wasn’t safe for us to be in this neighborhood, especially not at this late hour. There were too many shady characters hanging on the street corners, eyeballing us suspiciously, and we had enough problems on our hands; the last thing we needed was stumbling into gang territory. Unfortunately, the cab drivers of New York must feel the same way because there were no cabs in sight, we discovered after some time. No wonder the one that had gotten us here in the first place had seemed so uneasy about driving here, and then sped away.
“There should be a subway stop on the next block,” Ian said after having consulted his mini-tablet. “Let’s just take that.”
Ian leading the way, we headed in that direction and soon spotted a station for the green line. We descended the stairs and waited for a train to arrive at the platform. The other people already there seemed caught up in their own worlds, completely ignoring us.
It didn’t take long for a train to roar up beside us and we got into one of the last cars that contained few riders. The end of it was empty barring a homeless man who slept there, his body stretched out over three seats. As we got closer and the rancid smell of him intensified, it became abundantly clear why no one was in that part of the car. In addition to stinking like an overflowing garbage can, he snored like a bear. We still took a seat at the other side of him to be as far away from the other subway riders as possible.
“Okay, tell us what happened now,” Ian said to Nadja. “Everything after you got to the governor’s place.”
She took a deep breath, then, “I didn’t really get in there. As soon as the governor and I entered the hallway, someone grabbed me from behind and placed something wet and cold against my nose and mouth. That was the last I remember before everything went black.”
“So they drugged you then,” Ian said, summarizing.
“Yes. And when I woke up, I was sitting tied up in that chair in that room where you found me. At first, my vision was foggy, but I saw there were people in the room. That bitchy senator from North Carolina, Janine something, was there.” Nadja turned to me. “Do you know who I mean? I saw you train her once. Before that she trained with Ariel.”
I nodded. “Yep. I know exactly who you mean. Who else was there?”
“The governor and a couple of other men, both black. As my vision improved, I saw that one of the black guys was Burt! I thought I was mistaken, but I wasn’t. I was so confused and scared. Terrified. Why was I sitting there all tied up and why was Burt of all people there? He and I are dating—well, we just started a couple of months ago and it only recently got more serious, but still. Why would he want to hurt me in any way?” Her hazel eyes widened like she truly couldn’t understand this. “I was obviously there in that capacity because why else had I been drugged and brought to this room, tied up in a chair? I tried to open my mouth to ask him, but I couldn’t because something was taped over my lips, so I couldn’t move them. I was able to take tiny breaths through the tape, though. There must have been a bunch of holes in it.”
“Do you have any idea what time that was?” I asked. “When you woke up, I mean.”
Nadja pressed her lips together until they became a thin line, looking pensive, then shook her head. “No, I don’t. It could have been an hour after I was drugged, it could have been ten. I couldn’t see outside because of the boarded up windows in that room.”
“Hmm,” I said, thinking. “Well, if they brought you directly to that room, you can’t have been in there for that long. Max twenty hours. Less, probably.”
“I’m thinking it must have been pretty early in the day,” Nadja said. “It feels like an entire day passed after they left. But I can’t tell for sure. Maybe it was later. I was so freaked out I just cried and cried and began to lose track of time.” She brought her
“There should be a subway stop on the next block,” Ian said after having consulted his mini-tablet. “Let’s just take that.”
Ian leading the way, we headed in that direction and soon spotted a station for the green line. We descended the stairs and waited for a train to arrive at the platform. The other people already there seemed caught up in their own worlds, completely ignoring us.
It didn’t take long for a train to roar up beside us and we got into one of the last cars that contained few riders. The end of it was empty barring a homeless man who slept there, his body stretched out over three seats. As we got closer and the rancid smell of him intensified, it became abundantly clear why no one was in that part of the car. In addition to stinking like an overflowing garbage can, he snored like a bear. We still took a seat at the other side of him to be as far away from the other subway riders as possible.
“Okay, tell us what happened now,” Ian said to Nadja. “Everything after you got to the governor’s place.”
She took a deep breath, then, “I didn’t really get in there. As soon as the governor and I entered the hallway, someone grabbed me from behind and placed something wet and cold against my nose and mouth. That was the last I remember before everything went black.”
“So they drugged you then,” Ian said, summarizing.
“Yes. And when I woke up, I was sitting tied up in that chair in that room where you found me. At first, my vision was foggy, but I saw there were people in the room. That bitchy senator from North Carolina, Janine something, was there.” Nadja turned to me. “Do you know who I mean? I saw you train her once. Before that she trained with Ariel.”
I nodded. “Yep. I know exactly who you mean. Who else was there?”
“The governor and a couple of other men, both black. As my vision improved, I saw that one of the black guys was Burt! I thought I was mistaken, but I wasn’t. I was so confused and scared. Terrified. Why was I sitting there all tied up and why was Burt of all people there? He and I are dating—well, we just started a couple of months ago and it only recently got more serious, but still. Why would he want to hurt me in any way?” Her hazel eyes widened like she truly couldn’t understand this. “I was obviously there in that capacity because why else had I been drugged and brought to this room, tied up in a chair? I tried to open my mouth to ask him, but I couldn’t because something was taped over my lips, so I couldn’t move them. I was able to take tiny breaths through the tape, though. There must have been a bunch of holes in it.”
“Do you have any idea what time that was?” I asked. “When you woke up, I mean.”
Nadja pressed her lips together until they became a thin line, looking pensive, then shook her head. “No, I don’t. It could have been an hour after I was drugged, it could have been ten. I couldn’t see outside because of the boarded up windows in that room.”
“Hmm,” I said, thinking. “Well, if they brought you directly to that room, you can’t have been in there for that long. Max twenty hours. Less, probably.”
“I’m thinking it must have been pretty early in the day,” Nadja said. “It feels like an entire day passed after they left. But I can’t tell for sure. Maybe it was later. I was so freaked out I just cried and cried and began to lose track of time.” She brought her
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