The force pushed me into the seat and I righted myself in a position to glance behind us from the side mirror. “What’s happening?” I asked.
“Somebody’s on our tail,” Frankie bit out, keeping his attention outward as he sped down Main Street, headed out of town with the black SUV following behind us. I checked the mirror again but didn’t see a third car behind them until the light was blocked from another vehicle coming up on our rear. It traveled much too fast, and as it approached the black SUV, the driver didn’t even try to stop. The car slammed into Frankie’s men and their black SUV jumped forward again as if the hand of God had come down and moved it himself.
“Get us out of here, Frankie,” I yelled, and he pressed the gas harder.
The car sped until the trees whirled by our heads, but it didn’t seem to be working. We weren’t gaining ground, and both vehicles stayed right behind us. Frankie’s eyes stayed on the road, but I couldn’t move mine from looking out the side mirror at what was happening. One of Frankie’s men, someone whose name I had yet to learn, leaned out the front passenger window and fired a weapon at the car behind them.
Shots were returned, and I screamed. Frankie reached over, tucking my head close to my knees to keep me safe. I pushed him away to keep watching. The black SUV lurched forward again and Big Tommy’s eyes went so wide I saw them as he turned the wheel one way, but the car skidded in the opposite direction and ran into the embankment, narrowly missing a tree.
For a moment I hoped the car chasing us might stop to take care of Big Tommy, but they drove right on past the accident. One man in the new vehicle shot once at the black SUV hitting the grill of the vehicle as they passed it.
I released a breath, excited they weren’t going to finish the job and take out Big Tommy and the other guy, then sucked it back in again when I realize that meant they were coming for us.
Frankie kept his foot on the gas as I held on to the door handle for dear life, so I stayed up in the seat.
The wooden pelican I admired as we drove into Pelican Bay came into view again. We approached it quickly, the car topping out at a speed I was too scared to look at. No matter how hard Frankie pressed the gas, the car behind us inched closer. One of the men leaned out the window, and a shot ricocheted off Frankie’s bumper. Two more shots fired in quick succession followed by a bang.
“Shit, they shot a tire,” Frankie said as he tightened his hold on the wheel and twisted to the side.
It did no good. His car spiraled, spinning in perfectly shaped donuts toward the side of the road. We slowed, but we were still going too fast. Every spin the image of the pelican came into my view and we cantered closer to it. Frankie attempted braking, but it did no good to stop the vehicle.
The wooden pelican inched closer and closer until Frankie jammed the wheel in the opposite direction and we skidded out of control before landing in the ditch a few yards from the town’s iconic symbol.
I reached out to stop myself, and the car’s airbag slammed my hand back into my face, hitting the top of my left eye as it deployed late.
“Frankie,” I said as I gathered my breath. The airbags deflated quickly, and I pushed it off to the side, trying to see if he was still beside me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hand finding mine.
Everything felt all right although my back hurt along with my face from my hand hitting it from the airbag.
For just a moment, a single solitary moment, I was excited Frankie was okay. I’d forgotten the reason for our accident. In the next second, it all came crashing back as someone ripped Frankie’s door open and pulled him from the car.
I tried to scramble over the center console to get to him, but instead of grabbing Frankie, a large oversized body of a beast stopped me.
Two men held Frankie up to meet the man who orchestrated our crash.
“How dare you,” I said.
CHAPTER 24
My cousin.
His hair seemed almost black in the shadows. More than one woman had called him gorgeous, but as he sneered at Frankie, I couldn’t find anything beautiful about him.
“Westley, stop!” I yelled, but it did no good.
His fist beat at Frankie’s midsection as he yelled accusation after accusation at him—everything from not accepting his money to driving too quickly emphasized each of his punches.
Frankie did nothing. He didn’t make a move to save himself or even shield his face even when the two men holding him up let go and his body crumpled to the ground.
I thrashed, trying to get to Frankie and screaming the whole time, not wanting to see this happen. “Stop! Stop!”
Why wasn’t Frankie doing anything? Why did he just lie there?
He jerked his head in my direction as I screamed the last time and our eyes met. Then my understanding became clear.
I made him promise he wouldn’t hurt my cousin or his men.
