“There’s no choice.”
“Yes, there is. Al’s truck. Keys in the ignition and running.” The driver’s door was facing them. So close.
Al emerged at a run, scanning the lot, gaze fastening on them.
Mackenzie took a long look at Kevin and then at Gideon.
He counted down on his fingers. Three, two ...
They bolted.
Seven
Gideon envisionedexecutinga smooth dive into the driver’s seat like some Special Forces hotshot. Instead, he stumbled in a submerged pothole, slowing him just enough for Mackenzie to reach Al’s vehicle first. She launched herself behind the wheel.
With no time to navigate around to the passenger seat, Gideon hurled himself into the bed of the truck seconds before she stomped the gas.
Al roared with rage and let loose another hail of bullets. One shattered the side mirror as Mackenzie sent the truck flying through the stable gates and out onto the dirt road. He clung with all his mettle as the truck tore over the ground. He didn’t have to see to know that Al and Jerry would pursue in Jerry’s vehicle, but the surprise had provided them precious minutes for a getaway.
It would give Kevin a window to escape, as well, and Cordelia if she hadn’t cleared the property yet. They weren’t the targets, but then again they might have helped set the trap. Yet Cordelia had been on the phone withutter rage in her expression.Don’t mess with a woman and her horses.
Kevin could have acted alone to betray them.
Mackenzie took a hard turn that sent him rolling over and slamming into the other side of the truck bed.
Then she barreled over a ditch with only a slight adjustment in speed. He landed hard on his shoulder and bounced back up into the air, where he got a glimpse behind them. The black truck had just made it past the stable gates, a sizable distance between them, thanks to Mackenzie’s edge-of-control speed. Ahead was a blind turn that would take them out of sight of their pursuers for a few moments. It might also result in him flying out of the truck altogether. He pounded on the roof of the cab.
“I’m gettin’ in!” he hollered.
Hopefully she wouldn’t run over him in the process.
She made the turn and stopped, allowing him to scramble into the passenger seat, feeling as though he’d just been churned in a cement mixer.
“I’ll—” He was going to say “drive” but she didn’t let him. She took off again before his buckle clicked.
She stomped on the accelerator until the vehicle shimmied and shook. “They know this area way better than we do. Finding a place to hide is the best option until we can plan something. Agreed?”
“Yes, I—”
“All right. Then you might want to hold on.”
He braced himself with his boots, clutching the armrest as she jerked the wheel and took them at teeth-clenching speed straight off the road and down a grassy hillside stubbled with old-growth trees. “Look out!”
She swerved around one oak and then the next.
“Slow down or you’ll do Al’s job for him.”
“Don’t be a backseat driver,” she yelled back.
He wished there was a back seat for him to hunker down in as she plunged the vehicle deeper into the tree line. Branches smacked at the sides and the shrubbery grew so dense he lost orientation to the road. A flying rock shattered the right headlight, sending glass ballooning in a sparkling cloud. Ahead the trees thinned and patches of landscape showed through. He blinked and blinked again because it sure looked like—
Ahead the mountain abruptly gave way to a precarious slope.
He shouted over the engine.
Mackenzie sucked in a breath as she practically stood on the brake.
Dirt crumbled under the tires.
