But the man was quick, throwing the truck in reverse and fishtailing the back around to block my exit. I was now pinned in the alley with the same vicious dogs, still furiously barking like they would like nothing better than to tear me to shreds. I would either have to go down the blind alley or . . .
Oh no! My panicked eyes looked up to see the man grinning victoriously down at me. I was trapped, and we both knew it.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s go,” he directed with a sharp nod.
I was just about to dive down the blank alley when my situation turned from bad to worse—one of the dogs finally managed to hook his front legs over the top of the fence. Crap! I closed my eyes, preparing to leap into the back of the man’s truck, when a sharp whistle pierced the darkness. Momentarily startled, the dog stopped his struggle to heave himself over the fence, lost his momentum, and fell back down.
Almost faint with relief, I looked around for the source of the sound. Headlights from the street penetrated the darkness, haloing another large vehicle that had just pulled up beside the man in the truck.
Oh, thank God! Someone needed to get through the alley. This was my break! Words were being exchanged between open windows, but it was hard to hear because the dogs started up another furious round of barking, their attention now evenly divided between me and the two trucks parked side-by-side.
The proprietary voice of the creeper rose in challenge: “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Her ride,” a deep, calm voice replied.
Something about that voice sent a vibration down my spine. That can’t be right . . . Unfortunately, nobody knows where I am.
The man in the truck stuttered, turned red, took one last accessing look at me plastered against the fence before reaching over and slamming the door shut. “Good luck with that one!” he spat before roaring off into the night.
Shaking, I ducked down to take a couple of deep breaths while I waited for the big black Jeep to pull through the alley so I could run. But it didn’t move.
Holy cow! I just realized I’d seen this Jeep before. Only it wasn’t a Jeep; it was a Hummer. A black Hummer, and I’d only seen one of those once before . . . My eyes traveled up the large knobby tires and into the open window, where a pair of glacier eyes was looking down on me crouched in the weeds. Disbelief momentarily stunned me stupid. No Way! I blinked. Sure enough . . .
“Good evenin’, Glasses!” A familiar mocking voice greeted me.
It just couldn’t be. Could it?
I stumbled upright to get a closer look. What I saw made my face blanch and my feet scrabble backwards like I’d seen a ghost.
What’s he doing here?—nothing good.
“Get her in the truck,” someone directed from the driver’s seat. I thought that voice sounded familiar, too, but couldn’t be sure because my ears were ringing, and I was faint with fear and near exhaustion.
I must’ve been taking too long to process what was going on, because the door sprang open. A very large, very muscular guy stalked my way, with a determined look upon his face. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I registered the fact that he was also very good looking.
Oh man . . . not again! It suddenly occurred to me that I’d just jumped from the frying pan into the fire!
8
RANGER DANGER
He was coming for me, so I finally snapped out of it enough to scramble out of the weeds. I’d fought capture all night from one deranged man. No way was I going down now . . . Not without a fight.
“Come on, Glasses. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Ranger calmly threatened.
Fear choked me. Alarm bells rang in my mind. I shook my head, backed up a couple of more steps, and then—bolted down the alley. I heard him call out and then tear after me. Oh. My. God! I tried running faster, but my exhausted body protested. Heavy footsteps thudded behind me.
Crush! Crush! Crush!
Finally, the adrenaline jolt, my body had been waiting for all night, kicked in. I felt a rush of blood surge through my muscles. Barking dogs tore after me as far as their chains permitted. Dumpsters, rickety fences, weeds, all flew by as I ran faster than I had ever run before. An angry oath pelted my back, sending jangled pulses up my spine. Sure footsteps sped up behind me, faster that I thought possible. Heaving bursts of exertion pushed from my lungs. I prayed just to make it to the street and for a stray car to come along. I ran full out, long legs sprinting, heedless of my blistered feet and clunky footwear.
Unfortunately, the long legs sprinting full out behind me were overtaking me quickly—too quickly. My mind raced faster than my legs. What could I do? I was outmatched. I saw a cardboard box sticking out of the next dumpster, and a hysterical plot to trip him up flew to my mind. My chest heaved, and my leg muscles burned like acid, not blood was pumping through my veins, but I fought through it like I was running for my life.
Please God! . . . Just let me get to the next dumpster!
I reached down deep for the last vestiges of energy I had and sprang forward like a gazelle, just managing to grab the box and hurl it blindly behind me. It landed gratifyingly with a dull whap on its target. Another curse blasted my back, followed by stumbling sounds as he tripped over the contents spilling from the box.
Yes! I thought triumphantly, not daring to turn around. It probably only bought me a few extra seconds. I just hoped it would be enough to get me to the end of the alley. Because whatever the outcome . . . I was at my end. Running on fumes. Stumbling to the finish line. My lungs burned so badly I wanted to hurl. Instead, I hurled myself into the last few feet of my sprint with every fiber of my being.
My guardian angel must’ve been with me, because I heard the unmistakable purr of an engine idling in the street. Thank you, Jesus!
I bolted out of the alley and into the street—and right smack into the monster truck just waiting for me at the end. A trap! I was so concentrated on running toward it that I couldn’t think to stop. Skidding crazily on the gravel, I braced for the crash—Thunk!—my hip and shoulder made contact with the side panel of their blasted Hummer.
Ow! That’s gonna leave a mark, the least of my worries at the moment because the impact bounced me back—into the waiting arms of one Ranger-from-my-nightmares. A loud “Oomph!” erupted from his throat as I plowed into his midsection. I had managed to knock us to the ground, the air from our lungs, and my glasses off in one climatic swoop. I was so out of breath I was gasping for air, wheezing like an asthmatic.
“Goddammit!” blasted into my ear.
I was scrambling to get up first (clearly the more panicked of the two) when a steel hand clamped down on me before I could flee.
“Lemme go!” I screamed with no volume, having no air, while jabbing at his eye sockets. Failing this endeavor, I tried getting in a swift, hard kick at his soft parts.
“Settle down!” Ranger expertly dodged another blow to his groin, so I began clawing at him now, cursing my lack of fingernails. “Get your ass out here and help me with this hellcat!” he ordered, way past the point of being put out with me.
Oh no! . . . No way I could fight off two of them at once! I redoubled my efforts to fight, flailing and clawing desperately. He captured both my wrists, hauling me to my feet like a child in the midst of a tantrum. I took advantage of my standing position by hauling off and kicking him in the shin. With the pointy toe of my boot. Used all the might I had left in me to do it.