Page 7 of No Way Forward

She glared at him although he couldn’t see it. Neither could she see his face. “For your information, I’m trying to get us out of here.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re hurt. I’ve got it.”

“The day I need you to rescue me is the day I retire.” He shifted in the darkness, and she heard the clank of the handcuffs.

“How in the world did you get those cuffs off?”

“Never mind.”

He reached past her, and for an instant, it was as if they embraced each other in the confines of the trunk. She jerked her hands away from his head and tried to shrink back from him. He didn’t seem to notice as he felt around behind her.

“Switch with me,” he said.

“There’s not enough room.”

He didn’t wait for her to move but pushed her onto her back. Her breath caught in her throat as he struggled to slide his huge body over top of her. They couldn’t help but brush against each other. She squeezed her eyes shut and slid to the side. That made it worse, and she bit off a grunt.

While she was all riled up being so close to him, he set about pushing against the lock like it was nothing. She resisted knocking him in the back of the head to take out her frustration on him. The truth was, she was relieved to have him awake and alert enough to help them to escape. Fear had threatened to choke her just moments ago.

The trunk popped open, but he stuck a hand out and caught it to keep it from rising too far. Sunlight nearly blinded Novette. Her heart raced, and her palms sweated. She checked the functionality of her limbs and found them sluggish.

“They’ve taken my gun and my phone,” Zaid said. “First I’ll get you hidden, and then I’ll take care of them.”

“But there’s several of them, and someone shot at us. You can’t take them by yourself, Zaid. Let’s just find someone to borrow a phone from so we can call the police.”

“Your dad wants this whole thing done without the police, with zero attention from the press.”

“Never mind that my life is in danger!”

“I’ll keep you safe.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m in a trunk right now.”

“Trust me, Novette.”

She pressed her lips together.

“Ready?”

“Fine!”

Chapter 4

The kidnappers had parked the car at the back of some dirty potholed lot with a row of Dumpsters along the wall. Novette assumed this was the rear entrance for a strip of stores off a freeway. The scent of greasy cheap meat filled the air, along with the noise from the road.

As soon as Zaid forced the lock on the trunk, the men were on them. Five against two were terrible odds, especially with Zaid unsteady on his feet with a head injury. Two big guys got good punches in on Zaid’s sides, and a third went for something in his jacket.

Novette scrambled around for a weapon and found a chunk of asphalt and threw it at him. While he grabbed his head and stumbled, she reached into the trunk for what turned out to be a jack and swung that at the man. The impact with his shoulder sickened her.

The forth guy grabbed her from behind. She screamed. Zaid roared, “Get your hands off her!”

Two men jumped him. He went down to a knee but surged with all his might up to his feet again. Novette shouted, “Somebody help us! Police!”

“Shut her up,” one of the attackers said. He lunged at her. She kicked him in the junk, and he smacked face-first on the ground.

Her ankle throbbed. The men regrouped and came at her. Zaid jumped unsteadily between them and backed her up. They hit the car with nowhere to go. He shook his head and blinked his eyes as if trying to stay focused. She clutched his arm.

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