CHAPTER 9: No Signal for a Lie

Camilla reached into the sedan for her phone.
One of the drivers raised his own device and held it toward the sky. “Already live with dispatch,” he said. “County sheriff is twelve minutes out. Company counsel is on speaker with the second truck.”
Preston laughed once, too loudly. “This is kidnapping now? You cannot trap us on a public road.”
Caleb looked at the parked sedan, the suitcase, the old man still shaking from desert air, and the three trucks blocking sunset from becoming an escape route.
“Nobody is trapped,” he said. “You can wait for the sheriff or start walking.”
Camilla stopped dialing. Some choices are only powerful while engines are running.