Page 3 of Zar

Meaning he didn’t know or wasn’t willing to share? She didn’t know which. “What’s his name? I feel like I at least have a right to know who I’m meeting with.”

“His name is Zar,” Flare said. “He will treat you well. You have nothing to be concerned about.”

Another strange name. What is up with these people? “If Zar wanted a meeting why didn’t he come himself? He could have. I wouldn’t have turned him away.” Callie wasn’t sure that was strictly the truth, but Flare didn’t need to know that.

She watched as he clenched and unclenched his fists around the steering wheel. “It wouldn’t have been a good idea,” he answered, the softness in his voice beginning to disappear. “The trip would’ve made him…sick.”

Callie glanced out the passenger window as she digested that information. Was boss man elderly maybe? The more information she pried out of the guy the less likely it seemed that all of this had anything to do with her father’s old business partner. Maybe it really was about her. But why? Had she made an enemy that she wasn’t aware of?

A chime sounded interrupting her thoughts. She looked over and saw Flare take out a cell phone. He glanced at the screen, then put it back in his pocket. “We will stop to refuel.”

Callie’s heart sped up. Okay, this was her chance. Somehow, she needed to get away. A single moment while he was distracted, that’s all she’d need to run and find help. Her life depended on it.

“You’re thinking to escape,” he stated, his voice totally devoid of emotion.

What the hell? He really could read minds. “I’m not,” she lied. “I’m just scared.” That part was true at least.

“I know you want to get away. It’s what I’d do in your situation.”

“Then take me back home!” she cried, feeling more than a little frantic. “Set up a phone meeting or have your boss go through the proper channels. Hell, I’m even willing to meet him halfway somewhere. Neutral ground as it were. But simply taking me and forcing me to go with you is unacceptable.”

“I regret that the situation is so distressing to you,” he said in a gentle voice. “I know that you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I swear on my life that you are not in any danger. You must believe that.”

There was desperation in his tone. As if he really did mean what he said. As if he really didn’t want to cause her any harm. Did she dare believe him? Pfft, hell no, because her life clearly depended on it. Without thinking, Callie reached across the middle console and grabbed hold of the steering wheel. She yanked, taking Flare off guard. The car swerved into oncoming traffic and Flare cursed. He pried her fingers off the wheel and shoved her, hard. She smacked her head into the dash. Everything sort of spun and she felt something trickle down her forehead. Callie shook her head, but that only made everything tilt sideways. “Oh, God,” she groaned. The short surge of adrenaline disappeared like smoke. Someone touched her shoulder, but she couldn’t make herself focus. She closed her eyes. Just for a minute, until the nausea wears off. That was the last she remembered before the blackness sucked her in.

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