Page 67 of Iron Fist

Forcing myself to take some more deep breaths, I wait until I’m a little calmer and start searching again. This time, I’m able to be more systematic, more deliberate. I start with one wall of the trunk and go back and forth, making sure to examine all the surfaces for the lever that must be there.

On the third wall, my hand brushes up against something. It’s a T-shaped object, dangling from a string. The rush of hope is dizzying. It takes everything I have in me not to pull it immediately. But the car is moving, and judging from the high pitch of the humming tires underneath me, we’re going fairly fast.

Keeping my hand near the release handle so I don’t lose it, I force myself to close my eyes and listen to all the road sounds. I don’t hear any traffic, except an occasional whoosh, so I’m guessing we’re not in a town. On a highway, most likely. Which means we’re not in Ironwood.

That means I’m alone out here.

Panic again. More deep breathing.

More listening to the road, straining for anything I can hear.

Eventually I start to make out some voices inside the main compartment of the car. I can’t really hear what they’re saying, except maybe a word here or there. There are a couple of lower voices, but then two separate voices that almost have to be women. What could they possibly want with me? Who are they?

The longer I wait, the more convinced I am that I have to try to make a run for it. There’s no way I can fight off four people. I couldn’t even fight off the two men who pulled me into the car. And at least one of them has a gun.

An anguished sob escapes my throat. But I push it down. I can’t afford to lose it right now.

Eventually the tire noise starts to lower in pitch. We’re slowing down.

Suddenly, I don’t know what to do. I can’t think. I can’t decide. But then, I hear the low roll of a rumble strip.

Before I can let myself hesitate, I yank on the release. A sliver of light appears.

I push up on the trunk door and launch myself out of the still-moving car.

My body hits the ground with a soul-shaking thud that reverberates through every bone. I’m flung like a top from its string onto the pavement, and skid across the surface. One whole side of my body feels like it’s being sheared away as the road takes the top layer of my skin with it. The pain is so great that a scream rips from my throat. A split-second later my head smacks against the ground hard enough to send every coherent thought spinning away from me.

I roll to a stop. For an eternal moment, my brain seems to not want to function. But somehow two thoughts manage to force themselves to the surface. One is:run. The first is to wonder whether I hurt myself enough to die. I ignore that one and focus on the second one:

Run.

I push against the ground. Somehow, I manage to get myself upright, but a sudden wave of dizziness almost pulls me back down. Staggering to my feet, I peer at the highway and will my body to start moving. Angry shouts behind me finally jolt my legs into action.

At the second step, the agony in my right leg almost sends me to the ground again. I hiss out a breath and try again. I make it maybe four more lurching steps when rough hands grab my arms. “You fucking idiot!” the man yells. He slams a fist against the side of my head and then starts to drag me backwards, back toward the car. I scream and struggle, pain and fear making me fight harder than I ever have in my life.

It’s not enough.

“Jesus Christ, we should just dump her here,” a female voice says.

The man dragging me hauls me up to my feet so that I come face to face with two women. The one on the right stares at me, her face contorted into a mocking snarl. “You thought you were gonna get away, dumb shit?”

“Why are you doing this?” my mouth asks. The voice that comes out sounds far away. My stomach roils. I’m either about to throw up or pass out.

“You think you’re such fuckin’ hot shit, wavin’ your tits around the Lords and the Wretched Souls,” the one on the left spits. “Your pussy ain’t all that. You don’t even rate, you fuckin’ skank.”

The other one sneers. “I bet they won’t even notice you’re gone, you dumb cunt.”

Gone.

Gone.

Holy shit. Now I know who they are. The one on the left is the club girl that was hanging around Rogue… Sassy? The one that was mad as hell that I was around. And the other one is Wrecker’s old lady.

“I didn’t…” I begin, but Wrecker’s old lady slaps me across the face.

“Don’t you try to play dumb!” she screeches. “Fuckin’ bullshit!”

Jesus. Both of these women have it in for me. And if they’re willing to go this far…

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