Eden (Providence #3)

The jeeps and Humvees were gaining ground, and with a quick calculation, I figured if we were lucky we would reach Claire when the Army vehicles caught up to us.

Jared leaned out the window and aimed at the tires of the first Jeep. His gun clicked, and he popped out the clip. He leaned into the back seat and pulled out a bag, dropping it to the passenger floorboard. It was full of ammo and handguns.

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“Claire helped me pack.” He shoved another clip into his gun and flung his top half out the window.

He got off only a few more shots before ducking back inside. The Exige swerved to one side of the road, and Bex’s motorcycle went to the other, creating a clear path for us. I looked to my right, and everything went from hypersonic, to a snail’s pace. Claire came into view, and half of her mouth was pulled up into a smile. She winked. Ryan was in the passenger seat, showing me his fist. His index finger and pinky was up, and his mouth was open, his tongue hanging out.

When they passed, I pulled off to the side of the road and made a wide turn. One of the soldiers manned the Tourette of one of the jeeps, aiming in Bex’s direction.

“What should I do?”

Jared reached over and turned off the ignition. “We wait.”

Claire drove until she was behind the caravan, and then flipped around, pulling alongside one of the Jeeps. Her tiny arm appeared outside her window, gun in hand. She pulled the trigger once, shooting out the front tire. The Jeep swerved out of control, and then cartwheeled toward the Tundra.

“Jared?”

My husband held my hand. “It’s fine.”

The Jeep continued to roll at us, end over end..

“Jared!”

I pulled the keys from his hand and shoved the keys in the ignition, and then paused as I watched the Jeep skid on its side and come to a halt inches away from our bumper. My heart started beating again and a puff of air escaped my lungs.

Gunfire drew my attention down the road. The Exige fell behind what was left of the caravan, driving strangely straight and at a decent speed for a moment before Claire popped out of the passenger side, In the next moment, Bex was next to her on his Ducati. As if they’d practiced the move a million times, Claire jumped onto the back of Bex’s bike—backward—with two guns.

Bex pumped his wrist, and the motorcycle took off like a rocket. Claire’s platinum hair whipped into her face while she took out another Jeep’s tires, but the soldier on the next Jeep began firing on them.

Bex maneuvered close to the Jeep and then he jumped off his bike high in the air, flipped, and landed sure-footed behind the soldier. After a short scuffle, the soldier flew off the Jeep and rolled onto the shoulder. Claire flipped around and drove the bike next to a Humvee, punching through the class and pulling the driver from his seat and into the road. The Humvee fishtailed and then rolled six times, finally slamming into a tree.

Claire skidded the bike to a stop, and then hopped off of it, pulling the remaining soldiers out of the Humvee. She checked each for a pulse, then picked the Ducati off the ground and pushed it to the Tundra. Ryan slowed the Exige to a stop just a few feet away, and then got out.

“Glad this is fun for you,” I said.

Ryan’s eyes immediately fell to my stomach. “Whoa, Nigh, how long were you gone? You look ready to pop.”

I rolled my eyes, and then my eyes drifted behind Ryan, to the Jeep approaching slowly. The Jeep parked, and then Bex stepped out, frowning at Claire. “Did you scratch it?”

Claire shrugged. “It’ll buff out.”

The scene behind them looked like the aftermath of war.

“Should we call an ambulance?” I asked.

“I already did,” Ryan said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Claire fiddled with her hair, knotting it into a bun. “They won’t remember anything, so we should move out before any of them come to.” She handed Jared a set of keys. “The Escalade is good to go. You can pick it up at Mom’s.”

Jared wrapped his arm around Claire’s head, trapping her in the crook of his arm, and then gave her a quick kiss on the head. “Thanks, kid.”

Claire pulled away with a smile, waving him away dismissively. “We were bored, anyway.”

Jared punched Bex in the arm. “Nice moves, little brother.”

Bex lifted his chin and smiled. “I’m a beast. Wait ‘til we get to Jerusalem.”