Page 22 of K-9 Confidential

Charlie slowly brought her hands in front of her so as not to attract the driver’s attention, keeping under his visual radar. Her breath shook through her as she considered the consequences of her next move. It was going to hurt. If she survived. Untwining the sections of rope from around her wrists, she reworked the longest piece between both hands.

And launched forward.

She hooked the rope around the driver’s seat and over her abductor’s head. He grabbed for the stranglehold she had on him, but Charlie used his own seat to protect herself. The fibers dug deep into his skin as gasps escaped. A part of his brain knew to keep one hand on the steering wheel while attempting to lighten the weight on his throat with the other. But his automatic need to leverage his weight into the seat floored the accelerator. They were speeding up. In complete darkness.

The rope cut into her hands. Just a few more seconds. She didn’t want to kill him. She just needed him unconscious. Her abductor let his hand drop away from the steering wheel. The vehicle slowed without his constant pressure on the accelerator. He was losing consciousness.

Relief loosened the hold she had on the rope. It was going to work.

Her abductor pulled a blade. He sliced through the rope at his neck. His loud gasp punctured through the interior of the car.

Charlie fell back in the seat with nothing but two pieces of severed rope in her hand. The vehicle charged forward, pinning her to the seat, but she couldn’t give up. She had to get out of here. She dove for the front seat.

The blade came up to meet her.

Hot steel sliced through her sweat-drenched shirt and across skin. Charlie fell into the passenger side door. She kicked at her abductor’s wrist. The blade slammed against the opposite window with a crack. The window shattered, spewing tiny shards of glass into their seats. She kicked at him again. “Stop the car!”

But he wasn’t listening. The driver blocked her next strike.

She went for the keys and knocked the steering wheel.

Shapes took form ahead through the windshield.

Rock formations.

They were driving straight into the side of a mountain.

“Look out!” Charlie grabbed for her seat belt and locked it in.

The driver’s face lit up with panic.

Just before impact.

The SUV slammed into rock. The whole world turned upside down as the back of the vehicle vaulted upward. Charlie braced herself against the dashboard. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes as glass cut through the inside of the car.

The impact jolted through every cell in her body as the ceiling caved in. Metal screeched and ripped apart under the cutting edge of the rocks. The vehicle rolled. Once. Twice. The windshield cracked but held its own. Pain and nausea took control as the SUV jumped the formation and jerked downward into some kind of ravine. Gravity seemed to have lost its hold with each flip.

Until they weren’t moving at all.

The SUV groaned as it settled. Charlie reached one hand out, looking for something to hold onto, but nothing seemed to be where it was supposed to be. The seat belt cut into her hips and shoulder, locking her in place upside down. She was conscious enough to realize she was still alive. That she’d survived, but the pain… Her body was trying to shut down to manage the trauma. Sooner or later, she wouldn’t be able to fight it.

The smell of gas permeated her senses.

The fuel lines… They must have ruptured. She had to get out before any of the hot engine parts sparked a fire. Pressure built in her head as she reached for the seat belt latch. It released. She dropped shoulder-first onto the warped and torn metal ceiling with a cry. Tears burned in her eyes as she fixated on the passenger side window. It’d lost its shape in the crash. It wasn’t big enough to crawl through. She’d have to find another way.

Charlie caught sight of the driver. Dead or unconscious, she didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out. She forced her body between both front seats and clawed into the back. The cargo area had been saved. She could get out through there.

Every movement aggravated a deep pain she’d never experienced. Blinding and strong. But soon she’d made it to the cargo area. She tried the latch, but it wouldn’t release.

Smoke filtered through the vents from the front of the vehicle.

She turned. Just as the SUV’s engine caught fire.

* * *

Granger flipped thedriver of the third SUV onto his back and took aim. “Where is she? Where is Charlie Acker?”

The soldier relaxed against the desert floor, laughing. “You’ll never find her,mercenario.Sangre por Sangreowns her now.”

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