Page 131 of Over the Edge

“Keep moving.” Dr. Oliver prodded her again from behind.

She didn’t budge.

He pulled the rope taut, cutting off her air supply, and she let out a strangled gasp.

“I said move.”

She stumbled forward.

At the back of the car, Heidi raised the bag. Slid it down over her body as the tether around her neck went slack.

Blackness engulfed her.

A few seconds later, cording was lashed around her ankles.

Lindsey choked back a sob.

Her odds of survival were plummeting.

Without her hands or feet or voice, she was helpless to launch a counterattack.

“Sit in the trunk, Lindsey.”

No.

She wasn’t going to go willingly to her death.

“This is ridiculous.” Heidi spat the comment out.

An instant later, a hard shove sent her tumbling backward. She fell into the trunk, her head connecting with hard metal as she toppled in.

Bright pinpricks of light cascaded across her dark field of vision as her legs were lifted, the bag was pulled down over her feet, and a cinching sound echoed in the trunk as the drawstring was secured.

“Don’t worry. The bag has plenty of air for the short time you’ll be in it.” This from Dr. Oliver.

He was reassuring her she wouldn’t suffocate? The same man who’d put a noose around her neck?

It was ludicrous.

If the situation wasn’t so dire, she’d laugh at the absurdity.

But laughter was the last thing on her mind.

The trunk lid slammed shut, sending a vibration through the car.

Moments after that, car doors opened. Closed. The engine was turned on. The car began to roll toward an unknown destination.

Based on Dr. Oliver’s comment, it wasn’t far.

And wherever it was, that’s where she’d meet her end.

Unless she could outsmart them ... or overpower them ... or Jack figured out where she was and sicced law enforcement on them.

None of which seemed likely in light of the formidable odds stacked against her.

Pressure built in her throat as a wave of despair crashed over her.

How could it end like this, after everything she’d been through? Everything she’d survived? Especially now that she’d met a man who could very well be The One?