Julie closed her eyes and then said, ‘Okay. When he opens the trunk, let’s both lunge up at him at the same time. He can’t take both of us at once.’

Linda’s hysteria took over and she started screaming ‘Help!’ over and over as loud as she could. The man turned the stereo on, blasting the volume to drown her out. It was a song she didn’t recognize, but it sounded like Elton John, singing about a ‘bitch’ coming back. The car went up a slight incline and then suddenly stopped. The engine cut off, throwing them into a tense stillness that stunned them back into silence.

Julie grabbed Linda’s arm. ‘Be ready,’ she whispered forcefully, trying to adjust her position. ‘When he opens the trunk, punch him as hard as you can, okay?’

Linda was still crying. ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’

‘You don’t have a choice, Linda. Do you want to die? You can do this.’

They heard the man get out of the car, slam the door, and walk around to the back. The key went into the trunk and when the lid slowly opened, both Julie and Linda’s bound fists launched into the air in his direction. But the man had anticipated it and stepped back out of their reach, swift and effortless. Their arms hit the trunk lid instead, bouncing it back roughly. Linda saw a red blanket flying toward them just before it settled over their bodies, covering their arms and faces. She scrambled to pull the blanket off when she felt a pinch in her leg.

Linda screamed, ‘Don’t touch me. Get off me. Help!’

Julie started screaming, too, hoping they could alert someone nearby. The man’s deep laugh rang out.

‘Please,’ Julie begged through her sobs. ‘Please, don’t kill us. We won’t tell anyone I swear, just let us go.’

Linda tried to reach for Julie but her limbs were heavy and unresponsive. Everything was moving slowly, as though she were wading through deep water. He injected us again, she thought just before she passed out.

CHAPTER 7