She reached out and put her fingers on the man’s carotid artery—and reflexively jerked her hand back when his eyes popped open.
Immediately, Sienna reached for him and grabbed both sides of his head as best she could in the limited space, trying to keep him still so he wouldn’t exacerbate any neck injury he might have. “You’re okay, sir. You’ve been in a car crash, but you’re okay,” she told him calmly.
He reached up with one hand and gripped her wrist, but didn’t try to jerk out of her hold or otherwise move.
Sienna could practically see his brain trying to process what had happened and where he was. She saw the second his situation registered because his breathing sped up and his eyes dilated further.
“I need to get out,” he said in a low, controlled voice.
“I’m sorry,” Sienna told him, “That’s just not possible right now. But you’re safe. Cars don’t blow up like they do in the movies and television shows. I’m sure the cops and firefighters are on their way. They’ll get you out as soon as they can.”
“You don’t understand,” he said in a tone Sienna couldn’t read. “I’m claustrophobic. I’m going to lose it if I don’t get out of here.”Christopher King closed his eyes, trying to block out the fact that he was trapped in the ridiculously small rental car he’d picked up at the Austin airport. He’d reserved an SUV, but when he arrived, he’d been informed that there had been a clerical error and the only thing available for him was this Honda Civic. He made sure the employees knew he wasn’t happy, but in the end, there wasn’t anything he could do about it, and he’d driven away in the car way too small for his liking.
He was a tall man at six-one, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d even been in a vehicle as small as this one. If it wasn’t for the fact his son would be arriving home that afternoon from a nine-month deployment in the Middle East, he would’ve refused to take the vehicle. But he had to get his ass to the Fort Hood area, check into his hotel, go to the base, and make sure he was at the reception area so he could greet Tony when he arrived with his unit.
It was Christmas Eve, and hearing that his son would be returning tonight had been the best present he could’ve received. Chris had divorced his ex when Tony was only five years old. He didn’t get to watch his son grow up as much as he wanted so he did his best to make the effort to stay involved with his life now, even if that meant traveling hundreds of miles to welcome him home from deployment.
Chris didn’t particularly like the holiday season. He wasn’t a Grinch, but it wasn’t fun decorating his apartment by himself. He didn’t have anyone special to buy presents for, other than his son, and no one bought him gifts either.
He worked hard and played hard. He loved to camp in the Smoky Mountains and had recently bought a small hunter’s cabin, where he went almost every weekend to relax and wind down from his day job.
He’d worked for the Department of Corrections for most of his life. His current assignment was the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution just outside of Nashville. He hadn’t started out wanting to be a prison guard, but over time, he’d found that he enjoyed it…for the most part. But after an incident a few years ago, a riot which had involved most of the prison and where he’d literally come face to face with his own mortality, Chris had made the decision to either change his occupation or figure out a way to retire early.
He was forty-nine. Too young to really retire, and way too old to start over with a new occupation, but since meeting with a therapist hadn’t helped his claustrobia, he was at a point where he had to make a decision.
His plan had been to come down to Texas, see his son, then make some changes in his life. Of course, life seemed to always throw him a curveball.
Chris knew he was seconds away from panicking at the thought of being trapped, but he couldn’t stop his reaction. He’d opened his eyes to see a brick wall on one side of him and crumpled metal all around. He couldn’t move his legs and just about everything on his body hurt. Nothing felt broken, thank God, but he knew he’d be sore for a long time.
He had no idea where the woman next to him had come from. She hadn’t been in the car minutes earlier, but at the moment he didn’t much care. He heard her tell him that he was all right, but the only thing he could think about was getting out. He had to get out.