“He ran out as soon as Dan called. Ooh! This is interesting.”
Colin glanced in the rear view mirror again, his eyes widening slightly. “It will have to wait. Can you hack the traffic lights of anything that will give us a chance to catch them?”
“No.” Immediately I shook my head. “No. No. I don’t want to catch anyone.”
“You don’t have to, Genevieve.” Daniel’s confident tone coming through Colin’s phone calmed me. “We’re just about finished setting up fifty metres before the entrance to the forest parking area. Colin, bring them in. We’ll close behind you and lock them in.”
“We also cleared all oncoming traffic,” Vinnie said. “As soon as you pass that little condo village and the bend that takes you on the straight stretch before the parking area, drop your foot on the gas and let them race on behind you.”
I gripped the sides of my seat. I didn’t like this plan. I didn’t like breaking the speed limit. And I really didn’t like racing away from unknown assailants.
Colin glanced at my hands. “Should I play Mozart?”
“No. Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries is more appropriate.”
Colin let out a surprised laugh. “Did you just make a joke?”
“No.” I frowned when my answer made him and the others laugh. It did lift some of the tension in my muscles and I listened as Vinnie and Daniel talked in the background about their plan.
We drove past the last upmarket two-storied condo buildings and entered the long bend to the left that took us over a small bridge. Ahead of us, the road straightened and Colin accelerated like Vinnie had suggested. “Vin. Dan. I’m coming in.”
I couldn’t help the keening sound that escaped my mouth. I pulled my knees up and hugged them tightly to my chest, biting down on my lips to avoid another keen from filling the car.
“They still tailing you?” Vinnie asked.
Colin looked at the side mirrors. “Yes. And they’re also speeding up. They know I’m onto them.”
“We see you, dude. Come straight through.”
I could see them. Two GIPN trucks were parked diagonally across the road, leaving a small space in the middle. Colin was aiming for that space. Another keen left my mouth and I felt my muscles lock into place. We raced past a small entrance road to the forest, too fast to confirm that I had indeed seen another GIPN truck parked there.
I didn’t want to be in this car. I didn’t want to see that small space coming closer and closer at a speed that could mean our deaths if Colin merely clipped one of the trucks. Yet I couldn’t close my eyes.
I exhaled on another keen as we went between the two trucks without incident. The moment we cleared the narrow space, Colin slammed on the brakes and with the handbrake turned our vehicle on squealing tyres until we stopped, facing the opposite direction.
There was no longer a space between the trucks. The two large GIPN vehicles blocked the whole road. The road had no shoulder or even space for our pursuers to pass the trucks without risking major damage to their vehicles. I couldn’t see past the large vehicles onto the road, but knew that the SUVs had to be very close.
I saw the silver SUV when it left the road and went onto the rough embankment leading down to the forest. It made it past the left side of the trucks, but hit a log or a rock or something that sent the front end into the air. As if in slow motion, the vehicle became fully airborne, twisting on its way back as gravity won.
It landed with a deafening crunch on the front and continued to flip. Over and over and over until it came to a shuddering halt against a tree.
And exploded.
The shockwaves from the explosion reached our SUV and gently rocked it. I tightened my hold around my knees as Colin uttered a barely audible, “Oh, shit.”
At that moment, the darker SUV came roaring past the other side of the two GIPN trucks, through the billowing smoke and right past my window. I thought of trying to catch a glimpse of the driver, but my eyes were glued to the muzzle flashes coming from the gun aimed at me.
“Jenny!” Colin grabbed my arm, pulled me down and threw himself on top of me as tiny pieces of glass rained down on us.
It was over so quick that the silence that followed felt deafening, the sound of the departing SUV soon gone.
Then chaos erupted.
“Jen-girl! Motherfuckers! Jen-girl! Dude!”
“I’m okay, Vin.” Colin got up and pulled me too as well. He stared at me, his facial muscles tight with concern. “Jenny?”
I couldn’t speak. This was even worse than before. My muscles were completely frozen. I could barely breathe.
“Love, I’m going to make sure you’re okay.” Colin unlocked his seatbelt, then mine and searched my body for any injuries. My eyes didn’t even want to cooperate and follow him as he lifted my boots and touched my legs. All the while, he talked quietly to me, assuring me that we were safe. Once he was satisfied that I was unharmed, he straightened and looked past me. “She’s okay. But she’ll need a moment.”
“She doesn’t get a bloody moment. Get out of my way!” Manny’s harsh tone was followed by my car door being jerked open. “Missy! Look at me! You don’t get to hide. Tell me you’re okay!”
“Millard.” The gentleness in Colin’s tone brought a familiar tightness to my chest.
“Bugger off, Frey!” Manny gripped my shoulders, something he never did. He shook me. “Tell me you’re okay. Missy!”
I couldn’t. I wanted to. I wanted to reassure him so the stark fear I saw in his eyes would go away. But my mind didn’t allow that. Instead it pushed me deeper into the darkness until I could no longer hear Colin’s soothing words trying to calm Manny.
Chapter TWELVE
The first thing I became aware of was the discomfort in my arms and legs. I was still clutching my knees to my chest, my arm muscles quivering with the effort. It took mentally writing the first two lines of Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 17 in C major before I could open my eyes.
I was still in the passenger seat of Colin’s SUV and we were driving. The window on my side was gone, cold air coming into the car, yet I was warm. I looked down and saw a GIPN blanket wrapped around me. The floorboard was covered in small pieces of glass. I swallowed and looked out of the open window.
The streets looked familiar and I soon realised we were about five minutes away from the team room. On a deep inhale I lowered my legs and winced. The blood circulation had been hampered by my position and now that the flow was restored, pins and needles caused me great discomfort.
Colin glanced at me once, then longer and smiled. His facial muscles revealed true pleasure. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.” I rubbed my calves. “How long?”
“Almost an hour. How are the legs?”
“Uncomfortable.” I sat up. “Is Manny well?”
“No.” His smile dimmed. “He had a really hard time with you not responding to him. And I thought Vin was going to punch him.”
“It’s not good.”
“No, it’s not.” He turned into a street that ran parallel to one of the beautiful canals. “Dan phoned Francine, who got Manny to go back to the team room before something happened that we’d all regret.”
“I don’t know what to do.” The absurdity of it irritated me, yet the urge to do something to restore Manny’s usual grumpy mood overrode logic.
“Yeah. None of us know how to handle this situation. Vin just wants to punch him. I would really like to do that too, but I think Millard needs to talk. He needs to tell us what is going on so we can help or butt out.” He smiled. “So we can mind our own business.”
“‘Butt out’ is nonsensical. I’ve heard Vinnie use it and it simply doesn’t make sense.”
Colin laughed. “I can agree with that. Yet we use it all the time.”
“I don’t.”