“Grace,” Callum said under his breath again.“Give him a break.”
“You’ve got my eternal fuckin’ gratitude for protecting Grace.”
“Not a problem.”Telling Hayden about everything else with Grace was going to be as much fun as a colonoscopy.Callum checked the rearview mirror and squinted.“All right, man.We gotta go.”
He hung up the call before Hayden could respond.
“What’s wrong?”
There had been no oncoming traffic driving off the mountain.They’d had no one behind them.But a big ass SUV had just barreled by them going the opposite direction.Now there was a second one on his tail.It didn’t sit right in his gut.
Grace twisted in her seat.
“Turn back around.Don’t do anything that you normally wouldn’t.”He kept an eye on his rearview more than the road.
“Callum—look out!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Thetruckblastedoverthe spikes.Grace screamed as the truck shook and rumbled.The tires blew out.Panic flooded her system.Callum gripped the steering wheel and fought for control.Their shredded tires thundered around them like angry highway gods.The truck wanted to stop.He pushed it along the isolated road, and she understood that pulling over would be a death trap.
Grace checked her side-view mirror.The SUV behind them had crawled up so close that she could barely see it behind them.
“Listen to me carefully,” he said with a calmness that made her focus.“Keep your head down.Reach into the backseat.Grab the rifle.”
“I can’t.”
“I won’t ask you to do anything you can’t handle.”
She wanted to believe him.Her heart slammed in her chest.“Callum…”
The truck roared in protest as he pushed it beyond its limits.“You can, babe.Head down.Do it now.”
Her teeth chattered as she ducked down and reached into the second row for the rifle.Its cool metal was heavier than she expected.She eased toward the front seat, scared of doing something wrong, and—the back windshield exploded.She screamed again.All she could do was scream.The heavy gun almost dropped.Grace hung onto it as Callum covered her head and slammed her down.He jerked the truck from side to side.“Grace?”
“I’m not hurt.”Her lungs screamed in her chest.Panic punched in her temples.Every part of her shook.
Another bullet blasted into the truck and tore off its side-view mirror.Callum zigzagged their dying vehicle.He would have to pull over, and whoever was behind them would shoot before he even sighted the gun in their direction.
“Gotta listen to me, babe.”
She could hear it in his voice and already knew what he would say.Tears caught in her throat.“I can’t do it.”
“You don’t even have to aim.Just point and keep your head down.”
Why was this happening?She listened to his instructions, moved her hands the way he told her to.
“Do you feel that?It’s like a switch.”
She nodded.
“Flip it.Brace yourself and hold the trigger down.”
She did.The gun roared.She couldn’t hear.The air burned.She could taste the gunpowder, but refused to let it stop her.It just fired and fired and kept firing.
Callum pulled over.Her ears rang.Her eyes burned.Steam and smoke billowed from the engine behind them as it lost forward momentum.“They’re stopping.”
God, did she kill someone?
