Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“Eva, wake up. We’ve gotta go.”
Eva blinked awake as someone shook her hard. Her heart kicked into gear when she remembered where she was and who she was with.
“The Brothers?”
“A perimeter breach. Won’t take them long to get here, so come on.”
Eva scrambled from the bed, grabbing her jeans and yanking them on. Then she snatched her boots from the floor and yanked those on too. It took seconds. Jake urged her through the house to the rear door. When he opened it, his weapon held at the ready, she strained to hear anything in the darkness.
That’s when the deep-throated purr of motorcycles reached her.
Jake grabbed her hand and tugged her outside, pushing her toward a car that she hadn’t even known was there.
He clicked the locks and she jumped inside while he did the same.
When he started the car, the growly sound of a high-performance engine vibrated through her.
“What about your Harley?”
His teeth flashed white in the darkness. “Not mine. Belongs to BDI. They’ll get it back eventually.”
Jake didn’t turn on the headlights, but that was no surprise after the dark ride along the highway earlier.
He’d nearly given her a heart attack then.
Now, well, at least this was a car and she felt a little more protected if they ran off the road.
Probably just an illusion, but it made her feel better.
“Is there a back way out of here?” she asked as he started driving in a different direction than they’d entered.
“Yes, but I’m going to guess the Brothers are coming at us from both directions.”
“How did they find out where we were?”
“They’re better connected than you think. There’s also a good possibility they put a tracker on the Harley.”
“And you didn’t think to look for that?”
“Not all trackers are obvious, Eva. Which means they’ve got access to some good shit.”
She wanted to hyperventilate. “And you people want me to testify against Brandon? What if I don’t make it that far?”
Headlights appeared then, coming toward them, and he flexed his hands on the wheel. “You’re going to make it. I spend my life fighting these kinds of assholes and I never let the assholes win. It’s not in my DNA.”
“I used to think you were one of the assholes.”
He revved the engine. “Yeah, well, I used to be. Not anymore. Now hang on.”
Eva barely had time to brace herself when the car shot forward like a projectile. The seatbelt jammed her against the leather. She couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to.
Jake aimed the car at the approaching headlights and stomped the gas. He glanced in the rearview as they rocketed toward the motorcycles, and his expression tightened. That’s when she knew he’d been right. There were Brothers behind them, too.
“Are you planning to mow them down?”
“If I have to.”
He increased the speed and then flipped on the Mustang’s lights at the last second. The motorcyclists screeched to a halt. Most of them instinctively got out of the way, but a few stood their ground.
Jake twisted the wheel, navigating through the gauntlet, slamming against motorcycles on one side and the other. Men shouted and the car slowed as it got snagged on one of the bikes.
Eva’s heart lodged in her throat as hands slapped the sides of the car. There was a loud boom and then a window shattered as she screamed.
“Get down!” Jake shouted as he downshifted and hammered the gas pedal.
The car bucked, the tires spinning, but they were moving.
Too slow, too slow, too slow.
And then the car broke free and shot forward. Guns blasted and bullets pinged off the metal, shattering glass. Jake twisted the wheel and drove in stomach-churning serpentines as he put distance between them and the Brothers of Sin.
“Take the wheel,” he yelled over the roar of motorcycles accelerating behind them.
Eva grabbed it as ordered, steering straight, praying no trees or ditches appeared in their path. Her heart hammered as she chanted “Please, please, please.”
Jake turned and raised his arm. His gun roared as he emptied the magazine at their pursuers.
Eva kept her eyes on the road and the car aimed as straight as she could, chanting her mantra under her breath. Jake took the wheel again when he’d used up his second magazine, and she fell back against her seat, palms sweating and throat clogging.
Yet a tiny part of her exhilarated, which only served to horrify her. She did not want this kind of life. She wanted a nice, quiet, boring professional man. She wanted a home in the suburbs and a kid or two. She wanted to bake cookies and go to PTA meetings and be normal for once.
Jake Ryan was not normal. Nothing he did was normal.
Eva turned to look behind them. The motorcycles receded in the distance.
She faced forward just as Jake slowed and spun the car sideways, bumping onto the road.
When the tires hit pavement rather than dirt and gravel, the car took a quantum leap forward in speed.
Relief softened her limbs as they sped away.
“Are we safe?”
“For now.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ve got a place. They won’t find us there.”
Her teeth chattered. “How can you be sure?”
“I just am. No one will find us unless we want to be found. Promise.”
She eased back in her seat, closed her eyes, and prayed he was right.