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I started undoing my seatbelt and that’s when his hand suddenly came flashing out of nowhere through the dark cab, slamming into my torso and keeping me in place.
“Where do you think you’re going? You gotta pay up for the ride. It’s cash, gas, or ass, and we both knew it when you climbed in my rig.”
4
For a second I was just shocked. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
Then his hand holding me down started groping me and I absolutely could believe it.
And then I wanted to laugh at myself for being shocked. Of course this was happening to me right now. Didn’t I know better? Did I actually think it was just Jeff who was the scum of the earth? Why didn’t I think that all men, given the chance, would turn into animals?
Rick undid his seatbelt and I could tell he was about to lunge for me.
For a second I froze.
It was just like when I knew I was about to get it from Jeff. I had that trapped animal feeling of knowing there was no escape. The horror of knowing a beating was coming, of knowing this time he might take it too far, this time I might die.
But the instant I heard the click of the seatbelt undoing, I shook my head and shouted at the top of my lungs, just like we did at the self-defense class, “NOOOOO!”
I shouted it so loudly and so suddenly that Jeff— No, Rick, Rick, jumped back from me, and I took that moment to shove against the door with all my weight and throw it open.
I all but fell out of the big rig cab as I scrambled down to the ground. I dangled by one hand, bearing my weight on the door while I got my footing.
“You fucking bitch, get back here,” Rich shouted, and that was enough to have me dropping to the ground.
I landed on my knees but I was scrambling back to my feet quick enough. And then I did what they told us constantly to do in the class if we ever got in a situation like this.
I ran.
I didn’t even consciously pick a direction. It was dark, I ran. I took off in the direction I was facing as soon as I’d gotten to my feet.
I didn’t even look behind me to see if he was chasing. I just freaking ran with every ounce of energy I had. I came to a metal gate in the darkness. I climbed it like a ladder, hiked a leg over the top of it, then jumped down on the other side and kept running.
Past the gate was a dirt road, not paved anymore, but I still just kept running.
Thank God for the stupid treadmill Jeff bought me years ago. He wanted his wife to be perfectly toned, so any time I wasn’t suffering from a Jeff-inflicted injury that interfered, he had a strict ‘training schedule.’ That was what he called it. In reality, it was just another mechanism for control, but goddammit, I was glad for it now, because it meant I had stamina.
When I finally looked behind me after running for a good fifteen minutes, there was no one there.
Just a full moon that provided just enough light to make out a dirt road and wilderness prairie grass on all sides. And me. That was it.
Which was when it hit me. Maybe running into the wild wasn’t exactly the brightest idea if Rick had a sadistic penchant for hunting down girls.
Just the thought sent chills down my spine and I took off again in the direction I’d been running. If there was a road, surely it had to lead somewhere, right? Someplace I could hide out for the night and wait out Texas Chainsaw Massacre truck driver?
I tried to take in calming breaths. It was much more likely he was the more mundane type of monster who wanted to avoid cardio as much as the next guy. He was likely already back on the highway. I could only pray.
But I wasn’t a girl to take chances. I was all done doing this risky shit. I’d used up my lifetime’s allotment, I decided right here and now. Getting the hell away from Jeff and getting here, wherever here was.
Embracing paranoia was going to be my new plan from here on out. Paranoia and low-risk living.
So I ran. Run, rabbit, run. Run, little mouse. I ran and then ran more. When I developed a crick in my side, I just held it with one hand and kept going.
And then, finally, like a lighthouse in the fog, I saw a break in the darkness up ahead. Light meant people, right? I laughed and staggered towards it. I looked over my shoulder and it still seemed clear. I couldn’t imagine that Deliverance truck driver could have run as fast or for as long as I had, but I decided it would be stupid to slow down right at the end. Paranoia was my new best friend. So I kept up my giddyup until I’d made it to the driveway of a big, two-story ranch house with a wraparound porch. Light poured from a couple of rooms downstairs and I stumbled as I headed towards the porch stairs.
