“Thebomb?” Xavier echoed, looking bewildered for a few momentslonger. “Then we need to move our asses now!” He brushed past me and picked up the baseball bat I’d thrown to the ground. “He doesn’t get to win,” he said, looking determinedly back at me. In one blow, he smashed through what was left of the car’s window and stuck his arm in to unlock the doors.
Meanwhile, I just kept standing there silently, still in shock. I felt a wave of heaviness, like my body had been transformed into lead.
“I’ll check if there’s a trunk release up here. Cars are always supposed to fucking have them. The rest of you look under the floor mats and see if there’s anything that might pop the trunk,” Xavier ordered. He sat down in the driver’s seat and bent over, searching for the lever in question. I continued to watch all of it, listen to all of it, and do nothing.
I could feel the sweat running down my forehead, the powerful beats of my heart, the tremor in my right hand…
“I…” I tried to speak, but I couldn’t get out an intelligible sentence.
“Neil, time’s running out!” Logan grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, trying to get me to move, and my breathing got heavier. “Come back to me. Please. We’ll get her in time, you’ll see,” he said shakily. I didn’t even blink, so my brother took my face in his hands and forced me to look at him. “I’m going to go into the motel and ask for help. I know that you’re thinking this is your fault, but it’s not. We’re going to save Chloe. We just have to stay calm and keep a clear head.” He clapped my back twice before rushing away with Alyssa in tow.
“Neil, get over here!” I was prodded to alertness only when I heard Xavier’s shout. I jumped. I wasn’t going to let myself be disheartened. I wasn’t going to let Player win this war.
I hurried over to my friend and looked at him, still not speaking.
I must have looked like a total asshole, incapable of making myself useful in an emergency. It wasn’t at all like me to be so passive.
“I found a trunk release cable under the floor mat,” Xavier said, showing it to me. “Except it’s stuck or something. You’re going to have to give me a hand,” he told me, sounding agitated. I just nodded and knelt down.
He called out to me again, and I turned to look at him, terror in my eyes.
“Listen, man, I’ve never seen you shell-shocked like this, and you need to get your shit together and quick, okay?” he said urgently. He was right.
I stared into his dark eyes, and I could see how worried he was. I wasn’t going to fix shit by just standing there and letting the dark thoughts overwhelm me, so I forced myself to act instead of just thinking out worst-case scenarios.
“Yeah… I know,” I mumbled, trying to cut the exchange short as I focused on the trunk release, pulling it hard.
“What we need is a pair of pliers,” Xavier murmured, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
“We don’t have the time, Xavier,” I said shortly.
“Okay, so let’s try this. I’ll see if I can fold the back seats up and shift them forward and check underneath for another lever or something. You stay here and keep putting pressure on the release,” he said, quickly moving to the back of the car. I stayed in the driver’s seat and bent over, trying desperately to get the damned lever to move. Periodically, I cast quick glances at the motel entrance, hoping I might see what the hell was going on with Logan, but I couldn’t spot him there.
“There’s no fucking lever back here!” Xavier raged suddenly, and I turned to look at him. He drove a hand through his black hair, sweating.
“Kick it in,” I suggested, and his eyes lit up. Xavier had a violent streak a mile wide, and, more than that, he was completely unable to moderate his strength. “Pretend it’s your father,” I continued, well aware of the kind of sick rage Xavier felt whenever he thought of the man. Xavier didn’t say anything and just breathed heavily in response. Then he positioned himself against the back seats, albeit with some difficulty. The car was too small for two people of our size, but we weren’t letting that small detail stop us.
Moments later, he started pummeling the back of the car with one leg while I returned to the stuck cable.
“How much time do we have left?” he asked quickly, pausing to catch his breath.
“Not much.” I had been keeping track of every minute that passed. Three more were gone by then.
“Guys!” My brother raced over to us and leaned in the open door to reveal an iron crowbar.
“Well, that’s fucking handy,” Xavier commented, and we both crawled out of the car.
We had to go fast.
I snatched the bar out of Logan’s hand and walked around to the back of the car. Then, with all the strength I could muster, I began to force the trunk open.
After three failed attempts, I succeeded.
With one more sharp strike, the trunk sprang open, and my eyes went wide when I saw Chloe’s huddled form.
Her wrists and ankles were bound with ropes, a strip of duct tape covered her mouth, her blond hair was disheveled, and her eyes were closed. I didn’t waste any more time, hurrying to scoop her up and pull her out of the trunk. I crouched down, clutching her body to me, and pulled the tape from her lips.
“Kiddo, can you hear me?” I touched her cold cheek while Logan, on the verge of tears, got down next to me and stroked her hair.
