The kid stepped away from the truck when Killean started it and pulled away from the pump.
Simone turned to stare out the back window as the gas station vanished from view. “Do you think Joseph and his followers could find us?” she asked, knowing that was the source behind Killean’s strange uneasiness at the gas station.
“I’m not taking any chances.”
Killean drove faster to put more distance between them and the gas station. The truck surged forward as it rose over hills before coasting down them. They were heading into a dip in the road when he spotted headlights coming toward them. The lights momentarily vanished from view before he spotted them again.
Simone’s fingers dug into the armrest of the door as the headlights approached. A sense of foreboding built in her stomach though she had no idea why. She suspected Killean’s agitation was catching as there was nothing unusual about this vehicle.
The car was almost to them when it suddenly swerved into their lane and came at them head-on. Simone gasped and slammed her feet into the floor as if that could somehow stop them from barreling toward the vehicle.
“Hold on!” Killean shouted and jerked the wheel to the left.
For a second, it seemed as if they were going to miss the car entirely, but the car outmaneuvered the truck and came back toward them. Simone could only sit and watch helplessly as the car homed in on them like a shark on a seal. It was so close, she could see the vicious grin of the driver as he hunched over the wheel.
Simone cried out when the front ends collided with a screech of metal. Golden sparks flew over the hood of the truck and peppered the windshield. Pushed away by the truck, the car turned and its dented bumper scraped along the passenger side as the car slid by her. Simone found herself looking down into the hate-filled, red eyes of a Savage as the car went past her.
Killean yanked the wheel to correct the truck before the impact sent it careening off the side of the road and into an embankment. The ass end of the truck fishtailed and the tires squealed when he stomped on the gas. In the rearview mirror, he watched as the car spun in the middle of the road and started after them.
“Are you okay?” he demanded of Simone.
“Ye-yes,” she stammered.
“Hold on.”
In the front, a rattling sound increased from the damaged bumper when he accelerated. If the bumper had been shoved into the tire, it was only a matter of time before the tire popped, but he didn’t dare slow down as the car steadily gained on them.
The speedometer climbed from sixty to seventy to eighty. They were at ninety when a piece of the bumper broke off; it smashed into the side of the truck before spiraling away and crashing into the middle of the road. The bumper broke apart when it bounced over the pavement. Forced to swerve around it, the car lost some of its momentum and fell back a little.
They were up to over a hundred when the rattling grew loud enough to drowned out the radio. “Put on your seat belt,” he said to Simone.
She fumbled for the belt and tugged it over her shoulder before clicking it into place as the car closed the distance between them to twenty feet. When the truck soared over the next hill, the wheels came off the ground, and for a second they flew over the earth until gravity won out. Simone’s teeth clacked together when they hit the ground, and the truck released an ominous groan.
Simone’s nails dug into the armrest as the truck made an awful noise she believed meant it was about to burst into a million pieces. Somehow all the nuts and bolts managed to stay in place, but the rattling grew louder.
Killean could no longer see the headlights of the car as it was nearly on their ass. With the damage to the truck and the fact the car was simply faster, they would never outrun it, and he couldn’t allow them to get the upper hand. He had to do whatever was necessary to keep Simone safe and free from Joseph.
“Brace yourself,” he said.
“For what?” Simone asked.
“Impact.”
Simone didn’t have a chance to respond before Killean threw his arm out and pressed it against her chest; he shoved her back in the seat. The truck tires squealed, and smoke plumed up around the windows as he stomped on the brakes. Another loud squeal came from behind him, but his stop was so sudden that the car didn’t have time to avoid plowing into the ass end of the truck.
Metal crunched as the tailgate bent in, and the bed of the truck bowed up from the force of the car being driven into it. The back window shattered, and glass rained down around them. When the airbags exploded, Killean released the wheel to tear away the one in front of him before ripping Simone’s out of the way.
The truck shifted to the side when the passenger side tires gave way; the rotors digging into the asphalt tore up chunks of pavement and sent more sparks over the hood. They were shoved another fifty feet forward before the hideous screeching and twisting of metal came to an end and the truck stopped sliding.
Lowering his arm, Killean turned to Simone as she slumped in the seat. The pallor of her face terrified him as he rested his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she said.
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
She lifted her head to reveal her quivering lower lip. “I’m not hurt.”
Realizing it was fear and not pain that had her so rattled, Killean wanted to stay and comfort her, but lingering would only give those bastards a chance to close in on them.
