Page 75 of Wired Justice

Chapter Forty-Six

“Foul goiter on a lice-ridden yak!”Sophie pulled the dogs back and plunged to the side. She’d been too distracted to see the vehicle coming!

“Get in the van!” The masked man yelled.

“Screw you!” Sophie yelled, reversing direction as fast as she could with the excited dogs fighting her.

The gun spat and Tank yelped in pain, pressing against her legs. Ginger barked aggressively, straining toward the armed assailant.

“I’ll nail these dogs if you don’t get in. Right now,” Ski Mask said.

Sophie squatted, pulling Tank against her to check him over. He’d been grazed, a bloody furrow dug along his back just above the tail. “Son of a poxy whore!” Sophie screamed. Red rage blurred her vision. “What kind of a monster are you?”

“The kind that knows how to get a job done.” The man took aim at the dog’s big square head. “Get in, bitch. We’re going for a ride.”

Sophie whirled to look around the park. No one was nearby enough to see the drama playing out on the quiet side of the park; old men fished off the pier, children played with their families on the jungle gym equipment, mynah birds hopped on the grass. And like an idiot, she hadn’t brought her weapon.

“Time’s up.” Ski Mask fired again, and this time, Tank went down at Sophie’s feet with a pathetic yelp that froze her heart. The man swung the gun to point at Ginger. “Want me to do this one next?”

Sophie howled in rage and horror. Her mind shut off as she let go of the dogs’ leashes and charged forward. She leaped, bowling the man over backward into the van. She got her hands around his thick throat, wrapped her thighs around his body, and choked him, blind to anything but snuffing out his life.

Immediately the vehicle reversed off the sidewalk, throwing Sophie off the gunman to tumble toward the front of the van, rolling over its bare, corrugated metal flooring with the assailant right on top of her. She scrambled to get out from under him, only to have the vehicle lurch forward, peeling out and tossing her and the dog killer into each other as they rolled backward.

All was a blur of punching and kicking as they rolled around in the empty van as it took corners at a wild pace, banging Sophie and her attacker into the bare metal walls. Sophie finally got an arm around the assailant’s throat and pulled him backward in a yoke chokehold, using her hip for leverage—but Ski Mask was still armed. Sophie felt the sting of a blade against her lower back. As she squeezed, the blade dug in further.

She was going to die faster than she could choke him if he pushed that knife all the way into her kidney.

Sophie loosened her grip. The burning pressure of the stabbing blade released. She felt the hot warmth of blood sear her lower back.

Her attacker rolled away as she let go, grabbing his gun up off the floor and training it on her. “Crazy bitch,” he wheezed. “I want to do you right now, but there are better things in store for you.”

Sophie glared at Ski Mask, panting. “I’m going to kill you for what you did to my dog.”

“I can still put a bullet in you. Where do you want it? Leg, arm, or shoulder?”

“Chill out, man,” the driver yelled from the front seat. “We’re almost to the drop zone. You can throw her out of the van so Chang can have his fun. Did you think this was going to be an easy grab? No. You knew she was a fighter.”

Sophie stared into slitted eyes revealed by the ski mask, twisted askew by their struggles. Maybe she could still take him.

“Don’t even think about it,” Ski Mask growled. “I’ll gut-shoot you and enjoy watching you die.”

Sophie had to ready herself for whatever came next. Her phone had fallen out of the pocket of her hoodie; she could feel it, out of sight and just beneath her hip. Maybe she could get a call out for help.

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