Giving her a hard shove, she fell onto the seat and bounced off onto the cab’s floor as the door was locked into place. Her hands beat against the door as her feet thumped on the other side. I had to give it to my Sunshine. She was a fighter, making the thought of breaking her much more fun.

“Sleepy by time,” Abel sang as he released the sleeping gas he used to knock out the passengers he wanted to keep.

The pounding of her fists on the glass slowed and then stopped as she flopped over onto the seat.

“Thank you for your help, brother.”

“To see your runnin’ like Forest Gump as you chased your tail down the driveway? Are you kidding? I’m itching to take her up to the house and release her just so I can watch that shit again. Best fucking night ever!”

“Do it and find out what I’ll do to you.” Abel laughed, but there was no guarantee I wouldn’t kill him if he tried something that stupid with my top prize. “Come on, let’s go. I need to get cleaned up. I have a very important date.”

Smirking, I wandered to the car’s passenger side and peered through the glass that separated the front from the back. “I bet you thought to yourself that your night couldn’t get any worse.”

Chapter 19

KIRBY

My fingertips ran through the flowers of the field, the pretty blues, pinks, and whites mixing with the golden rays of the warm sun. Giggling like a young girl again, I twirled in a circle and let the dress flow out around me. A group of butterflies lifted into the air surrounding my body. Some landed on my arms as I held them out to the side. They were beautiful, with multicolored wings glimmering brighter than the flowers below them. One of the butterflies walked up my arm, and I smiled in wonder until it reached my shoulder. The closer it got, the more I focused on it. Finally, I realized I was staring into the eyes of a man and not a butterfly’s.

“What? No,” I screeched as I realized it was the man with the bright blue eyes. “No, go away.”

I swatted at the insect, and all those that had landed on parts of my body swarmed around me. Each one of their faces morphed into the face that made a person want to lock their doors at night and never travel alone. They were eyes parents warned their children about and a smile that could freeze you in place as surely as Medusa could.