Cletus closed his mouth and stared out the window.
I had no idea who Alejandro Garcia was, but I could guess. It took a very powerful man to own guards at a federal checkpoint between two nations.
This was cartel business.
And I was in the middle of it.
Chapter 28
Another few hours passed,and I slipped away to a place of cool detachment. Fear wouldn’t help me now. Fear clouded judgement.
Thoughts of Boxer drifted into my mind. We’d just found one another. We were two wounded souls, and we’d been building something beautiful and special. Hope was a fragile thing. It bloomed like a bud in spring, nurtured into opening, until the harsh chill of winter killed it. I cursed my own stupidity for not telling him I loved him.
Now it was too late.
I was under no illusions that my life and my body were about to belong to someone other than me.
Undiluted rage poured through my veins, melting the icy calm inside me.
I was completely unable to hold on to my detachment.
It was fight or flight.
I squirmed in my seat, catching Cletus’ attention.
“Stop that,” he commanded.
“I can’t,” I gasped. “I have to go to the bathroom again.”
My cinched wrists glided over to the seat belt latch, pressing down on it firmly in the hopes of discharging it without them hearing. “Come on, I see a town in the distance. Can’t I use the bathroom at a gas station? I know how fond Paul is of his car.”
“She’s right, man,” Paul said to Cletus. “We’ll stop for a couple minutes. What’s she gonna do?”
“Fine. But you’re telling Dante why we’re late,” Cletus stated. “This shit isn’t on me.”
“I’ll call him right now,” Paul said, looking down for just a moment while reaching for his phone.
Now or never.
I lurched forward, slid my zip-tied wrists over Paul’s head, and yanked them against his neck. I pressed my knees to the back of the seat and used leverage to choke him. I pulled with all my might.
“What the fuck!” Cletus shouted from the passenger side.
Paul reared back, his foot slamming down on the gas as he tried to relieve the tension on his neck. The car shot forward and the engine screamed, sounding like it was going to explode. Paul gasped and lifted his hands up and clawed at my arms. His knee jerked the wheel, causing the vehicle to veer out of the lane and onto the shoulder of the highway.
Cletus grabbed on to the passenger door to brace himself as the car continued to swerve.
Anger and adrenaline coursed through me.
I was out for blood.
I tightened my hold on Paul’s windpipe as he attempted to regain control of the car, which kept diverging on and off the road. His foot refused to release the gas.
Cletus reached into his pants and pulled out a pocketknife. He flicked it open and stabbed me deep in the meaty part of my upper arm near my shoulder.
I yelled in pain, but I still wouldn’t let go. It only enraged me further, and I yanked my fists into Paul’s Adam’s apple as hard as I could.
“Let off the fucking gas!” Cletus bellowed.