She heard the sound, pressing her hand over her mouth to keep from making any noise.
“Run,” I whispered in her ear. Thank God she was a fast runner, her instincts kicking in. Even though we had a head start, this was going to be dicey.
We made it around the side of the building, our vehicle barely five yards away.
I pounded the pavement, ignoring the flash of pain driving deep into every muscle in my thigh. Now wasn’t the time to favor the injury. With the passenger door unlocked, I pointed then turned my attention toward the building while rushing to the other side.
Just before I climbed in, the two men appeared, scanning the parking lot as I’d done seconds before.
Then one of the fuckers caught sight of us. Under the hotel’s streetlight, I could see him nodding in our direction.
“Crouch down as low as you can and hold on.” When the engine acted as if it was going to take this moment to jeopardize our lives, I slammed my hand on the dashboard, staring out the windshield. Fuck. They were getting closer.
Finally, the engine rolled over and I wasted no time, putting the Blazer into reverse and gunning it. With my head over my shoulder, I backed through the parking lot, narrowly avoiding hitting several vehicles. My days of playing cops and robbers with vehicles were long past.
Another training exercise mandated by my father. How fascinating that several of his methods were being utilized.
She remained quiet, even as the tires skidded when I swerved after running over a curb to get to the street. When I jerked the wheel to the right, spinning the Blazer in the right direction, Fleur let off a single whine, but remained in position.
“Hold on, baby. This is going to take some interesting maneuvering.” By this point, I knew my way to New Orleans. That would give us a partial leg up on the bastards given I knew various hiding places if absolutely necessary. At some point, I’d contact Alexander, asking him to send a brigade of soldiers in my direction.
But not yet.
With luck, I could outrun the bastards. If not, my anger level was high enough I wouldn’t hesitate to drown my sorrows in revenge.
I sped down the street, ignoring both speed limits and traffic lights. I didn’t see them for the first three miles. Then headlights popped into the rearview mirror.
“Are they following us?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, it would appear so. Keep down. I’m going to try and outrun them.”
“I’m so sorry. I just wanted to protect the people I love.”
“It’s okay, baby. You did what you thought was right.” Berating her any further wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Trust wasn’t easy for either one of us.
Two lost souls driven together by both circumstances and karma. Or maybe she was right in that the spirits had something to do with it. My grandmother would have a field day with the story of how we met.
How in God’s name were the fuckers gaining on us? I pushed down on the accelerator, rolling away from town. There’d be more options of roads to take in about ten miles. It was the ones in between I’d need to worry most about. Dark roads. No method of escape.
I’d just keep on driving.
The darkness soon became oppressive, but I was gaining some traction. They likely didn’t know the back roads, the twists and turns. One could hope they’d wreck, colliding with a tree.
No such freaking luck.
The bastards were still following us minutes later. As soon as I was off the two-lane road, I checked the GPS on my phone, issuing a stark growl.
“What?” She slithered in her seat, immediately shifting to see the road behind us.
“Seatbelt on, Fleur. We’re not fucking around. I’m finessing our travel plan to try and get them off our tail.”
I sped up, both hands on the wheel, now going in excess of seventy miles per hour. They’d used the open road to speed up, barreling down on us. In a maneuver I prayed would work, I slowed down, allowing them to catch up. I had to play this carefully or I’d lose control.
“Seatbelt on?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes.”
“Then hold on.” I waited until the last second before making a sharp turn, swerving across the road yet able to gain control within two seconds.
