But, for whatever reason—maybe because the animals knew exactly where she was—they weren’t leaving the car. She couldn’t imagine what chaos was happening, but she definitely heard chaos, and she silently cheered them on.
Finally Rex groaned and said, “What is wrong with you? Here’s your freedom. Here’s your one chance.” And then he said, “You can’t possibly know she’s in the trunk.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes at his ignorance because, of course, the animals knew.
“Keep it up, and you’ll die with her,” he said. “If that’s what you want, that’s fine. I’m happy to do it.”
A shout came from somebody in the distance, and Rex yelled back, “No problem. Just trying to put the leash on the dog.”
There was laughter, and the other vehicle drove off.
“Nosy busybodies,” Rex said. “Why she doesn’t have a leash on you, I don’t know. At least then I could just drag you out and dump you on the side of the road.”
Her heart clenched in pain at the thought of her animals being stranded like that. What a brute Rex was. He should be dropped off in a strange place and see how he liked it then. She lay tense in the back, just waiting for a chance to move and to get the upper hand in this scenario.
Finally Rex groaned and said, “Fine, but then, when I dump her, you’re going too. Enough of your caterwauling. Be quiet, or I’ll turn around and shoot you.”
It was almost as if the animals knew because immediately they were quiet again. She wasn’t sure just what was going on, but, while all that had been happening, she had managed to loosen up the left-hand corner of the seat. She didn’t know if it would do any good if she couldn’t also loosen the right side, but she could hope so. Her kidnapper got back in, and she felt the vehicle sink slightly. Then the door slammed, as he muttered to himself. “A bloody nuisance, all of you. I don’t know why I’m even doing this.” He drove off again.
She wanted to yell, “Yeah, so why are you doing this?”
But she wasn’t sure what kind of reception she would get, and then Rex would definitely find her phone and take it away from her. No, the best thing she could do was hope to delay the inevitable as best she could, giving Mack a chance to find her. She sent him another message. Hurry please.
He responded. Stay calm and stay quiet. We’re hunting for you.
She immediately groaned and sent another message. Somebody else called out and asked if Rex was okay, and he just said he was trying to put the dog on a leash. So people are around. I just don’t know where.
She heard Rex yelling something and imagined that Goliath must be attacking him. And then she heard barking, and, somehow through it all, Thaddeus couldn’t stay quiet, and he started cawing and calling in the background. She heard Rex screaming, and, after driving erratically for a few minutes, he pulled off the road again for a few minutes. He hopped out of the vehicle and screamed at the occupants of the car. “You’re nuts! You’re all nuts!” he muttered. “Get the hell out of the car!”
But nobody seemed to be budging.
“I’m not listening to any of you.”
The sound of another vehicle pulled up, as she desperately tried to kick the seat down. Somebody walked closer, and she stilled, as she heard crunching footsteps.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“No,” Rex roared. “My girlfriend’s stupid freaking animals, I can’t stand them.”
“Well, they look to be pretty upset,” the stranger noted.
She didn’t recognize his voice.
“Of course they are. Whatever,” Rex said. “I just have to get them back to her.”
“What are you doing with them, if they don’t like you?” the stranger asked suspiciously. And the two men got into a slight altercation, but so much anger was in their voices that she struggled to hear the words. She started screaming from the trunk of the car, “Help! Help! Help!”
The stranger asked, “What was that?”
“Nothing,” Rex said. “Just shut up and mind your own business.”
She banged on the back of the car, kicking and kicking and kicking.
“Whoa, whoa, I don’t know what you’ve got going on here,” the stranger said, “but, if a woman is in the trunk, no way in hell I’m letting you out of here.”
“You’ve got no say in the matter,” Rex said, taking on an ugly tone. “Now you get the hell away from here and leave me alone.”
“Whoa, no need for guns, mister,” the stranger said. “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, man, but it’s wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s wrong or not,” he said. “You let me disappear right now, or you’ll disappear too.”
She started screaming and kicking against the seat now even harder.
“You have to let her out,” the guy said. “You know that, right?”
“I do not,” Rex said. “She has been pissing me off all day.”
“Well, you can’t just leave her like that. You’ll end up really hurting her.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the intention,” he snapped. “Or are you too stupid to figure that out? Now take off, and leave me alone, or do I have to pop you one right here?”
“I’m leaving. I’m leaving,” the newcomer said immediately.
“Well, hurry up and scram. And, next time, mind your own business.”
Then she heard the guy retreating, who said, “You know you should just let her go. Like, dump them all out on the side of the road, and let her go.”
“Can’t do that,” Rex said. “Somebody is looking for her.”
“So what? You don’t have to do anything about it. Just leave her alone.”
“Nope, I can’t do that. It’s got to be permanent. She’s the only one who will know.”
“Know what?”
“Well, if I tell you, then you’ll know too,” he said. “Now get lost.”
With that, her Good Samaritan returned to his vehicle and immediately drove away. She was still kicking and screaming. Rex yelled at the back of the car. “He can’t hear you anymore, and he knows if he comes after me, I will pop him one, so just shut up.” Then Rex got back in the car and drove off.
She sank back, tears in the corner of her eyes. All she could hope for was that the guy called the cops and let them know exactly where they were. She immediately texted Mack about the altercation, though she couldn’t give him any more information.
He contacted her a moment later and confirmed that a call did come in. Hold on, he texted. We have the location where it happened.
She sagged back with relief and snatched up Thaddeus and hugged him tight. He immediately cawed and crowed. Letting him go, she said, “Help me get out of here.”
She resumed kicking at the back seat, trying to get it loose, so she could at least get into the car. The seat was loose but wouldn’t completely fold down. Mugs was barking and chewing away at the seat, and she was desperate to get out of the trunk, but she couldn’t quite manage it. Finally she collapsed, but, off in the distance, she thought she heard sirens.
Instead of slowing down, Rex picked up speed and tore faster and faster down the road. Now she was jostled from side to side, as he wove through traffic, swearing heavily. She could hear other vehicles honking at his behavior.