Page 162 of Distress Signal

At first, I was certain my eyes were deceiving me.

He couldn’t be serious.

“A shipping container?” I asked. “You can’t make me get in there.”

Tuck held a clear vial and needle aloft. “Afraid you won’t have a choice. And we don’t have much time, so don’t make this difficult, ‘kay?”

“How did you even—” Lainey started.

“I’m a firefighter, honey. The paramedics in our house keep this stuff on hand for sedation in the field.”

“And where exactly are you taking us?”

Tuck grinned. “You’ll see when we get there, but I know you’ll love it.”

“What we’dloveis to be set free.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“So you’re going to hold us against our will forever? You know that’ll never work, right?”

Tuck patted the top of the container, which, upon further inspection, appeared large enough to house us both. “I’m confident some time in this box will convince you cooperation is in your best interests.”

“You are a sick fuck,” Lainey spat at him.

His lips twisted into a frown, but he didn’t respond. Instead, I watched in horror as he inserted the needle into the rubber top of the vial and withdrew some of the clear liquid.

The silence was broken by the gentle hum of an engine.

A plane?

Finn?

Hope flared in my chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at my twin. Lainey’s thoughts echoed my own.

Hear that?

Your lover boy made it after all. But if he gets that shit into us, it’s over.

When he gets close enough, we attack,I silently responded.Punch, kick, do whatever the fuck you gotta do, then race for the stairs.

Lainey’s chin dipped slightly.

All my plans changed when Tuck momentarily turned his back on us, and I saw the gun stuffed in the back waistband of his jeans.

“Now,” I murmured to Lainey, barely moving my lips.

“But…”

I shifted my eyes pointedly between her and Tuck’s back.

“Now!”

“What—” Tuck started, facing us. Before he could utter another word, Lainey and I kicked free of the shackles and rushed him.

He may have been stronger than one of us, but he didn’t stand a chance against both. Lainey landed a hard punch to his jaw, full of pent-up rage, and Tuck’s head snapped back. A second later, I lifted my knee into his groin, then drove it into his nose when he folded forward.