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Fuck that.
I lean across him to where the controls are on his door and take matters into my own hands. It’s tight in the cramped space and my head is dangerously close to his… very intimate body part. He doesn’t move, doesn’t stop me. Just sits still as a stone, as I open the window all the way down.
Fresh air burst into the car and I sit back and wave the much-needed air my way. I take deep breaths, waiting for the suffocation to release its grasp around my throat. As the wind blows across my face, I lean into it, hoping it soothes the storm of emotions that’s been raging inside me since this fiasco started.
We’ve been driving in silence for a while now, and we turned off the freeway more than an hour ago. There’s nothing but a long open road ahead and at the end, a life I so desperately tried to escape.
Eighteen months of freedom is flashing before my eyes, dangling in front of me like a carrot on a stick. After all the hard work I put in to overcome my pain and learn to live again, it’s been ripped away from me in only one day.
His phone rings, and a private number pops up on the screen. He turns to look at me, pressing a finger to his lips, then turns to face the road while answering the call.
“Hello.” He sounds just as excited as me to be here.
“I hear you have something that belongs to me.”
Ice cold fear ripples down my spine and my heart stops at the sound of his voice.
Sergei.
There’s no time to think. No time to process. I grab his phone from the dashboard and launch it out of the open window. Never ever wanting to hear his voice again.
“What the fuck!” My captor swerves the car onto the gravel road and slams his foot on the brake.
“She better come back untouched.” Sergei’s voice comes from all around me through the fucking Bluetooth.
I need out.
The car hasn’t even stopped moving, but I don’t care; I rip at the belt holding me in place and dive headfirst out of the window, needing to escape. Just his voice alone brings back the pain.
“What the hell are you doing?” The mystery man grabs a hold of my legs as my body dangles half out of the window. “Stop!”
“What is-” Sergei’s voice is cut off and the call ends, but my fight has just begun.
Tyres screeching is all I can hear as a new wave of vigour and ferocity washes through me, and the man has no choice but to let go if he doesn’t want a stiletto to pierce his face.
I drop to the ground with a thud. “Ouch!”
Moving past the pain, I scramble to my feet and run into the desolate bush.
A car door slams behind me, and I hear feet pounding hard on my trail. The black SUV screeches to a halt behind us, but I don’t stop. I run. I run like my life depends on it. I run faster and faster, pushing myself beyond what I’ve ever done before. But strong arms wrap around my waist lifting me off my feet.
“Let go!” I scream and kick my legs, trying to unhook myself from his arms.
“Stop.” He takes the brunt of my anger, his grip never wavering. “Stop. Calm down.”
“Let me go!”
“Shhh.’ His voice is so close to my ear, a soothing, calming sound that doesn’t fit the scene that’s unfolding. “Calm down and I’ll let you go.”
It’s no use, he’s too strong and I’m out of breath. I stop struggling, my body collapsing against his chest in a defeated heap.
He loosens his grip, lowering me to my feet and letting me go. I spin around to face him and see the other men advancing behind. He lifts his arm for them to stop and waves them back.
My eyes narrow and my heart pounds hard in my chest. “I’m not going back.”
“Look around. You’re not going to outrun us.”
I look back at the men, who stand shocked behind him. None of them are close enough to hear me, but they’re close enough that I have no hope of outrunning any of them. I made it far, but it wasn’t far enough.
