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“I was almost to the highway. But then they hit me and I spun and I had to reverse because they were still waiting. Oh, God,” I cried as the car sped up behind me.
“Okay. Listen to me, okay? Focus on my voice. I need you to take deep breaths and keep your eye on the road. Not on the rearview. You’re watching the road. Alright?”
“Alright,” I agreed, sucking in a breath so deep it made my lungs burn.
“Both hands on the wheel. You need to focus on driving the car, not fighting with the guy behind you. Tell me what you see?”
“Nothing. It’s so dark. There’s… nothing.”
“Okay. That’s alright. We’re on our way. I can still hear you breathing too fast. I need you to breathe. You can’t afford to black out on me, sweetheart. You can fall apart when you’re safe. Right now, you have to focus.”
“I am.”
“Tell me about the car. Is the steering pulling? Are there any warning lights? Smoke? Do you smell anything?”
“No. Well. Maybe a little burning rubber. The new tires…”
“Fuck the tires. They don’t matter. You matter.”
“I can’t lose him.”
“Listen. I don’t want you going any faster. If he clips you again and you flip, the airbags are going to deploy and you’re going to be too disoriented to fight or get away. Just for a few seconds. But it’s long enough that I don’t want to risk it. You need to slow down.”
“He’s right behind me!”
“I know. And he’s still going to be behind you if you speed up, but it just gets more dangerous then. Are you closing in on anywhere well-lit or populated?”
“No. No, I’m back in the more desolate area. There’s nothing. Houses. But nothing.”
“That’s alright. I’m coming. It’s a nine-minute drive. But I’m not doing the speed limit. I’m more than halfway there.”
Halfway.
He could be here in two or three more minutes.
I could hold on for two more—
“No!” I shrieked as the sound of metal crunching metal filled my ears and my body jerked violently forward.
“Hey, focus. Hands on the wheel. Foot on the gas. Breathe. Stay in control.”
“They hit me again.”
“I heard.” Cain’s voice had gone tight. “We’re less than a minute away,” he told me. “You should be hearing the bikes soon.”
I couldn’t hear anything over the whooshing of my pulse in my ears.
“This is important. When you see us, don’t slow, don’t stop. Keep driving. Drive right past us and keep going. We are getting between you and this car. They won’t be following you. So I need you to keep going. Drive all the way back to the clubhouse, run inside, and hide in the glass room. Wait there for me. You got that?”
“I got—”
The crash came out of nowhere.
Too fast.
Too hard.
I wasn’t spinning.
