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—”
“I said no, Sammara.”
He turned again, and I risked a glance back. All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. There were two SUVs, not one.
Holy shit!
The jeep skidded sideways, and the phone flew from my hands. It skipped over my shoulder, landing somewhere in the darkness of the back seat.
“They’re gonna kill us!” I cried. “They’re going to—”
“They don’t want us dead,” Ryan said. “They just want to… talk to us.”
I blinked in confusion and fear. “Y—You know these guys?”
“No,” Ryan admitted. “But I know who they might be.” He bored down hard on the gas pedal, revving the engine. We were on a long, straight avenue. The speedometer was coming up on seventy miles per hour.
I gulped hard, then reached for his seat belt. Pulling it across his body, I buckled him in.
“Thank you.”
I nodded numbly, still terrified. Still not sure who these people were, or what they wanted, or why Ryan tried to keep me from calling the police.
“Big turn coming,” he warned. “Grab something.”
I grabbed one of the jeep’s ‘oh shit’ handles just as Ryan jerked the wheel. We fishtailed left, the tires spinning wildly before they finally caught again. When I looked up we were in a small, narrow alley. I could hear the sound of tires screaming somewhere behind us, followed by a loud crash, and the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.
“Got one,” Ryan said.
My mouth was wide open. I was staring at him in utter disbelief. There was almost a smile on his face now. Like some smirk of accomplishment.
“Just sit tight,” he told me. “I think I can lose them in the—”
“LOOK OUT!”
Ryan reacted instantly, jamming the brakes, slowing us down just enough to avoid being obliterated by the oncoming box truck. My jeep slid through the red light, narrowly missing two other cars, before he lifted his foot and punched the gas again.
My heart was trapped in my throat. I was too stunned to speak, but Ryan still looked as cool and calm as when the whole thing had started.
“Good call.”
I felt sick. Queasy. Frightened.
“Sit up,” he told me. “I need your eyes. Let me know when they’re gaining. And if you see more of them.”
The words registered in my head, but for a second or two they held no meaning.
“More of them?”
Ryan turned again, and this time we came within inches of a long brick wall. I gasped and sat up. Turned around. Looked…
“We’re a block ahead,” I told him. “Maybe a block and a half.”
“Let me know when we’re two or three.”
I had to give him credit; the man could drive. Still, the jeep had a high center of gravity. Its wheel base wasn’t meant for hard turns — it was the main reason all models came with a roll bar. But Ryan knew the limitations of my vehicle as if he’d designed, built, and raced it all his life.
“Okay…” I said, looking over my shoulder. “Almost… Almost…”
