Paige opened the lift gate to the jeep and helped Magda load the groceries into the back of the car. After the meeting was over, she and Magda had decided to swing by Grocery Barn and pick up some things for the clubhouse. The boys had done a good job coming up with the microwave and mini-fridge, but it was up to the girls to see that they actually had something to eat. A case of bottled water, some microwave popcorn and a few packs of Hot Pockets would be a good start.
Once they had loaded the car they got in and headed back to the clubhouse. It was late enough in the afternoon that the service roads in the woods would be empty and they could drive right up to the clubhouse to unload the supplies.
They had only gone a few blocks when Paige began to notice that the steering was pulling to one side.
“Something’s wrong,” Paige said as she struggled with the wheel. “I need to stop.”
Turning onto the first side street they came to she pulled the car over. They both got out and walked around the car to look for the problem. When they came to the front passenger side they saw that the tire was flat.
“Well, this sucks,” Paige said. “There’s a spare in back, but I’ve never had to change a tire before.”
Magda shrugged. “I’ll give you a hand. How hard can it be?”
They went to the back of the car and opened the lift-gate. The girls had to shift their purchases over to get at the spare which was mounted inside the rear cargo area. Paige pulled the cover off of the spare. The tire was tightly fastened to a bracket on one side of the cargo area.
“Well, there’s the tire,” Magda said, “but I don’t see a jack.”
“It’s under the back seat,” Paige said. “My dad showed me where everything was, just in case. We’re going to need the wrench to loosen the nuts holding the spare to the bracket. Come on.”
They moved to the back door and Paige was just reaching for the handle when a car pulled up behind them. The car glided up so quietly that they barely heard the sound of its motor. Only the sound of its tires crunching through loose gravel in the gutter told her of its approach. Paige was suddenly relieved. Some Good Samaritan had seen that they were having car trouble and pulled over to give them a hand. While Magda leaned inside to lift the back seat, Paige glanced up at the car behind them and froze. She didn’t have Reed’s eye for cars but the black sedan that had just pulled up behind them looked an awful lot like the car that had been on the street near Matt’s house. As Paige felt her heartbeat shift into high gear Magda snapped her head in her direction.
“What’s wrong?” Magda asked, sensing her rising fear.
“It’s them,” Paige whispered.
Magda’s eyes grew wide. She slowly straightened and turned to look at the car. All four car doors opened and four men in dark suits stepped out of the car. They came toward the girls slowly.
“They’re afraid…of us!” Magda said as she sensed the feelings emanating from the strangers. “Look out—”
As Magda shouted her warning Paige threw herself into a backward handspring. Before she was even consciously aware of what was happening her instincts took over. She sensed something zip past her and heard a ping as it ricocheted off the edge of the open car door. When she landed on her feet Paige paused and glanced at the men. From this angle she could see that the men in front had positioned themselves to conceal the two in back who had drawn pistols and were aiming in their direction.
“Magda, we need to—”
Before she could finish her sentence Paige saw Magda start to sag. She watched in horror as her friend collapsed bonelessly to the ground, sprawling face down in the gutter. Before she could fully process what was happening her reflexes took over once more. She dove aside as two more shots ricocheted off the sidewalk around her.
Then something inside her changed. It was like a switch had been thrown in her brain. All of her senses suddenly snapped into high resolution. Her sight, hearing, smell, touch, all of her senses were suddenly more acute than she had ever experienced before in her life. Time seemed to slow. The men leaned forward and seemed to be hurrying toward her, but it was like they were moving through gelatin. She watched as they each brought up their guns and aimed at her. Even as they fired at her Paige sprang toward the car, placing herself behind the open car door. Two of the shots bounced off the sidewalk while two others were stopped by the open door. In her heightened state of awareness Paige was surprised to realize that she could actually see the projectiles as small blurs speeding through the air toward her.
As her attackers shot at her again she leapt up and dove across the hood of the car. Three of the shots flashed past her while one ricocheted from the car’s fender. A moment later she tumbled to the ground on the far side of the car. As she rolled to her feet she spun around and sprinted toward the back of the car—it was time to go on the offensive.
Just as she reached the back corner of the car she saw the first of her attackers coming into view. The first thing she saw was the pistol he was holding out in front of him. She moved by instinct, grabbing the man’s hand and pulling him into a tight arc around her body. Before the man knew what was happening she slammed him face first into the side of the car. She heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking as he impacted the rear window. One down.
The second man had been more cautious. He kept himself away from the car as he lunged into the street so that when he emerged from behind the car he had a good angle on her. But as his finger tightened on the trigger Paige spun away. She felt a slight tug on her shirt as the shot tore through the space she had been occupying a moment earlier, then she was on him. With a swipe of her arm she pushed his gun hand down and out of the way as she brought her knee up into his groin. She was rewarded with a heavy grunt as he screwed his eyes closed and sank to the street. She left him on his knees retching up his most recent meal and dove toward the sidewalk. Using just her hearing she had tracked the two remaining men as they hurried to the far side of the car where they were crouching in what they probably thought was a safe position. She was going to show them they were wrong.
She rolled to her feet and started to lunge at them when she pulled herself up short. One of the men had pulled Magda’s limp form into his lap and was holding a gun pressed to her temple. Paige had never seen a real gun before today, but she immediately realized that the weapon the man was now holding to her friend’s head was different. The ones they had been shooting at her with had long barrels and narrow bodies, whereas the one he had now was shorter and heavier. It had the look of a killing tool.
“Stop where you are or I’ll blow her brains all over the side of your car!”
Paige locked eyes with the man and saw that he meant it.
“You already shot her,” Paige hissed.
“That was a tranquilizer. She’s just sleeping. But this is a nine millimeter. You really don’t want to see what it’ll do to her head if you make me use it.”
Paige focused on her friend and realized for the first time that Magda was in fact still breathing. Now that she knew Magda wasn’t seriously hurt she felt the frenzied sensation begin to fade away. Looking up she saw that the last man had taken a position behind the open jeep door and was holding his gun trained on her.
Paige raised her hands. “What do you want?”
The man sitting with Magda slid himself out from under her and stood up as he trained his gun on her.
“Quite the little wildcat, aren’t you?” he said as he stepped up to her.
Paige stood silently fuming as the man cautiously walked over to her. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a second gun, the one he said was a tranquilizer gun. Holding the nine millimeter aimed directly at her head he pressed the barrel of the other gun to her ribs.
“What do you want?” Paige demanded.
“Not us,” the man said. We’re just the hired help.”
Before she could ask him what he meant she heard the muffled pop of the gun against her s
ide. For an instant there was a sharp pain in her ribs, then a sensation of numbness began to spread through her body. Darkness quickly closed in around her as she saw the ground rushing up toward her.