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“Are you out of your mind?” Cain shouted inside my head, which was rude.
I must have caught the bozos napping, because the headlights behind us dwindled into pinpricks, and I took the first right I could, narrowly avoiding bumping the curb.
I took a left then, screeching through a subdivision to reach one of the more major roads in Haven Hollow. If I could get to Main Street, the pedestrian traffic would mean I had to slow down, but it might also scare off anyone trying to follow me. Assuming I hadn’t lost them already with my little stunt.
The growing glare of headlights in my rear-view mirror told me that wasn’t a real likely hope.
“Ah, baloney,” I muttered, taking another turn. The blare of a horn sounded from behind me as my tail cut off another car in order to keep up. “What’s it gonna take?”
Haven Hollow wasn’t exactly a huge place. Almost anything that was worthwhile was right on Main Street. There was the Half-Moon Bar and Grill, where Henner and I had our last date. Poppy’s potions store was there, right across the street from Wanda’s Witchery. There was Sweeter Haunts, the candy store where it was Halloween all year round, and Stompers Creamery, which sold the best ice cream I ever tasted, and was also run by centaurs. And there was Sandman Syd’s mattress store—a place I hadn’t ventured into yet because I wasn’t in the market for a mattress, but I knew where to go, soon as I was.
The point was, it wasn’t a huge city with lots of cars and traffic. But it did still have a few traffic lights. Like the one I was barreling down on at just under twice the posted speed limit. The red light glared down on me like an evil eye.
“Darla.” I’d never heard Cain’s voice so tight.
What to do, what to do. Stop, and they’d catch up to us. Blow the light, and risk causing an accident. I’d never forgive myself if I actually hurt someone.
“Horsefeathers.” I moved my foot, ready to slam down on the brakes.
The light turned green.
“Yes!” If I could have pried my hands off the steering wheel, I would have pumped a fist in the air.
Cain swore, and it felt like he was tucking up as tight as he could. He was kind of jumpy, considering he was a ghost, and it wasn’t like he was gonna die in no traffic accident.
There was a bit of a long stretch as we approached Main, and the other car kept gaining on us steadily. I could have punched it, I knew Henner’s modifications meant my car could go scary fast all while purring like a little kitten, but in the dark, on roads that were far from empty, it just wouldn’t be safe to open up the throttle, or whatever the kids called it these days.
The whoop-whoop of a siren almost made me jerk the wheel into the opposite lane, and I had to fight to keep it straight. Ending up in the ditch would be a topper to my night, but I’d just as soon avoid it. Blue and red lights flared up behind me, the new car cutting smoothly in just behind my bumper.
I almost laughed. Sure, I was looking at one heck of a ticket, but I was willing to bet double or nothing that my friends in the car following me weren’t going to be willing to stick around with the coppers pulling in.
Sure enough, even as I pulled over and heard a car door behind me close, the dark car pulled past us and sped away down the road and disappeared around the corner.
With a sigh, I rolled down my window and prepared to be read the riot act.
“Do you haveanyidea how fast you were going—Darla?”
I ducked my head and looked up into a very familiar face. A relieved grin curled my lips.
“Hiya, Taliyah.”
Chapter Ten
“Okay, let me see if I have all this straight,” Taliyah said, pinching the bridge of her nose like she was trying to ward off a headache.
It was a pretty common sight for me.
“Yes?” I asked, wincing all the while because I really didn’t like being on the receiving end of Taliyah’s foul temper.
“You’re on a case to find something for somebody, and you won’t disclose either due to ‘client and gumshoe privilege’,” she paused to glare at me harder, “which isn’t a thing, by the way. Other people also want said mysterious item, and now that you’ve got a lead on it, people are following you in their car. Is that about it?”
“I think that just about wraps it up.”
I’d parked the car and opened the door so I could swing my legs out. My hands and feet were still a bit tingly from the chase, and I was glad for the rest before trying to finish the drive home. I’d look like a real palooka if I got away from whoever was tailing me, only to drive off the road trying to get home.
Taliyah shifted, her boots crunching on the gravel shoulder of the road. She’d kept her police lights on, probably to keep anyone coming down the road from hitting us, and in the strobe of scarlet and blue lights, she looked worried.
It was a pretty subtle look on Taliyah, but I’d seen it enough to recognize it.
