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ALLISON

A llison’s phone pings just as the vehicle she’s driving nears the outskirts of Nashville. It’s a text from Russell telling her he had a great time and wants to talk to her again . Warmth floods Allison when she sees the text. She quickly adds his contact information into her phone, then sends a reply.

By the time she reaches the airport her face is hurting from how big she’s smiling. It seems to take forever to get through security despite the early hour. At long last, she gets through the TSA check and reaches the waiting area for her gait. She pulls out her phone and sends Russell a text.

Made it to the airport. U busy?

Nope, just got out of the shower

Allison’s mouth waters just thinking about his deliciously naked body glistening with beads of water. A shiver runs through her, warmth settling in her belly while moisture begins pooling between her legs. She fans herself briefly before pressing her phone to call him. He answers on the first ring.

“Hey, sugar,” Russell answers. His voice igniting more desire in her. “I sure was disappointed this morning.”

“I’m sorry. You looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake you,” Allison informs him. “I’ve gotten a lead on my story. I have to check it out. This could be the big break I’ve been looking for.”

“You aren’t going to do anything dangerous are you?” His tone conveys punishment if she’s even contemplating such a thing, which turns her on even more but she doesn’t want to admit it.

“I will do what needs to be done,” Allison sasses but turns serious. “I honestly don’t think this meeting will be dangerous, Russell, but I will be cautious.” He grunts out his frustration but doesn’t argue with her. “What are your plans for the day?” She’s hoping he’ll take the bait and let her change the topic.

“We have brunch at ten, then we’ll be checking out to head back to Jacksonville, so on the road the rest of the day,” he replies. “Nothing exciting like you’ll be doing.” Allison shakes her head with a mini eye roll. He couldn’t resist getting in a dig at her hazardous activities.

“Hey, I promise I’ll be careful,” she says softly, hoping to assure him.

“I know you will, sugar. I have full confidence in you, but it’s the other people I don’t trust.” Allison’s heart melts a little more. Lord, this man is getting to her! She can’t help wondering what it would be like to have him in her life on a permanent basis.

“Flight 698 is now boarding at gate C6,” comes over the intercom. “Oh, they just announced my flight,” Allison says.

“Have good flight,” Russell says in his deep, rumbly voice. “Hopefully no mean four-year-old’s on this trip.” Allison smiles huge. He remembered! That means so much to her. He listened, paid attention to her, even when he’d hardly known her. “Be safe, sugar.”

“I will,” she gushes, high on the warm feelings he has stoked in her. “I’ll call you later and let you know how things went with the meeting.”

“Yes, please do. I’ll be looking forward to your call.” Another wave of affection hits her. She needs to be careful or she’s going to fall head over heels for this guy.

“Of course you will, talking to me is an amazing experience,” Allison says with a haughty tone to dampen her reaction to him. Russell’s deep laugh comes over the line.

“Everything with you is an amazing experience,” Russell says. His deep voice full of innuendo. “Hands down, best I’ve ever had, sugar.” Allison gasps at his declaration. She’d thought the same thing, but her experience has been limited in the sex department. She figures Russell has had many women before her, which she doesn’t want to think about. She can’t believe he’d say such a thing.

“No need to flatter me, caveman.” Allison chuckles, attempting to lighten the serious turn in the conversation. “I already let you have your way with me multiple times, and it isn’t like we are going to get the chance for a repeat.” A sharp pain of disappointment runs through her. She’s never going to see him again?

“Oh, there will be a repeat, sugar,” Russell assures her. “Even if I have to fly out there for it to happen. I know long distance won’t be easy, so I can’t promise you more than friendship and really great sex, but I don’t want whatever we have to be over.”

There’s a long pause. Allison stands there in shock watching other passengers head toward the gate while soaking in his words. “Do you?” His voice, full of concern, startles her out of her stupor.

“No, I don’t want it to be over either, Russell,” she answers honestly. “So, we are friends with benefits then?” she infuses some humor into her tone to let him know she’s teasing.

“Something like that,” he chuckles. Another announcement for her flight blares overhead. “I guess I’d better let you get on your plane. You’ll let me know when you make it home?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you later,” Allison pauses, contemplating her next words, before saying them. “Bye, Russell.” She chickens out, not saying anything more.

“Later, sugar.” Her phone beeps as the call ends. With a sigh, she puts her phone into airplane mode then tucks it into her pocket and boards her flight.

Worm

Hours later, after the good-bye brunch and Wallace’s send off, Worm is in the hotel lobby along with many of his teammates and their wives. The room is noisy, bustling with activity. They’re all checking out and preparing to travel home. He’d gotten a call from Allison after his shower. The call was brief, because she had to catch her flight, but she’d promised to let him know when she arrived in San Diego. His phone alerts to an incoming text.

Finally landed. I have an errand to run and the meeting with my source, but I’d like to call you later tonight if that’s okay?

Yes, I’d like that, doesn’t matter how late, talk to you soon.

Worm pockets his phone. Despite knowing he’ll hear from her later, he can’t keep from worrying about her. Straw and Tank approach with suitcases in hand. Worm schools his features.

“Everything alright?” Tank asks, setting down the bags he’s carrying. Worm’s teammates know about his family’s situation and have often offered to help him, if he’d let them.

“Yeah,” he replies. Tank gives him a concerned look. “That wasn’t one of my sisters,” Worm adds, unsure why he feels the need to disclose that detail. Tank nods, but stares at Worm a little closer. Worm grins like an idiot, thinking about Allison. He can’t keep the smile off his face. Tank tilts his head, opening his mouth. Worm walks away. He isn’t ready to talk about him and Allison, not that there’s really anything to tell.

Several minutes later, the luggage is loaded in the vehicles. Worm is still smiling when he slides into the driver’s seat. He is taking the first shift driving with Virus riding shotgun. Bull, Susie Beth, and Mercury are in the second row of seats while Hack and Lisa are in the very back. He can’t wait for Allison’s call.

Allison

Allison finally lands in San Diego. She has arranged for an Uber pickup at the airport. The driver is standing at the back of his vehicle waiting for her. The man is tall with broad shoulders and dark hair. There is something about him that has her danger meter pegging off the charts. Frowning, she hesitates. He is dressed in a suit. Who dresses in a suit to take Uber fares?

Holding her phone up, looking at the app to compare, he matches the picture. Still, he is scary looking in real life. She bites her lip. Her gut is churning, but everything checks out. She makes a split-second decision and opens her camera app, snapping a picture of the man and his car.

Instinct tells her not to get in the car, but she’s in a hurry. She’d sent Butch a text letting him know she’d landed and would be ready to meet with him soon. She doesn’t have time to find a taxi or request a different driver. Another thought occurs to her. She still needs to find a pharmacy unless she wants to potentially become a mommy in nine months. Shaking her head to clear her fear, she moves toward the waiting man.

“Allison Simpson?” the man asks as she approaches, stepping toward her. She nods. He takes her suitcase. “Here, I’ll just put this in the trunk.” She hands it over.

He opens the back door for her, waiting for her to take her seat. She offers him a smile as she slips into the back seat. He doesn’t return her smile.

When she’s seated, he closes the door, then puts her case in the trunk. Allison is still feeling anxious about the situation so she takes a screenshot of her Uber app giving the driver information. She considers sending the screenshot and the picture she’d taken of him and the car to her neighbor, Amelia, but she doesn’t want Amelia freaking out and calling the police to stop them, only to find out Allison had been over reacting. No, she won’t send the pictures unless the man does something more to worry her.

The driver opens his door and slides into the driver’s seat. He pulls out of the pickup line, driving a bit faster than Allison would like. Since she knows he makes his money taking as many fares as possible, she doesn’t complain but makes sure her seatbelt is secure.

Allison busies herself checking emails as they make their way through city traffic. It should take about thirty minutes to reach her destination. After about twenty minutes, Allison remembers her very important errand that she has failed to ask the driver about.

“Um, could you do me a favor?” she asks the driver. He grunts looking up at her in the rearview mirror. “I need to stop by a pharmacy.” He looks back at the road without answering. “I’ll make it worth your while. Give you a nice tip.”

“Sure.” Comes his clipped reply. Allison begins searching for one on her phone. It takes a minute for her app to load. She begins to scroll through the listings, but she notices the addresses aren’t on the way to her apartment. The address she’d used when she’d ordered the car. Looking up, her heart skips, nothing looks familiar to her.

“Where are we?” Allison asks, hearing the panic in her own voice. The driver glances at her in the rearview mirror, but he doesn’t reply. “Hey! I said Where. Are. We?”

Real panic is beginning to set in. The man glares at her in the rearview. “Stop the car! Let me out!” Allison demands. The car begins to slow, giving her hope. The light up ahead is red, and there are several cars between them and the light. This is her chance to escape. Allison reaches for the door handle, fully prepared to leap out as soon as the car slows down enough.

The car rolls to a stop, she pulls the handle, but the door doesn’t open. She jerks on it repeatedly, screaming out her frustration. “Please, just let me go!”

“SHUT UP!” the man roars loudly, increasing her fright. “I do not get paid enough for this shit. Just sit back and keep quiet. You’ll find out everything soon enough.” Dread and fear swamp her. What is happening and why? Is this guy a serial killer?

She replays his words in her head. ‘ I don’t get paid enough for this shit. ’ Someone has hired him to abduct her? That doesn’t make sense. Why would someone want to abduct her of all people? The story?

She begins to review what she knows. The man knows her name, but he could’ve gotten it from the Uber app. Maybe he just nabs women who are alone, but wouldn’t that get him caught if his fares keep going missing? There has to be a way out of this mess.

Tears form in her eyes, but she can’t break down. She has to stay focused, and keep an eye out for an opportunity to escape. The car moves down the street. She needs to do something to help herself.

Opening her text messages, she creates a group text and sends the screen shot and picture she’d taken to Emma and Amelia with a quick text outlining her situation. It’s too late to save her life, but letting them know that she’s in trouble is her only hope of the police finding her killer.

More tears form, slipping down her cheeks. Her mind drifts to a handsome face and green eyes. No! She can’t just sit back and let herself be killed. She needs to do something!

Allison turns the volume down on her phone and dials 911. She holds her hand over the speaker to muffle the sound. She’ll have to be careful to not alert her kidnapper as to what she is up to, but she has to try.

“911, what’s the nature of your emergency?” The female voice is barely audible.

“You need to stop this car and let me out!” Allison shouts hoping the 911 operator will pick up on the fact she needs help. “You’re an Uber driver. Not letting me out when I ask you to is kidnapping! You’re supposed to take me home, not down…Mission Boulevard.”

Allison can faintly hear the 911 operator saying, “Ma’am are you there? What’s going on?” The car slows again, making a right turn.

“Why are you turning off Mission Boulevard onto Grand Ave?” Allison demands, doing her best to give the operator directions and as much description as possible so she can send help to save her. “Why is a 6’ tall, 250-pound Uber driver with dark brown hair, wearing a three-piece suit driving a black Lincoln Town car?” The car jerks to the side and comes to an abrupt stop.

The driver jumps out of the car, opens her door and grabs her, dragging her from the car. Allison screams loudly, hoping to draw the attention of someone nearby who will intervene on her behalf, but it seems they are close to the docks. Only empty warehouses surround them.

“Dammit!” The driver yells, snatching the phone from her hand. He backhands her, causing her to fall into the side of the car which knocks the breath from her lungs. He ends her call and turns off her phone before shoving it into his pocket. She is just getting her wind back when he grabs her by the upper arm forcing her back into the car not caring that she can’t duck her head in time to avoid the door frame, striking her head hard. The world goes dark.