose weight, tired of everyone calling her "Muffin-top Macy." She'd lost the weight, but the name had stuck. That's what had led her to seek a boyfriend online. Now, here she was.
She wouldn't let the psycho win. She wasn't going to eat his burger. He might have poisoned it, anyway, or slipped something in to make her more agreeable.
She'd show him. If he saw she couldn't be controlled that easily, maybe he would give up and let her go. She had skipped meals plenty of times. When she first went vegan, her parents hadn't taken her seriously and continued to serve meat-filled meals.
Once they figured out that she would starve herself if that's what it took, they changed their minds—and Macy's diet.
She threw the burger across the truck. She wasn't going to eat it. If nothing else, it would take off a little more weight.
She leaned her head against the wall of the truck bed, tired and scared. There was no getting away yet, she knew that. So she let herself fall asleep again, thinking that at least she might be rested when the time came to escape.
The truck went over a large bump, waking her. How long had she been asleep this time? She could smell the cold hamburger. It permeated the entire truck bed. Her stomach rumbled again, but it twisted at the same time. As hungry as she was, the burger was the last thing she wanted to eat.
Pulling the perfumed blanket up close to her chin, she wanted to go back to sleep. No, what she wanted was to go back in time and never talk to "Jared" in the first place. Why had she been so stupid? Why hadn't she changed her passwords more often? She'd always heard how important that was.
Before long, boredom struck. It felt strange to be bored when she could be killed any moment, but the waiting was the worst part. Waiting wasn't her strong suit—but really, was it anyone's?
Of course, she knew that once the truck stopped she would probably give anything to be bored again.
How was she going to fight him? She should know something about self-defense given how many hours she'd been forced to watch her brother's karate tournaments and practices. There was something to do with pressure points, but she couldn't remember what. She had never paid any attention, usually playing a game, texting, or reading.
Why hadn't she agreed to take the lessons with him? The sound of her dad's voice telling her that it would be good for her bounced around her head. Why hadn't she listened? There were so many things Macy would have done differently, if only she'd known. So many things.
The truck hit another bump, and as Macy went into the air she realized she had to go to the bathroom. Bad. What was she supposed to do? Peeing in his truck would have made her happy, but she didn't want to have to smell it, or worse, land in it at some point.
They went over another bump, and she knew that she had to do something before she lost control of her bladder. The last thing she wanted was to soak her clothes. Macy squeezed her pelvic muscles and looked around in desperation. She noticed something behind one of the tires. Was that some kind of container? Why hadn't she noticed that before? Her stomach sank as she realized it was there for her to pee in.
Holding her breath to keep control of her bladder, she crawled over to it. It was an empty juice jug. That was going to have to do the job. They hit another bump, an
d she dropped the container as she leaked a few drops of urine. "Crap!" She scrambled for the jug and, feeling like an idiot, dropped her pants.
When she was done, a feeling of relief washing over her entire body, Macy grabbed the lid and twisted as tight as she could get it. If she knew she was getting out soon, she would relieve herself in a corner to spite him.
She pulled her pants back up and returned to the blanket. It was so cold, and she was starting to shiver. Lowering her pants hadn't helped. Even with the blanket, she hadn't been warm enough. As she settled down with the blanket, the pee jug caught her eye.
Oh, that was gross. How could she even think that?
But it was warm, she couldn't deny that.
No. She would wait. She wasn't going to warm up with a pitcher of her pee. Macy looked at the ceiling, but before long, she was shivering.
Shoving the blanket aside, she crawled over to the container and brought it back to the blanket. Sticking it in her lap, she pulled the blanket over her again. The warmth from the pee felt good, as disgusting as that was. Macy imagined it was one of those heat packets she put in her pockets when they went skiing.
Macy must have fallen asleep again, because the jerk of the truck stopping woke her up. She blinked her eyes, trying to get her bearings. She felt groggy, and that had to mean she had been asleep for a while. Were they out of state? When she had been in the cab of the truck, they were heading east, more than likely leaving Washington. But where?
The canopy opened again. Her abductor looked around, and then smiled when he saw her.
"Don't get any funny ideas. If you try to escape, I'll go back and kill your entire family."
"What?"
"I got in once. I can do it again. If you get away, I'll go after them instead of you. Well, I will go after you too, don't get me wrong." He laughed. What a freaking psycho.
Macy shuddered.
"You still haven't eaten the burger I was nice enough to get you? Get one thing straight: you're not getting anything else to eat until you finish that first."
"But it's old and gross."
"Maybe you should have thought of that when I gave it to you. Don't test me, girl. I will wait as long as it takes for you to eat it before I give you anything else. It saves me money."
"But you know I don't eat meat."
"Looks like you're going to have to. It's going to be even less enjoyable as cold as it is. I wouldn't let it get any older, because it's sure not going to get better."
"Where are you taking me?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Eat the burger."
"What'll you do if I don't?"
"Don't you listen? I won't give you anything else to eat. I need some rest, so we're going to stop for a bit. Eat that damn burger, if you know what's good for you."
He slammed the canopy door shut, and locked it. Tears filled Macy's eyes. Was he serious about killing her family? He was crazy enough to kidnap her, so he was probably serious about killing them.
They hadn't done anything wrong. This whole situation was on Macy, and she knew it. She had been the one stupid enough to get herself into the truck in the first place. She would have to figure something out.
Her stomach rumbled again. Macy looked at the burger, disgusted. Would he really make her eat it? Why did he care what she ate? There had to be a way she could hide it, so he would think she ate it. Where? There weren't exactly hiding places in the truck bed.
She tried to focus on calming her stomach. Once it relaxed, she stared at the burger, imagining she was having a staring contest with it.
"I'm losing my mind," she muttered. If she was going to eat it, it needed to be soon. The burger wouldn't get any fresher. Which was the more appealing choice? To starve, or to eat the cold, greasy burger? She would have chosen to go hungry, except that she didn't want to be forced to eat it a day or two later. At least it was somewhat edible right now.
The minutes ticked by as Macy stared at the burger. But the more she thought about it, the more she thought about having to eat it days down the road. That convinced her. She crawled across the cab and carried the burger back to the blanket.
"I'm sorry," she said to the cow she was about to eat. She unwrapped the waxy paper, and looked at the wilted bun, shaking her head. Her stomach growled, begging her to give it the nourishment.
Closing her eyes, she bit down. The cold grease shocked her taste buds, and she had to force herself not to spit it out. The way it felt as she chewed it up only made it worse. It stank too. She plugged her nose, and took another bite, relieved to discover she almost couldn't taste it.
She shoveled it in, eating as fast as she could without choking. Macy tried to pretend she was eating a veggie burger, but it didn't work. It was an old, disgusting slab of meat cooked in grease, no matter what she told herself.
After finally finishing it, she threw the wrapper and tried to ignore how disgusting she felt. Her skin felt oily from the grease, and her stomach didn't feel right. Hopefully once it settled she would have more energy for getting away—if she could.
Interrupted
Chad Mercer was typing at his typical 120 words per minute when there was a knock on the door. He ignored it. His family knew to leave him alone when the door was closed.
The knocking continued, distracting him. Why couldn't they let him get his work done? Well, it wasn't actually work. Not yet, anyway. He had a popular sports blog, where he posted his opinions. People loved his sense of humor, and he always had good statistics.
With his monthly page views and low bounce rate, he was able to get a lot of really good advertising on his site that actually paid some of the bills.
He was popular online. People loved him. Unlike at home, where no one appreciated him.
The knocking wouldn't stop, and Chad lost the funny quip he'd been searching for. He sighed. "What is it?"
"Dad! Let me in!" Alex pounded on the door again.
Chad shook his head. "You know I'm busy." When would they ever start appreciating what he was trying to do for the family? His wife already didn't have to work, but no one seemed to care.
"Dad! Macy's gone!"
Gone? He got up and unlocked the door, and then opened it. "What do you mean, she's gone?"
"She's not here. She posted something online about running away."
Shaking his head, Chad went back to his desk. He minimized his blog and opened up a new window. Nothing from Macy showed up on his news feed. He typed in her name to pull up her profile. Sure enough, her latest update was one big, public tongue-sticking at him.
The house phone rang next to him. He looked over, seeing the caller ID. It was his in-laws. His mother-in-law must have stopped playing Sugar Saga for three minutes and seen Macy's update. He shook his head. Alyssa was going to chew him out. They had argued nonstop about Macy and what age she should be allowed to date.
Alyssa had told him countless times that he needed to give Macy room to grow up or she would rebel. Macy had been giving him attitude for a while, and now she had taken it public. This was just a publicity stunt. His daughter wanted to rally support.
Chad's cell phone rang. He picked it up from his desk. It was Valerie Carter, Zoey's mom. He clicked ignore and put it back down.
"What are you going to do?"
He had forgotten Alex was still there. His son looked like he was going to be sick. Macy would never believe how worried her brother was about her. With all his teasing and picking on her, he still adored his sister.
Chad took a deep breath. "I'm going to look online and see where her phone is. You guys have those Child Protect phones where the GPS tracking can't be turned off." He turned to his computer screen, went to the site that tracked the kids' phones and logged in. He could only see Alex's phone, which of course was at their address.
He scrolled the site for contact information and called them. When someone answered, he interrupted them before they could say two words.
"I have one of your Child Protect phones, an
d my daughter's phone isn't showing up. Mind telling me what's going on? I was told that this couldn't happen."
"Sir, if the battery has been removed, we can't track the GPS. It has to have the battery."
"What good are you? Do you know how much we pay for these? I want a refund!"
"If you calm down and give me your information, we can—"
"My kid is missing. You guys are supposed to be a technology company. Use it to figure out who I am and then send me a refund check." He ended the call. "Dipsticks."
The house phone rang again. This time it was Sandra McMillan from the homeowners' association.
When he found Macy, he was going to give her the punishment of a lifetime.
"How are we going to find Macy?"
Chad looked back up at Alex. His lips trembled.
Did Macy think of no one besides herself? First with the whole vegetarian—no, "vegan" thing, and now this. Did she find joy in making him miserable? He could see her sitting somewhere, laughing at the stress she was putting everyone through. All because he wouldn't let her to go on a date. After this stunt, she wouldn't be going on any dates until she graduated.
The home phone rang again, and this time he took the batteries out. That girl had close to a thousand friends on social media, and now every single one of them knew she had run away. Chad took a deep breath and then turned to his son again. "Do you know anything else? Anything besides what's in her update?"
Alex shook his head.
"Well, I guess she'll come home when she's hungry. Why don't you go check on your mother?"
Alex nodded, and Chad was struck by how much his usually tough son looked like a little boy. It was easy to forget how young thirteen really was. The look on his face reminded Chad of when Alex was a preschooler, chasing after his big sister and wanting to do everything she did.
For a moment Chad thought he should give his son a hug, but he stiffened. There was no need for that. "Don't worry about her. She's trying to scare us. I'll bet you she's at Zoey's house hiding out. She's going to lose her phone for a long time for this one. Don't you ever try it."
Gone (Gone #1) Page 2