Kindred Intentions by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli Read Free Book Online Page A

nothing,” she said, opening the
cover in front of her and inserting a hand. There it was. It was stuck amongst
a ton of other bits and pieces, including empty chocolate bar wrappers she
couldn’t identify. The condition of the compartment was the exact opposite of
the remainder of the car. It was like it had been tidied up in a hurry, by
throwing in there all the stuff that was around. This time it was she who stole
a glance at him.
    He was absorbed. From time to time he moved
his head, as if he was checking the rear-view mirror.
    Amelia decided to stop staring at him. He
would catch her, they always caught her, and it would be embarrassing.
Embarrassing? More embarrassing than this? She let a snort escape and then took
out the charger. She plugged it into the cigarette lighter socket and tried to
make the mini-USB plug match the mobile phone port. Her hands were numb and she
got the side wrong four times. It was a record even for her. Finally the smartphone
beeped, confirming it was charging.
    “Hm,” Mike muttered.
    “What’s up?”
    “That black car.” He was keeping his head
raised again towards the mirror.
    She turned to see. Her safety belt slipped
from her shoulder and ended up on her neck. Her abrupt movement triggered the pretensioner,
and soon after, the band was choking her. “Fuck!” She let the phone drop to her
lap and stretched out the belt, so that she could turn. A black car with
darkened windows was travelling at a certain distance from their vehicle. It
didn’t give what could be defined as a reassuring impression.
    “I saw it pop out from a side road not far
from the point where I picked you up.”
    The expression ‘picked you up’ made her feel
even more helpless than she really was, but she had to admit it was appropriate
to the circumstances. “Are you sure?”
    He chuckled, as if she had asked something
funny. “Of course. It’s remained on our heels all the time, but now it’s
getting closer, now that the bends are coming.”
    Amelia turned forward. There was a hill in
front of them and the road followed its outline. She looked back again. This
time she kept the safety belt away from her neck with a hand. The black car was
even closer. She sensed a shiver down her spine as she remembered that presence
watching her in the cottage, when she’d been tied up and hooded. The same
person who had drugged her. Who was it? She still couldn’t understand why they
had freed her. She had the annoying sensation that she had somehow ended up in
the middle of someone’s depraved game and that this was just the beginning.
    “I don’t get it. I was in their hands. Why
have they freed me, if they are trying to take me again now?”
    “Wanna stop and ask them?”
    The black car became closer; the distance
wasn’t exactly safe.
    “I’d say no!”
    Mike sped up. Amelia’s body flattened against
her seat, but since she was sitting sideways, it wasn’t a pleasant sensation.
“Ouch!” She straightened and checked her neck, where a moment later her belt
ended up again. “For fuck’s sake …” She moved it to her arm, but with great
difficulty, given that it stopped at any movement.
    “I suggest you keep it there, you could need
it.”
    She looked in the wing mirror. The other car
was so close that she couldn’t glimpse its headlights. It couldn’t be
coincidence. The road was going up, with a curve on the right. Mike’s car
revved down, but he immediately changed gear and stepped on the gas, moving a
bit away from his pursuer. The latter gained on them again, but didn’t really
seem interested in reaching or overtaking them. What did they want? If their
intention was to freak them out, they were succeeding. Or at least they were
succeeding with Amelia.
    The man beside her, instead, looked almost
relaxed. As the bends became tighter, Mike started taking them at high speed,
braking at the last moment, before accelerating again as he exited them.
    During the whole manoeuvre she was