Quick Silver

Excerpt

Sangria didn’t know how long she sat still strapped into the driver’s seat blood dripping down her forehead, until reason and awareness slapped her in the face. Putting a hand to her aching head, she surmised that she had a large cut on the crown. Looking at the red splattered spider-webbed windshield, it wasn’t hard for her to guess from what.

Turning in her seat, she took inventory of the damage on her vehicle. The black bag was still there, jammed under the passenger seat. Her personal affects were strewn on the floor and seat from where the glove compartment had flown open. Seeing that triggered a horrible thought and she spun in her seat.

The trunk door of the Hummer was open, and so was the hidden door in the floor. Damn it, she’d forgotten to padlock it!

Unhooking her seat belt, Sangria tried to open her door. It wouldn’t budge. The frame was bent inwards, and she was very lucky that it hadn’t rammed into her side. Shuffling across the passenger seat, she tried that door, and discovered the same damage. She slid between the front seats, crawled into the back, and peered down into the false bottom of her vehicle. The compartment was empty. The case was missing.

With a cry of alarm, she jumped out of the back. Pain immediate and sharp ripped up her side, making her head spin. Looking down, she noticed blood blossoming on her t-shirt from under her arm. She lifted her shirt and noticed a long cut on her left side. Guess the car door didn’t miss.

Letting her shirt fall, she scanned the surroundings near the accident. The semi was nowhere to be seen. He obviously fled the scene. The driver was probably driving drunk, or had fallen asleep at the wheel. But when her eyes settled on something only three feet away, her injuries and everything else was immediately forgotten.

The case lay on its side all banged up, with the lid wide open.

She stumbled toward it, realizing that the cut on her head was making her a tiny bit woozy. As she neared, all the breath left her lungs and she doubled over almost throwing up. She was in deep shit, and she didn’t have a shovel.

Lying on the ground a few inches from the case was a man. Bound and gagged but alive, he looked straight at her with wide vivid blue eyes.

Copyright © 2006 Vivi Anna. All Rights Reserved.