Read Online Fight or Flight by Natalie J. Damschroder - Free Book Online Page A

“Where is my mother?”
    “She’s in the hospital. She’ll be fine. But she’s very concerned about you, and she’ll be better if she knows you’re safe.”
    “I’ll call her.” She flipped open her phone and pressed the “on” button, fidgeting as it started powering up. She’d shut it off to save the battery, and hoped it had enough juice for a call.
    The officer reached over and took it out of her hand. “She’s not reachable at the moment. She’s in surgery.” He turned the phone off and handed it back. “We need to leave now.”
    Kelsey didn’t want to go. She turned to look at the man behind the vehicle, who’d so far been silent and unmoving. He had the same hat, but his uniform wasn’t the same as the first cop’s. The colors were off. Alarm bells clanged in her head, but she wasn’t sure what to do. If they fought or ran and these were real cops, they could be in trouble.
    “What’s your unit number?” she asked the silent one, trying to buy time.
    “Four six three two, ma’am.”
    Uh-uh. Unit numbers were two digits. These guys were definitely not state police.
    “I’m sorry, I’d rather just go with my friends to the hospital where my mother is,” she told them. “Thank you for your time. Which hospital is she in?”
    The “cops” looked at each other. “St. Rosa’s,” said the one in the back.
    “Why is she there? Municipal is closer to our house.”
    “She wasn’t at home,” the first one said, and now Kelsey knew they were lying. Her caller ID had shown their home number.
    She leaned close to Tom and tilted her head to whisper in his ear. “I can’t go with them.”
    That was all he needed. He pulled back the door he was holding and slammed it forward. Despite his short range, it smacked the cop in the torso hard enough to knock him back.
    Van had been ready, too. She swung her field hockey stick out of the car and slammed it into the back of the cop’s head. He fell sideways, and Tom shoved him down.
    Kelsey was aware of this only peripherally. She expected the other guy to go for a gun, and as soon as Tom moved, she jumped out from behind him, heading for the rear of the car. The “cop” was crouching, pulling the gun from its holster, when she jumped onto the trunk and pushed herself across it, aiming at him with both feet. She hit him in the shoulder and neck. He yelled and went down. Kelsey slid down onto him, pressing his face into the macadam. He couldn’t bring his gun around to shoot her, but he lifted it a few inches off the ground and aimed behind her. Where Tom was. Kelsey screamed and lunged for his arm, but he fired. Not at Tom, but into the tire.
    Tom kicked the gun out of the guy’s hand. It slid under the car, which now listed to the rear left. They weren’t going anywhere in that.
    “Let’s go.” Tom swung Kelsey’s backpack up onto his shoulder and took her elbow, leading her into the strip of woods bordering the highway. Van followed, her field hockey stick tight in her grip, her own backpack already on her back.
    “Where are we going?” Van gasped, dodging tree trunks and leaping roots.
    “Away,” was all Kelsey could say. She had no idea where they were. “Just someplace where we can hide and I can call my mom.”
    “Man, I hope those weren’t real cops.” Tom grunted, pushing Kelsey a little ahead of him. “We’re in a hell of a lot of trouble if they were.”
    “They weren’t.” She was certain of it. “Wait.” They all stopped abruptly. She listened, trying to calm her breathing. They could hear the men crashing through the underbrush, clearly headed in their direction. “Let’s go that way,” she said, pointing left. “Get out of their path. We’ve got to be quiet, too.”
    “Yeah, right,” Van and Tom both said. They headed the way she’d pointed, and moved a little more slowly with a little less noise. The dried leaves underfoot made it impossible, but if they were lucky, the men behind them made enough noise