Page 55 of Just Now

But the van started moving again and she let out a breath of relief.

“Hang on. I’m coming back,” she said, writhing and wriggling all over again to get back in position.

There was the rope, and there was the loop. And this time, when she pulled it, she felt the knot unravel.

“I’m doing it,” she hissed. “I’ve got it. Your hands should be free now. Just tug and pull and that rope should unwind.”

“It isn’t. It’s still tight!” Then, in a surprised tone, Vera added, “Oh, okay. Yes, it’s coming off. It’s off.”

“Quickly, do mine,” Cami pleaded. Vera was still in a state of panic and until Cami got her own hands untied, she didn’t think they were going to get very far. “Find the knot, and just keep on working at it, wriggle it back and forth. You should be able to. I know you can,” she encouraged her.

She felt Vera’s hands at the knots. Felt her fingers tugging.

“It’s so tight, I don’t know if I can loosen it,” she said, half sobbing.

“Just keep trying,” Cami said, wanting to scream with frustration.

And then, suddenly, she felt the blessed relief of the knot pulling loose, and she moved her hands, reaching them around to the front of her body, easing her aching shoulders as the blood flowed back into her fingers.

“Well done,” she said. “Now, how do we get out of here?”

It was so dark. Total pitch darkness. She felt her way, her hands exploring the back of the truck, looking for a catch that might open it, or a handle, or something. But there was nothing. They weren’t getting out of this cage.

Cami’s heart sank as she realized they were trapped. There was no way out of the van, no matter how hard she searched. There were windows at the back, but they were blacked out, and there were no visible openings except the door that was impossible to break. They were like rats in a trap.

Her phone wasn’t in her pocket. It wasn’t on her at all. Feeling around, she couldn’t find it anywhere in the back of the van. Cami felt naked without her phone. Being without it was worse than having her arms tied behind her back. Although, maybe not.

She tugged at the knots around her ankles, loosening them, working them open.

“What are we going to do?” Vera’s voice trembled with fear.

Cami thought about what they could do. What they had. No high tech, no phone, no ability to use tech to help her.

This was something totally unfamiliar to her, having to devise a low-tech solution. But programmer’s logic worked that way. With a program, you took what you had, and you devised a solution. She could apply logic to her current circumstances, with or without tech to help her. She had a problem and had to find a solution, based on what was available to her.

What did she have? She had a van, and a carpeted floor.

Under the carpeted floor? Tools?

With a sudden rush of inspiration, Cami found the edge of the carpet with her hand and tugged at it. It peeled upward, and underneath, she felt the hard rubbery shape of the spare tire. She felt a big, folded tarpaulin and the thick plastic made her shiver, because she could imagine why it was there and what it had been used for.

And something else, as well.

A wrench. A heavy, steel wrench.

As she felt its weight, and the metal points on its edges, Cami’s mind started working.

It was risky, and it might land them in a heap of trouble, but if her plan succeeded, then it would get them both to safety.

Time to put her plan into action. From now, every second was going to count.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

“Okay. So, you get what we need to do?” Cami asked Vera, whispering the words. She’d told her twice. The first time she thought her words had just bounced off the other woman’s panic. The second time she hoped they’d sunk in.

“Yes, I get it.”

Cami grabbed her arm, squeezing it gently, hoping she could trust her to do what she needed to. This was a completely new dimension for her. She was having difficulty seeing herself in this role. She was tech. She stayed behind the scenes. She programmed and hacked her way to resolutions. It was a lonely game. Trust was easily earned in tech, because the coding proved it right or wrong. She trusted her fellow coders and her fellow hackers.

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