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When his grip on me loosened, I ran for it, screaming for help while I did so. But I didn’t make it more than five feet before a large body tackled me, and I hit the ground. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs, and before I could suck in a breath and scream again, a rough hand covered my mouth.
Another set of arms hauled me up, and the two of them dragged me toward the trailer while I continued to kick and thrash.
I bit the hand covering my mouth as hard as I could, making the man yelp and pull it away, but before I could get free, he hit me square in the jaw.
“You stupid bitch,” that same voice said.
My head snapped back as they pushed me into the back of a dark van. One man kneeled on my back while another tied my hands together.
I lay there, panting and racking my brain for a way to escape.
“Got her, boss,” Stinger said into a cell phone.
“Yeah. Hold on.” He came back a moment later with my phone and held it up to my face to unlock it. “Yup. I’m in. Okay, what should I text?”
“Help!” I yelled as loud as I could. “I’m being kidnapped by drug dealers.”
I heard the crack before the pain registered. As my cheek throbbed, I was pushed back and held down, then my mouth was covered with a strip of duct tape.
Stinger grinned at me from where he was typing on my phone. “This is gonna be fun.”
Within minutes, we were headed away from the trailer park, tires squealing.
With a defeated breath, I closed my eyes and went through everything I’d ever learned about abductions. Fuck. I needed a plan to get myself out of this.
I had no phone, and I didn’t know where I was headed. All I had was the seat belt cutter. It’d get me out of these ropes, but it wasn’t an ideal weapon, and I didn’t know how many people were waiting at our destination.
First, I needed to calm down. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing until my heart rate slowed. I concentrated on squeezing the seat belt cutter, feeling the cool steel in my hand. I was getting out of here and back to Paz. But first, I had bad guys to take down.
So far, all the evidence pointed to them being amateur morons. I’d almost fought three of them off on my own. That was clue number one. And rope? Did they not have zip ties this far north? What kind of old-timey retro heist was this?
I chuckled to myself, letting my thinking brain take over. The more relaxed and focused I was, the greater the likelihood that I would get out of this alive.
The paracord wrapped around my wrists came off easily. Whoever these junior varsity kidnappers were, their knot tying skills left a lot to be desired.
As promised, the cutter slipped through the first layer, and then I untied the rest. Paz was right. This thing was pretty handy. After tearing the tape off my face—fuck, that hurt—I tucked the seat belt cutter into my bra.
The van turned sharply, and we bumped down what was likely a dirt road. If that was the case, there was a good chance we were headed out of town. Getting out of the van wouldn’t be an issue, but surviving the night in the woods in the winter was another story. I was wearing a coat and boots, but they weren’t heavy duty enough to hold up if I had to walk thirty miles back to town.
Suddenly, the music died, and murmurs were audible.
“You found him where?”
“That dumbass.” A scoff. “All that fancy education, and he fell right into our trap.”
“It wasn’t exactly our trap. It was the boss’s idea.”
They fell silent for a few moments. The only sounds were tires on bumpy gravel. I inched up closer to the cab, where the stench of cigarette smoke got stronger, hoping to catch more of their conversation. The back of the van was dark and empty, but I could use that to my advantage.
“It’s so funny,” one voice said as the van slowed a bit, “Paz Gagnon, that corporate motherfucker. Do you think the boss will let me shoot him in the head?”
“That prick thinks he’s better than everyone. Boss will probably shoot ’em himself. Besides, you took out the dad.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t get the satisfaction of watching it happen.”
“Doesn’t stop you from getting drunk and bragging about it.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
