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Chapter 23
I couldn't see anything. The van was sealed like a vacuum packed lunch, and not a glimmer of light was shining through.
One of the girls was sobbing quietly but the others were silent.
'I'm Renee.' Said one girl.
'Tiina.' Said another.
'Rae.'
'Tracy.'
'Rachel,' sobbed the last girl.
'Steph.' I said finally.
'Does anyone know what's going on?' I thought it was Renee who asked, but I couldn't be sure. I kept silent, not sure that telling them we were going to be sold like cattle at a market would be all that conducive to keeping the group calm and non-hysterical.
Everyone made negative noises, and I started to move towards the nearest sound. I crawled into someone. I twisted around so that my legs were nearest the persons back.
'Who's this?' I asked.
'Tiina.' She replied.
'Hey Tiina, I need you to help me ok? I have a flip blade in my left stocking, if you feel behind you, you should be able to get it.'
'Ok,' Tiina said, sounding calm. I felt someone's hands grope my leg. 'Got it!' she said triumphantly.
'Good, now feel up and down the handle. There's a little button on one side, but be careful when you press it because the blade will come out.'
I heard the swish as the blade slid out. The blade was perhaps four inches long, but hopefully it would do the job.
'Hold the blade firmly whilst I try and free my hands.' I twisted round again, putting my back against Tiina's, and our hands closer together. I eased my hands down and felt the bite of the blade. I swore silently, but at least I knew now where the blade was. I manoeuvred my hands down and started to rub the rope around my wrists against the naked blade.
'What's going on?' asked Rae.
'Steph's trying to get free.' Tiina answered for me. Good thing too, I really wasn't in the mood for gossiping. I was the only one who knew the truth about our situation, and I was scared – but at the same time I felt responsible for these girls. So I tried to push my fear aside and get the job done.
I felt a surge of emotion as I felt my hands spring free, a curious mix of exultancy and relief.
I took the knife from Tiina and carefully started sawing through her bindings. It took me far less time to free Tiina, and I moved on to the nearest girl.
'Who's this?' I asked.
'Rachel.' Said a small voice.
'It's going to be ok, Rachel. Don't you worry,' I said in my most re-assuring voice. God, I hoped I was telling the truth!
'How come you have a knife?' Rachel asked, her voice wobbling as she spoke.
To tell the truth or to lie?
'I'm a bounty hunter. Besides, my brother told me to always carry a weapon, no matter how small.' And God bless you Bro!
One by one I freed the girls.
'That everyone?' I asked.
'Uh uh' was the general consensus.
Great, so everyone was free. No what the fuck am I supposed to do?
I scuttled to the end of the van and felt along the inside of the doors. Usually there was a little catch that meant you could open it from the inside. Ah ha! I pushed the small mechanism down and, with a click, the door started to open.
I held the door, preventing it from swinging wide open. I looked out and watched how fast the road disappeared under us. We were probably going about 30mph, the road was little more than a dirt track, and I didn't recognise any landmarks to indicate where we were. But the party hadn't been that far from the compound, and we hadn't been in the van for that long.
'Ok, here's what we're going to do.' I said. 'One by one you're going to jump out the back of the van. As you hit the ground, roll. It'll help avoid any serious injuries. Roll off the road as quickly as you can, the drivers won't be looking for anyone, and it's dark. So, if you move quickly then they shouldn't see us.'
'What if they do?' asked Tracy.
'I've still got my knife,' I said, sounding grim. I took a deep breath, 'I'll go last. Once you're out, stay where you are, and I'll come and find you. Everyone ready?'
'I'll go first,' said Renee. We huddled at the end of the van.
'One, two, three; go!' I whispered. Renee leapt out of the van, rolling as she hit the ground, and quickly she went to the left of the road.
We paused, holding our breaths to see if she'd been spotted. Silence.
'I'll go,' said Tracy.
One by one the girls left, leaving me alone with Rachel.
'You can do this, it'll be all right.'
'I'm scared,' she admitted.
'I'm not going to let anything happen to you Rachel. It's going to be fine. Honestly, you'll look back on this one day and think, 'phew, that was exciting!''
In the light of the moon I could see her brave smile. 'Ok,' she said. She braced herself and leapt. I resisted the urge to cheer.
I waited another thirty seconds or so. I can't believe they hadn't spotted us! I opened the door a fraction more and the light spilled into the van. Along the length of the van was a bench, not dissimilar to the ones the police use whilst moving convicts. Near my foot was a length of twine. I kicked it up and caught it with my spare hand, all the while keeping my grip on the door so it didn't open too much.
I tied the string around the inside handle of the door, and attached the other end of the string to the nearest leg of the bench. The door was secured, open enough that I could jump out, and closed enough that the drivers wouldn't see that the door was open in their wing mirrors.
My turn.
I took a deep breath and leapt.
I hit the ground with a grunt. I rolled off the road to the right and lay there silently for a few seconds. Then I got up and began to move in the direction we'd come from. After a few minutes I found Rachel. She got up, and we moved forward, looking for the others.
It took half an hour to find everyone.
'What do we do now?' asked Tiina.
'We carry on walking.' I said. So we did. After an eternity – ok, ok, ten minutes – we came to a house.
'I'll go in, spewing some story about a flat tyre and asking to use the phone. Then I'll call some friends of mine to come and get us.' I said.
'What if it's a bad guys house?' asked Rachel.
'That's why I'm going in alone. If I'm not out in forty minutes, carry on moving.' They nodded, and moved off to hide in the foliage. When I was sure they couldn't be easily seen I left and headed to the house.
I checked my appearance a window of the house and winced. My white dress was smeared with mud and I had leaves in my hair. I pulled the leaves out, but there wasn't anything I could do about the mud. I looked bedraggled, I doubted they'd believe the 'flat tyre' story, but hopefully they wouldn't ask too many questions.
I knocked firmly on the door. After a few moments, the door opened.
'Yes?' said the man. He looked like he was in his late thirties. His hair was a bright white and his eyes were a deep and shocking blue.
'I've got a flat tyre. I was wondering if I could use your phone?' Thank god I didn't stammer.
'Have you now?' the man said softly, sounding dangerous. 'And where is your car?'
'Down the road aways.' I replied, ignoring the apprehension I was feeling.
He looked at me for a few seconds, saying nothing.
'You're Manoso's woman.'
I slammed my blank face down. All the while thinking 'shit shit shit'. How the hell did he know that? This cannot be good.
Quick, bluff! 'You must have me mistaken with someone else.'
'Relax. Manoso is an acquaintance of mine.'
An acquaintance, how reassuring.
I saw amusement flare in those deadly blue eyes.
'I spoke out loud, huh?'
'Yes Ms Plum. Manoso is on his way.'
'And you know that how?'
'You're wired, are you not? Manoso knows where I am, and if he doesn't recognise my voice then I'm insulted.'
'Uh huh, and who are you?'
He looked at me for a long moment, 'You can call me Coyote.'
'kay.' I said, not feeling particularly eloquent. 'So,' I said, searching for small talk, 'what do you do?'
'I'm an assassin Ms Plum.'
'Oh.' Mistress of the understatement. 'You're not going to kill me are you?'
'No Ms Plum.' I could hear faint traces of amusement in his voice.
'Just checking, it never hurts to ask. Since you're not going to kill me, would you call me Steph? Stolle and Abruzzi called me Ms Plum. It's a threatening-death name.'
Definite amusement now, Coyote's lips were twitching up by the tiniest fraction.
'What about Stephanie?'
'Ramirez called me that, in a horrible sing song voice 'Stephanie.' Ugh, horrible. And Ranger calls me Stephanie when he's annoyed with me. And my mum does too. Hey, my mum and Ranger have something in common! Weird. Jeez, I'm babbling, but hey, it's been a fairly disastrous few days. Do you know someone left a severed head in my oven? Gross. Although I suppose you deal with severed heads and stuff a lot huh?'
'Not really. I kill people, I don't necessarily cut off their heads.'
'Good to know. Cutting people's heads off isn't so polite. I think it's nice for the families when they can bury a whole body, you know? So, being an assassin, what's that like? Good pay?'
His lips twitched more.
'Does anything faze you?' he asked.
'Cotton wool. You know when you rub it between your fingers and it feels really really horrible?'
'Someone left a severed head in your oven, you've been kidnapped, and now you're standing here talking with an assassin. And it's cotton wool that freaks you out?'
'And spiders. I mean, why do they need so many legs? They're just being greedy.'
Coyote laughed, it was a surprisingly warm sound. And, well, just surprising.
'I see why he likes you. One in a million.'
'Thanks. So, why Coyote? Why not Wolf? Or some other equally deadly animal?'
'I like Coyotes. Besides, as a kid I always felt sorry for Wile Coyote.'
'Yeah, me too. Poor guy, he had it rough.' I suddenly became aware of the cold, and I shivered.
'Here.' Said Coyote, handing me his jacket.
'Thanks, but won't you get cold?'
He gave me a long look. If I hadn't been spending so much time with Ranger and the Merry Men I would have been quivering in my boots. But I had, so…
'What?' I yelled, 'Guys get cold too! Ok, you're tough, I get it, yadda yadda. I'm impressed…Jeez, what is it with men and their macho crap?'
He laughed again.
'One in a billion.' He corrected himself. He disappeared inside and seconds later returned with another jacket on.
'Much better.' I said.
Then three black SUVs screamed up Coyote's driveway, screeching to a halt.
'The cavalry's arrived.'
