Page 77 of Coach
There was a beep that had my legs shooting out involuntarily, ramming into the side of the trunk.
It was the key fob unlocking the trunk.
It unlatched with a quiet click.
Fresh air washed over me.
I expected the oil and grime scent of a garage. But the moon and stars blinked down at me.
Well, for a second they did.
Before two figures stepped in the way and blocked them out.
Wait.
What?
No.
“No,” I tried to say around the ball gag, but all that came out was an unintelligible gargle.
I wasn’t sure if my chest felt looser or even tighter at the sight of my kidnappers.
Not Irina and the guy who had my job before me.
No.
It was the Novikoff brothers themselves.
“Come,” Konstantin said, having the gall to give me a little come-hither gesture with his hand.
A snort escaped me at that.
Because, oh sure, just let me climb out and willingly walk to my own execution. I’d hate to be a pain in the ass while you’re trying to lure men out into the desert to shoot me.
They could drag me kicking and flailing if they wanted to murder me that badly.
I dropped back down into the trunk, making every muscle in my body go lax as I remembered trying to physically drag my college roommate out of a party when she’d blacked out from drinking too much.
Dead weight was hard to move.
“As you wish,” Konstantin said, snapping at Mikhail.
Then the two of them reached inside, each grabbing me under one arm and dragging me out of the trunk.
My shins whacked the metal of the car hard on the way out, and my shoulder cried out as I dropped my weight until my knees nearly hit the ground, making the men yank me back upward.
The brothers were frustratingly silent as they dragged me along in the night air.
From what I could tell, there wasn’t anything around for miles.
That said, I was only thinking that because the night was pressing in on us, no light pollution to break it up, to make it easier to see.
The brothers seemed to have an exact location in mind, though, as they kept dragging me along with them.
This might be the only time, however, where the darkness could work in my favor.
If only I could just wrench away from them and run.
