“We can’t shoot,” I told him. “We can’t risk hitting her or the kids.”
“I know,” Legend rushed.
“And if we push him too hard, he might put that gun on them,” I added.
Reek leaned forward. “We need him to stop on his own.”
Saint scoffed. “He’s not stopping on his own.”
We rode in silence for a few seconds. The only sound was the engine, road, and the faint voices coming through my phone.
Suddenly, Kodi’s car started moving even more sporadically. He was driving too fast to be on a road this narrow. His tires hit the uneven pavement and bounced. He swung wide on turns and corrected late.
Legend stayed close enough to keep pressure on him, but far enough to leave space.
“We could box him in if he slows up,” Reek said.
“He’s not going to slow up,” I barked.
Just then, Kodi hit a bend in the road and tried to take it too sharp. The back end of his car slid. His tires squealed, and the car jerked sideways across the lane. Kodi fought it, swinging the wheel, but he overcorrected. The car snapped in the other direction and clipped the edge of the curb. The car spun. The front end swung wide and the passenger side lifted. It tipped, scraped, and then the whole car rolled. Glass exploded. Metal screamed. The car flipped again, then again, slamming roof-first and bouncing, sliding across the road in a shower of sparks.
It felt like my voice ripped out of me. “Fuck!” I leaned forward like I could will the car to stop rolling. “No, no, no!Rhythm!”
Legend cursed and hit the brakes. Our truck stopped hard and the tires screamed as we came to a halt.
Kodi’s car finished its roll and landed upside down.
“Fuck,” I breathed, and my hands flew to the dash because my body needed something to hold on to. “Please.Please.”
For a second, it was only smoke coming from the hood and the sound of the crash settling.
Then the front of the car lit up.
Flames burst out from under the hood and crawled fast, licking up the grille and into the shattered seams. Smoke poured into the night air.
“Noooo!” I howled as Legend threw the truck into park.
My door opened before the truck fully stopped. I hopped out and started running. My legs were moving on instinct. I didn’t feel the cold. I didn’t hear anything except the fire and the panic.
“Sincere!” Legend yelled behind me.
But I didn’t stop. I reached the car and saw Rhythm through the broken window. Her body was half twisted, her hair was wild, and her face was cut up. She was trying to move but the angle of the car had her trapped.
I grabbed the edge of the broken window, then reached in and found her arm. I braced my feet and dragged her toward me. She cried out in pain, as I pulled her from the wreckage.
She was bruised. Her face looked swollen on one side. One of her knees buckled the moment she stood, and she grabbed my shirt to keep from falling.
“Kinsley!” she screamed, fighting me. “KJ! My babies!”
“I know,” I said, holding her up. “I got them, baby.”
She tried to push past me, but I grabbed her. “You can’t go near that fire.”
“My kids,” she sobbed. “Sincere, let me go!”
Legend, Saint, and Reek reached us then. Legend carefully held her other arm, as Saint blocked her path without touching her hard. Reek grabbed her gently from behind to keep her upright when her leg gave out again.
“Rhythm, look at me,” Legend told her. “We got them. We getting’ them right now.”
