Shiver

resemblance to Marco to be tapped to take his place, to pretend to be Marco to draw the Zetas’ fire while the real Marco was whisked off to a secure location to spill the beans about everything he knew.
    A loud grinding sound from outside the car refocused Danny’s attention in a hurry. It was accompanied by a jolt: by whatever weird means they were moving, they were under way again now. It felt like the car was being towed, which would at least account for the sensation of the car having been hoisted onto its back wheels.
    Clearly he’d been out of it for long enough to have missed something.
    Something connected with the girl.
    Time to make a move, or pack it in.
    “Hey,” he said into the airless darkness. “Hey, girl, can you hear me?”
    She lay heavy and inert against his back, increasing the discomfort in his cramping arms and injured hands, her weight pressing him inexorably forward. He could hear her breathing, so at least there was no doubt that she was alive. Remembering the sound of the blow that had struck her down, he figured she might be out for a while. Delicate bones, slender build—a fragile flower, if looks meant anything. Decorative, maybe, but he doubted that she was the type to bounce back fast.
    Right now, he needed fast.
    Danny cursed under his breath. With him in the shape he was in, she was the only hope either of them had.
    “Miss,” he tried again, more politely in case that struck achord, his tone urgent but not so loud that it would penetrate beyond the confines of the trunk. “Miss, can you hear me? You’ve got to wake up.”
    Nothing. Danny tried jostling her, but regretted it almost as soon as he hunched up his back and pushed against her. There wasn’t any room, and moving hurt like a bitch.
    He did it again anyway.
    “Goddamn it, woman, if you don’t wake up we’re both going to die.”
    She groaned. Danny could feel her stiffen against his back. Hope stirred inside him. Was she moving? Had she heard him? It was hard to tell. The car swayed and creaked. The little space they were in tilted and rocked. The impression he got was that the vehicles were turning a corner. At any minute Torres and company might stop and then Veith would show up and then . . .
    Bang, bang. You’re dead.
    “Miss, can you hear me?” Tension vibrated in Danny’s voice. Keeping himself conscious and focused required increasing effort. He wasn’t going to last much longer, he feared. And if he fainted, they were done for. “Miss?”
    She sucked in air, stirred a little. Something—a change in her breathing, in the atmosphere around them—made him think she was conscious.
    “Miss?” He felt like a fool calling her that. “What’s your name?”
    For a moment he thought he’d been wrong: she wasn’t conscious after all.
    Then a wobbly voice muttered, “Sam.”
    Danny felt a rush of relief.
    “Okay, Sam, this is really important.” Keeping his cool under extreme conditions had saved his life before. It didn’t seem likely that it was going to make much difference now, but he wasn’t ready to give up and die yet, either. “I need you to focus here. We’ve only got a few minutes before they kill us.”
    Again with the fluttery breath. “What—happened?” She sounded groggy, confused, but at least she was awake and talking.
    He didn’t have time for lengthy explanations. “You ran across some bad guys, got hit in the head and thrown into a car trunk. This car trunk, with me. When we stop moving, the bad guys are going to open the trunk and kill you. And me, too, but probably you first, because they don’t need you for anything.”
    “Who . . . ?” she began, still sounding out of it, but he cut her off ruthlessly.
    “Doesn’t matter. There’s no time. Did you hear what I said about them killing you?”
    He thought she nodded. Then, her voice scarcely more than a reedy breath, she said, “We’re in the trunk of the BMW, aren’t we? The one I was getting ready to tow away.”
    “You’re a tow truck driver?” There you go: the information he’d been missing.
    “Yes.”
    “That’s good to know. Now listen. My hands are fastened behind my back with a zip tie. I need you to get me loose. Rootaround back there, see if you can come up with something sharp. Anything. Use it to cut the tie.”
    He could hear her breathing, feel her shifting around a little. She didn’t reply.
    “Sam? Hello? Did you hear me?” His voice was tense. It was all he could do not to