Chapter Twenty Four

Capture

The next morning, I stood outside on the front of the passenger car and watched the landscape go by. Ben popped through the passenger car door.

He grabbed his arms and rubbed them fervently. "What are you doing out here? It is freezing!"

I let out a breath noisily. "There's only so much of the drunken yammering I can take. I'll be in later."

I leaned forward on the railing and turned my head toward the back of the train. My hair smacked my face as the cold wind whipped through it. I heard the door shut. A dull ache formed in the middle of my forehead. I found myself grinding my teeth.

A pickup truck bolted out of the forest. One by one, men boarded the train. I hurried inside. The rest of the group played cards and did not pay me any mind.

Ben leaped to his feet when I brushed past them. "Lily, what's wrong?"

"They are here," I said, assuming they would be right behind me.

I hopped from car to car. The intel was correct. But why would someone board the train? The closer I got, the more my stomach churned. In the sixth, I opened the door to guns pointed at me.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" a man in green hunting gear said with a strong Southern drawl.

Heat flooded my entire body, creating sweat under my arms and on my lower back. I rose my hands in the air, to show I was not going to make a move for my weapons.

"Looks like an officer. Damn Peacekeepers don't understand who they're messing with," said a middle-aged man.

"Walk that way," a man in a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans, said and gestured to the other side of the car.

I turned slightly to look behind me. No sign of Ben and the agents, so I cooperated. My chest constricted with every breath. I had seen at least a dozen jump from that truck but only four stood before me.

"Which car are the materials in?" the hooded sweatshirt man asked.

"Materials? We are transporting furniture and clothing." I explained as I walked, not allowing my back to be to them. My leg muscles tightened. Every inch of my body wanted to run.

The man in the green hunting gear poked my rib cage with his pistol. "Don't lie to us. The University is moving its stuff today."

The University's stuff? The drug. Why would they think it was on the train?

"It is the truth, whatever you are looking for, it's not here," I said.

From the corner of my eye, Ben's face appeared in the door window. I let out a huge breath. Ben looked right at me, but the door did not open. Then his face vanished.

"What is he doing?" the green hunting clothes man asked.

Two of the men rushed to the door and flung it open. No one was there. Through the window, Ben and the agents sprinted toward the woods.

A sudden coldness struck me at my core. They left me. He left me. I'm alone.

"Well, I'll be damned," the middle-aged man remarked. "They jumped the train. Guess they didn't want to mess with us."

They left me to contend with armed criminals. Alone. Dizziness washed over me. My shaking legs threatened to give way. No one will show up to help me out of this situation.

"Don't be ridiculous. Hurry up and search the rest of the cars. Make sure she's not lying," the man with the hooded sweatshirt said.

"What do we do with her?" asked the green hunting clothed man.

"We'll bring her with. If we don't find what we want, maybe we can get some more information out of her," he responded.

I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself. There were two exits on either side of the car. The windows were too small to fit through. I could easily disarm the four of them while they were distracted, but I had no idea where the others were. If the guns fired in the small area, someone might be shot or killed. 

If I leaped from the train at that point, the SIS agents would find me. If I returned to the city, I might be dead. Should I run away? No. Ari would not learn what happened and I had no way to contact him. If only I knew where his field training was. He would find out if they kidnapped me. It had to be the better option. The door behind me rattled. The shadow of a man's arm swung toward me. I could have ducked and fought back. However, I took the blow to the back of the head and the world went dark.

***

Muffled voices. I started to regain consciousness. My sight blurred. I blinked a couple times and started to come into focus. I felt a piercing sting on my left arm. I tried to move but my arms and legs remained fixed. I realized I was in a chair with my arms tied behind my back.

"We'll give it a few minutes, to make sure it is working," a woman said.

Soil stains covered my uniform. I saw a concrete floor and tarnished metal bars directly in front of me. I focused in on the faces of my captors. A little to my left stood three of the men I ran into on the train. A woman walked in front of me. I almost gasped. Before me stood Dorothy Bennett, Ari's mother, who disappeared when he was a child.

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"We are going to ask the questions," Dorothy answered.

"Then what are you waiting for, Dorothy?" A close-lipped smile built on my face.

Dorothy's eyes bulged as her jaw fell open. "How do you know who I am?"

"I was nine when you disappeared. I was old enough to remember your face."

She shuffled back a couple of steps. "What is your name?"

"Eleanor Collins. I changed it to Lily Andrews after I left Knoxville."

She crossed her arms and widened her stance.  "Collins, huh. I thought you looked familiar. My people tell me it looked like they left you behind. Why is that?" 

"Leadership doesn't like it when you speak out against them. They've been biding their time to get rid of me."

"If you knew that, why didn't you leave the city?"

I bit my tongue. Ask me something else.

She stepped closer and stared down at me. "We gave you a truth serum, don't bother resisting.   Why didn't you leave the city?"

"I didn't want to leave because I fell in love with Ari Bennett."

Her head cocked to the side and then she backhanded me across the face. "My Arthur?"

"Arthur? He does not go by that name anymore. You would have known that if you did not abandon him. Sure, the idea of running away entered my mind. I could not have contacted him if I left. At least this way he will learn what happened. I love him too much to abandon him like you did."

Her mouth twisted up in an ugly snarl as she smacked me harder. She raised her voice. "What do you know about it? I had my reasons for leaving."

My face stung from the impact. I took a deep breath and savored the fact that I had gotten under her skin. 

"You left your only son to grow up with a neglectful alcoholic that didn't take care of him. He almost died from measles when he was eight. But I'm sure you are aware of that already."

She bared her teeth and lifted her arm again, but the man in the hooded sweatshirt intervened.

I lounged in the chair as much as I could. "You are the only one selfish enough to abandon her child. What makes you think the pain fazes me? My mother hit harder than you do."

"And you are more outspoken and irritating than she was."

"Dorothy, she's trying to antagonize you," the man said.

She glared at me and then turned at looked at him with soft eyes. Her posture instantly relaxed. "I know, Tre," she cooed.

"I'm no good as a prisoner. They don't care what happens to me," I snapped.

"We will decide your worth," Dorothy said.

My thoughts shifted. "Are you going to contact Ari? Will you tell him I'm alive?" I asked.

"You are in no position to ask for anything." Dorothy motioned to the men. "You can untie her after I leave. Make sure you use the tranquilizer first."

A painful lump grew in my throat. "You didn't find what you were looking for, did you? On the train. They deceived you, found out what you wanted and lied about it."

Another prick stabbed on my arm. I tried to fight the drowsiness, but within moments, the world went black again.