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“That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” I tell him sadly. “And I think that says it all, really. Er, Rory? Can you drop me off here, please?”
“But Emerald—” Ben begins, reaching for me imploringly.
“But nothing,” I say firmly. “I’m not going to say this again, Ben. I don’t love you. I don’t want to get back together with you. I don’t even want to have tothinkabout you, to be honest. I love Jack. And if I can’t be with him, I’d rather spend the rest of my life alone than spend even one more second of it with you. I will not be your coffee table.”
I put my hand on the door handle, as if I’m about to pull it open and throw myself out; which is honestly starting to feel preferable to me than enduring any more of this complete farce Ben’s decided to subject me to. He leans over to stop me, and we grapple pathetically for a few seconds like two drunken sumo wrestlers before Rory interrupts us.
“Er, boss?” he says, his eyes on the rear-view mirror. “You know anyone with a red Porsche? Because there’s one following us. And he doesn’t seem happy, by the looks of things.”
“A red Porsche?”
I straighten up and turn around to look out of the back window. Sure enough, there’s a little red sports car coming up fast behind us. Really fast, in fact.
There’s only one person I know who drives a red Porsche around here. And, come to think of it, there’s only one person I know who drives thisfastaround here, either.
“Jack!” I breathe in excitement, pulling myself up until I’m wedged between the headrests, looking back out at him. “It’s Jack! He’s come to save me!”
“You don’t need to be ‘saved’,” mutters Ben from behind me. “You’re not being kidnapped, remember?”
This may well be true. Jack, however, doesn’t know that, does he? All he knows — assuming he came out of the barn in time to see it happen — is that I was pushed into an SUV and driven off at speed. And judging by the speed he’s driving at, he’s intending to do something about it.
He’s right behind us now. I lean forward and wave frantically through the back window, before remembering the blackout glass that makes it possible for me to seehim(Brooding, menacing, like a man determined to avenge his woman at all costs) butnotpossible for him to seeme(Pale, disheveled, like someone who got dressed in the dark).
In the passenger seat next to him I see McTavish, looking almost comically large in the little car, and behindhimis his dad, who’s somehow managed to cram himself into the tiny bench that serves as a back seat.
God, this is thrilling.
And also pretty dangerous, really, now I come to think of it.
“Rory, can youpleasepull over?” I say again. “This has really gone on long enough.”
The time for grand gestures is over. Other than the one where I get out of this stupid car and throw myself into Jack’s arms, anyway. I’ll figure out the details of what I’m going to say to him later.
“I would if I could,” replies Rory from the front. “But this arse is so close to me it’s hard to stop without him goin’ right intae the back o’us. He’s drivin’ like a lunatic.”
“He’s not a lun—” I begin, but before I can go on, Ben leans past me and taps Rory on the shoulder.
“Go faster, then,” he tells him importantly. “Don’t let him catch us.”
Rory twists around in his seat to stare incredulously at him, and the SUV lurches sickeningly to one side.
“Watch out,” yells Colin from the passenger seat. “Look! It’s the polis!”
Looking through the front window, I just have time to catch a glimpse of a police car parked across the road up ahead, and then everything happens at once.
The car is still moving, but it’s not moving in the right direction, or at remotely the right speed. The sky is above us, but then it’s not, and I’m not totally sure where it’s gone. There’s a loud screaming noise which could be either from the tires or the brakes, but is more likely to be fromme, and then we’re pitching forward, my body thrown against the seat in front as the SUV goes careering into the ditch at the side of the road, which comes rearing up to meet us in a way that no ditch should ever behave.
I should have put my seat belt on, I think dimly as the car lands on its side with a screech of metal and crunch breaking glass.I can’t believe I’m going to die in a ditch. This is so on brand for me.
For the second time since I got into this car, my life fails to flash before my eyes. I really hope this means I’mnot, in fact, dying, but as the vehicle judders to a stop and an ominous silence descends, I’m too scared to open my eyes and check. I’m too scared to do anything but lie there, curled up in a ball, trying my best to figure out if all my limbs are still attached to me, and which way is up.
So much for Ben and his grand gestures. I think I preferred the one where he just ran off with my money.
“Emerald? Emerald, can you hear me?” Ben’s voice breaks abruptly into my thoughts, confirming that either we’re both alive, or that I’ve died and gone to hell with him. Before I can even try to formulate an answer, though, there’s a pounding on the car window, which seems to be pointing at the sky; a fact that’s confirmed when I cautiously open my eyes to see Jack’s face looking through it as he pulls wildly at the door.
“Jack,” I croak, trying to push myself upright. “Jack, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I—”
“Emerald!” The door flies open, almost knocking Jack off his feet. I’m dimly aware of Dylan Fraser standing beside him, having presumably been the driver of the police car that was blocking our path, and he holds a hand out, stopping Jack from rushing towards me.
