PART IX INTO THE DARKNESS #4
—in time to see Mary Beth sidekick Audrey in the face, sending Audrey, already bleeding and dazed, flying to the dusty ground.
‘Had my fun, now I kill you both,’ Mary Beth said as she casu-ally picked up Audrey’s fallen pistol, chambered a round and aimed the gun at Audrey.
I was too far away to do anything—
Bang!
Gunshot.
And Mary Beth froze, gun hand still extended.
Had she fired it?
Bang—bang—bang!
Three more shots sent Mary Beth flying backwards and I turned to see Audrey on her back on the ground, with Tad Kingman Jr’s Smith a little boy, held tight in the arms of his mother, looked with terrified eyes at the speeding road below.
I peered at the road ahead.
Texas loomed before me, the glow of Orange only a couple of miles away now. I needed to have all the slaves offloaded before we passed the last exit ramp.
Audrey’s Range Rover sped alongside me.
She was my escort now, peering behind us as she drove, searching for chase cars.
More of the captive slaves crossed over.
Only a few to go.
And then I saw it.
In my side mirror.
It was coming up fast behind us, accelerating along the darkened highway: a Chevy pickup with a big bull bar.
The Hammer’s truck.
I peered out my window to see Heidi help the last captive across onto her rig.
She waved at me, yelling, ‘Got ’em all, Sam! Go!’
I gave her a thumbs-up and hit the gas, powering my huge livestock transport truck away from the coal-hauling rig.
I had to be well clear of the rig before the Hammer reached me or else the whole plan wouldn’t work.
My transport roared forward as the speeding Freightliner suddenly veered right, taking the last exit ramp before the border.
Audrey’s Range Rover shot off after it as she’d been instructed to do.
I sped on, alone on the remote highway—and now alone in the livestock truck—careering toward the Sabine River and the bridge that spanned it.
Ten seconds later, the Hammer’s Chevy roared up alongside my cab.
I leaned back in my seat, trying not to be seen.
Every second counted.
I needed to give Heidi, Brenda and Audrey time to get as far away as possible before our enemies figured out my plan.
‘Hey!’ The Hammer was calling out to me—or to whoever he thought was driving the livestock transport. ‘What happened to your escorts?’
I didn’t reply.
I was almost at the river.
A moment later, I rounded a wide bend and the high concrete bridge—lit up more brightly than the regular road—came into view.
And my eyes went wide.
Six police cars, their blue and red lights flashing, were parked on the Texas end of the bridge.
Texas state troopers.
Called in by the powerful Dearborns.
Waiting to escort this livestock truck.
A whump made me spin—
—and suddenly I saw the Hammer standing beside me on the running board of my moving truck, right there at my open window, so close I could touch the bandage on his head.
With the four escort cars gone, he must’ve figured something was amiss, so he’d handed the wheel of his Chevy to an underling and leapt across onto my transport.
When he saw me in the driver’s seat, his face twisted with unadulterated fury.
‘Fucking hell!’ he shouted.
He drew his pistol from his gun belt, and as the livestock truck shot out onto the bridge that spanned the Louisiana–Texas -border, our final fight began.
As the Hammer raised his pistol, I stomped on the gas and yanked the steering wheel hard over to the right.
The livestock truck lurched that way, still rushing along at outlandish speed, shrieking as it bounced against the safety rail on the right-hand side of the bridge, kicking up a zillion sparks.
I couldn’t know what the Texas state troopers at the far end of the bridge were thinking at the sight of the big transport suddenly heaving over and grinding, at speed, against the safety rail.
I didn’t care.
Hitting the guardrail so violently caused the Hammer to lose his grip on my window and he had to release his gun to regrip it and save his life.
And in that moment, we locked eyes.
‘Nice try, Dr Speedman, but you’re fucked!’ he yelled. ‘All those Texas troopers work for us! You lose! And my boss’s property goes back to him!’
I hadn’t prepared for this.