The ride felt like it lasted an hour, maybe more. No one spoke again; there was just the hum of the van and the occasional hiss of pain from the guy I’d stabbed. I kept my head down, wrists burning where the plastic zip tie dug deeper each time I moved, but I didn’t stop moving.
I was counting seconds, tracking turns. I knew they weren’t taking me to kill me – not yet – because I was leverage.
Which meant I had a window.
I felt the burner phone in my pocket. I didn’t remember putting it there, but I thanked my lucky stars that it was. I struggled to get it out of my pocket with my bound hands and then slung it under the front seat.
When the van finally slowed and groaned to a stop, I tensed. I heard a heavy chain dragging across metal… likely, some kind of gate. Gravel crunched underfoot as someone stepped outside. Then the back doors creaked open and bright light flooded in, blinding me.
“End of the line,” one of them said.
I didn’t move. The smaller man reached in, grabbing my arm, and that’s when I struck. I swung both legs forward, catching him right in the chest with everything I had. He staggered backward with a surprised grunt, tripping on the uneven ground
The other two scrambled to grab me, but I was already on my feet. I launched myself out of the van, hitting the ground so hard that the impact sent pain ripping through my knees and shoulder, but I didn’t stop. I ran… or limped, staggered, whatever I could do to put distance between me and them.
We were at some kind of warehouse on the edge of an industrial lot. Rusted fencing, stacked pallets, a row of dead trucks baking in the sun. If I could just get into one… hide, or find a weapon, or…
“You stupid bitch!” one of them shouted behind me.
I didn’t look back. I ducked behind a crate and yanked my arms down under my legs so that they were in front of me. I dropped to my knees, found a jagged piece of broken metal sticking out of the ground, andsawed.
Plastic was weak, plastic could break. I just needed time.
“There’s nowhere to go!” the small man called out, voice echoing off the walls of the yard. “You think Halo’s gonna save you? He’s a dead man walking.”
I didn’t stop. My breath was ragged, vision blurred. The tie wasweakening.
Footsteps pounded closer.
“You’re dead the second I catch you,” he snarled, “and if you make me bleed again, I’ll make it slow.”
I snapped the zip tie. The sting was sharp and electric across my skin, but it was gone. I wasfree. I grabbed the metal shard in both hands and turned just as he came around the corner. He hesitated, just for a second, and that’s all I needed. I jammed the shard up toward his face. He jerked back too late, and it caughthim across the cheek, slicing a ragged, bleeding line from chin to temple.
He screamed. The other two were on me again before I could run. One tackled me from behind, and I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me. His weight was crushing, and for a moment I thought I’d suffocate before he got off of me.
“Enough!” the smaller man barked, blood streaming down his face. “Tie her up, anddon’tlet her move again.”
They pinned me to the gravel, rough hands on my shoulders, my ribs. One of them used duct tape this time, wrapping my wrists so tight, they might as well have used wire.
“I told you,” I spat, panting, my lip split and swelling. “You’re nothing but cowards. Three men and youstillcan’t control one unarmed girl.”
The smaller man wiped his face again, eyes full of something colder than fury now.
“Keep talking,” he said, voice low. “I already want to put a bullet in your fucking face. Maybe you need a lesson in submission, huh? We’ve got time.”
I didn’t flinch.
“Try it,” I said. “He’ll kill you slower.”
Chapter forty
Halo
“Borrowed Time”
Thedoorwasopen.Not cracked, not just unlocked. Wide open, drifting slightly from the wind like an invitation… or a goodbye.
For a moment, I just stood there. A single thought sank its claws into my chest before I could stop it: she ran. Maybe she finally came to her senses. Maybe she realized what I really was, what being near me would cost her. Maybe the time holed up in this room with nothing but her thoughts had broken something loose. I’d given her the out. Hell, I’d practically begged her. I told myself I wouldn’t blame her, but I still walked inside like a man checking a grave.
