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“Somewhere safe,” one of them responded.
Yeah right.The car slowed down at a light in front of a strip mall with lots of foot traffic, and I realized that was my chance. There were lots of people around. This was perfect.
“I don’t feel so good?—”
The man in the front seat didn’t react.
That was okay. “I mean it, I feel…” I let my voice trail off as I tossed myself across the back seat and prayed that I could convince them I was sick.
I took a deep breath, hoping that it looked authentic enough, and started to flail around, pretending that I was having a seizure. I’d watch my foster mom fake all sorts of medical emergencies in public places, everything from “slip and falls” to seizures.
She was the litigation queen. Her only source of income had been the checks from the state to take care of us kids, which she did not do, and all the bogus lawsuits she pursued from her fake accidents.
The woman really knew how to run a con.
“Oh fuck!” one of them shouted. “He said to bring her in alive. What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”
I heard one of the men climb out and open my door. I pretended to faint, falling out of the car, landing a little hard on my side, and fighting back a wince.
And then I opened my eyes and let out a moan. Soon enough there was a crowd around me.
“Miss, do you need help?” came a voice that sounded authoritative. I looked in the direction of the voice. It was a security guard who was looking at the men suspiciously. They had removed their masks, but they still looked like trouble to me.
Apparently, the security guard agreed.
“Get away from her. I’m calling the cops.”
Perfect.“Can you please call an ambulance?”
The driver looked at the other guy and they exchanged a glance and tried to pick me up off the ground.
I went limp. I wasn’t going to make it easy for them.
“Put her down! Don’t touch her!” someone close to me yelled. “I’m calling 911.”
They exchanged glances again and the driver turned away from me to make a phone call.
“Go with her,” he commanded the other guy.
I hadn’t expected that. The ambulance arrived, and I pretended to lose consciousness. As the EMT bent over to assist me, I whispered. “That man is stalking me. I’m scared. Please don’t let him ride with me.”
“Are you in danger? Should I call the police?”
I nodded.
The next thing I knew, I was in the back of the ambulance and Matteo’s guys were being interviewed by the police.
When the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, I expected to see Dario or Matteo waiting for me.Had I pulled it off?
My heart was racing as I scanned the halls for any sign of them, but no one was there. As soon as they escorted me inside, I gave them a sob story about trying to escape an abusive ex and convinced one of the EMTs to call me an Uber after the hospital staff got done examining me.
I had memorized the address of Dr. Kali’s closest house and knew that it wasn’t too far away from downtown where the hospital was located.
Within minutes, I arrived at the safe house, and finally, I felt I could take a breath. It wasn’t easy faking a medical emergency and then lying to everyone in sight.
However, it was easy to figure out where Dr. Kali kept the key. I opened the door and made my way into the house. I noticed that everything was prepped as if Dr. Kali had been expecting me. There was food in the refrigerator. There were clean towels and linens.
I went straight to a bedroom and took a long nap, expecting to feel at peace, but I was still on edge, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. Finally, I fell into a fitful sleep.