“Okay.” She popped out of the car, the call of nature too urgent to even care about dignity. Atlas, apparently, was feeling the same way, considering how fast he hopped out of the back of the car and sat to have the leash attached to his collar.
She hurried to the building and took care of business. On the way out, she bought three bottles of water and some beef jerky.
David and Atlas were standing next to the car as she returned, both looking in her direction but not actually watching her. Or at least it didn’t seem like it, because David didn’t return her smile or even react to the bag of beef jerky she waved at him.
As she approached, David put a hand to the small of her back and rushed her back to her side of the car. “See anything odd inside?”
“No.” She got in quickly and didn’t protest when Atlas hopped in after her and scrambled over her lap to get in the back seat.
As David closed her door, headlights turned on suddenly from the row ahead of them and blinded her. Tires screeched. David rolled across the top of the car’s hood. She got the impression of a dark car screeching past them, so close they clipped the side-view mirror.
Atlas let out a deep bark, lunging back up to the front seat. Lyn turned and grabbed his collar as David yanked the car door open and dove in, slamming the car door shut as he turned on the car. “Seat belt!”
“Af.” Lyn gave the big dog a nudge and Atlas returned to the back seat as she reached for her seat belt.
David didn’t wait, throwing the car into reverse. Her head almost hit the dashboard but they turned sharply and she was slammed back into her seat as they went into drive. Desperately, she fumbled the seat belt until she got it buckled as David sped back out onto the highway.
“Sit tight.” Whether the grim order was for her or for Atlas, she didn’t know. But she was guessing it was for her since he hadn’t said Atlas’s name.
More screeching as a car came up on their right and cut in front of them. David decelerated sharply to keep from running off the road and then poured on the speed, getting ahead of the other driver again.
“Is this a good idea?” The bottles of water were rolling around by her feet.
“Sure it is.” He sounded cheerful.
They barreled down the highway in the left lane and she watched the streetlights flash by as streaks across the windows. Somebody had tried to run him down and force them off the road. Maybe even were trying to kill them. Her heart pounded through her chest and in her ears. There wasn’t anything she could do.
“Reach into the glove compartment.” David’s instruction was urgent but calm. “There’s a flashlight in there. Point it back over your shoulder before turning it on. Do not look into it. Do not point it in Atlas’s face. It’s way more intense than your average flashlight.”
She did as instructed.
“Handy high-powered flashlight for heavy weather conditions,” David explained. “It might as well be a hand-held spotlight. If we’re lucky, it’ll shine in the bastard’s eyes and blind him some. At minimum, it’ll be a distraction. Just hold on to it and turn it to the left and right a couple of degrees.”
The small, black cylinder fit into her hand, heavier than she expected, and the power button was easy to find. Making sure Atlas was laying down low, she followed David’s directions. A veritable spotlight poured out the back of the car.
David nodded. “Good.”
Suddenly, David turned right, barely making an exit and slamming the breaks to slow down enough not to flip them over on the curving ramp.
“Turn off the light.” The words came through gritted teeth as he picked up speed again.
She did.
They twisted through several smaller roads until they were in a nondescript neighborhood, parked among a few other cars in an equally nondescript apartment complex.
He shut everything down and made sure all the lights were out, even on the dash.
“All right?” His voice came low and calm as his hand touched her shoulder in the darkness.
She nodded, hoping he could see her because words weren’t coming at the moment.
“Hang in there for a few minutes until we know for sure we’ve lost whoever that was.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“Atlas.” There was a stirring from the back seat, low in the foot wells.
David released his seat belt and turned in the seat to check on Atlas. “Keep an eye out the windows. Tell me if you see anything.”
She peered out into the dark but there was nothing. No cars. No people. It was really dark in this parking lot. “Apartment complexes should have better lighting in their parking lots.”
The thought popped out of her mouth.
David chuckled, returning to his seat. “They should. Most don’t.”
“Good for us in this case?” She clutched the flashlight as if it was a weapon. And maybe it could be. If someone came up, maybe she could blind them until they could get away. She should get one for herself.