Page 125 of Carbon

Even then, I half wished they’d chosen to accelerate. If I died, at least Leroux would be out of the picture and this nightmare would be over. I closed my eyes, waiting, only to find the bumper three feet from my knees as Leroux shoved me towards the passenger side, gun pointed at the windscreen.

“I’m going to get in the back, then you will get into the front. If you try to run, I’ll shoot the driver. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

I stood at the side of the car while he wrenched the door open and climbed inside. My feet told me to hightail it out of there, but I couldn’t. My morals wouldn’t let me cause the death of an innocent person because of a situation I’d created. How could I have fallen for his trick? Why hadn’t I tried calling my father after Leroux phoned me?

He was right; I was stupid.

“Hurry up,” he yelled, and I pulled the door open.

It was then that I got my second shock of the day.

Sofia’s barely perceptible shake of the head warned me to stay quiet, and in any case, I was lost for words as I clicked the seatbelt on.

“Two pretty ladies.” Leroux’s wild grin in the mirror scared the crap out of me. “This has turned into my lucky day.” He nudged my temple with the barrel of the gun and barked an order at Sofia. “Drive.”

35

Sofia shifted the car into gear, checked the mirror, then pulled away smoothly. How did she stay so damn calm?

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Dover,” Leroux told her.

“Dover? I don’t know where that is.”

“South. Head south. I’ve got a boat waiting.”

Her American accent got stronger as she gave a shrug. “I’m not from around here. Either you’ll have to give me directions or I’ll need to program the SatNav.”

“We’re not stopping.” He jabbed the gun in my neck, then pointed it towards the dashboard. “You sort it.”

Marvellous. Now, technology and I weren’t a good mix at the best of times, but faced with four arrow buttons and a tiny joystick, I didn’t know where to start. “Which button do I press?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve only had this car a few days,” Sofia said.

Was it even hers? Or had she borrowed it from Black? After all, he’d been driving an identical vehicle on the night we found Ben. I jabbed each button in turn and wiggled the joystick, but I didn’t get a map. Then...

“Uh, I think I’ve changed it to another language. Is that French?”

Leroux spewed a string of curse words and shifted forward to take a closer look. Sofia accelerated, and outside the window, the trees rushed by either side of the narrow lane. I wanted to ask her to slow down, but I didn’t dare to speak in case I upset Leroux more than he was already.

“Salope stupide. You’ve broken it!”

“Sorry.”

Hang on, why wasIapologising? He was the one who’d abducted me at gunpoint.

He shifted the gun into his left hand and leaned between the seats with his right outstretched. So, he thought he could fix it? Good luck with that.

Before he tackled the directions, he took the time to peruse my body, then reached out and squeezed a breast, hard. I cut my eyes to Sofia. Had she noticed?

“Will you scream like your sister?” he asked, his voice husky. “Are you going to fight me? Because I enjoy that. Angelica gave me one hell of a ride. It was almost a shame I had to kill her.”

Could Sofia hear? Leroux wasn’t talking that quietly, but her eyes remained fixed on the road.

His hand reached between my legs, forcing them apart an inch. “Are you ready?”

---