watched as he tried to pry the tongue of his seatbelt from the buckle. “I don’t know if I can move.”
“You don’t have a choice. Get out. Now!”
“I can’t.”
“Quit telling me what you can’t do and do as you’re told.” Joey cursed under his breath. “I can’t get this damn buckle to release and there’s no damn sense in us both dying in the fucking fire.”
“I’m tired.”
“No! Don’t you dare! Open those eyes, Murphey. Open them!”
As her eyes fell closed, she muttered a response, “Someone will be here soon. Someone will save us both.”
“No, they’re a few minutes behind us. Murphey, open your fucking eyes!” Joey’s voice sounded as if he was yelling from the other end of a tunnel. “Murphey! Murphey, can you smell that?”
She’d smelled the smoke a few minutes ago, but she was too tired to do anything about it. “Sleep will make it hurt less.”
“That’s not how it works. You need to get out of the car. Now!”
“Noooo.”
“You’re not understanding what I’m saying. I cannot sit here and listen to you being burned alive.” Joey pulled frantically on his seat belt. “I’m trapped, you’re not. Get the fuck out of the car. Don’t make me listen to you being burned to death.”
“I can’t. I’m so tired.”
The sound of a car door being slammed had the both of them turning.
“People. Thank fuck!” Joey visibly relaxed as the people rushed to the van. “Murphey’s injured and growing weak. I’m fine, but I can’t get my belt undone. Pass me a knife and get her out.”
A man crouched next to Joey’s door. The heat radiating from the hood forcing him to move back a bit, and the pair exchanged a few muttered words. With a nod of their heads, the man stood once more and the sleek, leather loafers simply walked to her side of the car.
“No, they can’t do this.” Strength she didn’t have five minutes before took over and Murphey pulled herself over the pebbled glass to Joey. “They have to help you. They’re here, they have to get you out too.”
A hand encircled her ankle as she frantically started pulling his seatbelt. “No, stop! Don’t touch me!”
“Don’t fight them, Ciccio. Let them save you. They have nothing to get me out with. They have to take you.”
Kicking the hand wrapped around her ankle extracted a string of curse words from the unknown man, but her small victory was short lived as she was grabbed once more and jerked across the shards of glass and pulled out into the dark night. “Fine, you have me, now get him. Save him! Damn it, Joey!”
“Girl.”
A hard slap to her ass stunned her into silence for a few moments, but the jumping orange flames had her adrenaline moving once more as she was pulled to her feet. “You have me, just, please, get him out. Please. Don’t leave him here to die.” Tears ran in quick succession down her face as she was picked up and shuffled toward the awaiting car.
“We have to get you out of here. They’re only a few minutes behind us.”
“No! No. You can’t leave him. He’ll die!”
Pushing her into the car, the man gave her no choice but to slide over as he climbed in beside her, anger radiating off of him. “You think I don’t know that? You think I’m so cold hearted that I want to leave my cousin to die such a horrible death? But I don’t have a choice. If we don’t get you out of here, we all die.”
“Selfish motherfucker!” Murphey slid to the other side and tried the handle; the door didn’t move. Turning back, she pled one last time, the strength from the adrenaline ebbing. “Please. Please, don’t make me carry the memory of a man’s death with me for the rest of my miserable life. Please.”
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and shook his head, “I’m sorry.”
Turning back to the window, she watched as the flames leapt and licked across the bottom of the overturned van. She didn’t dare allow her eyes to move to the passenger side window. There was no way she would be able to unsee the look on Joey’s face as his only hope at surviving the crash drove away.
Crying, Murphey let the need to sleep overtake her as the pain started to ebb back into her body. Laying her head against the cool glass, she did something she hadn’t done in years. She prayed to a God she didn’t believe in.
CONTINUE READING
About the Author
Victoria Vale has written over two dozen Romance and Young Adult novels under various pseudonyms. As a lover of erotic romance, she enjoys nothing more than a sexy hero paired with a sassy heroine, flavored with a dash of spice and lots of heat. A wife and mother of three, she enjoys reading (of course), cooking, sewing ... and other activities that aren't appropriate for inclusion in a biography.