But fate stepped in at the last second as a bullet from the depths of the SUV found the driver of the sedan near them. The BMW swerved out of its lane, ramming into the panel van so hard the van went up on two wheels and started to go over. The recoil from the impact had the BMW ricocheting back to the road, and for a fraction of a second, there was a gap between the two vehicles. It was insane as hell, but he twisted the accelerator hand grip anyway and prayed this would work.
The bike surged ahead so fast under them, he was worried Jes was going to fall off. But somehow, she held on to him—and her weapon—and a moment later, they were through the gap and in front of the two vehicles that continued to smash themselves to pieces.
That left them completely alone behind the SUV, with no one to hide behind and no way to protect themselves short of giving up the chase. For a second, Jake considered it—for Jes’s sake more than his own—but then he caught sight of the four-year-old boy scratching and fighting Damien inside the vehicle, and he knew they couldn’t desert the kid.
Jake zigged and zagged back and forth across the narrow two-lane tunnel, both to avoid getting shot and to try to set Jes up for a shot at the SUV’s rear tires. It wasn’t an easy shot in the best of situations. Jes couldn’t take any shot that might put the Robinson boy at risk. Unfortunately, Damien and his buddies didn’t have that same restriction. The guy in the backseat with the automatic weapon blazed away as if he had an unlimited supply of ammo, while the driver seemed to take great joy in smashing the big SUV into the vehicles ahead of him, bouncing them off the walls and right into Jake’s path.
When they finally exited the underpass a few minutes later, Jake decided he could go the rest of his life without seeing another tunnel, even if that one had been less than a mile long.
The road opened up a lot more, and the SUV was able to go faster, still swerving all over the road to keep Jake and Jes from getting too close. Half a mile later, a Metro Police vehicle pulled up beside the SUV and gestured for it to pull over. The poor cop got run off the road for his trouble, coming to an abrupt stop on a concrete guardrail.
They needed to end this now before someone else got hurt.
Jake accelerated, pulling up beside the SUV and setting Jes up for a clean shot at the back tire, but as she pulled the trigger, the big vehicle veered off the road, taking an exit that headed into a more residential part of the city.
Cursing, Jake followed the SUV as it took turn after turn in an effort to shake him. Several more police vehicles showed up to put a stop to the chase, but after the second cop car got shot to pieces by the guy in the back of the SUV, the rest dropped way behind.
Jake had about given up hope of finding a place to take down the SUV when a sign for Greenwich Park flashed by and the area to the left of the road opened up onto a carefully manicured lawn, while the right was populated by little clusters of trees.
“Get ready!” he yelled over his shoulder.
“They’re going too fast!” Jes protested.
“I know, but we might not get a better chance.” Revving the bike, he swung up on the left side of the SUV, beside the rear tire, keeping pace with the vehicle as it sped up. “Now!”
Keeping one arm tightly wrapped around him, Jes took aim at the back tire a few feet away from her and fired her 9mm three times in rapid succession. A split second later, the tire exploded into pieces.
His gut clenched as the SUV fishtailed a couple times, then slid gracefully off the road and into the tree-lined area to their right. For a moment, he thought they’d nailed it, but then the right tire dug into the soft shoulder of the road and the big vehicle flipped once…then twice…then a third time before finally coming to rest back on all four wheels. Smoke and steam immediately whooshed out of the engine compartment.
Jake slammed on the bike’s brakes so hard Jes nearly slid right up and over his back. The moment the motorcycle came to a stop, she was off and running for the wrecked vehicle. Jake dropped the bike on its side and followed, terrified the boy had been killed in that horrific crash.
But then one of the back doors swung open and Damien stepped out, a crying, struggling little boy in his arms. There was blood on the kid’s forehead and hands, but he was alive and kicking.
Thank God.
The other bad guys crawled out of the vehicle more slowly. They looked a little disoriented but undamaged—unfortunately. Damien tossed the kid to the driver, muttering something Jake couldn’t make out. Without a word of comment, the man took the kid and headed for the woods, while Damien and the last guy hung back, obviously planning to keep Jake and Jes from getting anywhere near the boy.
Sirens echoed in the distance but they were getting closer. The local cops would first set up a perimeter of some kind before moving in. Jake knew they couldn’t wait for help.
“Stick close,” he murmured to Jes. “As soon as I engage them, you go for the boy. I hate to leave you on your own, but we don’t have a choice. Remember how hard it is to kill these things, so focus on doing what you have to, to rescue the kid and get away.”
She threw him a quick glance. “What about you?”
Jake let his fangs slide out. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be right behind you.”
Pulling his Glock, he charged Damien and the other man, popping off one round after another as he methodically closed the distance between them. He hit what he aimed at, but the bullets had little effect on them. Not surprising since the three rounds Jes had put in Damien’s chest not too long ago had obviously failed to slow the man down very much. Still, his assault momentarily put both men back on their heels, which was all he was going for. All he needed was a little distraction so he could get close. Then he could use the other weapons he had at his disposal.
Damien and his buddy returned fire, and Jake winced as he felt at least two rounds hit him, one digging through the meat of his left thigh, the other grazing the right side of his rib cage. Ignoring the pain, he slipped his gun in its holster and surged forward with a growl. The muscles in his legs, back, and shoulders became bulkier as he shifted, long claws extending in preparation for the coming fight.
As he tensed for impact, he realized he was almost happy his bullets had done little damage to Damien and the other man. He was actually relishing the chance to physically tear into them. He considered that, especially since he’d never even used his werewolf-given abilities like this before, much less looked forward to the prospect.
Why now?
The revelation came to him faster than he thought possible: it was because Damien and the other man had tried to kill Jes back at the Robinson’s place. These…things…had the nerve to actually go after someone who was quickly becoming incredibly important to him.
Jake had only a fraction of a second to ponder the significance of that epiphany before the time for thinking was past. Lunging into the air, he leaped past Damien and slammed into the other man—the one with the automatic assault weapon. He might want to kill Damien deader than dirt, but he needed to get rid of the guy with the assault rifle first. While he could absorb multiple hits from a weapon like that, Jes couldn’t.
Jake felt as much as heard the crack as bones broke when his shoulder connected with the man’s chest. He was fairly sure at least one of those bones was his, but he deemed the pain worth it when the man flew backward like he’d been hit by a truck, the M4 in his hands tumbling into the woods along the side of the road.
