Outside Wichita, Kansas

“Corinna Dewitt,” the highway patrol officer recited, reading Cora’s license.

She automatically glanced at his name tag. Lewellen looked like every trooper she ever remembered being pulled over by—buzz-cut brown hair, an ordinary face she didn’t want to look at directly, and an air of authority when he spoke. He looked at the license and then back at her, lifting it as if to compare her to the photo.

“Blonde was a phase. I went back to my natural color.” Cora needlessly pulled a strand of her dark brown hair forward as evidence. “I should probably have that photo retaken, but it says brown on the—” She started to point at the license when his words cut her off.

“Do you know how fast you were going?” questioned Lewellen.

Cora wondered why he went through the ruse of asking. They both knew she had been speeding. Her hands shook violently, and the nerves bundled in her stomach were almost unbearable. Everything she wanted to say was right there on the edge of her brain, but she couldn’t get the words out. She did her best attempt at a smile and said, “Faster than I should have been?”

“Ninety-three,” he said, answering his own question. Cora wanted to debate his number. Her speedometer had said ninety-one. “Speed limit here is seventy-five.” Though polite, he didn’t return the smile. She wasn’t surprised. She had never been able to sweet talk her way out of a ticket. And if she merely got off with a citation for speeding, she’d consider herself lucky.

Or not.

“Yes, sir, I’m sorry, sir.” She stared at the wheel, gripping it nervously.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” It wasn’t a lie. She had no clue what awaited her at the end of this trip.

“Wait here.” He walked off with her license.

Cora took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Cars whizzed by, momentarily blurring her view of the grassy field lined by trees. Some people thought Kansas to be flat and boring, but she believed it had an understated beauty. The tall grasses undulated in the breeze, rippling across fields. They were hypnotic—rolling forward in a predictable pattern beneath bright blue skies dotted with clouds.

If she went to prison, would she be able to see the clouds from her cell? She couldn’t remember from the movies she had seen. Cora wasn’t tough, not like prison people. Women like her always became someone else’s bitch.

Lewellen appeared by her window to hand back her license and a paper ticket. “Slow it down.”

“Yes, sir, thank you—”

A loud thud cut through her words.

Cora’s eyes rounded, and she looked at the trooper in a panic.

He stiffened. “What was that?”

“I can explain.”

Another thud came from the trunk, and then another.

No. No, she couldn’t explain this. In no reality could she make this situation look good.

“Do you have someone in the trunk?” Lewellen reached for his waist and stepped back as he rested his hand on the butt of his sidearm. “Get out of the car, ma’am.”

Cora pressed her lips tightly together and gave him a helpless look. She didn’t want to. Her hands worked nervously against the wheel. The thuds came faster.

“Out of the car, ma’am,” he stated louder, pulling her door handle. “Move slow. Keep your hands where I can see them.”

Cora did as he ordered. She kept her hands lifted by her shoulders and backed up.

The thumping became louder, the hard kicks so forceful they sounded like they would dent the metal of her trunk lid. The trooper reached inside her door, not taking his eyes off her as he pulled the lever to pop the trunk.

One last kick sent the lid flying up with a hard bang. Cora gave a small jump.

“Put your hands on the hood. Don’t move,” the trooper ordered.

Cora obeyed. Her stomach tightened in knots. There was no talking her way out of this. She made the worst criminal.

A car zoomed past. The passenger stared at her, craning his neck to watch her humiliation.

The officer went around to the trunk, his hand resting on his gun. Cora gave him no reason to draw the weapon. Dread and relief mixed inside her. For better or for worse, this nightmare was almost over.

A touch of alarm hit Lewellen’s features when he looked inside. “Oh my god.” His breathing noticeably increased. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now. I got you.” He looked at Cora and shouted, “Don’t you dare move—”

A bright light shone on Lewellen’s face, cutting his words short.

The trooper blinked several times before dropping his hand from where it rested on his gun. He nodded at Cora. “Everything seems to be in order, ma’am.” He went to her open door and picked up the paper ticket. “I’m going to let you off with a warning this time. Drive safe now.”

He turned to leave, striding away.

Cora stumbled along the side of the car after him in disbelief. Her voice soft, she whispered, “Where are you going? Don’t go! Arrest me. Take me in.” Even though she tried to cry out, it was like an invisible hand gripped her throat and kept her from screaming. She stopped near the opened trunk.

She took several deep breaths, not looking inside.

A small hand reached up, the short, childish fingers curling over the metal edge of the lid only to pull it down. It slammed shut. Cora jumped at the hard noise. Lewellen did not turn around. She was compelled to get back in the car to keep driving.

“Please, help me,” Cora croaked, the words painful. “I’ve been kidnapped.”

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