Let Me Go.
643 Words
The moment the car door slammed shut, Ada exploded.
"Let me go!"
She pounded her fists against the stranger's chest, struggling with every ounce of strength she had.
"I said let me go!"
The man barely flinched.
Instead, he looked at the driver.
"Drive."
The black Range Rover roared forward just as another gunshot echoed behind them.
Bang!
Ada screamed.
"They're shooting! They're shooting!"
"I know," the stranger replied calmly.
His calmness only made her angrier.
"You know?" she snapped. "How can you be so calm? Who are you? Why did you drag me into your car?"
No answer.
The driver swerved around a yellow bus, sending both passengers sliding across the leather seats.
Ada grabbed the door handle.
"I'm getting out."
The stranger finally looked at her.
"Don't."
"I don't know you!"
"And if you open that door now, those men outside will know exactly where you are."
She hesitated.
Her hand remained on the handle.
The image of the old man falling to the ground flashed through her mind.
The gun.
The blood.
The masked men.
She swallowed hard.
No...
She couldn't go back.
But she couldn't trust this stranger either.
She slowly moved away from him until she was pressed against the opposite door.
The stranger noticed but said nothing.
Only then did Ada really look at him.
He couldn't have been older than thirty.
His dark suit was perfectly tailored despite the rain, and a silver wristwatch peeked out from beneath his sleeve. His face was strikingly handsome, but it wasn't his looks that unsettled her.
It was his eyes.
Cold.
Watchful.
As though they were always searching for danger.
He wasn't smiling.
He didn't even look frightened.
Who was he?
The silence became unbearable.
Finally, Ada spoke.
"If you're planning to kidnap me, I'll disappoint you."
The driver blinked.
The stranger raised one eyebrow.
"I don't have money."
Still no reply.
"My mother is sick."
Silence.
"I live in a one-room apartment."
Nothing.
She folded her arms.
"So unless kidnappers now collect cooking pots and plastic chairs, you've picked the wrong person."
The driver bit his lip, trying not to laugh.
The stranger exhaled quietly.
"I am not kidnapping you."
"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say."
This time the driver couldn't hold it anymore.
A laugh escaped him.
"James," the stranger said without looking away from the road.
"Sorry, sir."
Ada frowned.
"So his name is James."
"Yes."
"And yours?"
The stranger stared out the rain-covered window for a moment before answering.
"Liam."
"Liam... what?"
"Liam Fraser."
She repeated it slowly.
"Liam..."
The name sounded foreign.
"You're not Nigerian."
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
His jaw tightened.
"Work."
"What kind of work attracts bullets?"
He didn't answer.
Ada folded her arms again.
"Exactly."
The silence returned.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, washing the streets clean as though nothing had happened.
But Ada knew better.
Someone had been murdered.
And those men had seen her face.
She lowered her head.
A single tear escaped before she quickly wiped it away.
Liam noticed.
He reached into the compartment beside him, took out a clean white handkerchief, and held it toward her.
Ada stared at it suspiciously.
"What?"
"For your tears."
"What if you soaked it in sleeping medicine?"
James almost choked trying not to laugh.
Liam looked at the handkerchief... then back at Ada.
"It's a handkerchief."
"You expect me to believe that?"
After a long pause, Liam sighed and used it to wipe the rainwater from his own forehead.
"There. Happy?"
Ada looked away.
"...A little."
For the first time since pulling her into the car, the corner of Liam's mouth lifted into the faintest smile.
He had just rescued the most suspicious woman he'd ever met.
And somehow...
He had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time she accused him of being a criminal.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD