Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 22

Nick groaned as he breathed in. His body was aching all over. He tried to reach for his left eye, which seemed to have something plastered over it, but he couldn't.

He tried again, but his hands were bound. He exhaled heavily, remembering what had happened. Kerri.

He opened his eyes, and his right eye opened easily, but something seemed to have glued his left eye shut. He tried to rub his eye against his shoulder, but his shoulder would only reach his cheek.

The tugging loosened whatever was on his face, though, and he finally managed to open both his eyes.

Nick braced his shoulder against the floor and pushed himself upright, ignoring the pain that the movement caused. The moment he turned, he found Kerri lying next to him, her hands tied behind her back. "Kerri, wake up." Nick shifted next to her. "Kerri, honey, wake up."

Kerri groaned and blinked.

"Kerri, look at me. Are you all right?"

She moaned again, but managed to open her eyes this time. "Nick?"

"Yeah. Are you all right? Where are you hurt?"

"I don't know." She gasped and straightened. "You're bleeding."

Dried blood. That explained what had held his eye shut. "I'm fine. It was probably from the crash."

Kerri's shoulders jerked as she tried to move her hands. "Where are we?" She looked around.

"I don't know." He had been wondering about that himself. He scanned the area. All around them were thick steel beams. The only light entering the place was from the holes in the roof, where the metal panels had come off. "Some sort of warehouse, I think."

"Who are they? Has this got to do with Senator Wales?"

Nick wished he had the answers for her. "I don't know." He struggled against the cable tie around his wrist. He twisted his hands and pulled, ignoring the pain that was telling him to stop.

"Turn around. I want to see what they used."

"Cable tie."

"Cable tie?" she said with a grin.

"Why do you look so happy about that?"

She rocked herself forward, got herself on her knees, and stood. Nick followed while she continued. "My dad sent me this video on how to get out of these. You just have to swing it really hard against your body while pulling your hands apart."

She pushed her hands back. "But in that video, the woman had her hands tied in front of her." She swung her hands down, then bent over while biting her lips.

"Kerri."

"Ouch," she finally said.

Nick tried what she was doing. He couldn't get his hands as far back as she could, but he made up for it in strength. The cable tie snapped, and he grinned. "It works."

Kerri tried it again. "Find a way out."

"Here, let me." He reached over and tried to snap the cable tie, but the plastic strip dug into Kerri's wrists as he tugged at it. "I'm sorry. I—"

"Nick," she said softly, but that one word was enough of a warning. They sat back on the ground, and she jerked her chin forward. "The cable tie."

Nick grabbed the broken cable tie and stuffed it into his pocket before placing his hands behind himself as if he hadn't gotten free of the restraint.

"Stay behind me," Nick said as the two men who grabbed them walked over. He kept his eyes on the navy-green guy, the one who had pulled a gun on Kerri.