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“I don’t know, but I need you to call Nash, just in case. Okay?” The other car was still gaining, even though he was now going as fast as he dared.
Bindi fumbled through her handbag for her new phone. Thank God the man in the post office had the forethought to help Bindi set up her phone, otherwise they’d have no way to contact Nash. There was silence as she rang Nash’s personal number and they listened for his reply. Her knuckles were white where she grasped the phone.
“Shit. Hold on,” Mack yelled, as the car careened up and hit them hard from behind. The Land Cruiser jolted forward, but he managed to hold his line on the road.
Bindi squealed and nearly dropped the phone.
“This guy is a fucking maniac,” he said, mind racing, wondering what his best options were for getting away from this idiot. If he kept going at this speed, they’d be killed if he crashed.
“Nash,” he heard Bindi shout into the phone. “Mutt is chasing us in his car. He’s smashing into us. We’ve just left Dimbulah in Steve’s Land Cruiser, but he’s following us and Mack’s driving as fast as he can, but Mutt has already hit us.” Bindi was biting her lip, face pale and drawn.
Mack didn’t hear all of Nash’s reply, but the man’s voice was authoritative and calm. Bindi described where they were and rang off, then stared through the back window at Mutt’s car, which was weaving dangerously across the road behind them. “He’s at the police station in town, so he won’t be far behind us.”
“Great.” Help was on the way. They just had to keep this madman away from them until it arrived.
“He also said that he was about to call Steve to let him know Mutt had disappeared from Cairns this morning.”
“A bit late for that little detail,” Mack muttered.
Suddenly, the vehicle rammed them from behind again, and this time the rear wheels swung out slightly before Mack could get the steering back under control, the car swerving dangerously down the bitumen.
Bindi let out a short scream and held on tighter.
He couldn’t keep doing this. If the car rolled, they might not be so lucky this time.
He took his foot off the accelerator.
“What are you doing?” Bindi yelled.
“We can’t outrun him.” Mack tried to keep his voice as calm as Nash’s had been. “His car is more powerful than ours. And he seems determined to get to us. I think he’s trying to force us off the road. If we crash now…” He knew he didn’t need to finish the sentiment. “So the other alternative is to slow this whole race down, and hope that Nash gets here sooner, rather than later.”
“But we can’t just stop. What if he has a gun? What if he actually wants to kill us?”
Mack hadn’t considered that. “I’m not going to stop,” he said, moderating his tone to make him sound more in control than he actually was. “I’m going to slow down to a pace where we can hopefully dodge out of his way.” Perhaps he might even be able to swing the car around and head back toward town. That might make this fucker run away, he couldn’t keep chasing them down the main street. Could he?
“I can’t do this again,” Bindi whimpered. “I can’t go through another car crash. Please, just make all this go away.” She hunkered her head down and covered her ears with her hands. She was freaking out, and he didn’t blame her.
But he didn’t have that luxury, and so he focussed on the road ahead. He made his decision and slowed the car, allowing Mutt to get closer. The idiot rammed the car twice more, and it was all Mack could do to keep the car on the road. Mack considered slamming on the brakes and letting the other car smash into him. That might stop him. It was a good idea. As good as any he could come up with. Just as he was about to tell Bindi to hang on with everything she had, another car appeared on the opposite side of the road, coming toward them. He’d have to wait until they passed, he couldn’t endanger other innocent drivers.
But when the car was still a hundred meters away, Mutt rammed them with such force the left front wheel dropped into the dirt at the edge of the road. Mack tried vainly to keep the car on a straight line, but they must’ve hit something, because the wheel was wrenched from his hands and the vehicle leapt back onto the road, clipping the other car as it careened on its headlong trajectory. Mack grappled gamely with the steering wheel, but the car continued its bearing and went off on the opposite side of the road, sliding sideways, leaving the bitumen and skidding across the wide expanse of dirt. After what seemed like an eternity, the car came to a juddering stop at an angle to the bitumen as the wheels dug into the soft dirt.
Mack glanced back the way they’d just come.
The car going the opposite way had stopped in a flurry of dust a few hundred meters down the road, the driver already stepping out of his car with a look of horror on his face. Thank God that poor man had managed to stay on the road and seemed to be uninjured. The last thing Mack wanted was to be responsible for injuring or perhaps killing an innocent bystander.
Bindi groaned, and he turned his attention to her. “Are you hurt?” He asked urgently. At least the airbags hadn’t deployed this time.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Look at me,” he demanded. He needed to make sure for himself that she really was okay.
As she lifted her head, Bindi’s eyes widened with horror. “He’s going to ram us.” Her words came out in a strangled gasp.
Mack flicked a quick look over his shoulder out his window and saw the other car stopped in the middle of the road, lining them up. Mutt peered through the windshield, a sneer shadowing his face. Mutt didn’t seem bothered about the man they’d nearly run off the road, he was intent on only one thing. He gunned the engine and smoke plumed in the air as he spun the wheels, taunting them, the clownish grimace getting wider as he lined up their car.
Mack turned the key over in the ignition, but the car wouldn’t start. He tried it again, never taking his eyes off Mutt, but again nothing. The car was dead. They were sitting ducks. Mutt was watching them like a snake might watch its prey. Knowing he had them cornered, playing with them.
Mutt’s grin suddenly widened, and he made a motion of slicing his hand across his neck. Then the wheels stopped spinning, and the car barreled toward them.
Mack threw himself over Bindi, in the vain hope of protecting her, waiting for the impact.
It never came.
Instead, he heard the screech of tires, then looked up to see Mutt backing off as the soft wail of a police siren filled the air.
Mack sat up and saw the flash of blue and red away in the distance. Mutt was looking from them to the police car, and then back. With a grimace of frustration, he took off, wheels spinning on the bitumen, speeding down the road at breakneck speed.
Mack sank back against his seat, letting out a gust of air. “Sweet Jesus, Nash just saved our butts,” he said quietly.
