Page 94 of Keep Me Safe
It bounced noisily off the trunk, shattering with a satisfying crack.
I’d caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly. “You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that,” he snarled.
I did the instant I saw his gun. It had been in his lap, and he took one hand off the wheel to grasp it, his finger on the trigger. He bent his arm backwards through the seat opening and buried the barrel in my knee. He pressed down so hard, I couldn’t move free of it.
“You’ll have to carry me, if you do that,” I said, trying to appeal to his practical side while wincing from the pressure.
“Only if I decide to keep you. I could shoot you in the stomach and listen to you die.”
“You don’t want that. You’ll never have gotten control of me. I’ll win.”
“I don’t think you’ll care when your dead.”
No, of course I wouldn’t, but I was banking on him caring.
Suddenly, the car jolted. I flew forward, my body colliding with the back of the front seat. We’d just been rear-ended by thecar behind us with a sickening crunch. It sent a new wave of pain through me . . . but it was a blessing in disguise.
It made me aware that I had control of my body.
We were on the outskirts of a village, and Juric had to slow to weave through the traffic. I turned to look out the back window?—
All I could see was the front seat, and Shawn was not there. Jason’s face was pure focus, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel of a Range Rover. There was an unfamiliar man seated in the passenger seat, blood and dirt dotting his face and light brown hair. Despite the high speed and frantic turns that we made, Jason kept the Range Rover unbelievably close to us.
For a half-second, I considered scrambling out the broken back window and up onto the hood of their SUV, but... really? I was still weak and by no means a daredevil. It sounded like a great idea if I wanted to die.
The Range Rover fell behind a few feet, then roared forward, bumping us again. Maybe I should have been mad that my brother-in-law was ramming the car I was in, but all I could worry about was Juric getting away while I was still trapped inside this car.
My hands fumbled for the seatbelt. I yanked it on and clicked it in, digging my fingers into my thighs, holding on. Thank God I’d already thrown up, because it saved me from having to do it now.
The next impact was more violent, followed by plastic shattering and metal crumbling, and it jolted us into oncoming traffic. He swerved violently back across the center line just in time, and a car horn blared in protest.
I knew this was going to end badly. The engine of the SUV behind us was loud and sounded like it was right beside me.
This time the Range Rover struck us on the side, and it sent us spinning. It was a stomach-turning, disorienting feeling of being wildly out of control. We continued to spin as Juric sworeand fought the wheel. Brakes and tires groaned trying to bring us to a stop, until the car hopped a curb with a horrible thud and sent me slamming into the belt.
The car came to rest at an awkward angle, the engine hissing and popping.
Seatbelt buckle. Door handle. Freedom.
I dashed out onto the cobblestones, ignoring the startled people on the sidewalk. Where was the other car? My gaze darted around until I found it slammed into a concrete barrier on the other side of the road, fifty yards down from us.
Jason was already running toward me, his gun drawn.
But Juric was out of the car now too, with his own gun, and in between us.
Go,the voice in my head commanded. I’d seen how fast Jason could move. I had to believe he could catch Juric before that monster caught me.
I stumbled across the cobblestone, my wounded, bare feet making me slower than I wanted. Plus, the drugs lingered in my system, making me sluggish. But I kept churning my legs.Get away. Keep going.
I turned down a narrow street and tore past shops, screaming in English for people to get out of my way. It had to be quite a shock, because most of them simply froze in place, dumbfounded. I didn’t look back to see if he was following. Surely, he was.
And a moment later, I heard Juric yelling my name.
Should I dart into one of the shops that lined the street and try to hide? No. I might get trapped.Just keep running.
Even as my lungs burned and everything ached, I ran. I tried not to think about Shawn or what had happened to him, but a sob bubbled in my chest.
There was an alley up ahead, and I collided with the wall on the far side as I took the corner too fast. It slowed me down, butthere was a stack of wooden crates, and I hurled them behind me, tearing down the alley toward what looked like a clearing.
