“That was quick.”

“I told you I’d escort her immediately.” Flame leaned against the wall right inside the office.

“Have a seat, Miss Shasta.” The attorney jerked his chin at a chair. “You and your men can come inside and have a seat too. There’s four chairs and they may as well get used.”

“It’s just us. I’m fine standing.” Flame relaxed his stance.

The attorney nodded. “I’m looking for the notes I made. I’m very sorry about this. I was nervous and think I wrote the information down wrong. I might have just put in a wrong license number and the computer system will find you so we don’t have to fax it to them.” He leaned over farther behind his desk as Tammy took a seat closest to him. “A ha! I found it. I’m sure this is just an error. I probably just have it off by one or two digits.”

He closed the desk drawer.

Tammy leaned back against her seat and set her purse on her lap. The attorney straightened. She barely had time to react before seeing it wasn’t a paper he lifted from behind his drawer. It was a weird-looking weapon he pointed at Flame and fired. Tammy gasped. Flame grunted behind her and crashed to the floor.

Tammy jerked around in horror to stare at Flame sprawled on the carpet. The gun hadn’t made a loud sound. Flame had fallen on his side by the door. She gawked at him, too stunned to do anything else for long seconds. She didn’t see any blood as she sat motionless.

She finally regained the ability to move. Her head turned toward the attorney to discover he’d pointed the strange gun at her.

“You will do exactly what I tell you to if you don’t want to die, Miss Shasta. I have no qualms about killing a woman.”

Her mouth opened but no sound came out. The gun was no more than three feet away, pointed right at her face. She knew he wouldn’t miss at that close range. The attorney slowly rose from his chair with a frown twisting his lips. The wide muzzle never wavered.

“Stand up slowly. I will shoot you in the back if you try to run.”

A fter a long moment of trying to get her body to move, she managed to rise to her feet. Her purse slid to the floor since her fingers refused to hold onto it. The attorney motioned toward the door with the weapon.

“We’re going to walk outside to my car and you are going to get inside the trunk. I’m going to kill you if you don’t. Do you understand me?”

She swallowed. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

He glared at her. “Someone I know wants to talk to you. He’s deeply worried that you’ve been compelled into marrying a New Species.”

Her brain began to function. The attorney wouldn’t be threatening to kill her if someone just wanted to talk to her. He was lying about that. She bit her lip and took a tentative step. She didn’t see any way to get away from him without being shot. He couldn’t miss her if he fired the weapon.

Her gaze dropped to the fallen New Species. He wasn’t moving at all but she still didn’t see blood. A s she took slow steps toward Flame and the door, she realized two things. Flame’s eyes were closed but his chest rose and fell, proof that he was still breathing. She had to step over his arm and then his leg to exit the office.

She glanced back at Charlie A rtzola. He stayed close and still pointed the gun at her. She walked, following his orders as he directed her where to go. Tammy’s heart pounded with fear but Tiger’s earlier words surfaced in her memory.

The New Species were on high alert. The attorney would never be able to get her off Reservation without them finding her. When she’d brought her catering van to the gates they’d searched every inch of it. She had to trust that they’d check the trunk of the attorney’s car and find her. They exited the building from a back door where a nice four-door sedan had been parked.

He made Tammy wait as he unlocked the trunk. He moved back, aiming the gun at her chest. “Climb inside and be very quiet. The trunk is too small for me to miss you if I fire through the backseat. Do you understand me? You better not scream when we go through the checkpoint. I’ll kill whatever New Species you tip off.

Your life is only in danger if you make me shoot you. My friend really does want to talk to you, Miss Shasta. He’ll be angry if I have to kill you so do us both a favor. Get in and keep quiet.”

“Who told you to do this to me?”

“It doesn’t matter. A ll that matters is you’ll walk away from this in the end if you don’t give me any problems.”

Tammy wanted to scream and launch her body at the guy and attack him. Of course she didn’t believe that she wasn’t in danger if she complied. The attorney was a big liar. She felt torn. Fight or do what she was told?

He softly cursed, seeming to sense her dilemma.

“This is a special dart gun filled with strong drugs designed to take down and kill New Species. You wouldn’t stand a chance of survival if I shot you. Get inside the trunk and be quiet.”

A s long as she was alive there was hope that she’d be saved when they reached the gate. “I’ll do it. Just don’t shoot me,” she managed to say. “I’m going.”

The trunk was small. Tammy had to lie curled in a ball on her side, her knees pressed to her chest. He looked down at her grimly as he reached inside his pocket to fish for something. He pulled out a syringe and gripped the cap with his teeth to jerk it open.

“What is that?” Terror pulsed through her.

“Something to make sure you stay quiet. You’ll be fine. I just can’t risk you screaming when we get to the checkpoint.” The attorney jabbed the needle into her outer thigh through her pants.

Tammy groaned from the sharp sting of pain. She stared up at him with terror and hatred. “Valiant is going to rip out your guts and feed them to you. That’s his favorite thing to do.”

He clenched his teeth. “You’re a sick animal whore.”

He slammed the trunk closed.

She fought when the darkness surrounded her and she wasn’t under direct threat from the gun any longer.

A fter a few ineffective hits to the roof of the trunk, horror spread through her mind when her limbs began to grow heavy. Her hands refused to fist anymore, her arms drooped at the elbow, and finally fell limply to the floor of the trunk.

Panic came next. Whatever drug he’d injected her with seemed to paralyze her. She could breathe fine and blink, stare into darkness, but the rest of her body refused to function. She tried to scream but her throat had even been affected. She could barely swallow and couldn’t even push her tongue against her teeth. She screamed inside her mind but the sound didn’t pass her lips.

The car started. Tammy tried to calm down, realizing how dire her situation had become. Think! The New Species checked trunks. She’d seen them do it to a car in front of her the first day she’d visited Reservation. Two of the security officers had checked Tammy’s van next.

They’d done a very thorough job. They’d even opened the mini refrigerators inside the back of the van and opened sealed trays to make sure they carried food and not weapons. They’d used handheld devices over the food to make certain nothing had been stashed inside.

She’d be found. Charlie A rtzola wouldn’t get her off Reservation. She knew large, thick walls enclosed the entire place with only two entry gates. He wouldn’t be able to get her out except to go through those checkpoints. Tears of frustration slipped down her cheeks and she couldn’t even wipe them away. They’ll find me.

The car slowed at one point but didn’t stop before it picked up a lot of speed. A long time passed. The car finally stopped. Hope soared inside Tammy. A t any second one of the security officers would make the attorney open the trunk. They’d discover her, she’d be rescued and returned to Valiant.

Instead the car moved again, picking up speed. More time passed. The car stopped again, the engine died, and Tammy fixed her gaze toward the top of her prison. It was dark inside, pitch black, she couldn’t see a thing, but she knew where the trunk lid opened. A ny second she’d be saved. She heard keys. Hope soared.