“You didn’t complain when the press jumped all over the outbreaks and the market share trend rapidly reversed,” Richard said. “You were happy.”
“I was appalled,” Terese said. “And scared. I just didn’t say it.”
“You’re full of crap!” Richard said heatedly. “I talked with you the day after the plague broke out. You didn’t mention it once. It even hurt my feelings since it took some effort on my part.”
“I was afraid to say anything about it,” Terese said. “I didn’t want to associate myself with it in any way. But as bad as it was, I thought that was it. I didn’t know you were planning on more.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Richard said.
Jack became aware they were slowing down. He lifted his head as high as his handcuffed hands would allow. The glare of artificial light penetrated the car. They’d been driving in darkness for some time.
Suddenly there were bright lights, and they’d come to a complete stop under an overhang. When Jack heard the driver’s side window going down, he realized they were at a tollbooth. He started to yell for help, but his voice was weak and raspy.
Richard reacted swiftly by reaching around and smacking Jack with a hard object. The blow impacted on Jack’s head. He collapsed onto the floor.
“Don’t hit him so hard,” Terese said. “You don’t want blood on the inside of the car.”
“I thought shutting him up was more important,” Richard said. He threw a handful of coins into the bin of the automatic gate.
Jack’s headache was now worse from the blow. He closed his eyes. He tried to find the most comfortable position, but there weren’t many choices. Mercifully, he finally fell into a troubled sleep despite being thrown from side to side. After the toll they were driving on a winding and twisting road.
The next thing Jack knew, they were stopped again. Carefully he raised his head. Again there were lights outside of the car.
“Don’t even think about it,” Richard said. He had the revolver in his hand.
“Where are we?” Jack asked groggily.
“At an all-night convenience store,” Richard said. “Terese wanted to get some basics.”
Terese came back to the car with a bag of groceries.
“Did he stir?” she asked, as she climbed in.
“Yeah, he’s awake,” Richard said.
“Did he try to yell again?”
Nope, Richard said. “He didn’t dare.”
They drove for another hour. Terese and Richard intermittently continued to bicker about whose fault the whole mess was. Neither was willing to give in.
Finally they turned off the paved road and bounced along a rutted gravel drive. Jack winced as his tender body thumped against the floor and the driveshaft hump.
Eventually they made a sharp turn to the left and came to a stop.
Richard switched off the motor. Both he and Terese then got out.
Jack was left in the car by himself. Lifting his head as high as he could, he was only able to see a swatch of night sky. It was very dark.
Getting his legs under him, Jack tried to see if he could possibly rip the handcuffs from beneath the seat. But it wasn’t possible. The handcuffs had been looped around a stout piece of steel.
Collapsing back down, he resigned himself to waiting. It was half an hour before they came back for him. When they did they opened both doors on the passenger side.
Terese unlocked one side of the handcuffs.
“Out of the car!” Richard commanded. He held his gun aimed at Jack’s head.
Jack did as he was told. Terese then quickly stepped forward and recuffed Jack’s free hand.
“In the house!” Richard said.
Jack started walking on wobbly legs through the wet grass. It was much colder than in the city, and he could see his breath. Ahead a white farmhouse loomed in the darkness. There were lights in the windows facing a balustraded porch. Jack could make out smoke and a few sparks issuing from the chimney.
As they reached the porch, Jack glanced around. To the left he could see the dark outline of a barn. Beyond that was a field. Then there were mountains. There were no distant lights; it was an isolated, private hideaway.