She didn’t answer, but I couldn’t stop to check. They were trying to get us somewhere before I broke free or they would have stopped to check out the racket I was making by now.
I closed my eyes, pulled deep, and kicked again. There was a snap, and then the doors flew open. The driver must have heard it or seen the doors in his mirror because he swerved a little. I turned and fell onto the seat, almost landing on Gabby’s head. She’d fallen over onto the cushion at some point.
The van braked hard, and the door slammed shut. The latch was broken, though, so I knew it wouldn’t stay shut.
I braced us as gravel crunched under the tires, and the van moved to the shoulder of the road.
“Hold on, Gabby. Just a little more.” I pet her head as she had mine. “It’ll be over soon.”
The van came to a stop seconds before the back doors flew open. Two angry men glared at me.
I gently set Gabby on the seat so I wasn’t touching her. Please let her live through this, I thought.
“Hello, boys.” I pulled hard, trying to focus just on them.
When they fell to their knees, I stopped pulling and stumbled out of the van. Then, I started getting me some peace.
I kicked one in the face and had the satisfaction of hearing a dry crunch. I kicked the other between the legs. There was no crunch there, just a raspy, broken exhale.
“You can’t steal people!”
Yelling hurt my head just as much as kicking. I doubled over and heaved again but very little came up. Heaving just made me angrier. One of the men on the ground, the one with the crushed pecans, started moving. I kicked him again.
Satisfied they would stay down for a while, I tried to climb back into the van to get Gabby out. However, my arms and legs weren’t working together. The world started to fuzz around the edges. Crapballs.
“Gabby.” I wasn’t sure if I was asking her for help again or checking to see if she was still alive.
She lay on the seat, her pale hand dangling over the edge, close to my puddle. Had I killed her? Shadow replaced fuzz, and it started to close in, choking out the light. I was losing this one. Too much damage to the head and too much bottled up emotion. I thought of Ethan as I started to slide to the ground. What would they do to him?
Hands grabbed my arms, stopping my downward slide. My head lolled back. Carlos’ brown eyes met mine.
“I threw up,” I whispered.
“You’re alive.”
For the first time ever, I felt something from him. Relief. It flooded me and made everything worse.
I gagged and closed my eyes.
“Stop. Please.”
A cry of denial preceded a burst of anguish so profound, I almost wept.
“Gabby,” a smooth voice said.
I opened my eyes again as Carlos helped me stand. The shadows at the edge of my vision hovered, waiting.
Inside the van, one of the men from the group scooped Gabby into his arms. He cradled her tenderly, trying to keep her head from moving as he stepped from the van.
“What happened to her?” He looked to me for answers, the pain in his eyes too clear. I hated myself just then.
“Is she breathing?”
He nodded.
“I happened to her. We couldn’t go with them.”
My eyes fell to the men on the ground. The nose of the one I’d kicked in the face had straightened. His open eyes met mine. I didn’t even have time to gasp. Carlos set me against the van and turned to meet the attack. After the two in the hotel, the madness on the road, and the kidnapping, the man’s swipe seemed a slow, pathetic attempt at a fight. Still, my head spun as I watched.
Carlos’ large hands closed around the man’s head, and he gave a quick twist. When he turned to the other one, I closed my eyes. I couldn’t watch any more. My stomach’s earlier rebellion wanted an encore performance. So, I listened to the scrape of dirt and a soft grunt, knowing what was happening. I swallowed with difficulty.
A moment later, something brushed against my cheek. I opened my eyes. Carlos stood before me, blocking out the world.
“Can we leave, yet?”
He nodded. I tried pushing away from the van but gagged at a wave of vertigo.
“May I help you?” He held out his arms.
I leaned around him enough to glance at Gabby up in the other man’s arms. I didn’t think he’d looked away from her yet. Her head rested against his chest, and she looked completely comfortable cradled there.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’d puke.”
I tried again and managed to move several steps from the van. The sky rotated and the ground bucked. My knees shook. And suddenly I was up in Carlos’ arms. The abrupt change in prospective did not help my struggle not to heave. He held me through it all and cradled my head to his chest when I finished. Then, he ran.
The breeze helped. I closed my eyes and either slept or passed out. I wasn’t sure which.
“Is she okay?” Ethan’s raspy, abused voice pulled me from my stupor.
I opened my eyes to blue sky, squinted, and looked around. Carlos still held me, but we were no longer running. Nearby, the man who’d helped Ethan stood with Bethi and the ginger. Their worry pooled around me, trying to drown me.