Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 126: A call for help

Chapter 126: A call for help

Wonderful! He was undoubtedly a pervert too, Mia thought as she hastily finished what she had gone into the restroom to do before he would open the door on her like he’d said. She was washing her hands in freezing water in the sink when he opened the door and said,

"Time’s up, sweetheart." He grinned at her, his gray eyes sparkling with dark amusement. However, Mia gritted her teeth and shot him a glare, then brushing past him, she headed towards her car that was parked in the gas station pump.

Instead of getting into the BMW, Neil hung back, his hand in his pocket with the gun as he noticed the security cameras and the few cars in the gas station.

"Put gas in the car," he instructed her, lounging against the side of the car and watching her while she obeyed. "Pay for it," he ordered when she was done, keeping his face turned away from the cameras.

An idea momentarily overrode Mia’s frustration and fear; she could swipe her card and put in the wrong code to get the securities attention! She started to fish out her card when she realized he was holding out money in his outstretched hand. Her resentment was mounted a dozen times by the realization that he was biting back a half-smile as he gazed at her with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"I think you’re starting to enjoy this more than you should!" she snapped bitterly, grabbing the money out of his hand.

Neil watched her rigid shoulders as she turned away and he reminded himself that it would be far wiser and far more beneficial if he could ease some of her hostility as he’d intended to do earlier. If he could put her in a decent humor and make her relax, that would be even better than having her hate him more. And so he said with a low chuckle, "You’re absolutely right. I think I am beginning to enjoy this, Señorita."

"Go to hell," she replied.

***

The winter morning sun was beginning to rise from the gray sky with pinkish color in the cloud when Mia realized Neil might have fallen asleep on his seat. He’d made her stick to the back roads, avoiding the main highway, which made traveling in the deep snow so hard that she had only averaged thirty miles per hour for long stretches. Three times they had been held up for hours because of accidents on the highway, and still he made her go on.

Because he had taken her phone, she had no other way to know what was happening beyond their journey, thus she had turned on her car radio and put it on a low volume to know what was happening in the city.

All night long, the radio had been filled with news reports about his escape, but the further into Avalora they traveled, the less the news was being reported of his disappearance, no doubt because no one expected him to be traveling north, away from the airports, trains, and buses.

Mia had just passed a sign that said a picnic-rest area was five miles ahead. She hoped that this rest area would be similar to the last one they had passed, with a few trucks parked and their drivers sleeping inside. Throughout the tiring drive, the simplest plan she could think of was to let him escape with her car.

Considering the circumstances, it appeared to be the only viable solution. However, now that he was asleep in the seat beside her, Mia had come up with another idea. Her plan was to pull into the rest area, park alongside the trucks, abruptly hit the brakes, jump out of the car, and scream for help loudly enough to wake the sleeping truck drivers. In her fantasy scenario, a group of strong truck drivers, preferably large men armed with guns and knives, would wake up, rush to her aid, overpower Neil Wayner, and call for help from the police and military.

Although Mia understood that this ideal outcome might be unlikely, even if just a fraction of it came to pass — if just one driver woke up and investigated her screams — she was confident that she would be freed from Neil Wayner. Once she raised an alarm and attracted attention, his only logical choice would be to flee in her car. There would be no benefit for him to shoot her and then proceed to attack the other drivers, as the first shot would alert everyone else.

Any attempt on his part to shoot down all the truck drivers just to take her would be just plain stupid, and stupid was one thing Neil Wayner was not!

Mia was so certain that she would succeed in her escape plan this time. She stole another searching look at Neil to make certain he was really sleeping.

His arms were crossed over his chest, his long legs were stretched out in front of him, his head rested against the side window. His breathing was steady and relaxed.

He was indeed asleep!

Delighted, Mia gently eased her foot off the gas pedal, gradually reducing the car’s speed to avoid alerting the sleeping man. With each subtle adjustment, she fought to keep the car’s movement steady, all while ensuring a smooth approach to the rest area exit.

The rest area was still a quarter mile away from them, hidden from the view of the highway by a cluster of pine trees. Mia slowed down and carefully steered off the highway, inch by inch.

Silently praying for the trucks to be there, she held her breath while maneuvering around the trees. She breathed out in a quiet rush of thankfulness and relief upon spotting the trucks in the rest area. Five trucks were parked ahead, opposite the small restroom building. Despite the absence of any activity in the early morning, she thought she could hear one of the diesel engines running. Her heart pounded rapidly against her ribs, but she resisted the urge to act immediately.

In order to improve her chances, she needed to be right beside the trucks, ready to reach one of the doors before Neil could stop her.

As Mia approached within fifteen yards of the first truck, she was certain she heard the engine. Her foot subtly moved towards the brake, all her senses was focused on the truck that she yelped in shock when Neil suddenly sat up. "Where the hell—" he started to say, but Mia didn’t allow him to finish.

Stepping on the brake, she grabbed the door handle and pushed it open, throwing herself out of the moving car. She landed on her side in the snowy ground. Pain shot through her muscles and In a whirl of agony and fear, she watched the car’s rear tire pass by, narrowly missing her hand, before the car came to an abrupt halt.

"H-HELP ME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, scrambling to her knees, her feet slipping as she fought to stand in the slush and snow.

"HELP ME!" She screamed again, but this time she had finally stood to her feet, running towards the truck closest to her when Neil rushed out of the car, jumping around the front of the car and running straight towards her, and blocking her path to help.

Mia quickly changed her direction to avoid him. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!" she screamed more louder than the first, and running towards the rest room as she intended to lock herself in there until someone would come out to help her. But off to her right, she saw one of the truck doors being pushed opened and the driver rushing down, frowning at the commotion that had woke him up from his sleep.

Close behind her, Mia heard Neil’s feet pounding into the snow, he would soon catch up to her if the truck driver didn’t look her way!

"HELP ME!" She yelled at the driver, and she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Neil scoop up a handful of snow from the ground. And hurled it towards her direction, before she could move, the snowball hit her hard on the shoulder and she screamed more loudly as she increased her pace.

"AHHH!! STOP HIM! He’s_" But he suddenly laughed a few feet behind her drowning out her own words.

"CUT IT OUT, sweetheart!" He yelled at the same time he launched himself at her in a running tackle. "YOU’RE WAKING EVERYONE UP!" He said in a loud laughter that drowned out her cry for help.

Trying to drag in enough air to scream again, Mia tried to twist away from him but she only ended up landing underneath his sprawled body in the snow, the breath knocked out of her, her terrified brown eyes only inches from his enraged ones, his teeth clenched into a fake smile designed to fool the truck driver.

Panting heavily, Mia jerked her head aside to scream, just as he smashed a handful of wet snow onto her face to keep her quiet. Choking and blinded by the snow, she heard his savage whisper as he caught her wrists and yanked them above her head.

"I’ll kill him if he comes any closer," he warned, tightening his grip on her hands. "Damn you, is that what you want! Does someone have to die for you stupidity?"

Mia sobbed, unable to speak, and shook her head, her eyes clenched shut, unable to bear the sight of his face that was an inch away from hers, unable to endure knowing she’d come within a few feet of freedom, and all for nothing, for this—to end up on her back in the snow with his body crushing hers, her hip hurting from her deliberate fall from the moving car.

She heard his swift intake of breath, the furious urgency in his tone. "He’s walking over here, Mia. Kiss me and make it look good, or I’ll have no choice but to shoot him!"

Before she could react, his mouth crushed down on hers.