Page 5 of Fallen to Thievery
It went silent behind me.
Mr. Greene!
I shook my head, my ears ringing.
This was all wrong. This couldn’t be happening. Not here. Not to myfriends!
Gods! If I get into that van… No! I’m not dying today!
Willing my limbs to work, I spun around, yanking my arm from my captor’s grip, bringing my knee up with all the strength I could muster. His breath went out of him with anoomphas my knee connected with his groin. Just how Dad had taught me. The robber doubled over, and I ran.
I ran like hell, my muscles barking in protest. I just had to make it past Pete’s van and into the street ahead. The police sirens were blaring far off. They were coming!
I took a shattering breath, filling my lungs with sheer willpower as I sprinted down the alley, but I didn’t make it much further.
I was violently lifted from my feet, my brain scrambling to make sense of what was up or down as he slammed me, face first, into the side of the van. A cry of sheer pain escaped me, my vision going blurry. My captor’s large body crushed me against the van. Struggling did nothing. He was too strong, and I was trapped. His body was pressed so hard against mine that I battled to get air into my lungs.
An almost silent sob came out of me—it was difficult to scream or cry when you couldn’t breathe.
I wasn’t getting away. He was going to throw me in the back of Pete’s van and pull the trigger.
The robber moved behind me, easing off me just a bit, inhaling deeply to catch his breath. “That wasn’t very nice.” The way his voice sounded playful, like he’d enjoyed slamming me into the van, was terrifying.
Tears were streaming down my face. “I… I’m sorry,” I sobbed, steeling myself for what he would do next.
He pulled open the side door and pushed me in, then swiftly lifted me onto a seat against the side of the van. He roughly clasped my hands together and slipped a zip-tie around my wrist.
“You just saved me some time, cupcake,” he said, lifting his head towards the sirens, while pulling the zip-tie a little too tight. “You got to the van so fast. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say youwantedme to take you.”
I turned my head from him, and he chuckled darkly. The back door of the van swung open making me jump. Outside stood the other two black figures, each with a suitcase handle in hand.
My captor pushed out a ramp. “Hurry,” he demanded, “Seventy-six seconds.” They pushed the cases up the ramp, which seemed incredibly heavy. He strapped them against the other side of the van, so they wouldn’t move. Then settled next to me, on the tiny side seat, while the other two got in at the front.
I tried to make myself as small as possible; tried to breathe as calmly as possible while my heart thundered just as loud as the engine of Pete’s delivery van. As we eased out into the street, I wondered if Mr. Greene was still alive. Was Rachel okay?
Gods!Maybe not. And soon I would meet the same fate. As soon as I outlived my usefulness as a hostage.
My heart sank to the floor as the police sirens sped past us, confirming my worst fear, ignoring Pete’s van on their way to save the people at the bank. But they were too late to save me. And maybe they were too late for Rachel and Mr. Greene. If only the police had gotten here quicker.
No, Ava. Stop thinking like that. They are fine. Everyone is fine.There was no point in thinking otherwise. No gunshots went off.
Why did it take the police so long to respond, anyway? Why did the sirens come from the opposite side of the police precinct?
The driver whistled. “That was fucking close.” He didn’t sound scared. He soundedexcited.
They drove in silence for a while. I kept my ears open for sirens. For saviours. Someone must have seen the van pull out of the back alley and put two and two together.
By the angle of his face, my captor was seemingly staring right at me. He ripped a piece of fabric from his black shirt, the movement making me cower even more.
“I’m going to cover your eyes,” he said while lifting the fabric to my face. I froze, my heart sinking a little further.
Would they ever let me go? Would I be able to get away? If I can’t see…
He pushed my copper hair out of my face before securing the blindfold. I shuddered. He turned my face to him and made sure it was positioned correctly. My hands went clammy, and my knee kept bouncing. My most important sense for survival was taken away. There was nothing but black, only a faint light coming from the front window could penetrate the thick material. I fought hard to keep the panic at bay.
My ears twitched as fabric rustled from beside me, and then athudat my feet. He must have taken his mask off. I heard two more similar thuds. Masks being thrown in the back.
“Are we going through with this? Can’t we just drop her somewhere? She’s frightened as hell.” It was the woman, no longer sounding muffled. She sounded young, like me. They all did. Somewhere between twenty-five and early thirties. I held my breath, praying to the gods that the others would listen to her. Praying for a way out, but it felt like my prayers were bouncing off the roof of the van. I felt alone. For the first time in my life, I felt alone.
