Free One Good Reason by Nicole Salmond

of the huge knife stuck into his belt.
    She
smiled up at him. “Thanks.” She then turned away from him and waited. 
    She
tried not to cringe when she felt his hands cover her back. She stayed calm,
convincing herself that it was nothing as his hands slipped lower until they
reached her backside.
    She
held back the vomit that had formed in her throat. Instead, she let him stroke
her flesh. After only a moment, she gracefully turned her body to face him. She
rubbed her breasts across his body as she turned.
    His
hands travelled up her waist. She looked up at the man, the criminal who had
kept her captive. She used the pain, the anger and vengeance she felt in that
moment to close her eyes and kiss his lips. It was like knives cutting through
her skin. But she had to make it look and feel real, and she did when he kissed
her back with force.
    She
tried not to think about his lips touching her in such an intimate way. His
hands roaming her back. Instead, she let her hands travel down his waist,
feeling his skin through his grubby shirt.
    She
let a fake moan escape her lips when the man gripped her ass aggressively.
    Her
hands had reached his belt buckle and she could feel the knife handle. She had
to act now. The man was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t seem to
notice her grip onto the knife. She could handle the kiss, the ass grabbing,
but she wouldn’t be able to handle anything more.
    She
knew once she did this, there was no turning back, she’d known it from the
start. She’d have seconds to escape. If she faltered or got caught, she knew
what the men would do to her, especially without Hayden there.
    She
hesitated no more. With one quick motion, she held on tightly to the knife
handle as she lifted her knee into the man’s balls as quick and hard as she could.
The kiss broke as the man curled forward, allowing the knife to be pulled
easily from his waist. She wasn’t going to stop there though. She used the
moment of weakness to stab the man in the thigh. The whole event only took
seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.
    The
man cried out in pain, but Ava didn’t dare stop or look at him. Instead, she
ran naked towards the exit, grabbing her clothes and the rifle from the fence
and speeding off into the forest.
    The
forest was thick with plant life, which would help her stay hidden, but
hindered her as she felt the numerous twigs and plants scrape her body and
feet. But she wouldn't stop. She couldn’t. She ran as fast as she could with
all the strength she had. She ran for her freedom. Ran for the opportunity to
see her friends and family again. Ran for the chance to go home. Ran for the
life she thought she’d lost.
     
    ***
     
     
    Hayden
stared at the road ahead of him. His phone call with Stevenson had told him
exactly what he had questioned. Stevenson refused to tell him any more
information. Refused to tell him how Ava was linked to Thornakorn .
He also didn’t seem happy that Hayden was asking questions. Hayden had hoped he
would have told him something, anything. It wasn’t until the very last part of
the conversation that confirmed Hayden’s worst fears, when Stevenson told him
to forget about getting the information from the girl. Instead, focus on
keeping her captive, as the kidnapping would hopefully make Thornakorn come forward on his own for Ava’s release, after we gave him proof of life.
    Hayden
wasn’t stupid. No terrorist with a criminal past like Thornakorn’s would voluntarily give himself up for a girl, even one like Ava. Terrorists
like Thornakorn , only cared about one thing, and that
was themselves. To him, Ava was replaceable.
    Stevenson
had lied to him. But why? Who was Ava really? She was important to Stevenson,
but he didn’t know why. He doubted that Ava had some kind of connection with Thornakorn . She probably was telling the truth when she
said she knew nothing about him.
    So
why Ava?
    He
rattled his brain trying to think of the connection she might have