Free The Debt 6 by Kelly Favor Page B

grabbed her arm with a tight grip that made her cry out in pain.   “And we want to take you.   So you start walking, and don’t make a sound or I’ll take my rifle and break your fucking nose.   Got it?”
    “Pl—pl—please don’t,” she whispered.
    “Boss, she ‘aint moving,” Joe said.
    Dave turned and looked out the window and then to Raven.   Slowly, emotionlessly, he raised his arm and pointed the pistol at her face.   “Start walking or I’ll splatter your brains on the walls, ma’am.”
    Raven’s legs were numb and she was certain she would faint at any second, but she somehow controlled her body enough to force it to move.   Her legs didn’t want to follow orders, and everything in her was protesting at full volume.
    She knew that she was going to her death, but didn’t seem to have a say in the matter.
    As they exited the cabin, Dave took hold of one of her arms and then Joe moved out front and perched the rifle on his shoulder and started to check the vicinity, swiveling to and fro, his body tense and ready to shoot.
    Raven wanted to shout out a warning, just in case Jake was somewhere nearby.   But Dave must have sensed this, because just before she yelled, his cold hand wrapped itself over her mouth and squeezed like a vice, making it impossible to do anything but grunt and moan inside her throat.
    After what seemed an eternity, Joe removed the rifle from his shoulder and relaxed.   He gave Raven a wink and smirked.   “All clear, boss,” he said to Dave.
    Dave took away his hand from Raven’s mouth.  
    She was sobbing quietly, her entire body seemingly collapsing in on itself .
    “We have to keep moving,” Dave told her stiffly.   “Come on, quickly.”
    Raven looked over her shoulder and saw that Dave’s long, drawn face was incredibly serious.  
    “I just want to be left alone.”
    “A little late for that,” Joe sneered.
    She didn’t move and Joe sighed.   “Boss, should I break her nose and show her we mean business or what?”  
      There was hesitation as Dave considered the question.   “Too much blood,” Dave replied, finally, and that was what got her feet moving again.
    The way he’d responded hadn’t been with disgust at the idea of bashing her nose in for the hell of it—his only objection had been that it would be too bloody.   And that made Raven realize that these two men weren’t fooling around.   They were waiting for her to give them a reason to hurt her, and she didn’t want to supply it.
    Then and there, she decided to bide her time and wait.   At some point, they’d screw up and make a mistake and she would find a way to escape.
    Until then, she intended to be a model prisoner.
     
    ***
     
    They kept Raven marching for a long, long time.   Minutes turned slowly into hours, and the day grew hot and she struggled to keep pace.
    They weren’t in apparent contact with anybody on a phone, walkie-talkie, nothing.   They seemed confident, though.   Dave occasionally stopped progress to take a drink from his canteen and offer her some, which she refused until she was too thirsty to keep saying no.
    He also checked a compass and a map every so often, peering at the sun in the sky, squinting like some old sea captain trying to guess the wind’s direction.
    Mostly, though, they just walked, the three of them.
    Raven wanted to ask if Club Alpha had sent them, but she figured they’d only lie to her.   They had a plan, and it didn’t involve killing her immediately, which was good.   But she didn’t know just how long they intended to keep her alive, either, which was bad.
    She’d initially hoped that Jake would hear them or spot them moving through the forest on his return back to the cabin, but as the hours passed and the sun first rose high above them and then began its steep descent over the treetops, Raven’s hope diminished and turned to hopelessness.
    If she was going to get out of this, she’d need to do it herself.
    Nobody’s