Part 79 (1/2)

”Hang on a second.”

Annja slid the power window back up and checked herself out in the mirror. She looked a mess. Dirt streaked her face. Her hair was a shambles.

Maybe this guy hadn't seen Sheila in a long time. Maybe he forgot what she looked like. Any one of those things could help Annja out.

But it was a big chance.

From outside the truck she heard the guy call out. ”Hurry up.”

Annja unlocked the doors.

She heard footsteps going around to the other side of the truck where Joey had been sitting only an hour or so before. But Joey was a great kid. The person about to sit there was a drug dealer.

Annja heard the door start to open and she turned away toward her own window. She wanted to keep this going until the very last second.

In a rush, the guy hopped into the front seat and started brus.h.i.+ng himself off. ”d.a.m.n, it's a mess out there tonight. You weren't kidding. Maybe we should have just arranged to do this tomorrow, huh?”

Annja nodded.

”Hey, you okay?”

”Yeah.”

”It's been a while, Sheila. How have you been?”

Annja turned and looked at the man sitting next to her. ”I've been good, thanks. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be saying the same thing in a few moments.”

Chapter 40.

Shock froze the scarred and battered face of the man sitting next to Annja. But experienced reflexes made him immediately throw his left elbow directly at Annja's face. She had just enough time to s.h.i.+ft to her left to avoid the blow.

The man followed it by letting his left hand swing free, chopping Annja across the bridge of her nose. She grunted and heard the bone snap and then the blood started to flow. Annja tasted the copper and frowned.

”Bad move.”

But the man sitting next to her didn't stop. As he punched at her with his left, his right hand clawed at the door handle, trying desperately to get out so he could order his men to open fire.

”You're not going anywhere,” Annja said. She hauled him back and the truck started to shake.

Annja flipped him around and he head b.u.t.ted her in the face. Annja wondered if he'd cracked some of her teeth. She heard the dull sound of a blade opening in the close s.p.a.ce between them.

I need room to move, she thought.

The man stabbed at her heart, pumping the blade in and out fast.

Annja deflected his arms and the blade, then punched straight into his solar plexus, trying to disrupt his diaphragm so he wouldn't be able to breathe properly. He grunted and tried to slash her across the throat.

Annja leaned back over her seat and then felt her own door swing open, sending the upper part of her body out into the rain upside down.