A new kind of fear swept through Kim like a cold fire, and she started to pass out. But she got a grip on herself, squeezed her knees together hard, bit her hand, and kept herself awake. And she replayed the voice in her head again.

“It is kind of funny, and it's kind of wonderfully romantic, too.”

She didn't know that voice, didn't know it at all.

Everything she'd envisioned a moment ago, Doug's face, his weakness for her, her learning how to win him over when he got out of control – that was all gone.

Here was the new truth.

A complete stranger had tied her up and thrown her into the trunk of his car. She'd been kidnapped – but why? Her parents weren't rich! What was he going to do to her? How was she going to escape? She was – but how?

Kim listened in silence before asking, “Who is this?”

The voice was mellow and calm when he spoke again.

“Sorry to be so rude, Kim. I'll introduce myself in a minute or two. It won't be very long now. And don't worry. Everything's going to be fine.”

The line went dead.

Kim blanked when the phone call cut off. It was as if her mind had been disconnected, too. Then the thoughts tumbled in. She found hope in the stranger's reassurance. So she clung to it. He was acting? nice. He'd said, “Everything's going to be fine.”

The car took a hard left, and Kim rolled against the side of the trunk, braced her feet against the wall of the compartment. And she realized that she was still gripping the phone!

She held the keypad close to her face. She could barely read the numbers by the pale light of the faceplate, but she still managed to punch in 911.

She listened to the three rings, then four, and then the operator's voice. “ Nine-one-one. What's your emergency?”

“My name is Kim McDaniels. I've been -”

“I didn't get that. Please spell your name.”

Kim rolled forward as the car come to a stop. Then the driver's side door slammed – and she heard the key turning in the trunk lock.