51. Chapter Fifty-One #2
We came up on a semi-truck, and as I went to pass it, the car in the left lane decided to slam on its brakes.
Lukas let out a colorful expletive as we barely squeezed back into our lane right in front of the semi.
A horn blared behind us, but I'd already floored it and was flying down the highway.
When I looked back again, both SUVs had also passed the semi and were closing in on us.
Lukas’s phone rang this time, but he didn’t answer it.
When it immediately rang again, he grumbled as he pulled it from his coat pocket.
“Shit. Why is Lianne calling me at this hour?” He accepted the call.
“Now’s not a good— Oh, fuck… Well, that explains the asshole tailing us.
What are we doing now?” He nodded and then looked at me.
“Don’t get on the toll road. Head south. ”
“What?”
Lukas sighed. “New plan. Li called in a favor for a new ride home.”
“Fuck. Incoming!” My eyes went wide as I stepped on the gas. Phil was doing his best to block the other SUV from getting to us, but it got past him.
Despite my best efforts, it caught up, and the driver swerved the SUV toward us, nearly sideswiping us, but because of my quick reflexes, they only clipped the back corner panel.
I had to grip the wheel tight to keep us in our lane.
The last thing I wanted was for us to hit the center concrete divider.
Quinn and Adair shrieked before ducking down. I both loved and hated that they knew what to do without us having to tell them.
When their first attempt at taking us out was unsuccessful, the SUV dropped behind us and crossed to the other side.
“Lukas, get them off our ass.”
Instantly, he had his seatbelt off, had his window down, and wind howled through the cab. “Try to hold steady so I can.”
“I’ll worry about driving. You worry about getting rid of them.” I didn’t care that I was back mouthing him. My heart was pounding as adrenaline rushed through my veins. I just wanted to get us to the airport in one piece.
Lukas unloaded three shots, almost immediately ducking back into the vehicle when someone in the other vehicle returned fire. “Shit!”
“Oh, hell no. Not today, assholes.”
Before I knew it, one of the back windows opened, and a blonde head popped out the window behind me. Adair? “What in the hell are you doing?”
She squeezed off three rounds at the dark SUV and pulled back into the cab before responding. “Helping get rid of our tail!”
Her voice was nearly lost in the wind. Before I could say anything, their return fire peppered the back of our rig, shattering the rear window.
Lukas and Adair leaned out their windows again and fired off several more rounds, emptying their clips, and slid back in to reload.
Phil’s SUV lined up beside the assholes behind us and bumped hard against them, but they stayed on the road.
They are too well-trained to be some random assholes. These people were sent.
Lukas ripped open the glove compartment to grab a spare magazine and reload. “Tori, you need more ammo?”
“She can have mine.”
I barely heard Quinn’s voice over the din before Adair and Lukas leaned out their windows again and firing off several more shots.
The dark SUV behind us jerked to the right, shot across a bike path, and crashed into a brick wall protecting part of the newly constructed bridge, disappearing in an explosion of flames and plume of smoke.
Lukas plopped back down in his seat and closed his window, and Adair did the same, eliminating some of the noise in the cab.
He immediately pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Was that truck the only one?” He turned and looked out the back of the SUV.
“Are you guys okay back there?” A sigh came out as he slumped into his seat.
“Yeah, Tori came in clutch.” He pulled the phone away from his head for a moment.
“That’s Li. I’ll call you back.” Taking a deep breath, he tapped on the screen and held it to his ear again.
“Hey, Li… Yeah, sorry about earlier. It got interesting. We got them, though… Sorry for any cleanup or extra favors you might have to call in… We’re all alive and everyone is conscious.
The back window is another story, though…
We are getting close to the toll road. I know you said not to get on it, but where are we going besides south?
... Oh. Okay. Why?... Lianne Emelie, I swear to--” He let out a frustrated huff and then winced as he pulled the phone away from his ear.
I heard her angry tirade even over the sound of the rushing air.
That woman was pissed. I didn’t catch everything she said, but I did hear the words Don, sorry ass brother, Momma, and ungrateful little shit before he cleared his throat and nodded.
“Yes, ma’am… Thank you, ma’am. I’ll let you know when we’re on board.
” He ended the call and dropped his face into his hands.
By this point, Phil and Cole were behind us again. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, even with the air rushing through the vehicle, before Quinn leaned forward and rubbed his arm. “Where are we going, handsome? Peter needs to know.”
Lukas lifted his chin and stared at the roof of the SUV. “Don Dallas called Lianne with a tip that our flight had been compromised, as well as the airport security. We’re now flying out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.”
I nodded. We’d passed a sign not that long ago, so I knew we were close. “Okay, and once we’re there?”
“You drive past all the hangars and all the way to the runway. Dallas’s personal plane will be waiting for us.”