“Have you always been this bossy?” she teased her friend.
“I like to think of it as assertive,” Mel countered. “Where are you anyway?”
Daisy barked, and she frowned. What was wrong with her? Daisy hardly ever barked.
“I don’t know. Some Podunk town off the highway. I think it had a name from the bible. I have to go, Daisy wants out. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” she said as she opened the door. She paused as she saw two large men standing there. Scruffy, and menacing looking, they glared back at her. Jenna’s hand tightened on the door, prepared to shut it in their faces when the one to the right raised his hand.
“I wouldn’t,” he said, pointing a gun at her chest.
Terror held her frozen. Spots danced in front of her eyes and for a moment, she was back in Sudan, listening to Alana beg for her life. Her breath came in hard gasps, panic threatening to overwhelm her. Stomach churning, she stared at the two men.
No. No, this wasn’t happening again. She dug her fingernails into her palms, the small bite of pain helping her push back the fear.
She wouldn’t let herself be taken.
This time, she wasn’t going without a fight.
“Drop the phone. Now.”
Jenna swallowed, trying to moisten her dry mouth. Who were these guys?
“Drop it,” the other man demanded. She let it slip from her numb fingers without turning it off, hoping Melody was still on the line.
“Who are you? What do you want?” she said loudly, aware of the wobble in her voice.
“Shut up,” the one closest said, reaching for her. “Come quietly and you won’t get hurt.”
As he grabbed her arm, Daisy jumped with a snarl. Jenna took the opportunity to slam her fist into his throat. She quickly kneed him in the balls then followed with an elbow to the back of his neck as he bent over with a cry. Daisy snarled as she ripped into the other guy. He cried out in pain and as he dropped to the ground, Jenna took off.
“Daisy, come.”
She could hear the dog running behind her as she headed to her car. Fuck! No keys. There was a ping against the car next to her, and she screamed, realizing one of them was shooting at her. Why was no one coming to help her? Was everyone else out? Or did they just not care about a woman and her dog being attacked?
Jenna ducked down, keeping low as she moved between cars. She had to make it to the hedge beyond the parking lot. That would give her and Daisy some cover. She grabbed hold of the dog’s collar, keeping her close.
“Come on out, there’s no hiding from us. Our employer just wants to chat with you.”
Their employer? Who the hell’s that?
She moved around another car, trying to slow her breathing. The last thing she wanted was to alert him to where she was.
“Hey, what’s going on out here? What’s all the noise about?” It was the old guy from the office. She didn’t wait around to see what would happen; she took off in the direction of the hedge. Daisy raced silently beside her, and she thanked God for whomever had trained the dog. There was some yelling behind her, but she forced herself to ignore it. They weren’t going to take her. Not again.
Once they were behind the hedge, she looked around. The street lighting wasn’t great here, she’d chosen to stay in a crappy area of town, it seemed. About half a block down there appeared to be some sort of wrecking yard.
“Could be the best place to hide,” she whispered quietly to Daisy. Or an ideal place to be tracked and gunned down. Damned if she knew what to do. What would Curt do?
Curt wouldn’t even be in this position, he’d have disabled both men, taken their guns, and waited for the cops. Probably without breaking a sweat.
Well, she couldn’t sit around thinking about it forever. She took off towards the junk yard, hoping like hell Mel knew to send help.
Oh, God, why had she left Curt?
***
She’d left.
He stared down at the note as he sat in one of the armchairs in his living room. He’d come home from his job early to find her gone. In one hand, he held a glass of whiskey, in the other her note. He frowned. According to her note she’d gone to Haven to pack up her belongings.