Missouri Loves Company (Rip Lane Book 1) by W.J. Costello Read Free Book Online Page B

No problem. You can still try to push the seats down. Or kick them down.
    Escaping through the back seat was not going to be an option for me, because two of my four abductors were likely sitting back there.
    My best option was to find an emergency trunk release.
    Trunks are made to keep criminals out, not to keep car owners in. Engineers have better things to do than design trunk lids that could keep Houdini locked in forever. Well, most engineers.
    Nowadays cars manufactured in America are required to come equipped with an emergency trunk release. It may be a knob or a lever, a button or a handle, a cord or a toggle switch. It’s usually located near the trunk latch.
    Emergency trunk releases are supposed to be easy enough for a three-year-old to find and operate. But it is of course more difficult to do if your hands are tied behind your back.
    At least I wasn’t blindfolded. Finding an emergency release is much easier by sight than by touch. Usually they glow in the dark.
    Problem was, I needed to turn around. I was facing the wrong way. So I started to twist my body around to face the rear of the car.
    I wriggled and shifted, crumpling into a pretzel. The tight space in the cramped trunk made it difficult to maneuver with any graceful athleticism. I was glad nobody was watching me.
    It took me less than a minute to twist my body around.
    My eyes scanned the half darkness of the trunk. Nothing glowed in the dark. I could see nothing that resembled an emergency release.
    I twisted my body around to face the front of the car again, scooted back as far as I could, and ran my bound hands over the smooth steel of the trunk’s interior. I could feel nothing at all that resembled an emergency release.
    Maybe the car didn’t have one. A lot of older cars do not. Wise abductors would use such a car.

CHAPTER 22
     
     
    I F P LAN A fails, move on to Plan B.
    My next option was to find the trunk release cable. It connects the trunk lock to a trunk release located near the driver’s seat. Tugging on the cable could pop open the trunk.
    I hoped the car was equipped with one.
    What I needed were pliers. They could grip cable better than bare hands. There were probably pliers in the compartment under the trunk floor. But I was lying on top of the compartment, so there was no way to get it open. Unless I levitated like Yoda. I tried. The force was not with me.
    On the driver’s side of the trunk I began to feel around for the trunk release cable. I pulled up carpet, popped off cardboard panels. Snaking from the hinge area was a tangle of cables and wires. I tugged on them. The trunk did not pop open.
    Next I searched the area where the center of the trunk lid meets the lock assembly. I did not find the trunk release cable.
    Options were running out.
    Time was running out.
    Fat drops of sweat ran down my face, stinging my eyes, blurring my vision. It was the least of my concerns.
    Of more importance was my escape plan. What should I do once I got the trunk open? I knew that my first reaction would be to jump out of the speeding vehicle. But then I would roll into the oncoming traffic and probably get pancaked by a Mack truck. Nevertheless my adrenaline would tell me to jump. And so would my ex-wife. Which was why I never listened to either.
    I decided that the best escape plan would require my patience. If I actually got the trunk open, I would not jump out right away. I would wait for the car to slow down. Which it would do at a stop signal, or in a school zone, or through a residential neighborhood.
    I had been unable to find either an emergency trunk release or a trunk release cable. My next option was to pry open the trunk latch.
    First I had to find it. Which I managed to do despite darkness and bound hands. I fiddled with the trunk latch. Pulled it from side to side. Pressed my thumb on it while simultaneously pressing up on the trunk lid. Nothing worked. I could not pry it open. I stopped trying.
    I decided to push out one of