“We only need it to hold for us.” The truck hit the bridge.
Boards boomed under the tires. The whole structure shuddered. The canal opened below, dark and full of weeds and whatever else Florida grew to make a man question his life choices.
Sterling kept the wheel straight. The truck bounced once.
Twice.
The rear end slid toward the edge.
"SUV's making its move around the truck." Nick leaned hard the opposite direction, as if his body weight could help. It probably couldn’t, but Sterling appreciated the effort.
They exited on the far side of the canal with a drop that slammed pain up Sterling’s spine. The truck landed crooked, skidded, then the tires caught.
Behind them, the black SUV had entered the bridge, tires barely catching wood.
The pickup was on its side at the mouth of the bridge. It was amazing either vehicle got by.
For two seconds, they had open road.
Sterling pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The truck coughed as steam curled from under the hood.
“Oh, this is not our lucky day, Sundance,” Sterling said.
“We’re not playing that game. Just fucking go. That SUV is off the bridge and gaining like it's got a supercharged engine or something."
Pop! Pop!
"They’re closing in," Nick said. "Coming wide. Trying to circle ahead and succeeding I might add."
"The road curves left up here through the cypress, I think. I’ll pull a U-turn as soon as I can and go back."
"Over the bridge," Nick said. "I suppose they might not be that stupid again."
Sterling took the turn too fast because slow would mean stopping, and stopping would mean dead. Mud sucked at the bad rim. The steering wheel shook like it wanted to leave his hands.
Then the black SUV came out of the trees ahead.
Nick fired.
Shots from the SUV barreled toward them.
Utter chaos.
The windshield shattered. One round punched through the dash. Another pelted the radio. A third hit the center console, missing Nick's arm by an inch.
Sterling jerked the wheel right.
The truck dropped off the road and hammered through brush. Palmetto scraped both sides. The frontend dipped toward the canal bank.
The wheel ripped sideways and tore against Sterling’s grip. Pain shot through his wrist. The front bumper hit a cypress knee with a brutal crunch. The back end lifted, swung, and the whole world rolled.
Metal screamed.
Glass shattered.
The sky went sideways.
Sterling’s shoulder slammed into the door. His head clipped something hard. The seat belt locked across his chest and stole his breath.
