Chapter 38
“You can let me out here.”
“No. No. Not here.”
My brows go up. “Really, this is fine. I can walk from here.”
The man keeps on driving. He’s going too fast too. I grab the oh-shit bar as he nearly takes out a scooter.
I need to get out of this truck before I witness a fatal collision. That’s the last thing I want to see today.
I shout over the blaring music. “Right there, that intersection is fine!”
“No, no.”
I press my feet into the floorboard. He hangs a hard right, making me shriek.
Oh my god.
A lady at the intersection almost got hit.
“Soon,” he says in Spanish. His sun-baked face is a mask of determination as he weaves in and out of traffic like we’re in an Indy car race.
I get ready for a fast exit.
I’ve never been to Carollia before, but it’s chaos. A tangle of traffic. Tiny streets. Colorful businesses, food carts. Swarms of people. And this guy’s going to kill someone.
“I… I, um… Can you go slow, please?”
He slams on the brakes and swerves to the side of the road, then turns into a lot that’s surrounded by a big chain link fence.
My stomach catapults into my throat.
This place looks like a military compound…
A group of men swing their heads my way.
“Here,” the driver declares.
The quiver in my muscles is violent now.
“Here?”
“Si.”
I watch in horror as one of the men closes the gate behind us. The fence is at least ten feet tall. Topped with razor wire.
I’m almost too scared to panic. I’m pretty much frozen in my seat.
Think, Camy. You’ve got to work your way out of this.
He slides out of the truck as the group of men starts walking toward him.
My eyes leap to the ignition. The keys are there.
I could ram the gate…
That is if I don’t pass out first.
But before I have time to slide across the console, my door is jerked open.
A man is leering at me. “Pretty.”
Every cell in my body turns to ice water.
He steps back and motions for me to get out. “Come.”
I glance at the keys. This is my only chance. I jerk my door closed, slam the lock, and leap across the console, scrambling behind the wheel.
Oh. My god.
Fast!
I crank the engine. The man runs around the hood, screaming. Reverse. Come on…
I jam the clutch and shove the shifter down and pray I don’t stall it.
He leaps out of the way when I swing the truck around. Now all the men are in motion, screaming, waving their arms.
I don’t see any guns, but I’m not slowing down to look. I slam the truck in drive and mash the accelerator, dumping the clutch.
Gravel flies from behind the tires as I blast toward the gate.
Yes. Yes. Come on!
There’s a horrible sound of metal on metal as the truck hits the barricade. The whole thing flings into the air, landing on the hood.
Holy shit. I swerve onto the road, jerking the wheel back and forth trying to dislodge the gate.
I have no idea where I’m going, but I’m going fast.
People leap out of the way.
I make a left. Then a right.
Oh! One way street… the wrong way.
Horns blare. Cars swerve. A second later, I burst onto a wider road. But traffic is snarled.
No!
Behind me, I see men running toward the truck, weaving in and out of the cars.
I put the truck in reverse, and try to maneuver around toward an alley, but it’s too tight.
A motorcycle roars up beside me. The driver has on a helmet but the man in the back doesn’t, and as soon as my gaze collides with his, I recognize him. It’s the man from the compound. The one that leered at me. This time, he’s murderous… and armed.
I’m frozen. Glued to the driver’s seat with all the blood draining to my toes when everyone around us suddenly looks up.
What is that sound?
Whomp. Whomp. Whomp.
Debris takes flight. Trash, paper, plastic, and dust.
Then a monstrous shadow darkens the street.
A voice comes from above, cast out from a loudspeaker. “Put your guns down!”
I hinge forward and crane my neck.
A strangled laugh comes out of me.
Figures a SEAL would bring a machine gun and a chopper…