The Nightmare Thief

Dustin let go. His eyes shone like cracked marbles. “What’s wrong with you?”

Von shoved Ritter into the passenger compartment, climbed in after him, and slammed the door. Friedrich jumped behind the wheel and put the huge vehicle in gear.

The Hummer lurched forward, tires spinning, and slewed across the dirt in a brown swirl of dust. Von braced himself on the seat, pistol raised. Dustin’s chest rose and fell. His gaze was frightened and resentful. Peyton cringed into a ball on the backseat, sobbing, fingers jammed in her mouth. Beside her, Kyle Ritter stared at Von, his face blank and hard.

Autumn sat rigid, blinking like an otter in the sunlight, fingers clenching the plush red seat. Lark and Noah had tumbled to the floor beside Jo. They looked like stunned fish.

Von held the gun steady. “Everybody lock your hands behind your head.”

They cinched their fingers behind them. The narrow road rose up the mountainside. Friedrich accelerated. The Hummer had power, but in the altitude the engine labored. The trees whipped past. Von wiped his hand under his nose.

He gestured to Jo and Gabe. “Pockets. Empty ’em.”

They threw their phones across the limo. Von scooped them up.

He nodded at Gabe. “Back pocket too, hombre.”

Reluctantly Gabe took out his folded buck knife and slid it across the carpet to him.

“Nobody move. Not a muscle.” Von climbed over the bench seat into the driver’s compartment.

Peyton’s sobs subsided to whimpers. Autumn was shaking. “Grier.” She turned to Dustin, buried her face against his shoulder, and cried. He whispered in her ear, “Quiet.”

In the driver’s compartment, Friedrich shot Von a crazed look. “What do we do?”

“We keep driving. We get there, and then we deal with it.”

“You know that Dane’s gonna flip,” Friedrich said.

“Shut up.”

“And Sabine’s gonna have your balls for breakfast.”

Jo’s stomach was cramping. Von, Friedrich, Dane, Sabine. They were being kidnapped by the damned Trapp Family Singers.

Ritter looked stunned. “My first scenario. I can’t believe it.”

Gabe said, “You work for Edge Adventures?”

“Started this week,” Ritter said.

“You see this gang before today?”

“No. Just Mr. Coates, the head guy. And I don’t know where he is.”

He’s in the luggage compartment, Jo thought.

The asphalt ran out and the road became packed gravel. It kicked under the tires, loud and insistent. The Hummer bumped over a rut and everybody jostled against one another.

Von leaned toward Friedrich. Low and hard, he said, “We can’t just dump them by the roadside.”

Ritter whispered to Jo. “I thought something was wrong when these people showed up. They seemed surprised to see me.”

They crossed a bridge. The tires droned on the concrete. Jo caught a glimpse of whitewater in the river below.

Dustin inhaled. “We gotta do something.”

Noah, the quieter of the two college boys, murmured, “What?”

Von turned and stared at them. The gun loitered in his hand. “Keep quiet.” He turned back to Friedrich. “This is a clusterfuck of major proportions. We got three people we never counted on and the kids know what’s happening. We have to keep going. All we can do is get to the location and lock everybody down.”

Friedrich shook his head. “We’re screwed.”

“We’re screwed worse if we toss them out someplace.”

Friedrich glanced in the mirror, and Jo’s stomach gripped. She was afraid he was thinking, Only if we toss them out alive.

The Hummer boated over the gravel. The road was curving up a steep gorge. The tires ran along the road’s edge, close to a drop-off.

“Just don’t slow down,” Von said. “Volvo’s two hours behind us. We get there, we lock everybody down, we think it through.”

Dustin gritted his teeth and hissed, “We should jump them.”

Gabe gave him a slow, considered look. “What are you talking about?”

“We outnumber them. We can take them by surprise. Get control of the car.”

Peyton shook her head, quick little movements. “No,” she whispered. “Grier. No, no, no.”

The road curved strongly, following the river in a hard continuous turn. Everybody slid toward the left side of the limo. The vehicle bumped over the uneven gravel surface. The trees grew thick on the right side of the road. The mountains rose behind. The gorge yawned on their left.

Jo scrambled onto a seat and buckled her seat belt. Autumn watched and did likewise.

Dustin lowered his voice to a sharp whisper. “We can swarm them.”

Gabe didn’t move. “Bad idea.”

Dustin looked at Noah. “We can take them.”

Von glanced at them, suspicious, but they were speaking too quietly to be overheard. He resumed his manic dialogue with Friedrich.

Dustin’s breathing picked up. He whispered, “They’re going to kill us all.”

“This is not the place,” Gabe said.

Dustin turned to him, pale, almost seasick. “And who are you, some guy who works at USF? Me and Noah and Ritter here, we charge. Three on one. You can sit here with your girlfriend if you want, but we have at least three men who can do this.”

Gabe’s eyes flashed, briefly, and dimmed again. “Not yet. Not here.”