Page 56 of Just Now

Trust didn’t hinge on unknown variables, the way it was doing now.

This was way out of her area of expertise, but the problem was, right now, there was nothing inside her area of expertise.

She was far beyond her comfort zone. But she needed to survive this. Just long enough to get a phone in her hand.

“We’re going to do it, okay? As we planned? And it’s going to work fine for us.”

“Yes, it will,” Vera said, and Cami thought her pep talk had worked, because Vera sounded encouraged.

Cami waited. She needed to listen now, and listen hard. Because she wanted a moment where the car wasn’t moving too fast. She had the feeling they were on a deserted stretch of road, because she hadn’t heard any other cars for a while. She couldn’t rely on any other motorists being around, or noticing, or helping. This was going to be just him and them.

Okay, now would be good. There wasn’t a lot of engine noise, and although they were moving, she didn’t think it was fast.

She swung her hand back, holding the wrench. And then she flung it forward, toward the black-painted window, as fast and hard as she could, while still keeping hold of it.

The wrench smashed through the glass in a burst of fragments. A hole exploded in the blackness, and muted light rushed in. It seemed almost blinding after the dark.

She’d done it! Part one was over. Now they needed to take this to its conclusion.

She drew the wrench back again. Hammered at the glass again, gouging out a space. Gasping with the effort, Vera reached through. She grabbed the door handle. She twisted it. And it opened. The door swung wide, and Cami grabbed onto Vera’s hand, so that she didn’t fall out of the van.

“We got it! We got it,” Cami gasped. Vera had done her part. And now, if she’d gotten this right, all they had to do was wait.

The van screeched to a stop, slewing and fishtailing. Cami was unseated from her crouched position at the door and went sprawling backward. She hastily scrambled to the door again.

The minute the van stopped, they were on the move.

Bursting through the back doors, out and into the night.

They were on a deserted country road, with only a few twinkling lights in the distance, and a cloud-veiled three-quarter moon overhead. It was the perfect setting for two panicked victims to try to make a run into the darkness. Fleeing into the night—and captured swiftly by the killer. He would have speed and strength on his side, a powerful flashlight, a van, and knowledge of the terrain.

Perhaps even a gun.

All those reasons were why Cami wasnotgoing to run into the darkness. She was doing exactly the opposite. She was going to do the one thing he wouldn’t expect.

As soon as she and Vera had burst out of the van, they crept around it, hugging the righthand side, staying close to it so that it shielded them from sight.

She hoped she’d correctly predicted what would happen next.

The killer wrenched the driver’s door open. They heard him swear, loudly and angrily. Footsteps stormed to the back of the car, and then he gasped.

“Stay low,” Cami breathed.

The footsteps returned to the driver’s door. He reached inside, came out with exactly the sort of powerful flashlight she’d thought he would have.

Its beam lit up the side of the road, shining on tangled grass and bushy trees. This was exactly the terrain that two fleeing women might use to escape. No wonder he was scrutinizing it carefully.

Except they weren’t using it. Instead, Cami and Vera were creeping around the car, now passing the hood, getting to the driver’s side as quickly and quietly as they could.

And then Vera was in, scrambling to the passenger’s side, making space for Cami to get in.

Were the keys in the ignition?

A massive bolt of relief. He’d left them there. That was good, because this wasn’t an electric car and she had no idea how to hotwire a normal ignition.

Were the phones there? Yes, they were there. In the cubbyhole.

Now for the next part of the plan. The getaway.

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