Chapter 105
LUCY
It had come to this.
We’d been driving slightly uphill for the last five to ten minutes, and she’d mentioned a watery grave, so I guessed that we were in the bluffs north of Malibu. It’s where the mountains rose above the ocean, and you’d have a big drop into the Pacific Ocean below.
Since she was trying to frame this as a suicide, she’d need to remove my handcuffs. I had no doubt she would be using her Taser to incapacitate me.
I’d be ready.
I’m not sure if it would be enough, but I’d go out fighting.
I told myself not to flip over onto my back until April got out of the car. I needed the element of surprise to have any chance.
We parked, and I could feel that we were now facing downhill, likely pointed right toward the edge of a cliff. She put the car in neutral. The tires shuffled slightly, so I could tell she hadn’t put it in park.
I didn’t allow myself to think of the worst-case scenario, careening toward the ocean, your life seconds from ending.
She turned the headlights off. That was good for me.
“It’s about that time, Lucy. You were a worthy adversary. Congrats on second place.” Followed by that horrible laugh.
It was go time.
I saw her pass by the front of the car. As she did, I rotated my body 180 degrees and was now on my back. I scrunched my knees back to my waist, ready to launch my feet at April.
It was extremely dark, which would be to my advantage. I told myself not to kick her too quickly, or she’d merely get pushed back out the door, and I’d be a goner. I needed to kick up and have her head hit the inside of the car.
April opened the door, and I saw the Taser in her hand.
“Remember your old friend,” she said.
She eased into the back seat, the Taser in front of her. Maybe, just maybe, I could get that thing to go off on her.
Once her entire head became visible, I launched my legs upward. I used my right to kick her flush in the face, pushing her head toward the roof of the car. I guided my left foot toward the Taser and once I connected, pushed it toward her face.
To my shock, the Taser went off, right as it made contact with April’s face. She collapsed in front of my legs, letting out a wail that sounded like a dying animal. The Taser fell on the floor below April. If she got it back, this was over. I kicked it over to my side of the back seat.
April was still moaning and didn’t seem to be entirely conscious. A Taser from five feet away was bad enough. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like going off, flush against your head.
I couldn’t let April get back outside the car, so I slid my right foot past her unmoving body and cradled the armrest on the side of the door, pulling it back toward me with my feet. It shut the door behind me, but barely. A slight nudge would probably open it.
I had to make sure that April remained incapacitated, so I kicked her in the side of her face with the heel of my shoe.
The side of her face would ensure that she’d hit the headrest on the back of the passenger seat.
If I kicked her straight on, I risked sending her into the door, which I feared would offer little resistance.
Despite the kicks, April was starting to wake up. I wasn’t the strongest woman—far from it—so while the kicks did a little damage, it’s not like I could knock her out.
April opened her eyes and stared at me, seemingly coming to in that moment.
She took her hand and blocked a kick, and then lunged at me. She was quickly on top of me, swinging wildly, as I continued trying to kick her. She was getting the best of me, hitting my face repeatedly.
This went on for a few seconds, and then the inconceivable happened.
All of our shaking had moved the car out of neutral. It started moving, ever so slowly, as to almost be unrecognizable, but there was no question in my mind. We were now headed for the cliff.
I only had seconds to live.
I didn’t know if it was five, ten, or twenty, but the car would be launching off the cliff in no time.