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First draft: June 3, 2018
Alex yanked the brute's gun-hand skywards. The misfired bullet hit the low roof, splitting off pieces of concrete. Her elbow dug deep into the Chris's ribs, hoping to snap a bone of two. Howling like dog, he bent double in pain, giving her the chance to snatch his gun. She aimed a good blow at his oversized empty head. The blunt end of the gun smashed across the back of his head. Chris groaned in pain, piling at her feet like a smelly sack of shit.
Alex kicked him over, and stepped on his chest. The long heel of her shoe resting right over his heart. The man was still blinking, but his eyes were going every which way in his sockets. He was probably trying to clear his vision after getting his lights knocked out with that hit.
"Resist me anymore, and I'll push the heel of my shoe right through you shitty heart!" Alex threatened, pointing the gun at his face.
Just then, a white car sped towards them. Alex only managed to throw a quick glance at Salma's crumpled figure. She let out a breath, pushing her hair out of her face when two men jumped out of the car. They froze in their tracks at the scene before them.
"Agent Wickfield?!"
"Take him away," she ordered, stepping away from the Chris.
She finally turned her attention to Salma who was lying motionless on the ground.
"But I though you said we were not to engage, boss?" One of the agents inquired while the pulled out the cuffs, eyeing the knocked out thug in shock.
Alex ignored him, turning Salma around. She was relieved to see the bullet had missed her. Salma was paralyzed with fear, but was otherwise fine.
"Are you alright?" she asked Salma, shaking her slightly. Salma did not get the chance to respond.
"Boss?!"
Alex pursed her lips, tapping her fingers on Salma's upper arm for a second.
"Get the man to interrogation room, we need to find –"
"No we don't!" the agent raised his voice. "You just wasted months and months of us working our asses off, trying to follow from a distance! He was our lead! What in the world were you thinking?!"
"There was a third party involvement!" Alex snapped. "I couldn't risk it!"
"Third party involvement, my ass!" her subordinate returned angrily. "That was just one hobo probably trying to find a warmer corner in the lot. You couldn't think of better excuse?!"
Alex's expression turned grim, her grip on Salma's shoulder tightened without her realizing it. Her nostril flared as she dropped her vice like grip around Salma and rose to her full height. She turned around to face the angry agent.
"I think you are in no bloody position to question me, Ben!" She snarled. "Where the hell do you think the hobo disappeared off to now?!"
The two glared at each other. Ben was still boiling mad but he did not want to challenge his superior into firing him.
"You better have a very good reason for throwing our only lead away for her," he ended up saying bitterly. Eyeing Salma with contempt, he made his displeasure with her known.
A nearby car beeped as Alex unlocked it.
"Sam, get the girl into my car!" she ordered sharply, without removing her glare from Ben.
Sam obliged. Salma felt a rough hand grasping her arm tightly and pushing her off to her feet. The manner in which he dragged her up, Salma knew this guy was just as unimpressed by Alex jumping in to rescue her before Chris could take her life, as the other one, though he was not being very vocal about it. They had barley taken a step when the air around them exploded with multiple gun shots. Alex and Sam dived for cover behind the cars. Salma was slammed back on the floor in a shocked and trembling heap.
"What the hell!" Sam screamed, watching the bullet's ricochet off of pillars and hit the cars.
"Take position at 3 O'clock!" Alex ordered, before pressing her ear piece. "Ben?"
"I have a clear view," he replied. "Five shooters. All on fire."
"Can we put some holes in these bastards?" Sam yelled as a bullet hit the roof of the car he was crouching next to.
"Race you to the fifth." Alex smiled.
The agent cursed as the three colleagues jumped in position to return the fire. When the agents took cover to reload their guns for a second attack, surprisingly, the shooting stopped. The assailants piled back into the van they had arrived in and drove off. Alex froze. In her periphery, she saw Sam turning to her, looking puzzled.
"Err . . . Boss?" Ben spoke through the earpiece, not sure what the sudden attack, and withdrawal was all about.
Catching up, Alex snapped her attention back to where they had left Salma and Chris.
"Shit!" she cursed.
Sam raced towards her while Ben too shot out of where he was hiding on the opposite side of the parking lot. The space was empty. Salma and Chris were both gone.
"Oh, hell no!" Sam whispered.
"Spread out!" Alex screamed, turning on her heels, gun at the ready as she started scanning the parking lot. "Spread out! Spread out! Find the girl!"
***
Salma lay motionless in the back of the van. With her hands cuffed and gag around her mouth. There wasn't much she could do anyway, except tremble in fear while her heart pounded harder and faster than it had ever done. She was only slightly aware of the fact that she was on the floor of the van. Her head was still in a haze and vision fuzzy. Someone hovered over her. A rough hand grabbed her face and yanked her up.
"Guess you thought we didn't know the FBI was on our backs, did you?" The despicable man snarled. Even through the haze, Salma recognized Chris. "She kept using a worm to lure us in, but guess what happens when the fish outsmarts the bitch? They use the worm to see who the agency has assigned us to, then snatch the worm and boom!"
Roaring with laughter he threw Salma back on the car floor. Her eyes watered in agony when her shoulder hit a sharp metal edge.
"That's what happens!" he said "Boom, indeed!"
Salma tried to fight tears and pain alike. Her circumstance made her sick with fear. Of all the outcomes she had thought her playing the bait could land her in, getting kidnapped right under Alex's nose was not one of them. In the parking lot, while the agents were busy trying to race each other to get the most men down, Salma was startled by someone making a grab for her, but before she could turn around, a rough hand was clasped over her mouth and a sturdy arm with an iron grip held her immobile. Salma screamed and thrashed trying to get Alex's attention but with bullets exploding off of cars and concrete, her protests and cries for help went by unheard and unnoticed. In the panicked haze, Salma saw Chris rolling under the jeep he had cornered her against before she was dragged and smuggled away to a van parked near the mouth of the parking area.
"Thanks for revealing all the agents to us!" Chris hooted. "Your uselessness to us ends here. Ooh, we gonna have so much fun --"
An earthshattering explosion drowned Chris's words. Salma's world turned upside down. In a split seconds time, she felt her body lift in air, then hurled to the left like a ragged doll as the van spun out of control. Then it came to a sudden halt, slamming Salma into the opposite direction. She hit her head onto flat surface and her vision blackened momentarily.
Salma felt her ears tuning on and off. Nauseatingly dizzy, she was only vaguely aware of the van's double doors getting knocked down and a tall shadow climbing inside. She thought she heard commotion and Chris grunting in pain. His face landed next to her with a heavy thud. Salma startled when she made the dark splatters of blood on it. Horrified, she screamed through the gag, desperately trying to see the assailant clearly and back off or resist, but there was little she could when a pair of strong arms snatched her hastily, and jumped out of the van.
By the time she was placed in the backseat of another car, Salma could feel her eyes rolling back. She made a desperate attempt to stay conscious. A wave of nausea hit, forcing her to lay arms against the overpowering dizziness. She allowed herself to black out, crashing into nothingness at the back of the stranger's car; scared sick, defeated and tired.
A sharp sound jerked her awake. Salma could not tell if it had been five minutes or five hours since she passed out. Paralyzed by shock and fear, she let her senses take in their surroundings. She was still in the back of the car, and judging from the soft hum of the engine, they were still driving. It was dark outside and the lack of lights and noise told her they were driving some place lonely. Craning her head the slightest, Salma confirmed her suspicions when she saw trees lining the side of the road instead of building or houses. Her heart picked up pace as she gradually became more aware of the danger she was in. She swept the car with her eyes and realized that apart from the driver, she was alone.
"Yeah, I got her," he said out of blue, startling Salma into a shocked still. "She's blanked out on me but I think she'll be fine."
As he continued, it took Salma a few long minutes to realize the man was talking on the phone. About her. He was updating someone on her status.
"I can handle her," he said. His voice was deep, but not as deep as Burak Kaka's. It was smoother, and very unfamiliar. Salma had never heard it before. "Yeah, no, take it easy. I could only dream of this chance with her. I look forward to enjoying her company."
Salma felt a shiver run down her spine. She did not know this stranger, no matter how hard she tried to find a familiar edge to his tone. He was not someone she knew, and given the way he was talking about her, she had a feeling he did not know her either.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Yeah. Bye."
Salma ran over her options in her head and which would suit her best. She ran her tongue on her lips, thinking. She paused. It had just dawned on her, the gag was missing. Not making much of movement she checked her hands and was pleasantly surprised to see them uncuffed. Salma turned her attention to the driver. Although she could not quite see him, he did not seem to have realized that she was alert.
Salma figured her best move was to force the car to a stop and then make a run for the cover of the trees. If she could lose him there, she would work on the problem of contacting her father and getting help. Reaching that conclusion, Salma slowly lowered her feet off the seat. She took a deep breath and released it slowly, then, she jumped.
As quick and abrupt as she could make it, Salma tried to circle her arm around the man's throat, hoping to strangle him or poke his eyes so he would ram on the brakes. To her shock and dismay, before Salma could even slip it around properly, the man's hand shot up and grabbed her arm in such a grip that Salma felt the bone would snap if he applied anymore pressure. Wincing, Salma impulsively aimed a blow to the other side of his face with her left hand.
"Argh!" The man flinched. The car swerved off course a tad.
Not paying any attention, Salma hurled another punch, only this time, he was ready. Moving his head by an inch, he dodged the punch, letting Salma's fist shoot straight. He snapped his head to the side, trapping her left arm between his head and the window.
"You got a strong hit there," the man commented as he continued driving as if nothing was wrong. "One was quite enough!"
"Let go!" Salma growled, trying to wiggle her arms free from his crushing hold.
He laughed quietly, letting go of the wheel long enough to shift both of Salma's wrists in one of his large hands. For the first time Salma noted his dark haired, trimmed just above his shoulders, and the grey eyes smiling at her in the rearview mirror.
"I'd have these arms around me anytime, but not when they are trying to pelt me with hits," he said, sounding equal amounts of amused and annoyed. He reached in the glove compartment to pull something out. Salma was trying to figure out what he was doing when he suddenly slammed on the break, making her knock face first into the headrest. Before Salma could catch up, the man spun around in his seat and reached for her. A sharp pain shot through her neck as he pulled the syringe back up.
"What in the world . . ." Salma's words jumbled, feeling her vision going in and out of focus a second time that day. She caught a glimpse of his face. It seemed familiar. Salma forced her eyes to remain open, trying to work out who he was as her arms grew limp and she sagged behind his seat.
"Sleep well, sweetheart. . ." She heard an echoing murmur. "We'll sort it out later."
Author's Note:
This chapter was action-packed! Hope you guys enjoyed it.
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J.