“The woman’s not here,” one of the men cried out. “Door’s open.”
“Spread out. Find her.”
I floored the accelerator. The momentum slammed the car doors shut and shoved me back in my seat. The glare of the SUV’s headlights seared Giambrone’s men with looks of shock. I didn’t swerve to avoid them. The car slammed into one, the tires bumping over his body. The others yelled, their outlines dimly lit by our red taillights as we fled. One waved his arm. Another ran further away. The last aimed and fired, shattering the rear windshield. Lou choked back a scream. I jerked and scrunched myself smaller.
Behind us, high beams shot on, completely blinding my view, as more gunfire hit us. Shit, they had another car. A loud bang rocked our SUV, and the rear end wobbled. They’d hit our rear tire. My grip on the steering wheel tightened. There was no choice—we had to keep going.
“Hold on,” I told Lou.
We weaved back up the offshoot toward the main road, the vehicle pulling against my steering, as another engine roared behind us. Closer and closer.
“Faster,” Lou urged. “You can’t let them get us.”
“I’m trying.” Too fast, and I could feel the back end sheering off course, but they were gaining on us.
“They want to kill us.”
“I know,” I gritted out, trying to hold the wheel steady as the car trudged over gravel. There was a worrying drop-off to the left, who knew how deep or shallow in the dark.
“They wanted to do it in front of Renzo. That was their plan. They want to kill him too.”
“They won’t.”
We reached the exit, right as they rear-ended us, jolting us forward. Lou screamed as her body thudded against the back of my seat. My collarbone burned from the yank of the seatbelt. I turned the steering wheel hard and shoved the accelerator down.
“You okay?” I yelled.
She groaned. “Go. Just go!”
We tore out of the offshoot road, skidding left onto the main road, the tail end dragging us further until I readjusted. This direction mirrored the way Massimo and Alfie had driven up, back toward Oakland. We had a greater chance of escaping closer to town than out here in the middle of nowhere.
In my mirror, I spied a blink of movement over the blinding high beams before my side mirror blew off with one gunshot. Instinctively, I ducked.
My hands clammed up, and my arms shook. I blew out shaky breaths, trying not to look up into the rearview. It only blinded me.
A new set of headlights raced up the road on the opposite side, high beams flashing the closer they got. If they were more of Giambrone’s men, we were screwed. Behind us, more gunfire assaulted the car. The flashing high beams in front steadied into regular headlights. I tensed my arms to keep control of the car.
The second car was almost upon us. As our SUVs crossed, the world slowed. It wasn’t the barrel of a gun that locked onto me, but a very familiar face. The moment I blinked, that SUV and another behind it zoomed past, and I wondered if I imagined him.
The distraction cost me. The road veered slightly right, but I adjusted too late. The tail of our vehicle went spinning. My every muscle coiled tight. My body rose off the seat, weightless. Suddenly, up was down. Then down was up. Lou screamed. My body jerked right, then left, as metal scrunched. With a loud thunderclap against the back of the car, we crashed to a halt. The airbag smacked my head backward into the headrest and the door frame. Glass cut my arms.
Everything spun as I blinked through my blurry vision. Pain ricocheted up and down my face. My head stung, hot liquid dribbling down toward my ear. The engine sputtered, and the air stunk of hot metal and coolant.
“Lou?” I groaned. “Lou?”
I flopped my head to the right, my neck cracking, and I groaned. “Lou?”
Still no answer.
With shaky fingers, I unclicked my seatbelt and twisted to look into the back seat. Not far away, tires screeched to a stop, followed by gunfire. They were coming.
My pain faded as my heart drummed in my ears. I surged out of my seat and over the center console.
“Lou, we have to—”
It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing. Lou dangled unconscious by one leg, caught over the passenger door. Her upper body lay on the seat, her head angled off to the side.
“No. Lou!” I screamed. “Lou. Answer me.”
