I feel initial resistance as my knife must cut through muscle and veins, but how much force does it take to kill a man? Is thisenough? Do I need to go further in?
I push the knife in as hard as I can, because I’m not taking any risk. But clearly, I didn’t need to use so much force, because now his head is half hanging off. Between the pain and the surprise, he doesn’t even make a noise, or try to fend me off.
Who’s got a freeze response now, fucker?
Not me, that’s for sure, as I push the button to unlock the doors, tumbling out, then run away, all while ripping off my gag.
That’s when my luck gives out, because I hear someone yell behind me, “Hey! Stop, bitch!”
Then feet run after me, and even as I’m heading wildly down the road, screaming at the top of my lungs in hopes that one of the rare cars driving by will hear me, I feel a heavy weight against my legs.
A body topples on top of me, and I’m pinned to the ground just as a car comes to a screeching halt on the other side of the road.
A man jumps out uncertainly as Tony crushes my body under his.
“Help me!” I shout. “He’s going to kill me! HELP!”
Then I feel Tony shift over me as he grabs a gun from his back pocket. I guess that knife was the best bet after all. He must have left the other gun in the car because it was empty. But even his knife couldn’t save me.
He aims the gun at the guy and yells, “Fuck off or you’re dead!”
Gulping nervously, my one chance at being saved hurries back into the car and drives away, as I scream after it, “Tell Quill Nelson! Find Quill Nelson and tell him! I’m Piper Day, and they’re going to rape and kill me at Devil Tower! The plane leaves at seven! Quill Nelson is the only one who can save me!”
Tony grabs my hair and yanks me back as the car drives away. I stare at it disappear, knowing it’s no use. Even if he did hear me over the sound of the engine, how the hell could he find Quill? And even if he did, what could Quill do about it?
There’s no part of me that can believe, any longer, that Quill Nelson is my silent protector.
That hope is dead.
I know now Quill Nelson is nothing but a cruel, heartless boy.
I lost.
It’s over.
Chapter 10
Quill
Amint green minivan. A mint green minivan.
Fuck. What does mint green even look like?
I’m driving fast down the state road, but I still manage to whip out Piper’s phone and turn it on, typing in the code I’ve had memorized for the past four years.
There’s no point in using the internet on my burner phone. It’s way too fucking slow.
Tearing my eyes away from the road, I begin to type in the words.
Mint green.
But just then, a number calls the phone. I grit my teeth, first in annoyance, then in sudden hope as I wonder…
“Hello?”
“Uh… Piper?”
The voice at the other end makes me want to shoot someone.