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wrench her back to her feet.
    It took him two strides to get to the door. But it took her four times that many, and still he didn’t slow down. Ripping the door from the frame, he marched out. He was angry, she could tell it just from the way he moved, and still she hadn’t seen his face.
    But in the gloom of the bar she got a better look at his frame at least. Being small she was used to people, men especially, being taller but he was a clear foot taller, if not more. He had wide shoulders and narrow hips, long strong legs wrapped in faded Levi’s.
    ‘You got our toy?’ the man Rushe had identified as Skeeve asked practically buzzing with excitement.
    There were fewer men here now, only five left including Rush e. Shiv was holding open the door she’d used to enter. One door; how could opening one door change your whole life?
    ‘ Glen’s first,’ Shiv said. ‘Then I’m up.’
    Rushe said nothing; he dragged her out onto the wet street , and any whisper of freedom disappeared when she was thrown headfirst into the back of a truck that idled by the kerb. Still on her face, Rushe got in behind her and shunted her against the far door. The cold glass of the window came up harshly on her cheek.
    ‘Put your seatbelt on,’ he grumbled at her.
    Rushe didn’t look at her when he said it, but his diligence surprised her, and she did as told. Three others piled in the front and they were moving. The speed would have concerned her if she wasn’t desperately in need of a cop to stop them. But soon they were out of the street, and the town, and they were on the interstate.
    ‘If you’re not having your go, I’m going now,’ Skeeve said from Rushe’s other side.
    ‘You’ll keep it in your pants,’ Rushe said. ‘I ain’t watching that.’
    The three up front laughed. ‘Yeah! You’ll only embarrass yourself,’ Shiv said.
    Panic gripped Flick again when she realised how far they were going. This wasn’t a quick trip round the corner. They were travelling somewhere. The further they went, the greater her urge to jump out became; except they were on the interstate and had to be hovering around a ninety, so she couldn’t leap from the car and hope to survive.
    The reality of her situation clawed at her because , unlike she’d tried to claim, her family wouldn’t miss her. She hadn’t seen any of them for almost a year. None of them kept in touch. She didn’t have a boyfriend. Her date tonight was a first date, and he’d likely just think she stood him up. Hayden and she had met in a coffee shop, so he wouldn’t notice she was missing from work.
    And work, Tamara couldn’t stand her, and Geoffrey had been prickly since she’d refused to go on a date with him. Plus, this was a long weekend, and being Friday night now she wasn’t due back into work until Wednesday. They’d let her miss a few days without thinking anything other than she was being unreliable. Then the weekend would come, so it would be more than a week before anyone thought about reporting her missing.
    ‘You’re gonna be right at home little girl,’ Skeeve drawled. ‘Right at home.’
    Sitting in the back of this truck , Flick stared blindly at her knees. Rushe took up most of the space, but she was glad that he sat next to Skeeve instead of her.
    When she did glance up Shiv was peering over his shoulder at her. Skeeve was creepy and eager but Shiv was evil. With that leering smile and those narrow eyes she could believe he’d killed a woman for no reason other than his own entertainment. Killing someone in the way Rushe had described was not out of necessity. The man at Shiv’s side stole glances too but he seemed younger, jumpier, a bit twitchy, and nervous.
    ‘I say the girl’s gotta earn her keep,’ Skeeve said. He shifted his hips forward and began to fumble with his belt.
    ‘Hey , yeah!’ Shiv said from the front. ‘Give her something to eat! A taste of what’s to come.’
    All of the men guffawed. Her fingernails bit into