Stress Test
moment they might as well have belonged to someone else. He flexed them and bit his lip in pain as restored circulation brought fire to his fingertips. Now Matt fumbled with the tape that encircled his head. He took a deep breath, winced at the pain it caused, and steeled himself against what he knew was next. He ripped away the tape with a continuous unwinding motion that felt as though it took not only his day-old beard but also a layer of skin and a good portion of his hair. Tears coursed down his cheeks. His face felt like a pound of hamburger. But this was no time to stop and feel sorry for himself. He reached down to free his ankles and felt more of the painful, electric tingle as blood flowed to his feet again. He’d done it. He was free. But how was he going to get away? The car moved slowly now, probably taking side streets. Matt was certain that once his captors stopped, his chances of escape were somewhere between slim and none. He had to do something and do it quickly. He could think of only two options. He could arm himself with something like the spike end of a flare or the fire extinguisher and fight his two assailants, counting on the element of surprise to help him overpower both of them. The second option was to try to escape before his captors reached their destination. As far as Matt was concerned, the choice was obvious. But how was he to escape his steel prison? He remembered that, when he bought the car, the salesman reached into the trunk and pointed out the emergency release. Matt hadn’t thought much about it then, just recognized that it could be a lifesaver for a child accidentally locked in a trunk. Well, he wasn’t in this trunk by accident and he wasn’t a child, but that release just might save his life . . . He groped above him in the darkness until he could wedge the 11
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10/23/12 4:12 PM