Free Apprehension by Yvette Hines Page A

it was outside. She'd only been inside forty minutes and the moonless sky gave the area an eerie feel. For a moment, she considered returning inside and asking someone to walk her to the car, but knowing the counselors inside were already beyond the ratio of children to staff, she changed her mind and continued. Rounding the corner of the building, she headed in the direction of her car. When she parked earlier, there had only been a few spaces available in the back row; now an extended-cab truck was blocking the view of her convertible.
    Anxious, she accelerated her pace, finally arriving at the pickup. She began to sigh with relief. Stepping around the flatbed, she froze. A few feet in front of her, a tall white man was sliding some type of car jacking tool along her window. Not waiting to be discovered, she pivoted on her rubber-soled flats and prepared to run back to the building for help.
    "Well, what do we have here?" A short stocky dark-skinned black man called out as his hand gripped her forearm only two strides into her escape plan. In his other hand, he held a dark colored gym bag.
    She'd missed the lookout guy because he'd blended into the night."I take it this must be your car,little lady," the tool man said from behind her.
    Liza turned her gaze away from the short mountain, looked back at the tall tawny-haired man, and took note of the scar along his jaw. Identification features . "You can have the car.
    Please just let me go."
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    YVETTE HINES
    "I don't think so." The white man leaned his arm on the top of her now open driver's side door. Evidently, he was savvy enough to disarm her alarm system.
    The blood in her arm began to throb around the place where the black man's hand held her like a manacle.
    The dark mountain began to shove her toward the open door as he said, "You and Georgia plates are going to get us through the little speck on the map called Claremont."
    Claremont County . Liza dug her heels into the ground and tried to pull her arm free. She didn't have to be a genius to realize who these guys were. What she didn't want was them to figure out who she was. That the very same town they wanted to drive through without trouble was her town. "Please, let me go. My family will miss me if I don't show up home soon."
    Dropping the bag, the black man grabbed her other arm and pulled her closer to him. "Listen, lady, at this moment I don't give a fuck about your family. I've got an appointment on the other side of that shit kick'n town and I don't plan to miss it."
    The other man stepped closer to them. "If you play nice then we'll let you go and you can drive to wherever home is, unharmed. If not…," the white man gave her a sadistic smile, then lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "Now, get your pretty little ass in the car before I start thinking of other ways to get you to cooperate."
    The black man's barking laughter grated along her nerves as he released his hold and gave her a push toward the car. Silently, she crawled into the back seat and prayed she'd get out of this alive. Both men got into the front and closed their doors, sealing her fate.

    * * * *
Thor leaned against the banister on his porch, watching the car lights pull into his driveway. Well over an hour ago, she'd called him and said she was getting ready to leave the children's home. He'd gone out and picked up food so they could have a quiet dinner and talk about their relationship or lack there of.
    The ready smile on his face slowly disappeared when he realized it wasn't her, but one of his RACE team members.
    "Thor!" Chris Payton called out as he launched himself out of his haphazardly parked car and raced toward him.
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    APPREHENSION
    Chuckling, he asked, "Is my house on fire, Chris?"
    "It's the drug runners."
    Instantly, the muscles in Thor's shoulders tensed, as he turned toward his front door. "I'm on my way, let me grab my gun and leave a note for—"
    "They've got Liza."
    His knees went weak and almost buckled. The only