Page 62 of Ace

“Try it and I’ll—”

“You’ll what, huh? Shut up, you pussy. You won’t do shit.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what are you gonna do? Chloroform is either a very temporary fix or it kills people. So the way I see it, without a plan, either way, you are going to be screwed very quickly.”

Lizzie’s brain raced, well, as fast as it could after being drugged. They had no idea she was awake, and she had no idea what they were planning. She wasn’t even sure they knew. They treated Joey like garbage but was he fed up enough about it to become an ally if she needed one? It didn’t seem like something she should hedge her bets on.

“She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she?”

The voice was new, and it instantly turned her stomach. She knew it had to be Spider, the one who hadn’t yet spoken. His voice was farther away, and she realized he had to be the driver.

“We could have a bit of fun with her. That would kill two birds. Fun for us. Torture for the boyfriend. Maybe we could wait till he shows up to save her then make him watch.”

She should be trying to voice record this for proof, but she was too afraid to move. If they knew she was awake, anything could happen.

“Fuck!” Spider hollered from the front. The truck jerked as he swerved.

“What’s going on?” Meathead yelled.

“These assfucks on bikes are coming up on me from all sides, trying to run me off the road or some shit,” Spider grumbled.

Lizzie shot up a silent prayer of thanks. She knew exactly who the assholes were, even if her captors hadn’t figured it out yet. What she didn’t know was how they were going to manage to save her unless the truck crashed or ran out of gas or got a flat or something. What could they do: Evel Knievel off their bikes and onto the roof of the truck? Use a torch to melt a hole in the roof that would allow them to drop in from the sky and kick the driver in the head? Then Axel could take over driving while Ace held her and Bear took on the band of bastards?

This wasn’t an action movie and none of that was gonna happen. The best she could hope for was for them to create enough of a distraction to catch her captors off guard so she could save herself.

“This was fucking stupid,” she heard Joey mutter under his breath. “I should have known these assholes would take it too far.”

“Hey, Snake,” Spider yelled. “Come check this out. Are these fuckers on bikes Saints? They are, aren’t they?”

“Of course they are. You took his girl, what did you expect?”

“Well, they won’t get off my ass. What am I supposed to do about it?”

Lizzie held her breath as Meathead and Snake stomped up to the front.

“Here,” she heard Snake say. “Just shoot them.”

“Oh yeah, good plan. Add murder to the list. Let’s not fucking do that, okay.” Spider at least had a bit more sense than the other two.

“I didn’t say murder them, you dickface. I just said shoot. You don’t even have to hit their bodies. Just like I don’t know, shoot out their tires or something. Then they can’t chase us.”

“Why are you shoving a gun in my face?” Spider yelled. “I’m driving, dickhead. You shoot out their tires!”

Lizzie mentally groaned. It was like listening to tweedledee and tweedledum, but if they were crackhead biker gangster wannabes. She had to do something before they stopped arguing and started shooting. She was willing to bet neither of them was a crack shot and she couldn’t risk her Daddy or anyone else getting hurt.

Cracking her eyes enough to peek through her eyelashes, she took stock of her current situation. She was toward the back of the delivery truck near the door. Joey was seated leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and his head in his hands. She took the opportunity to move enough to twist her head and get a good look at the other three guys. Spider was in the driver’s seat, Meathead was on the passenger side, twisted in his seat enough to glare behind him to where Snake was waving a gun around, pointing it out the window.

Fuck. She was out of time. She couldn’t make a plan. She just had to act.

With a wish and a prayer, she reached out and grabbed hold of Joey’s ankle. His head jerked up, and she opened her eyes to meet his gaze with a finger to her lips.

His mouth fell open and for a moment she was convinced she’d made the wrong choice. Finally, he snapped it shut, glared toward the front of the truck, and nodded. He wouldn’t rat her out. And hopefully, he didn’t turn on her. That was all she could ask for.

His eyes searched hers frantically. He was hoping the same thing.

Boom. Snake shot out the window.

Lizzie whipped around toward the sound. Joey’s hand clapped over her mouth so she couldn’t cry out. She stifled a whimper, exhaled as deeply as she could with his hand over her mouth and forced her body to relax.