Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Raven’s heart jackhammered against her ribs. It felt like it was about to pound right out of her chest. Her mouth went dry. “I’m not bothering you. I’m leaving. I’ll leave. You’ll never see me again.”
Dekker smiled. “I’ll determine when—and if—you leave. Where did you come from?”
“Nowhere.”
His eyes narrowed. “I highly doubt that.”
“Just… at the end of town. Past the river. Cherry Street.” She had no clue if Cherry Street was past the river or not. Panic threatened to strangle her. She forced herself to keep it together. Predators could smell fear.
Dekker’s gaze traveled up and down her body. Raven stiffened. She felt exposed, vulnerable. She wanted to punch him in his smug, handsome face, break his nose, and maybe claw out an eyeball or two.
“You look… well fed. Where are you getting all this food that gives you those nice curves?”
She swallowed. “Nowhere. I’m starving like everyone else.” She was careful not to say we, to reveal that she had something—and someone—worth protecting.
“Hmmm.” His tone was non-committal. He tapped his pistol against his thigh. “Not sure you’re being honest with me, sweetheart. How about that car of yours? Not much gasoline to be found around here. The fuel trucks haven’t been through town in two weeks.”
“It’s a hybrid.”
His brows raised. “Ah, so you have a generator to charge it, then.”
“It’s on empty,” she said quickly. “This is my last trip. Besides, it’s falling apart. It’s a miracle it got me here.”
“I get the sense you’re not being truthful with me.”
“I am.”
“I’ll ask you again, one more time, because I’m polite and mannered. I suggest you mind your manners, too, little girl.”
She said nothing.
“Where do you come from?”
“I told you, Cherry Street here in town,” she said quickly. “Near the library. My parents are—are dead.” She hoped he believed the genuine catch in her voice. “It’s just me.”
“You were inside the pharmacy.”
She didn’t break eye contact, kept her voice even. “No, I wasn’t.”
“Your car was here when we arrived. I admired your bumper stickers.”
Her heart thundered in her ears. “I parked here to walk to the general store. To save on mileage because I’m almost out of battery.”
His smile deepened. “I could almost believe you, Chica, except for the pharmacy bag sticking out of your pocket right there.”
Her face reddened against her will. “I was in there earlier, hours ago.”
“Right.” He tap, tap, tapped the pistol against his leg. His finger drifted toward the trigger. “The thing is, I’m going to need that bag and its contents from you. And hell, you can throw in the car, too. I know a guy who can fix it up as good as new.”
“You can’t steal my car.” Without it, she’d be stranded. It would take her an entire day of walking to get back home.
“I prefer the term acquisitioning. I mean, seeing as you live just around the corner, I’m sure you won’t mind walking home. Everyone’s taking up walking these days. Those that still breathe our rarified air, that is.” He winked. “Thanks for your generosity.”
Raven folded her fingers around the grip. She jerked the tranq gun from her pocket. Holding it steady with both hands, she planted her feet and aimed it at Dekker’s chest.
Startled, it took him a moment to react. He started to raise his pistol.
“Don’t!” she snarled.
He went still, the hand gripping the pistol hovering a few inches above his thigh. “That’s not even a real gun.”
“It’s not a water gun, either.” She kept her gaze lasered on that pistol.
If he moved an inch, she would shoot him.
Her hands shook. She fought to keep them steady.
“This dose is loaded for a five-hundred-pound tiger. The tranquilizer dosage must be carefully calculated by a trained professional based on the target’s weight, metabolism, anatomy, and medical history.
The margin of error is extremely thin. Too much, and you easily kill the target.
In this case, the dosage will cause imminent cardiac arrest followed by death. ”
“That so?” He acted nonchalant, but his eyes never wavered from the tranquilizer gun, just as hers were focused on his weapon. Insects whirred in the overgrown weeds sprouting from the cracks in the sidewalk. “I think you’re still lying to me.”
Raven raised the barrel a fraction. “I wouldn’t test me. Sure, you can do what you want to me, but I won’t miss. It’s mutually assured destruction. Do you want to die today?”
There was a beat of quiet that stretched taut as a rubber band.
Raven didn’t dare to breathe. A bead of sweat trickled down her spine.
She gestured with the tranq gun. “Toss your pistol into that sewer grate right there. Then raise your hands and walk backward to the corner beneath the stop sign. Don’t move until I’m gone. ”
His lip curled in a sneer. “You think you’ve won. You haven’t.”
“Just do it!”
“This isn’t over.”
“I said move. I won’t ask you again.”
After a moment of hesitation, he obeyed. He must’ve seen something in her eyes. She would squeeze the trigger, and he knew it.
Moving with that eerie, languid ease, he sauntered to the edge of the sidewalk and dropped his pistol through the grate. A splash echoed as the gun hit the water below.
Hands raised, he backed up. When he reached the stop sign, he halted and grinned at her. “You gonna run now?”
Fumbling frantically, she jerked the Camry’s driver door open. She hurled herself into her seat, keeping the gun up and awkwardly aimed in the biker’s direction as she punched the start engine button and slammed into reverse.
As she peeled out of the parking lot, the Camry careening onto two wheels, she risked a glance at Dekker. He was bent over, reaching for something tucked into his right boot. Another gun.
She hit the gas and roared into the street, mashing the gas pedal, spinning the steering wheel hard to the right. A loud bang exploded behind her. A dull ping. The vehicle shuddered.
Dekker must have fired at her. The round hit something, she didn’t know what. The car still drove, that’s all that mattered.
Raven kept driving as fast as she could without crashing. The dial roared past 70, 80, then 90 miles an hour. She gripped the steering wheel so hard her fingers went numb. Her heart raced. Her breath felt torn from her lungs. She didn’t slow, didn’t pause for anything, and didn’t dare look back.
Once she reached the edge of town, she checked the rearview mirror, expecting one of those awful motorcycles to pull up behind her at any moment. The road was empty.
Instead of driving straight back to the wildlife sanctuary, she took side roads, weaving around abandoned cars and giant tree limbs felled from the last storm. She didn’t want to lead them straight to her hiding place, to the animals, or to her sick father.
Minutes passed. Nothing appeared behind her. Dekker hadn’t followed her. The other bikers hadn’t noticed her departure.
Maybe, just maybe, she’d escaped unscathed.
Her breathing slowed. Her racing heart steadied. She glanced down at the bag of painkillers bulging from her cargo pocket. She’d succeeded. She got what she came for.
As she crossed the bridge headed for the zoo, she couldn’t stop shivering.
The bikers were right.
The world had gone to hell.
She could only hope that hell hadn’t followed her home.