“What are you talking about?” I frowned at his words. Something he’d said had made bells go off in my head, but I wasn’t sure what.

“I’m just trying to make small talk.”

“Well, don’t,” I snapped. “Just work on the blindfold.”

“I’m trying,” he snapped back, and fell silent again.

I moved my head to the left and the right as much as I could, but all I could see was sand and ocean and some trees in the distance. I tried not to think about who or what was lying in wait for us while we struggled with the ropes.

“I think it’s moving!” he gasped excitedly, and he started moving more and more energetically. His back rubbed against mine, and I kept my mouth shut, even though I wanted to tell him that moving his whole body around wasn’t going to help shift the blindfold on his face. “So, Bianca, are you in the habit of wearing blindfolds?”

“Are you asking about my sexual proclivities, Jakob?” I answered him, my body on high alert as he rubbed back against me.

“I wasn’t asking what you ate last night, that’s for sure.”

“You’re an ass.”

“I know. You told me that already.” He laughed. “But yes, go ahead and continue talking about what you can remember from last night, and we can try to figure out why we’re here.”

“Last night, I was waiting for my friend at a bar. I hadn’t seen her in a while. I wanted to tell her about some stuff that was going on.” I bit my lower lip as I thought about Rosie. “I remember looking at the menu. I was going to have the steak.” I sighed and thought back to the previous evening. Or what I thought was the previous evening. I had no idea how much time had passed. “I was waiting to order until Rosie got there. I wanted us to have a nice evening.” I paused, not wanting to get into everything I’d wanted to tell Rosie about. “I ordered a glass of Moscato.”

“You like sweet wine?” He spoke softly, even though he was still bobbing around.

“Yeah, I do.” I froze as I remembered something. “I didn’t drink Moscato though.”

“Oh?”

“The bartender sent me a bottle of something else.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember. “It was a bottle of pinot noir. He said it was on the house.” I opened my eyes again. “Some new vineyard from Upstate New York had asked local bars to serve the wine.”

“Interesting.”

“Anyways, the waiter brought over a bottle of wine and poured me a glass while I waited for Rosie. I texted her asking where she was, and she arrived a few minutes later.” I paused as I tried to remember every detail that I could. “She hurried toward me and apologized. I remember she was angry because the waiter didn’t take her drink order fast enough. She was telling me about her job and then . . .” I frowned. “I can’t remember exactly. She needed to go to the restroom, and I saw a guy. The guy I think was following me.”

“Why do you think he was following you? What did he look like?”

“I can’t remember.” I sighed loudly. “I can picture him standing in the corner, watching me, but all I can see is his shadow. I can’t remember his face.”

“What happened next?”

“Someone came up to the table.” I shook my head, as if that would help me to remember more details. “I can’t remember who. All I remember next is waking up in the car trunk.”

“What happened to your friend Rosie?”

“I don’t know.” I froze and my eyes popped open. “I left something in her bag. I hope she’s okay.”

“I think she’s okay. I think she’d be here with us, if they were worried about her. They obviously just wanted to kidnap us.”

“Yeah. I wish I knew why.” Though, that wasn’t completely accurate. I was pretty sure I knew why I had been kidnapped, I just didn’t know why he had been kidnapped as well. I was pretty sure I’d been kidnapped because of my investigating the Bradley Corporation, but what, if any, connection did Jakob have?

“Do you know the Bradley Corporation?” I spoke slowly, as if the answer to his question was of no more importance than the color of his eyes.

“I’ve heard of it.” He responded to me without pause. “I can’t say I know it well. Why?”

“No reason.” I licked my lips. I was started to feel dehydrated. “Now I wish I hadn’t drunk that wine last night. I bet I wouldn’t be feeling so parched if I’d just stuck to water.”

“It is odd that you received a free bottle of wine, and not just a glass.” He spoke thoughtfully.

“Do you think that has anything to do with me being kidnapped?” I bit my lower lip. “I can’t remember much after that.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I didn’t have wine last night. I’m more of a beer man.”

“Surprising.”

“Why’s that?”

“You seem more like a whiskey guy,” I responded swiftly. “I can picture you in a study with a crystal decanter.” I groaned inwardly. I had a tendency to speak before I thought. I didn’t want him to think I was interested in him.

“I do like whiskey—Yes!” he exclaimed.

“Wow, you really like whiskey.”

“No, no, I can see.” He was excited. “Shit.”