Taken

Chapter 22

TROY

September 30, 2013 9:00 p.m.

Troy had been locked in the dining building for 21 straight days now. As soon as his father and Carlos locked the newest hostages, a girl and a boy, Troy believed, in the bunkhouse with Rikki and her brother, the two men had tied Troy's hands together and threw him in the dining building. Now Troy had nothing to do except avoid rats all day and wait for his one meal a day of two slices of bread and a glass of water.

So thirsty, Troy thought to himself. So hungry.

Being in his early twenties, Troy needed more than two slices of bread a day to keep him going. After 21 days of his "special" diet, Troy believed that he had lost at least fifteen pounds, and he was now extremely weak. Troy hoped that his dad and Carlos would start feeding him more so he could get strong enough to compete in the NBL again. Then again, maybe his dad and Carlos wouldn't let him go for the NBL season.

Ha, Dad and Carlos would probably find watching me starve to death more entertaining than watching me play basketball, Troy thought to himself.

Then Troy's mind wandered to the subject he thought about most: Rikki. He wondered what she was doing right that second. Maybe she was tucking Adam into bed. He hoped that his dad and Carlos were treating her right. He didn't want his family beating up the girl he loved, especially not when Troy couldn't even defend her.

Over the past 21 days, Troy's cheek had healed completely, but there was still a fresh red scar that was prominent on his cheek.

Troy's mind started to wander to another subject. For the past 21 days, Troy had wondered the ages of the latest hostages. He hoped that the hostages were younger than Rikki, especially the boy. If you let people live together long enough, they get to know each other and eventually... Troy didn't want to think about the possibility of Rikki falling in love with the other boy hostage. He just couldn't bear the idea of her loving someone other than him.

Well, Troy thought. I'd better get to sleep. Maybe I'll magically get stronger overnight. Troy rolled his eyes. Then someone burst into the dining building. It was Troy's father.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" he asked Troy.

"Does that mean I get more than two slices of bread a day?"

"Yes, but are you going to shape up?" asked his father.

"Yeah, I guess. Does this mean you'll let me go back to the NBL?" Troy asked.

"Yes, if you'll keep quiet about our little heist. Now, let's go. Carlos is baking an apple pie for us, and if we want any of it, we have to leave now," said Jeff, turning to leave the dining building.

"Wait a minute, Carlos bakes?" said Troy, sounding confused.

"Yeah, he makes the most amazing apple pie. It has just the perfect amount of cinnamon and it's so good!" Jeff said, practically drooling.

Wow, I guess we're criminals that imprison our own kind for days with hardly any food and bake apple pies. Very criminalish, Troy thought to himself. Then he followed his father out of the dining hall in the direction of a supposedly delicious apple pie.