Page 3 of All Yours

I scanned my card and gasoline had trickled into the tank when a female scream caught my attention. All the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Eden was running across the lot toward me, hollering something I couldn’t make out. A hulking man with a military crew cut was fast approaching from behind. What on earth was going on?

I released the handle, pulling the nozzle from the tank and slammed it into the side of the pump, attempting to get it back into the cradle. On the third time, the nozzle clunked into place.And jumping into the driver’s seat, I started the engine as Eden dove through the open backseat window, headfirst.

“He’s got my foot.” Her voice echoed through the car. An image of Eden being dragged away by a madman flashed through my mind.

“Wait…” the man’s voice disappeared under the noise.

Lauren lunged between the seats and grabbed Eden’s arms.

“Drive,” Eden called.

In the melee, I hit the accelerator and burned rubber across the parking lot.

Lauren helped pull Eden the rest of the way through the window while I whipped onto the highway, cutting off a car, who responded with a honk. But I didn’t even take the time to apologize for my behavior. Tears blurred my vision, but I wiped them away, blinking hard. Taking the closest interstate entrance ramp, I entered the flow of traffic around eighty-five miles an hour, acting quick to put as much distance between us and him as possible.

“Who was that?” Lauren yelled.

“I don’t know,” Eden cried. “One minute I was hugging Sarah, and the next this man is rushing at me and yelling for me to stop.”

“So, you ran?” I asked, gripping the steering wheel with trembling hands.

“I panicked.”

“And you’re certain he’s a stranger?”

“Never seen him before,” she said.

“You’re missing a shoe,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, he pulled it off when we drove away.”

“Yikes,” Lauren said, turning back to the front. “Is this the way home?”

“Nope. If anyone was following, I didn’t want to lead them home,” I said, my heart thudding in my chest. Who was looking for Eden? And would they land on my doorstep?

“Good thinking,” Lauren said.

“But I can’t really tell if I’m being followed now. So, I’m going to get off the interstate and take some back roads. With fewer cars, it’ll be easier to tell if we’re being tailed, I hope.” I had some experience with evading, but it’d been a while. My skills might be rusty.

“Do that thing where you make four rights and see if there’s a car behind you. That does the same thing,” Eden chimed in.

“No one falls for that,” I said, taking the exit ramp toward an industrial park. Large, plain concrete buildings dotted with square bay doors that stretched on for several football field lengths. Trailers from big rigs sat backed into the bay gates. I pulled the car behind a building where we could watch the road.

“Why are we stopping?” Eden asked.

“I need to check the GPS,” I said. “And I still want to see the highway.” Within a couple of minutes, four or five police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing hauled ass down the interstate in the direction we’d been going.

“Are the cops after us?” Lauren cried.

“Was that guy a cop?” I asked at almost the same time. My heart slammed into my chest wall so hard it vibrated through my entire body.

“He didn’t say he was,” Eden cried, leaning forward between the seats. “I have done nothing illegal.”

“Are you sure?” Lauren asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Eden said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Who would try to grab a woman in broad daylight at a gas station?” Lauren said.

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