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“You fucking idiot,” Swampy roared, then quickly lowered his voice and continued, “How could you forget the most important step? Without those sensors, the fucking bomb won’t trigger.” Swampy stepped all the way out of the car, muttering under his breath, saying something like, if you wanted a thing done right, you gotta do it yourself. “Get in and wait for me,” he added.
Garrett pushed Indy into the rear seat, but didn’t immediately follow. Instead, he watched as Swampy went back into the house. As soon as the large man disappeared inside, Garrett slipped into the driver’s seat, shutting the door silently behind him. Indy watched as he put the car carefully in reverse and then waited. What was he doing? It almost looked like…he intended to leave Swampy behind. She was alone in the backseat. She could make a break for it now if she wanted. Instead, she decided to see how this played out.
Swampy appeared on the top step, cautiously closing the door behind him. Then he looked up and saw Garrett in the driver’s seat.
Garrett gunned the car, reversing quickly down the drive, the tires squealing as they hit the bitumen, and then he swung the car around, so it was headed down the street. Indy watched Swampy as realization dawned on his face. Fury erupted in his features, and he chased the car, lumbering down the driveway after them, his fat legs flashing like shadowy scissors in the headlights. He almost caught up to them when Garrett slowed the car to put it in first gear. Indy saw his fingers brush the door handle before Garrett slammed down the accelerator, and they left him standing in the middle of the road.
“Ha ha, the fat, old toad,” Garrett crowed as he sped down the street. “He’ll never get away quick enough. This place will be crawling with cops soon. Let’s see how he likes that. The Italian don’t take it real well when his employees fuck up. Swampy’s on the fast track to the bottom of the ocean now.”
Indy was confused. Garrett had left Swampy on purpose. So…what? So, he could be apprehended by the police? Was Garrett planning some kind of coup? Wanting to knock Swampy off the top spot? And who was The Italian?
There was no time to consider the ramifications of Garrett’s power struggle maneuver, however, she had to save Finn. Shemade some quick calculations. How long until Finn’s team got there? She had no real way of knowing, because she had no idea where they were situated. In reality, they could be anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour away. Slowly and carefully, she undid her seatbelt, hoping Garrett didn’t notice. She needed answers. And then she needed to get back to the house as quickly as she could. Following closely the directions Garrett was taking, she demanded urgently, “What do the motion sensors do?”
“What?” Garrett glanced at her from the front seat.
“In the house, how do the motion sensors work?” She willed Garrett to slow down, the farther they drove, the longer she’d have to run back.
He smirked for a second and she was scared he wasn’t going to answer her. “Not that it matters, but they’re set, so that if anyone opens a door or goes through a window, they’ll trigger a bomb to go off fifteen seconds after the house is breached. Why?” Garrett asked. “Do you want to know exactly how your sweetheart is going to die?” he mocked.
“A booby-trap,” Indy whispered, ignoring his jibe. The timing would allow most, if not all, of the team who’d come to rescue Finn to be inside the house before it detonated.
“Exactly.” Garrett flashed his teeth, as if he were enjoying the simple cruelty of it. He really did have a twisted mind. He really was the complete antithesis of everything Finn stood for. Vaguely, Indy noted Garrett slowed to take a right-hand turn, then accelerated again.
“How do you turn it off?” she asked.
“You don’t.” He sent her another surprised look. “They’re set using a keypad inside. Once it’s set, there’s no going back. It’s just…kaboom.” Garrett smiled as if he liked the idea of a large bomb going kaboom.
“Kaboom?” she repeated dazedly.
“Yep, you got that one right, babe.” Garrett smiled as he turned around another right-hand corner.
“You bastard.” With a snarl, Indy let all her bottled up rage loose in a burst of fury. She clawed her way forward, and put her bound hands over Garrett’s head, positioning the plastic tie across his throat.
“What the fu—” the rest of his words were choked off as she pulled tight, and the car began to careen across the road. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, either. If the car crashed, both of them might end up dead.
“Stop the car!” she screamed.
But Garrett didn’t seem to hear her, as he took his hands off the wheel, and battled to haul her arms away. The vehicle slowed when Garrett removed his foot from the accelerator, but it was still hurtling down the road at speed. Shit, what did she do now? Perhaps she hadn’t thought this through properly.
Garrett made a harsh gurgling sound as he fought for breath. The vehicle skidded and hit the curb, bouncing off and careening toward the opposite side of the road. They were headed straight for a house, a brick letterbox and a carport looming in their direct path. Indy clung tight, not letting go of her strangle-hold around Garrett’s neck, bracing herself behind the seat for impact. There was a loud thud and a splintering of glass and wood, and Indy was thrown forward, smacking her forehead against the back of Garrett’s head.
Garrett’s head lolled sideways against the back of the seat. He was unconscious. The whole front of the car was buried beneath a pile of rubble. The windshield was completely destroyed, the steering wheel slammed up against Garrett’s chest, and the airbag had left the cabin filled with a cloud of white dust when it’d deployed. Indy couldn’t see the engine, couldn’t even see Garrett’s feet. His legs were covered from the waist down with broken bricks and shattered wood.
Lifting her arms over Garrett’s head, she shook free of the debris scattered in the back seat, evaluating herself for any injuries. Her wrists and forearms twinged painfully, having taken the brunt of the force of impact. In a way, it was probably a good thing she’d kept her tight hold around Garrett's neck, it was almost as good as wearing a seatbelt.
She didn’t wait to see if Garrett was alive. There was only one objective. To get back to Finn.
Voices sounded from within the ruined house. She had to get out of here. She hoped no one had been hurt inside from the crash, but she couldn’t wait around to find out. They might try to stop her. There was no time to break out of her restraints. She’d have to run with her hands still bound. It’d be awkward, but she’d manage.
But there was one thing she needed first. Reaching over the seat, she felt around in Garrett’s top pocket of his shirt. Please let it be there. Please let it not have fallen out in the crash. Her fingers closed around the slim metal object. Garrett’s phone.
Her door was jammed shut, and she had to kick it twice before it popped open. Keeping the phone held tight in one hand, she jogged down the road, and ducked behind the cover of a truck parked farther up the street as she heard voices. People had begun to emerge from their houses to see what all the noise was about. Taking care to stay hidden, she threaded her way between the front gardens of the next three houses until she came to the T-intersection. She allowed herself a single glance backward to the smoking wreck, a small crowd gathering beneath the sallow glow of the streetlight. If she was supposed to feel guilt about leaving Garrett, perhaps dying or even dead, she didn’t care. She only had room in her heart to care about one thing, and that was getting Finn out alive.
What would Finn think when he found out she’d caused his brother to be hurt? Garrett was his twin, after all. If he diedin that car crash, would Finn blame her? Finn already told her they weren’t close, and after what Garrett had done to both of them tonight, she saw that as unforgivable. But Finn might see it differently. Losing a sibling, a twin brother, would still leave a terrible gaping hole in his life. Leave a scar. For Finn’s sake, she sent a silent prayer that Garrett was still alive. But for herself…not so much. All she could do right now was hope that Finn could see she’d done her best, and he wouldn’t hate her later for acting on instinct in the heat of the moment.
Turning down the road, she was now finally out of sight, and could make her way back onto the bitumen where the running was easier. Streetlights were just flickering on, as dusk draped heavily over the suburban road. Cowboy boots weren’t made for running, the solid heels clacking noisily on the bitumen. And even when she held her hands beneath her chin, clutching the phone tightly, it was impossible to run fast and stay balanced, so she slowed it down to a fast jog. One more left-hand turn and then it was straight down the next road for about five hundred meters.
What would she find when she got there? She doubted Swampy would have hung around. If what Garrett had said was true, and there was no way to turn off the sensors once they were armed, then Swampy couldn’t get back inside. And he surely wouldn’t wait around for Finn’s team to arrive.
