Right Back to You

32. All the Lies

Jessie was used to darkness and tight spaces. She'd been locked up in closets for most of her chidlhood, so when she finally came to, she instantly recognized where she was.

A closet.

A warm, comfortable, dark closet.

All she could see was the thin line of light sneaking underneath the door. Maybe it was the familiarity of the space, but her mind stayed clear and she didn't succumb to panic even as she forced herself to remember how she'd gotten there in the first place.

She was out with Jimmy. It was going great. Even if he hadn't outright said it, at that moment she believed he loved her. Like truly loved her, not a crush, not a fling. The intensity of his feelings matched hers. Because yes, she was definitely in love with him.

With the way he handled everything, with how his words always seemed to mean something. How he'd instantly fought off her attackers, determined to keep her safe.

The way his kisses felt like fire.

And yet, he'd failed. Both of them had the moment whoever kidnapped her brought a gun into the equation. There was nothing either of them could've done about that. He was forced to let them take her and she was forced to let herself be taken just so that they could still live. Fortunately, as the men led her away, she didn't hear the sound of a gunshot. Which meant Jimmy was still alive and probably looking for her.

How long had it been since they'd put clorophorm over her mouth and knocked her out? Where had they even taken her?

Her temples throbbed, but she remained still, forcing her breaths to be even and filling. Wherever she was, she was alive and well. Nothing hurt except her head, but that was to be expected.

Trying to confirm the though, she wiggled her fingers, then her toes. Yep, she was fine. They hadn't hurt her. So it was time to figure out where she was and why.

She focused on any potential sounds. After a while, she picked up on muffled voices. Moving as silently as possible, she got into a crouching position and crawled her way towards the door. The voices became a tiny bit louder, but she still couldn't pick up on the words.

"This is getting out of hand!" a man suddenly said, voice high and panicky.

Jessie frowned. It couldn't be.

"No, it's not," a woman answered, her tone clipped. "Just stick to the plan and it will all be well."

She refused to believe it. But no wonder the closet felt so familiar. She'd been in it before. Many times.

The sound of movement had her tensing again, but it was followed by a slamming door and silence, so she forced herself to relax. She was alone.

Which meant it was time to put her newly earned skills to good use. One great thing about hanging out with Tom and Jimmy was that they taught her all sorts of stuff. Like how they got by for so long without adults in their life. Or how to pick locks with basically anything. She and Angie had practiced with Tom one boring afternoon and she'd been surprisingly good at it.

Jessie reached into her hair and pulled out a bobby pin and then another. Of course no one had bothered to take them out of her hair because they didn't suspect she'd have any use for them. How wrong they were.

Heard beating wildly, she listened for any foreign sounds as she forced the two pins into the lock and twisted. She didn't get it done on the first try, but she moved them around until they got stuck in the mechanism properly and she could turn it and unlock the door. She paused for another few seconds, waiting. When no sound came from the room beyond the door, she dared to push it open.