The night air was cool and crisp, and it smelled as if it might rain. Lulu finished loading the car with everything she would need on her trip. She enjoyed every moment of her trips to Muncie. Her company had sent her there for three days each week this month to help with training at the new location. The hotel had a nice pool, hot tub, and best of all, a great shower head with good water pressure.
She was singing at the top of her lungs with the radio blaring as she sped up the highway. In the distance she could see a set of tail lights by the side of the road. She hadn't passed any cars in a while, and she was pretty well surrounded by corn fields at this stage of the journey.
Lulu checked her cell to make sure she had reception, and slowed to see if anyone needed help.
A woman stood next to the truck and waved out her arm. Lulu stopped.
"Hey, can I help? Do you need me to call someone for you?" she yelled out the window.
"My cell's dead, and I can't get the damn jack to move to change the tire myself," the woman replied, obviously upset. "If you could give me a hand or let me call my husband, you'd be my life-saver!"
"Sure thing!" Lulu got out of the car and went over to the woman. "I'm Lulu. Here's my phone, but let me see if I can get this tire changed for you. No need to call a man in if we don't need to," she laughed.
"Thanks, Lulu. I'm Heather. I really appreciate the help."
The front, driver's side tire of this beat-up S-10 was in really rough shape. As she knelt beside it, she noticed the jack was a little rusty. After a few good slams, she got it moving.
"There we go!"
"Ah, I must have loosened it for you! Hey, do you mind if I text my hubby anyway and let him know I'll be late? My phone died on me. The stupid thing doesn't hold battery any more."
"Sure."
Heather sent the text and gave the phone back to Lulu. The two women finished replacing the tire, and Heather held out her hand to help Lulu up off the ground. Lulu hesitated for a moment, but she was wearing a skirt after all. As she grasped Heather's small, soft hand, she caught a faint scent of vanilla.
"Thank you so much. Please, let me give you some cash for your trouble."
"No, it's no problem," Lulu protested.
"I insist!"
Heather reached in the back pocket of her tight, dark blue jeans. Lulu tried not to stare, but the woman had really nice curves. For a moment, she caught her eyes gazing at the gap in her button-up shirt, wondering what her breasts looked like. She shook off the thought.
"Geez, Lulu," she thought to herself, "your not a lesbian. You just need to get laid."
Heather smiled. She handed Lulu $10. She reluctantly accepted.
"Well, I better get going. I have to check into the hotel, and I want to take a lap in the pool before bed," Lulu said as she started for her car.
"Oh, where are you staying?"
"The Westwood."
"Nice! Well, thanks again, Lulu. It was nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you, too!"
As Lulu opened her car door, a hand grabbed around her waist and threw her to the ground.
Startled, Lulu peered up to see a large, tall, dark man standing over her. She fumbled for her cell. Before she could reach it, the man was on top of her. She kicked and struggled, but he held her arms so tight.
"You two ladies will have some fun tonight!" he said with a menacing tone.
"Heather, go get help!" she screamed.
Heather ran to Lulu's side, but just stood there.
"What's going on? Heather! Help!"
"My names not Heather, bitch. See, I knew you'd pull over. It's so much easier than trying to get into your hotel room."
"You've been watching me?!"
"Oh, I haven't. He has. And he's told me all about you. I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about!" Heather smirked as the man pulled Lulu up off the ground. Heather unbuttoned her tight blouse, reached in her bra and pulled out a gun. She turned off the safety, cocked it, and pointed it at Lulu.
"What do you want? You can have all the money I have. You can have my car. I won't say anything, I swear!"
"Oh, sweet Lulu, we don't want your money. We don't want your car. We just want to play."
Tears were streaming down Lulu's cheeks. The man dragged her over and lifted her into the back of the truck. Heather continued to point the gun at Lulu while he used bungee cords to bind her wrists to the tool box.