I doubted the police would believe me if I told them it was an art project. Something inside demanded that I protect the future dragonlet, and that included from discovery. I didn’t trust anyone. And the longer I drove, the more I wondered if going to Desmon in Darlington was even a good idea after all.
What if this wasn’t his? Weren’t dragons supposed to be exceptionally competitive? I’d read somewhere that firstborn dragons destroyed their siblings’ eggs, pushing them down cliffs or smashing them on rocks. Was this how this one came to endup in an accounting firm in New York? Had it already survived its first murder attempt?
I reached over and placed my hand on my backpack, which I’d placed the seatbelt over just in case. “I wish you could talk to me and tell me what to do. I just want to do the right thing.”
The shine of light in the rearview caught my eye again as the SUV drifted closer. I gripped the wheel harder, trying to ignore the way adrenaline pumped through me, making my heart race and my hands shake. I sped up, and the SUV matched me.
A sign for an exit flashed by, and I made a split-second decision, taking it fast, the tires gripping the road as I curved down the ramp. I kept checking the rearview, and sure enough, the vehicle followed me off the ramp, its tires complaining just as loudly.
Yep. They were after me all right.
My prayers for a green light were answered, and I shot through the intersection at the bottom of the ramp. Instead of turning into a residential area, I cut into an industrial park.
I turned into one of the parking lots and drove around the building, my eyes on the lookout for a place where I could hop the curb and head into the next lot, skipping a street. The goal was to use some creative driving to lose my tail. I did this several times until I couldn’t see the SUV behind me anymore. Then I wove between two long-haul rigs parked for the night and killed the engine and headlights. My little gray borrowed hatchback disappeared into the shadows.
I was buzzing from adrenaline as I slowly exhaled and pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. I closed my eyes, trying to calm the thud-thud-thud of my heart.
I heard a vehicle drive by and looked up just in time to see the SUV zoom past the entrance, missing me completely.
I reached over and put a hand on my backpack. The warmth of the egg had seeped right through the canvas.
“We’re safe,” I murmured. “For now.”
I kept still for a moment, listening for any signs they’d double back. A minute ticked by, and the SUV did not return, but I didn’t trust it yet. Grabbing my backpack, I got out of the car and searched for a place to hide it. At the back of a loading dock I found a bin used to hold road salt in the winter. I hesitated. Everyone knew how much damage salt does to everything that touches the road, and I didn’t want to brine the baby dragon. I hurried back to the car, grabbed the emergency blanket in the back, and used it to line the bin before placing my backpack inside.
Then I returned to the car and started the engine. I drove down the street, my eyes ever vigilant for the black SUV. When I didn’t see it again, I went in search of a bathroom, secure in the knowledge that even if my pursuers found me they wouldn’t get their hands on the egg.
I drove to a nearby coffee shop to do my business. It was pretty empty, which was expected since everyone in the area had gone home for the day, and it was closing soon. I was just about to walk to the car, bladder empty and another coffee in hand, whenI saw the SUV turn into the lot. I froze and backed away from the door.
There had to be a way out of here.
Thinking fast, I approached the barista. She looked like she would be the type to help. “Hi, I am trying to hide from my abusive ex-husband and his friends. I see him outside in the parking lot. Can you help me?” I looked nervously at the door.
The barista’s eyes went wide as she looked behind me and out the window, and she nodded. “Sure thing, hon. Come back here and hide under the counter.”
I did as I was told.
“Is that your car out there? The gray Hyundai?”
“Yes.”
“They’re checking it out now. A man and a woman.”
“Does it look like they’re putting a tracker in it?”
“No, but…” She gasped suddenly. “They just broke your window.”
She gave me a play-by-play as the assholes rifled through my car. “Shit, they’re coming this way.”
The front door opened with a ding of a bell, and the barista grabbed a towel and casually started wiping down the counter like she hadn’t just been watching them.
Instead of coming to the front to order anything, the man went straight back to the bathroom. He cursed when he found it locked.
“Sir. You need a key. But the bathroom is for customers only.”
I was hoping that would be enough to get the guy to go, but the man begrudgingly bought a coffee, grabbed the keys, and opened the door. He swore again. I didn’t know why he would think I’d be in there if he had the key to the doors. What an idiot.
Another voice, this one sounding feminine and oddly familiar, said, “We’re looking for my sister. She has brown hair and eyes and is kind of boring-looking.”
