Carys did as instructed as she finished the sentence in her mind…they shoot.
He weaved in and out of traffic like a skilled race-car driver. She did her best not to panic about all the unknowns in this situation.
“Bear with me.”
“Okay.”
Blaize cut across two lanes of traffic and banked a right with so much speed she could swear they went up on two tires. At the very least, the tires squealed.
“Grab a phone, either one, and look up nearby police substations,” he said. “We don’t have a reason to call 911. Should that change, you’ll have your phone in hand and ready to go.”
Carys grabbed his since it was closest. She checked the map feature, half holding her breath as she searched for a substation. He was right, though—a criminal wouldn’t likely follow them into the parking lot of a cop station. Officers could be on shift change or drifting in and out of the lot for other reasons.
“You’re going to want to take a left at the next light,” she said to him after risking a glance out the front windshield to verify.
“Hold on,” he said.
Carys braced herself as he cut a hard, last-minute left turn. Her stomach churned, a mix of stress, speed, and being tossed around.
The seat belt locked, cutting into her chest.
“What else?” he asked.
She refocused on the screen. “Did I mention that I get seasick?” Trying to focus on the device made her stomach turn even more. She wished she had one of those motion-sickness patches she’d heard about.
“I’m sorry, Carys.”
“I know,” she said through measured breaths. “Maybe sitting up would help.”
He nodded.
She pushed up enough to ease some of the queasiness. “Go straight through this light. We’re a little more than two blocks away.”
“Got it,” he said, pressing the gas pedal more.
Carys glanced to her right in time to see the SUV coming but not enough to react before…
Crunch!
Chapter Eighteen
Life slowed, as though time warped and Blaize got caught in the wave.
The SUV caught him on the back right passenger side. His tires struggled to gain purchase as he spun out and then slammed into a parked car. He bit out a curse and grabbed hold of the wheel with both hands.
Fighting against momentum, he mashed the brake. His first instinct was to reach over to protect Carys, but he couldn’t risk letting go of the wheel if he wanted to come out of this tailspin. If he’d been driving almost any other vehicle, it would have flipped.
Carys let out a yelp. Her hands flew to the dashboard to brace for impact. This particular model was meant for off-roading, so it had only four airbags in total, covering front-impact and seat-mounted side airbags. Despite the impact, they didn’t deploy. He was thankful for small miracles and would take whatever good luck he could get. His tires seemed to be fine.
Fighting to stay in control, he finally got the Jeep to cooperate and stop spinning out. The SUV stopped. It was facing the opposite direction. He glimpsed reverse lights. Was the damn thing going to drive backward to slam into them again?
Biting back a curse, Blaize stomped on the gas pedal.
The light changed. Several vehicles turned, blocking the SUV from coming at him again.
“Are you okay?” he asked Carys, not risking taking his eyes off the road even for a second.
“I’m good.” Her voice trembled. Was she in shock? Afraid?
