The onyx ring. How interesting that he brought it. I slip it on my thumb. I wonder how it ended up in my aunt’s pantry stash, and why Jax found it important enough to carry with him.
It spins on my finger. I don’t want to lose it, so I take it off and put it back inside the bag.
That’s it. All he brought.
Gun it is, I guess. When I turn to put the knapsack back, my knee bumps against the steering wheel base.
“Engine off,” the dash voice says.
What?
The car rumbles to a stop.
Shoot. I set the gun on the passenger seat and look at the controls. I can’t read anything, plus the screen is off.
“Car?” I ask.
Nothing.
“Wake up?”
Still nothing.
I poke on anything I can see. Buttons, screen, the big round control in the center.
The car stays off.
Shoot. How do keyless cars turn on? I bumped something. It can’t be easy to turn the car off while it’s running. It must be a feature of when it’s parked. I feel along the steering column. I find several buttons and press them all.
Nothing.
Great.
I lift myself up off the seat and then sit down again.
Nope.
Maybe I have to get out of the car and get back in.
I pull on the handle.
Locked.
Whoa. What?
I jerk on it harder.
It doesn’t open.
I put the gun on the floor and crawl over to the passenger seat. That door is locked tight too. I try the windows. They don’t roll down.
I’m locked in.
And the car is off.
I breathe so hard and fast that I fog up the window on my side. I wipe it with my fist. What if Jax comes out? What if he’s running?
I can see more buttons low on the dash, so I push them. Everything is dead except the slow blinking red light indicating a car alarm. I keep thinking if I hit the window hard enough, that will set off the alarm, but then what would that do? It’s not like that would unlock it.
