"We just turned off Route 13 onto Route 512," Sandra said, her eyes darting between the road ahead and the rearview mirror. "Heading toward your place, but we're still about three miles out."
The truck surged forward again, and this time, Sandra saw it coming. She pressed the accelerator, her rental car responding sluggishly as she tried to put distance between them and their pursuer. The engine whined in protest, clearly not built for this kind of driving.
Emma whimpered in the passenger seat, her hands pressed against the door as if she could somehow make herself smaller. In the back, Toby had twisted around to watch the vehicle behind them, his young face tight with fear, but his voice remarkably clear when he called out,
"The license plate says JHK-42! And it's really big. It says RAM on the front!"
"Good job, buddy," Sandra managed, grateful for Toby's quick thinking even as terror clawed at her throat. "Terry, did you get that?"
In the background, she could hear Terry barking orders, his voice sharp with command authority. "Jeremy, run that plate now! Pete, I need units on Route 512 immediately! Someone's trying to run my family off the road!"
My family.Even in the midst of terror, those words hit Sandra with unexpected force.
The truck struck them again, harder this time, and Sandra's car lurched violently to the right. She corrected quickly, her heart hammering as she fought to maintain control on the narrow asphalt. The impact rattled her teeth and sent Emma crying out in terror.
"They hit us again!" Emma shouted into the phone, her voice cracking with fear.
"Terry, they're not trying to pass us," Sandra cried, the horrible realization crystallizing. "They're trying to force us off the road!" The knowledge that someone wanted to hurt her and was willing to endanger Emma and Toby to do it sent cold fury mixing with her terror.
Just ahead, Sandra spotted a massive combine harvester moving slowly down the road. The enormous green and yellow machine took up most of the narrow lane, its bulk moving slowly as it traveled from one field to another. Under normal circumstances, Sandra would have slowed down and waited patiently for a safe place to pass, the way most did during farming season on the Shore.
But the truck was accelerating again, and Sandra realized with growing horror that her pursuer was planning to trap her between the combine and their vehicle. She had seconds to decide.
The harder impact came without warning, sending her car careening toward the massive piece of farm equipment. Sandra yanked the wheel hard to the right, tires screaming against asphalt as she fought to avoid a collision that would have killed them all.
"Sandra!" Terry's voice exploded through the speakers. "What's happening? Talk to me!"
The combine harvester turned onto what appeared to be a farm access road, its massive bulk disappearing between towering stalks of corn that stretched out like a green ocean. Sandra followed without hesitation, her rental car's suspension protesting as they hit the rutted dirt path.
"Following a combine onto a dirt road—" Sandra gasped as the car bounced violently, leaving pavement behind. "I don't know where this leads, but I had to get around?—"
The truck followed them onto the dirt road, and Sandra could see dust kicking up behind its tires as it maintained pursuit.She'd hoped following the farm equipment might lead them to help, but when she glanced up at the high cab of the harvester, she realized the operator was focused straight ahead, probably listening to music, completely unaware of the deadly chase unfolding behind him.
"The farmer doesn't know we're here," Sandra said, desperation creeping into her voice. "He's too high up to see what's happening."
Corn stalks rose on both sides of the narrow access road, forming green walls that created a tunnel effect, making Sandra feel trapped. The truck was gaining on them, its heavier build and higher clearance giving it an advantage on the rough terrain.
"Sandra, I have units en route, and I'm coming." Terry's voice was tight with the kind of controlled panic she'd never heard from him. "But you need to buy us time. Can you get somewhere safe?"
Safe?Looking around at the endless cornfields and empty farm roads, Sandra couldn't see anywhere that qualified as safe. But she could see a line of trees at the back of the field that might offer somewhere to hide.
She jerked the wheel hard to the left, taking her car around the slow-moving combine and directly into the cornfield itself. The car wasn't built for off-road driving, and she could feel it struggling as the tires fought for purchase on the uneven ground between planted rows.
Corn stalks slapped against the sides of the car, and Sandra prayed she wasn't about to high-center the vehicle on some hidden obstacle. The truck followed her off the access road, its bulk crashing through the young corn with mechanical indifference to the damage to the crop.
"There are woods at the back of the field," Sandra said, her voice breaking with exhaustion and fear. "If I can get there, maybe we can hide?—"
The truck struck them again with enough force to send her car spinning out of control on the dirt and debris between corn rows. The world became a sickening blur of green stalks and blue sky as the vehicle rotated like a carnival ride. Emma's screams filled the air while Toby's terrified shouts came from the back seat, and Sandra fought desperately to regain control as they spun toward the tree line.
The car came to rest nose-down in a drainage ditch, steam rising from the crumpled hood. The engine made an ominous grinding sound before falling silent. Airbags deflated around them like collapsed balloons.
"Everyone okay?" Sandra gasped, fumbling for her seat belt release.
"I think so," Emma whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"My shoulder hurts, but I'm okay," Toby said, his voice shaky but determined.
Through the spider-webbed windshield, Sandra could see that the truck had stopped about fifty yards away. The driver's door was opening.
