In one second, Mia half-blocked a couch cushion and looked up to see Lara, gone. Seriously? She caught the tail end of the woman hurling herself out the open fucking window. How old are you?

Lara took a quick left, running much faster than Mia would have given her credit for. There was no time to aim and shoot her gun. She followed.

Over a low fence, she hurdled to see a large labrador barking at the other end of the yard. Lara just made it over as Mia entered. Fuck. She tried to be in and out before the dog noticed, but it didn’t seem to mind that she was there either way.

It’s been said that dogs are a good judge of character. Clearly Lara’s a bitch.

The target jumped into another yard. Breathing heavily, Mia reached down to her boot, barely breaking her stride as she pulled out her blade.

She kept the knife against her palm, though the distance between them widened and only one fence separated Lara from the street. If the woman made it to her bike, this job was as well as lost.

But then a car passed by and her target stopped—a grunt left Mia’s throat as she hit the ground. Lara’s body cushioned most of the impact. She fought to hold down one of Lara’s arms, moving her knee to dig into the opposite shoulder. The woman was much stronger than expected. She looked like a walking stick.

Mia held the straight, dull edge of her blade against Lara’s neck. The woman wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, and Mia couldn’t threaten her life. She had clear orders.

“I fucking won.” Heavy breath broke her sentence. “Now give up,” she demanded, as if Lara was true to her rules from the beginning.

The struggling stopped, and Lara rested her head onto the evenly trimmed grass.

“What are you waiting for? A fucking trophy?”

“Maybe,” Mia said, too tired to put effort into her tone.

She tightened a zip tie to Lara’s wrists, then added another one. Losing the woman because she underestimated her again was not going to happen.

“Couldn’t afford handcuffs? You must really need this job.”

Mia’s hands shook. Whether it was from nerves or adrenaline, she wasn’t sure, but it annoyed her, and Lara’s comment was not helping. She bit her tongue. They’re convenient. The woman earned herself a third zip tie.

As she moved on to the pat-down, she received yet another comment.

“You into CNC?”

When did you suddenly get a mouth?

Mia refused to acknowledge how the question got a quicker search and reddened her ears. This woman was sitting with her dying friend; she didn’t have any weapons.

“No? Shame.”

“Getting you off wasn’t included in the job description, sorry.”

“I gather this means you don’t offer any last wishes,” Lara muttered, but her voice was draining, as if her batteries were running out.

The street was empty, but that could change any moment and she needed to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. A car had passed a few minutes ago. Mia let Lara stand by herself, but she was sluggish now. I don’t have time for this. She grabbed the woman’s arm to lead her towards her van, and Lara shrugged her off.

“I can fucking walk. Just tell me where your car is.”

Mia clenched her jaw. You’re kidnapping her. What did you expect? She settled for a glare and pointed to her vehicle.

“Van. White.” Bitch.

It wasn’t too far, and Lara didn’t try to run away this time. If anything, the woman seemed just as eager to leave the place.

Mia opened the passenger door, grabbing her laptop from the seat.

“No candy?” Lara’s mechanical voice clashed with the words she spoke.

Original.

She tucked the laptop under her arm and gestured for Lara to get in. It was awkward, clearly uncomfortable, to sit with her arms behind her like that, but Mia wasn’t willing to do anything about it now.

Okay.

She gave a sudden word of warning. “Buckling.” The last thing Mia needed was the police pulling her over for a fucking seatbelt.

After placing the laptop on the backseat, Mia sat in the driver’s seat. Lara’s photo greeted her from the cupholder and she breathed in. Lara, her mark, was in her van. The job was as good as done. She even had time to spare. Breathe out.

Her whole body was still jittery as she started the engine and began pulling out of the parallel parking spot. It was a tighter fit than she remembered. Every time she had to switch gears, she felt more pressure. The asshole audience in the passenger’s seat wasn’t helpful.

Then she backed up too far.

It was barely a bump, but the car’s alarm set off anyway. Fuck. Mia immediately shifted to drive and twisted onto the road, straightening too early and scraping the car ahead of her. That alarm went off too.

“Can’t you fucking drive?!” Lara snapped.

“Shut up!” Mia checked the rearview mirror, heart throbbing in her ears as she was finally on the road. “Just shut up.”

Now her face was red, and sweat cooled her neck. Out of everything she could have fucked up, she chose to hit stationary cars?

Fingers coiled around the wheel, Mia kept her eyes forward as she drove away. God, she was a fucking idiot. Once the obnoxious alarms faded into the distance, and her “company” stayed quiet, a needed silence filled the car. It took passing through a few towns for her to calm down. With her regular heart beat, she retrieved a sense of logic. Why did Lara not want her to get caught?

Mia glanced over. Lara sat cowered away from her, pressing against the window. She glued her gaze to the road again when the pit of her stomach twisted at the thought of Samantha. There was no room for pity right now.

Then the engine started to… pop? It sputtered. Shit. Mia avoided looking at her passenger. Could she call roadside assistance in the middle of nowhere? She couldn’t remember the last time she had even passed a gas station. Still, if the answer was yes, what was she to do with Lara? Zip tie her ankles, duct tape her mouth, and ditch her in the woods, I guess.

After another concerning pop, the van began losing speed. This was really happening.

Mia sank her teeth into her cheek, looking in the rearview mirror and seeing nothing: no lights, cars, hints of civilization. The universe hates me.

Her sweaty hands wrung the wheel. Please.

The van started juddering and Mia’s body went stiff, as if moving an inch would spook the vehicle into stopping.

“Please.” Maybe saying it out loud would work better.

When the car slowed to the single digits, Mia finally accepted her fate and pulled to the side of the road. The last rumble abandoned the engine, leaving dead silence. Her eyes stung. Staring straight ahead, all she saw were the asphalt and trees. Same thing behind her. The sheer ‘what the fuck do I do now?’ left her like a statue.

That was until her kidnapee decided to use her mouth again.

“You’re an idiot,” Lara muttered.

Don’t fucking cry.

Mia unbuckled and exited the van, slamming the door. Her palms collided with her forehead, nails scraping her skin as her hands twisted into fists.

“Fuck!” she yelled, crouching down into a tight ball.

Phone, she had a phone.

She took a deep breath and pulled the device from her pocket. To no surprise, there wasn’t any reception.

Plan F: fucking walk.

There had to be something close by. Something other than a police station. She had never won as much as a scratch off, but the last town was miles behind them, so they would have to take a chance by pressing forward.

The passenger’s door pulled open, and Mia spoke as if the van was soundproof and Lara didn’t just hear her flip out.

“Guess we’re walking.” You like hiking anyway, right?

She left it open as she grabbed her duffel from the back. It contained bullets, clothes, chargers, water, ibuprofen, and a flashlight. Mia took the flashlight out first, happy to see that one thing was working out for her as it shone on the grass. She lifted the strap over her head, wearing the bag like a sideways backpack, then closed the door.

When Mia returned to the front, she found Lara still in her seat. Her face dropped into a frown as Lara got more comfortable. Really?

“Can you still walk?”

“I think I’m good right here,” Lara said. “But you can go. Send me a postcard.”

Mia just stared. How many one-liners did this woman have shoved up her ass?

Lara’s gray hoodie and tight black jeans did little to bulk her appearance. The stressed lines on Mia’s face faded as she studied the stubborn woman. By the time she met Lara’s eyes again, her attitude matched the other’s jadedness.

“No, no, I wouldn’t want to leave you behind.”

A moment passed, one last chance for Lara to change her mind, before Mia reached over to unclip the buckle. Without warning, her arm tucked under Lara’s knees, and she hoisted the woman over her shoulder. As she pulled out of the van, both hands kept Lara’s legs, in case the woman tried to kick her in the face. Surprisingly, she didn’t.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Let me know when you’re able to,” a huffed grunt left as Mia adjusted the woman, “walk.”

She had overestimated her strength.

Lara still failed to react, for two heavy steps, to the point where Mia’s hopes sank. Was this woman stubborn enough to be carried the entire trip? She withheld a groan; she had gotten herself in this position.

“Put me the fuck down,” Lara said after a third, almost unbearable, step.

“As you wish.”

Mia slid an arm over Lara’s back to set her down. She was careful. If Lara fell, she would have no way to stop herself. And that may have been funny, but Mia wasn’t entirely an asshole.

Once her feet were on the ground, Lara composed herself and stomped into the woods. It reminded Mia of a bird whose feathers had been ruffled. She twitched a smile and followed.