“I wonder why that is.”
An unladylike snort erupted from Gwenyth. “There is something strange about that man.” An inexplicable shiver trickled down the length of her spine, inducing Gwenyth to rub the goose pimples from her upper arms. “There’s something very calculating about him, something…arrgh! Who knows! I know it’s something I can’t put a name to.”
Candy blew out a bubble and let it pop before responding. “No problem.” She eased her foot from the brake pedal when the light turned green. Signaling, she then veered into the left lane to make a turn at the next intersection. “We’re almost there now. And by the way, your new house is a dream, Gwen.”
Gwenyth chuckled. She shifted in her seat to keep the seatbelt from cutting her across the shoulder. “Yeah. And one I never would have been able to afford on my own for many, many years down the road.”
Candy smiled bemusedly as she chewed on her gum, her violet eyes twinkling. “Uh huh. I know. I wouldn’t complain, though. The houses on Bayshore are the nicest in the city.”
Gwenyth considered that for a moment. Eventually, she nodded her agreement. “They are elegant.”
“Try ‘decadent’.”
Gwenyth laughed. “That’s my husband. Sam ‘The Decadent’ Tremont.” Glancing out of the side mirror, she narrowed her eyes to a squint and frowned thoughtfully. “Is it just me or has that white sedan been following us?”
Candy shot her gaze into the rearview mirror, her gum chewing momentarily halted. “Hmm, you’re right. It’s been behind us the whole way.”
Gwenyth bit her lip. “Pretty strange seeing as how the streets in the village are one twist and turn after the other. You think?”
Candy blew out a breath as she considered that. “We’re probably both being totally paranoid, but let’s see what happens.”
“What do you mean?”
Candy made a left turn. “I’m going to zigzag around the neighborhood and see how much longer the sedan keeps up with us.”
“Good idea.” Gwenyth studied her side mirror, waiting for the visual confirmation that would tell her whether or not they were being followed. “Wasn’t there a scene like this in one of your books, Can?”
Candy made an abrupt right turn. Her eyes widened in dismay when the white sedan trailed a ways behind, but stayed within their sights. “Yeah. It was inThe Courting of Constance,” she breathed out.
Gwenyth squeezed her hands together. The nails bit into her palms as the sedan followed them through yet another turn. “I forget how it ended. What happened?”
Two more turns. The sedan remained on track. This was too much coincidence. Candy’s hands began to tremble along with her voice. “Constance was being stalked by a madman, a subject of Bulgaria who felt it was her fault that Prince Demetri might be forced to give up the crown to be with her.”
Gwenyth’s lips went dry. They were nearly as white as the sedan that, unbelievably, followed them in yet another series of turns. “Sort of how my photographs might have forced the former Senator Green from his throne?” she asked hesitantly.
“Something like that.” Staring into the rearview mirror, Candy made an abrupt right turn and then another left. “This isn’t coincidence anymore, Gwen. Hang on to your seatbelt. I’m going to ditch this guy.”
“What do youmeeeeeeeeeean—Candy! You’re going about a zillion miles an hour! We’re going to die! We’re going to crash and die!”
Candy glanced into her rearview mirror. “No we’re not,” she firmly insisted. “We’re going to lose this guy.” She pushed up her sleeves to just above the elbows as an alarming glint Gwenyth recognized all too well shimmered in her eyes. Candy’s excitement was terrifyingly palpable. “Those drag racing lessons I took are finally going to pay off,” she murmured.
Gwenyth clutched her hand to her throat. “Lord help us,” she choked out.
“Relax, Gwen. Just think Thelma and Louise, okay?”
The movie’s ending flashed through Gwenyth’s mind. She seemed to recall that the women raced the authorities to the edge of a cliff in the Grand Canyon then subsequently chose to plummet to their deaths rather than be apprehended. Gwenyth decided she didn’t care for the comparison. “Oh God.”
Candy, however, was in her element. She rolled down the driver’s side window long enough to spit out her bubble gum and pop a fresh piece into her mouth. An unholy grin showed on her face as the SUV picked up more speed. “He’s trying to keep up with me, but I’ve got him just where I want him,” she snorted. “Nobody knows these roads as well as two outlaws like us.”
Gwenyth clutched the dashboard as her life passed before her eyes. “We’re not outlaws! I’m a photographer and you’re a romance author!”
Candy shrugged absently. Nothing could dissuade her now. “Thelma was a housewife and Louise was a waitress. Stranger things have happened.”
“They aren’t real! They are two figments from some writer’s vivid imagination! Let’s not die as a tribute to it!”
The next sharp turn would have caused a driver who hadn’t briefly joined the racing circuit to lose control of the car. Gwenyth idly considered the fact that she would probably lose control of her lunch. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on breathing. “Just tell me when it’s over!”
* * * * *
