That she was in hiding from the buyers. Carla could either, see a way out and hand over the money, or be stupid and die with her secret. Either way, they intended to murder her, but she might save herself from a lot of pain if she went along with the ruse.

Philippe realized that Carla was outstanding in the wits department, she would bargain for her freedom in exchange for the money. Now what would she come up with? He stared through the windscreen into the night with unseeing eyes.

Carla saw the blank faces and knew surprise was possible. She fidgeted and made herself more comfortable, whilst coupling the ends of her seat belt over her waist. The men next to her looked at her questioningly, but she looked back unconcerned and faintly smiled.

Blankness returned to the men’s faces.

It had been about an hour ago that they passed the camper and had about two more hours to go before they got to Marco’s home.

Staring fixedly ahead, Carla studied the road as the car swept around a left hand bend and into a right hand curve, the lights briefly revealed a tunnel in the distance. The car would enter the tunnel with the steering wheel turning slightly to the right.

They were 10 seconds away from the tunnel when Carla struck. At the speed of a striking mamba, she jabbed two fingers of her right hand into Steve’s eyes, dragging her fingernails down his eyeballs at the same time. He screamed with pain, covering the gouged and bleeding orbs with his hands, his head and hands buried into his legs.

Instantly she swung to her right.

Pepe was drawing his gun from his shoulder holster with his right hand. He released the safety catch just as his hand started to clear the edge of his jacket, pulling the slide back to cock the pistol with his left, at the same time.

With her left hand between his chest and the gun, she clutched the gun and slipped her finger under his, on the trigger. As she thrust herself between him and the seat, so he could not hit her effectively with his free left arm, her right hand pressed against the side of the barrel pushing the muzzle into the centre of his chest.

Pepe’s right wrist was now bent nearly 90 degrees; he could not straighten it or properly control his fingers.

Carla’s body weight prevented him pulling his gun arm away.

She squeezed the trigger, the gun fired at point blank range, and the bullet passed through his chest, just above the sternum and out behind his armpit.

Pulling the gun from the dead hand, she pushed away from him, turned, and fired at the back of the driver’s seat, catching Vincent in the spine, just between the shoulder blades. His legs went into spasm and floored the accelerator. The car shot forward, his head fell back against the head restraint, and he lost all interest in steering.

The car swerved to the left pointing towards the flimsy barrier, the only thing between them and thin air.

Philippe had now drawn his gun and was swinging the muzzle towards Carla, who flung her body behind his seat making it impossible to kill her outright. She could still fire back.

The lurching car became a greater priority for Philippe.

He grabbed the top of the steering wheel and pulled it towards him. He followed through with his right hand, still clutching his gun and yanked the steering round another 90 degrees. It was not enough; with the back of the car swinging out, the car hit the mouth of the tunnel, on the side near the rear passenger door. The front of the car was in the tunnel, but not the rear half. The impact was enormous throwing everyone sideways and forward from the sudden deceleration.

The car slid along the wall of the tunnel with Philippe’s face pressed against the shattered window of the door. The car glanced off into the tunnel in a shower of sparks and shrieking metal, finally coming to a halt.

Light from the one remaining headlight reflecting off the stone and concrete tunnel, provided enough light for Carla to see that Steve had broken his neck against the front seat, and Pepe was wedged between the driver’s seat and passenger seat. She released her seat belt, pulled Pepe out of her way, then kicked open the rear door, and slid out onto the road. Carla was uninjured, just sore on her hips where the seatbelt had restrained her. Although splashed with someone’s blood, she was not cut or bleeding Fragments of glass twinkled on her clothes, as they caught the light.

Looking at the carnage, she realised that killing Vincent first, rather than Philippe had been the right choice. Vincent would never have stopped the car; he would have driven non-stop all the way to Marco’s, even with a gun to his head. Shooting Vincent while in the tunnel or on the road would be certain death, one way or another, the car would end up on the valley floor, Vincent would have made sure of that!

Carla breathed deeply, cleared her mind, and explored the wreck. The car had fared quite well, except for the site of impact. Whilst the car was a write off, it appeared to be driveable.

Exploring at the far end of the short tunnel; just outside was a small lay-by cut into the face of the mountain for parking machinery during the construction of the tunnel.

Checking her watch, she reckoned it would be about an hour before the camper van arrived. She needed to hide the Mercedes and bodies, clean herself up and destroy all evidence that she had been in the car.

She looked into the open boot, pulled out her travel bag containing some clothes and female essentials. Rummaging around in the boot, she found tools, first aid kit and full petrol can.

By rearranging the bodies in the back of the car, she was able to drag Vincent out of the driver’s seat, into the back.

She did the same with Philippe. As she rolled him over in the dim light, it looked as though his head was smashed in. His hair and ear on the left side of his head was scraped away to the bone, smeared on the tunnel wall. She searched his pockets for anything useful or valuable, keeping his wallet, bulging with cash.

To protect her clothes, she placed the carpet from the boot, over the blood soaked front seats, and slipped behind the steering wheel. Getting into the driver’s seat, she noticed Philippe’s brief case, so she kept that, as well.

The time had come to try to move the car. She switched the ignition off, and then on again, to restart the car.