I shriek, throwing my leg out and kicking him as hard as I can to get him away from me. My foot hits his solar plexus, knocking the air out of his lungs and crumpling him to the bare metal floor. If you’re hit hard enough there, it can kill you, but I don’t think I was lucky enough to take Dean’s life, though I may have just bought myself a chance at survival.
I jump to my feet, leaping over Henry’s head and aiming for Dean’s. I kick him beneath his chin, hooking up into the soft flesh of his jaw and driving his head back with as much force as I can manage. His skull slams into the metal floor, and his eyes roll back.
There are two people in the front of the van that have taken notice of the commotion. One of them is the driver, who has slowed down to take a look at what’s going on, and the other is already going for his gun.
Thankfully, there’s a metal grate separating them from me, so they can’t just jump back here and attack me, but it’s still possible to shoot through the grate.
I bend over, leaning in and dangling my fingers over Dean’s holster while trying to not fall over onto him. I crouch down, managing to slide his gun out, but it won’t be much good while I’m in handcuffs. I crouch down further, pushing my fingers into his pocket for the keys. Just as my fingers grasp around the warm metal, the van skids to a stop, throwing me into the metal grate.
The two men in the front shout something in a language I don’t recognize, opening their doors and jumping out to confront me. They’re coming around to the back of the van, but they’re also giving me a chance to escape by doing so. Once that door opens, they’re both getting a bullet to the face. My aim is impeccable, and I’ve been trained to shoot targets downrange ever since I was big enough to hold a gun steady. Point blank will be a piece of cake.
I slip the small key I retrieved from Dean’s pocket into my handcuffs, turning it and taking them off with satisfying freedom. The air is cool around my sweaty wrists, but I have no time to enjoy it. I’m about to be toast if I don’t eliminate the driver and his fiendish friend.
I bring Dean’s gun up to my chest, pointed it at the double doors that separate me from whatever horrors await me outside. I don’t know where we are, but judging by the heat and the bright light coming from the front of the van, I suspect we’re already in the desert, on our way to Bheka’s compound.
I’ve suffered through the unbearable heat of this desert once before. This is where my father was murdered and where I narrowly escaped from death. Today, more people will die, but I will do everything in my power to escape from death again. I have a beautiful marriage to live for now, and a couple of desert goons aren’t going to take that away from me.
After a scraping metal sound that I can only assume to be the rusted lock, the doors to the van swing open, and I start shooting. I put a hole through the first guy easily, since he isn’t wearing a vest, then I turn to the second and aim for his head, burying a bullet in the grey matter of his brain before he has a chance to react.
Two down.
One to go.
I turn around, firing at Dean’s limp body with no hesitation. He won’t have the pleasure of watching my husband die. In fact, nobody will. I’m going to drive straight into Bheka’s compound and throw a wrench into his twisted plans. The Dormer-Calandro Mafia belongs to me, my husband, and nobody else.
I pocket Dean’s gun and turn around, grabbing his ankles to drag him out into the hot sand. He’s heavy, but I’m full of adrenaline, anger, and frantic energy. Even if Carter snapped at me before we were kidnapped, he’s still my husband, and I still want to have a life with him. I must get to the compound before they do to him what they did to Henry. If I could find Amy too, that would be great, but I have no idea where they took her.
Dean’s body falls onto the corpse of the driver, and I look up at the sky to see the buzzards already circling them eagerly. “Come and get your lunch, bastards,” I grumble, closing the back door with a heavy slam and locking it tight.
I leave the bodies for the birds and circle around to the front of the van. The driver’s seat is already hot from the sun as I slip onto the black leather, but the A/C works, so I turn it up full blast. I stick my face in it as I turn the key in the ignition, the coldness of the air like ice against my burning cheeks. My face is flushed from a tornado of emotions, and my hair is stuck together with sweat. The air is a small victory, but it changes everything.
This time around, I’m not helpless.
I’m the one in control, and Bheka’s men are the ones lying dead in the sand.
I press my foot into the gas pedal, the van jolting forward quicker than the piece of shit that Carter paid good money for earlier. I laugh out loud at the thought, as bizarre as it is. This van was free. I laugh again, pressing my foot down harder and sending sand flying behind me.
After a few seconds of acceleration, I slow down, remembering what my father had said about the drones flying around the desert. If they realize that I’ve gained control of this van, they’ll
