Chapter 7
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QUINN MOANED, THE THROBBINGin her head making her feel queasy.Dazed.She shifted slightly, a rough fabric scraping her cheek.Why was she lying down in the dark on a hard, scratchy surface?Her entire body ached.She suddenly bounced, the motion making her feel even worse.Blinking, she tried to remember what had happened.To figure out what was going on.
Had she gone back to her apartment?
No.She wasn’t in her bed, and something sharp was poking into her back.
As she bounced again, Quinn’s hands shot out, hitting something metal.
What the hell?
Suddenly, it all came crashing back.The man she’d spotted walking down the street.The alley.His hands on her neck as he choked her to unconsciousness.Quinn realized too late that she never should’ve followed him.
Horror swept over her as she realized she was in the trunk of a moving vehicle.Frantically, she felt around, knowing she was right.They’d tossed her into a trunk.Bile rose in the back of her throat as panic overtook her.This couldn’t be happening.It couldn’t be.
The vehicle bounced again, and her hands shot out once more to steady herself.
At least she wasn’t tied up.
Quinn took a shaky breath, trying to stop her racing heart.
Every second they were driving her farther away from where she’d been kidnapped.Farther away from Knox.She knew it without a doubt.If they simply wanted to kill her, they’d already have done so.They’d kidnapped her for a reason, and fresh fear quaked over her.
Feeling around blindly in the dark, she realized something was stacked behind her back.That was what was poking into her spine.She shifted awkwardly, freezing in alarm as she realized she was in a trunk with wooden crates.But were they empty or full of explosives?
She didn’t move, wincing as the car bounced again.
It would be unlikely one of the terror cell members were driving around with empty wooden crates—which meant she was locked in a trunk that could explode at any moment.
Were they planning to just—let her die?Drive the car into a building and—no.They were using self-driving vehicles.She had to get out of here.
Carefully, she shifted again, reaching for the phone she kept in her back pocket.
Horror slammed into her when she came up empty.It was gone.
Quinn felt around again, noting some random pieces of gravel.She stretched awkwardly, as much as she could do in the confined space, and was surprised to find a pencil wedged between a crate and side of the trunk.Grabbing it, she clutched onto it tightly.If someone opened the trunk, it was all she had to defend herself.An idea blooming in her mind, she wrotehelpon the side of one of the crates.The team would be looking for the explosives.Was she in a self-driving vehicle?Quinn had no idea.But if she was taken to another location and Bravo Team found the crates before they exploded, they’d see her message.
Hopefully.
Quinn sucked in a deep breath, feeling jittery.She needed to remain calm.Focused.Panicking wouldn’t do her any good if she wanted to escape.What were you supposed to do in a situation like this anyway?Kick out the brake lights?Yes.She’d read that somewhere.Quinn shifted, trying to get leverage to kick at one.There was barely any room to maneuver with the crates behind her.
What did they intend to do with her in the trunk?Send her right to her death?
Fruitlessly, she tried kicking at one of the brake lights.Maybe if she had room to scoot back, she’d be able to do something.Those damn explosives were going to get her killed one way or another.
The car made a sudden turn, Quinn’s head hitting the back of the trunk.She swore, fumbling around in the darkness.Wasn’t there some sort of emergency release on the trunk?Tears streamed down her face as she felt around, yanking at mechanisms and trying to jimmy the lid open, but it was useless.
The car slowed, and fresh fear bloomed in her chest.
Running out of other options, she began to scream.If they were still in the city, or anywhere near people, certainly someone would hear bloodcurdling cries.She screamed again and again, not entirely surprised when the car came to a stop.
Not a self-driving vehicle, then.
