to defend myself with, or a way to get myself out of there. But all I felt was the cold metal of the cargo door and what I thought might be the frame of a crate. Headlights flew past the SUV’s windows as the driver accelerated. I cringed and dug my nail into my palm. Even if the cargo seating didn’t have a safety latch, the vehicle was moving way too fast for me to roll out with any hope of safety.
The arguing was getting louder. “When are we supposed to do that?”
A second voice laughed bitterly. “Yeah, we don’t exactly have a lot of free time on our hands.”
My ears tuned-in to the conversation and I tried to turn my head to see beyond the seat. All I could really see, though, was the brief flare of a lighter or a match and the lights of the freeway overhead.
“Just gimme one goddamn minute to think.” I stiffened in the cargo seat when I heard the voice of the mystery man.
“You’re going to get us all screwed,” said the first voice.
I flinched when I heard the leather disturbed and the loud sound of slapping. The second man began laughing again, and it took me a moment to realize someone had just gotten hit.
“I’m helpin’ is what I’m doing. You’re lucky everybody in the state didn’t come over when you got rid of that truck driver.”
I saw another flame and this time it was followed by the smell of the clove cigarettes.
The second man spoke up. “Hey, hey, hey! He’s got a point, Wally, and it could be a lot worse.”
When I lowered my eyes, I thought I saw the shadow of a hand slap someone’s back, but I couldn’t be sure. The words ‘got rid of’ were going off in my head like cartoon bombs, and for a moment, I thought I might be sick.
“Thanks for the optimism, Polo.”
“Hey, Wally? Wally? Wasn’t that driver a connection of yours? What did you go and lose that guy for, anyway?” the second man asked.
“‘Cause he’s a damn fool.”
“To hell with you both! That greedy bastard wanted more money, a bigger percentage next time for less merchandise. Bottom line is we had a problem, so I took care of it.”
“Yeah,” said the mystery man. “Now we got a bigger problem.”
The one they called Polo laughed and the first man joined in. “Ain’t no problem,” he said. “I’ll take care of that, too.”
I saw another flame and this time I could easily smell sulfur. I gagged at the stench and began to cough. Between the tears, mucus pooling in my sinuses and lack of air available, I was no longer capable of breathing properly. Fear took over. Even though I commanded myself to inhale and exhale normally, I failed miserably and my head began to ripple like waves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him look back at me, but it was only for the briefest of moments. I heard a deep exhalation of breath, then a button clicked, and I felt an eruption of wind blast my neck and shoulders. Within a minute or two, my chest stopped hurting so much and my heartbeat somewhat returned to normal.
Straightaway, I started counting the freeway lights in my head to calm myself down. I just had to get through this moment so I could make it to the next. Each time I got to one-hundred, I stopped and started over. One-hundred was a number I often felt comfortable counting to when I was upset. I think maybe repeating the action over and over tired out my brain enough so I couldn’t cry anymore. My eyes felt like burning coals in the back of my head; the mystery man and the ones identified as Wally and Polo had stopped their banter, leaving the vehicle in silence.
My limbs went heavy against the cumbersome crates and began to tingle in their awkward positions. I had to close my eyes as the wind blurred my vision. Somehow, despite my fear and impending doom, I felt myself fading into the cool of the summer night.
Chapter 3
“Hey! Hey, guys! Look! She died from fright!” Polo was laughing again.
I kept my eyes shut and remained as still as I could manage. How long had I been asleep? More importantly, where was I? I had dreamed of dark caves and drowning in water I couldn’t see. I must have awoken while the engine was slowing down, the change in movement