When they pulled into a driveway in a rundown neighborhood, Mackenzie drove by slowly. Thank God, they arrived home safely. She knew she’d have to confront the mother at some point, but tonight she just wanted to go home. When Abby climbed out of the car, she waved at Mackenzie.
She knew I was following her. Sweet girl.
Flipping up her helmet’s visor, Mackenzie blew her kiss and drove off.
As she left the neighborhood, she realized she had no idea where she was. She had been so focused on following Abby, she hadn’t paid attention to all the streets they had turned down. Now she was in a seedy, dilapidated part of town that she’d neverbeen to, without any sense of how to get back. Not wanting to stop and check her phone, she had a vague idea where the bridge was from here and headed in that direction.
Junker cars littered the front lawns of many of the unkempt houses. Weeds grew from broken sidewalks, neon lights of adult businesses flashed on almost every block, along with a few used car lots and pawn shops. She made it onto a main thoroughfare and hoped it led back to the bridge.
At the first stoplight, a group of teenage boys loitered on the corner. There must’ve been about seven or eight of them, she guessed as she came to a halt. At this time of night, they probably weren’t up to much good.
Keep looking straight ahead. Just ignore them.
“Hey, it’s a chick on a bike,” she heard one of them call. She felt them all turn to look at her. Someone whistled.
“Wanna ride me, baby?” another one yelled.
“I’ll give you something huge to feel between your legs.”
Turn green. Turn green. Please turn green.
One of the thugs stepped off the curb and swaggered toward her. He had something in his hand.
Fuck it.Glancing both ways in the intersection, she cranked the throttle and ran the light. Adrenaline coursed through her system as she dragged a foot, fish-tailing the back of her motorcycle before the tire gained traction on the pavement. It lurched forward, and she left them in the acrid haze of her smoking tire.
Glad to have that behind her, she worried she was heading the wrong way. The poorly lit roadway was virtually empty so she couldn’t gauge where to go based on where other cars were headed. She thought she remembered passing a fast-food restaurant on the way to Abby’s house, but unless she counted a 24-hour tattoo parlor that served espresso, there were no food joints anywhere in sight.
The wind blew hard into her face so she dropped the visor of her helmet. Although it was spring, the air still had a bite to it, and her cheeks stung from the cold.
At the next intersection, she had to stop again. Why weren’t the lights synchronized to turn green so she wouldn’t have to stop at every one? She was getting tired and just wanted to find her way home to bed.
While waiting for the green, the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone else was looking at her. She could feel it. Craning her neck around, she expected to see another gang of thugs approaching, but she saw no one. She was completely alone on this stretch of road except for a Jeep Wrangler pulling up on the opposite side of the intersection.
She couldn’t shake the feeling and focused on the other car. It was them. They were watching her. Two men inside the open-air vehicle were fixated in her direction. Was there something behind her? She turned around. Nothing. Maybe her bike. Maybe they were looking at her bike.A woman like you on a Bonnie is hard to forget.Wasn’t that what Dom had said? She hoped to God it was the bike.
Something about the two men scared her more than the rowdy hoodlums a few blocks back. Her scalp began to tingle, almost vibrate. She smacked her helmet with the heel of her hand and tried to clear her head.
When the light turned green, she revved the engine and sped through the intersection. The Jeep remained fixed, and the men turned their heads in unison to watch her pass. She got a glimpse of the driver lifting his head as if sniffing the wind.
Moments after passing the Jeep, she saw a flash in her rearview mirror. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the Jeep had made a U-turn. Her heart hammered in her ears and the tingling became a rumble.
Oh, shit.
The long hair was a dead giveaway. Why hadn’t she tied it up and stuffed it into her helmet? With her all-black outfit, most people would’ve assumed she was a guy on a bike, not a girl. She was a damn freak magnet tonight.
She hit the throttle and sped up, thinking she’d outrun them and they’d give up, but the Jeep stayed on her tail. She felt bile rising in her throat, and she willed herself to stay calm.
Which way now?
Nothing looked familiar. Just closed-up businesses with bars on the windows, a storage facility and a bunch of warehouses.
The intersection up ahead looked more substantial than the others she’d passed. Left or right? She had to make it fast. The Jeep was just half a block behind her. Left. She cranked the handlebars and leaned into the turn.
Please be the road to the bridge.
Rows of dark warehouses loomed ahead, and she realized she had made a horrible mistake. Fear swelled her throat and she could hardly breathe. This wasn’t a major intersection. It was just a stoplight for the warehouse complex. She was now in a dark parking lot. A dark deserted parking lot, and the lights of the Jeep flashed behind her.
She weaved around a few buildings, accelerating when she could, looking for another way out, but everywhere the Jeep was on her tail.
