The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

"Hand it over."

The man gripping Anastasia's neck growled, "Give it to me, or I swear I'll kill you."

Anastasia was terrified, confused, and honestly, a little lost.

He shoved her against the hood of her car, one hand rifling through her purse while the other pressed a knife to her side. He kept threatening her, but the whole thing was so sloppy that, if she hadn't been so scared, she might've laughed.

What did he even want? He hadn't said a word about it. Was this a random mugging or something else? Just "hand it over"--but hand what over? She couldn't help but think: Is this guy new at this? He was all nerves, fumbling around like he had no clue what he was doing.

The guy was a mess-mask slipping over his eyes, hands shaking. He didn't even glance at her cards or cash. Whatever he was after, it wasn't money.

He kept muttering, "Where is it?" while ignoring every question Anastasia threw at him. It was like he was in his own little panic bubble.

Anastasia managed to croak out, "What exactly are you looking for?"

If this weren't such a disaster, she'd have called him out for being the world's most clueless robber.

He seemed more scared than she was. Sensing that, her own fear faded a bit. She lowered her voice, trying to keep things calm. "Look, man, what do you actually want?"

The guy, distracted by the mask sliding over his eyes, yanked it off-revealing his face for a second.

And there they stood, staring at each other, both dumbstruck.

The silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

He looked sheepish, almost embarrassed. Gave her a goofy little smile-then remembered he was supposed to be scary, and fumbled the mask back on, leaving just his eyes showing.

Back to waving the knife, he tried to sound fierce: "Just hand it over."

Anastasia could only stare. Was this real life?

"Seriously, what do you want? You don't want my money, you don't want my cards —what are you after?"

He hesitated, like he'd forgotten himself. "Uh... hang on a sec."

And then-unbelievably-he pulled out his phone and called someone right there

in front of her. "Hey, Nolan, it's me. I've got the lady. What was I supposed to be looking for again?"

Anastasia blinked. Was this really happening?

She

ose enough to hear the

guy on the other end shouting,

idiot said the chip! You can't let

get that right? Where is she?"

The man, ever honest, said, "She's right here."

Dead silence on the line.

Then: "She didn't hear that, did she?"

He looked at Anastasia. "Did you hear that?"

She nodded, playing along. "Yep. You're looking for a chip."

He looked almost proud. "Nolan, she says she heard it."

The call immediately ended. Apparently Nolan had had enough.

Anastasia glanced at her would-be kidnapper with a sort of pity. How did this guy think he could make it in crime?

He still hadn't caught on. Knife back up, he tried to sound menacing: "Give me the chip or I'll kill you."

Okay, at least he had the tone right this time.noveldrama

Anastasia realized he must be after the microchip Rowan had asked her to hold onto. She didn't know what was on it, but if Rowan had trusted her, there was no way she'd just hand it over to this guy.

"I don't know what chip you're talking about," she said, feigning innocence. "Are

you sure you've got the right person?"

He pulled out a photo, compared it to her face, and nodded. "Nope, it's definitely you."

She sighed. "Honestly, I don't have any chip. Oh, wait!" She snapped her fingers and put on her best 'lightbulb Tace. "You mean that thing? It's in the car. Let me grab it."

He perked up, hope lighting up his eyes. "Yeah, go get it."

She calmly popped the trunk. The moment he leaned in, distracted, she snatched

her stun gun and jabbed it into his side.

He dropped like a sack of potatoes, knife clattering to the ground.

Anastasia didn't wait. She bolted, leaving the world's most hopeless criminal twitching on the pavement behind her.