'You want a lift back into town?'

Sarah looked up from her place lacing up her boots on the floor of the staff locker room at Jethro Junior who was shrugging into his jacket. 'Thanks but I've got the car.'

'OK.' Jethro accepted her answer readily enough, his mind already turning to the cool beer and hot blonde that awaited him in the Windy Pass Bar on the other side of town. 'Don't forget to lock up.'

Sarah pulled a face at Jethro's disappearing back and stood up, stretching tiredly. Her blue eyes landed on her son asleep on the small sofa that was lodged in the back corner of the locker room and she felt a familiar wave of guilt. Chris was used to waiting at the airfield while she did a job and she knew she was lucky Herman allowed it but she still didn't like that she couldn't afford a baby-sitter or that her son more often than not fell asleep on the old sofa than in a bed. She pulled on her own jacket before she stooped and picked up Chris.

The sleepy child wrapped himself around her and she staggered out to her car. She placed him in the passenger seat and secured him with the seatbelt wrapping the old blanket she kept in the back around him to keep him warm. She headed back into hangar, grabbed her bag and hurried back out, pausing only to turn off the lights and throw the locks. The tarmac in front of the hangar was in darkness; Herman was too stingy to pay for a light and Sarah looked wistfully at the brightly lit Flybirds hangar on the other side of the airfield. A faint breeze drifted across her skin and made her shiver. She clambered into her car and hit the locks.

A flickering light in the skies caught her attention and she frowned as she recognised the lights of a Jet Ranger coming into land in front of the Flybirds hangar. She rubbed her nose and turned the key. Nothing. She frowned and tried again. The engine gave a whiny sound and died. She hit the steering wheel in frustration. She took a deep breath and reached past Chris into the glove compartment, grabbing the large flashlight she kept there for emergencies. She switched it on before she unlocked her door and climbed out.

She popped the lid and propped it open as she shone the flashlight over the engine. Spark plugs were new; the starter wire hadn't shook loose, her gaze fell on the battery. She turned off the flashlight and headed back to the car where she reached for the switch to turn the front lights on; her hand froze. Her lights were on. She backed out of the car and stood for a moment. She'd left her lights on and the battery was drained. She shook her head. She hadn't turned the lights on, she was sure of it. She sighed. She must have knocked the switch by accident when she'd gotten out of the car earlier. Her teeth worried at her bottom lip. Dead battery. She had jump leads in her tool-box; all she needed was another vehicle to charge her battery.

Sarah sighed and looked at the hangar. She'd thrown the locks and she didn't have a key to get back in. She could break in through the office window but then she'd owe Herman and she needed all her cash for the upcoming move; it was bad enough contemplating having to replace the battery. Her eyes were drawn across the airstrip. The Jet Ranger had landed in the open space in front of the Flybirds hangar and the place was bustling with people. She straightened. The Flybirds pilots kept to themselves but they'd surely help her out with the battery…she got back into the car and shook Chris awake.

'Mom?' His eyes opened sleepily to peer at her.

'There's a problem with the car, sweetie.' Her hand pushed back his unruly fringe. 'I'm going across to Flybirds to get some help. You stay here in the car and keep the doors locked until I get back. OK?'

'OK.' Chris replied, his eyes already closing again.

She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. She closed her car door and locked it before she started the walk across the airstrip. She pulled her jacket around her tighter; it could get cold at night but she figured the chill had little to do with the temperature and everything to do with her unease. The itch between her shoulders blades was nagging at her again. A week, she reminded herself. All they needed to do was stay a week so Chris could attend Kevin's birthday party. Surely she could give her child that gift before she uprooted him again?

A gun shot had her head jerking up. She stopped abruptly almost stumbling in her haste. There was a man on the ground and a pilot from Flybirds standing over him with a gun in his outstretched hand. Her hand flew to her mouth although no sound escaped her; her heart beating wildly in her chest. The frozen tableau in front of her shifted as two other men stooped to pick up the body.

They hadn't seen her.

The thought hit her like a freight train. All she had to do was walk back to the car. She and Chris could spend the night there; Herman would be at the airfield at first light…without conscious thought she took one step back. And then another. Before she quite realised what she was doing, she was running at full speed back to her car.

She was almost safely at the vehicle when she heard footsteps stampeding towards her. She gasped in more air and surged forward, her hand hitting the car roof as she scrabbled in her pocket for the keys.

A man charged her from the side.

They hit the ground with a thud and her breath left her body in a whoosh. His hand clamped something over her mouth and nose even as she struggled under his weight. She smelt something chemical and everything went black. She was unconscious when her assailant lifted her from the ground in a fireman's lift; unconscious to her son's horror as he watched his mother being carried away into the darkness through the car window…