Chapter 11
DOVE
Cars race past, leaving streaks of light in my blurry vision, forcing me to widen my eyes slightly and peer harder at the road.
Exhaustion clings to my eyelids and threatens to close them with every blink but I don’t have time to sleep.
There’s so much to do and not enough time.
As darkness closes over the city, I weave across the highway while my GPS beeps softly and voices my next turn off approaching just as a soft twinge of sensation lances up my spine.
Ever since that night with Felix at the restaurant, my body hasn’t settled.
He reminded me of just how good he can make me feel, reminded me what it was like to be kissed and touched and held like I was worth something so incredibly precious.
A dangerous sensation.
That kind of sensation could have me crawling back into his arms like a lamb wandering right into the wolf's den.
I can’t allow it.
With tickets booked to Florida for Alex and me, and Mary taking care of my last-minute financials at work, all I need to do is trash everything in my storage unit and we will become ghosts.
I offered to take Mary with me.
Leaving her behind with Felix around feels like a mistake but she insists she’s far too old to uproot her life and travel across the country.
She also insists that she can handle Felix but I know that’s impossible.
I barely handled him.
Three days have passed since that erotic night and my core still aches from our time together.
How our conversation turned into the best sex of the decade is a mystery and at the same time, predictable.
Even when we were furious with one another, we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.
Fuck.
Killing those men to keep Alex safe was a necessity but Felix on my doorstep?
That’s one step too far.
We can’t stay here.
These three days have been risky enough because all it takes is for Felix to look a little deeper and he’ll find out the truth.
About Alex.
About me.
About what really happened fifteen years ago.
I can’t take that risk.
Fighting a yawn, I force that handsome devil from my thoughts and turn from the highway, following several winding roads into a much quieter part of the city.
Tall buildings and bright lights eventually give way to spotted street lights and darker alleys until I reach the storage units.
Parking near the entrance, I turn off my car and slip from the vehicle, then head straight for the security desk.
“Excuse me.”
A burly man sits inside with his feet raised on the desk and his arms crossed over a pot belly.
A dramatic explosion rises from the tablet he has set up on the desk playing some movie and he grunts but doesn’t look at me.
“Could I get in to see—.”
Wait a second.
“Wanna earn two grand?”
His silvery eyes snap to me. “What?”
“I’ve got a storage unit I need cleared out,” I say as distant traffic dulls to the echo of several angry car horns. “Donate it. Trash it. Sell it. I don’t care. I just need it cleared out.”
Removing his feet from the table, he turns in his chair to face me and barely hides the glance down my body. “For two grand?”
“Mhm.”
“Why?”
“Two grand doesn’t buy questions, does it?”
He stands slowly and a greedy smile creeps across his lips. “No. No, it doesn’t.”
“Good. The Unit’s under the name Sylvia Grant. Here’s the key.” I fish it out of my back pocket and lay it on the counter. “We got a deal?”
He takes the key and twirls it around his fingers. “And the money?”
“Wait here.” Hurrying back to my car, I dig around in the back seat for my emergency stash.
Ideally, I’d wanted to give this to Mary as a thank you but suddenly having this guy act as a complicated stop-gap should anyone come looking is a much wiser use of these funds.
With the stacks in hand, I walk back to the counter where the guard continues to twirl the key around his fingers.
The twirling stops when I place half the money down on the counter.
“So, we got a deal?”
He doesn’t even attempt to hide the dollar signs in his eyes. “Hell yeah we got a deal.”
“Excellent. Pleasure doing business with you.” I add the second two stacks and lean forward. “I trust two grand also buys some issues with your CCTV?”
He smirks at me as he picks up one of the bundles of bills. “That shit ain’t worked in years. It’s just for show.”
“Wonderful. Have a nice life.”
“You too, Sylvia.”
When Felix traces me here, that guy and Sylvia should keep him busy for a while which will buy me more time to fully make Alex and me vanish in the middle of Florida.
If Felix’s even half the man I remember, he probably already knows about that Unit.
Returning to my car, I immediately put it in gear and drive slowly away from the storage units, following the GPS to get back to the motorway.
A yawn pulls at my jaw despite my best efforts to fight it, so I shake my head and turn up my music.
I haven’t slept since Felix.
Haven’t really slept since I killed the Rossis but Felix keeps me awake like no other. I’m torn between aching to see him again and terrified of what he might bring to my door before I get Alex away from here.
Music isn’t helping. Shaking my head again, I turn down the music and resort to conversation.
“Call Alex,” I say to my phone fixed on the dashboard.
“Calling Alex,” replies the automated voice and the screen flickers as his name flashes up along with a picture of him. The call rings for a few long seconds before he finally answers.
“Hey Mom,” he answers with a stifled yawn that immediately triggers one of my own. “You on your way home?”
“I am honey. How’s Mary?”
“Asleep,” he chuckles quietly. “We were playing Snakes and Ladders for money and she fell asleep after I beat her twice.”
“Playing for money?!”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. Just dollars.”
“Do you feel good taking an old woman’s money?”
“You know exactly how she is, Mom. She’s ruthless.”
“That’s true. I was going to pick up some food on my way back. A little late-night snack. You hungry?”
“Oooo.” Alex’s excitement warms my heart but as he replies, headlights in my rearview mirror catch my attention.
I turn right. “Sorry Alex, I missed that. What are you hungry for?”
“Definitely Tacos,” he replies. “Can we get some?”
“Sure. Any preference?” The appearance of headlights once more makes me turn right for a second time.
“Anything. Chicken. No, beef. No wait… chicken. Can I get both? I’m hungry for both.”
“I’m not surprised,” I laugh softly, turning right again as the headlights once again appear in my mirror. “I’ll just get a selection and we’ll call it even. Anything else?”
“Cinnamon buns!”
“Got it. You just stay with Mary, okay. Make sure the doors and windows are locked. You never know who is skulking around an old person’s house.”
“Okay Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too!”
The call ends and silence floods the car as my fourth turn, a full circle, confirms what I already knew deep down. I’m being followed.
Fuck.
I’m unarmed.
These roads are far too quiet to lose myself and I can’t go back to the storage unit because that’ll cause a scene I really don’t need. My heart starts pounding as I ease off the accelerator and let the car come closer, just to get a better look.
Dark paint. Darker windows. No license plate.
I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and suck in a deep, calming breath, controlling my speed until the traffic light up ahead turns yellow.
A few seconds later, it turns red just as I speed through the intersection and the tailing car is forced to a halt by oncoming traffic.
It doesn’t buy me a lot of time but it’s enough to recreate distance. Keeping my attention split between the road and the mirror, I tap quickly at my GPS searching for anywhere public.
My best and only chance is to get back onto the highway but from there, where to go?
I can’t go home. No way I’m leading this cunt back to my son.
Deeper into the city? Near the clubs? This late at night, I might be able to lose them in the surge of partygoers at this time of night, but that’s still a long way from here.
As plans jumble together in my mind, the world around me grows quieter and darker as the buildings full of life grow less and less, replaced with warehouses, other storage units and abandoned structures.
I need to loop all the way back around to make it to the highway but as I turn the next corner, the tailing car speeds up.
And keeps going.
Within seconds, we’re bumper to bumper with the headlights illuminating the inside of my car and bouncing off my windscreen.
My heart races faster as I drive at a speed to match, until the tailing car lurches forward and crashes into the back of me with a scream of metal against metal.
“Shit!”
I’m out of options. I can’t risk a turn with them so close and each inch of distance I scrape out of my little car is one they eat back in seconds.
I need help.
Who the fuck can help?
“Call Felix!” I yell at my phone.
“No Felix found in contacts.”
“Then search for Felix!”
“Felix is too broad a term,” comes the reply as the car behind slams on their horn and crashes into the back of me once again.
I’m thrown against the steering wheel with a gasp and adrenaline spikes, chasing away every ounce of tiredness in my mind. “Fuck. Uhm… find me the number of Chase Keefe!”
“Searching…”
Driving faster, I race down the street and risk a turn to the left which I make with a squeal of tires and a shudder of my poor, old car struggling to keep up with the speed.
“I have eight results in the local area for Chase Keefe.”
“List them!”
“Chase Keefe, Baker.”
“No.”
“Chase Keefe. Insurance salesman.”
“No!”
“Chase Keefe. Confectionery—”
“Yes! Call it!”
“Calling Chase Keefe.”
Please please please!
Another squealing turn and I’m back on a straight road but the buildings continue to thin out to trees and bushes.
The car behind is unrelenting, revving its engine and slamming into me over and over.
“Hello?” Toph’s cautious voice comes through the phone.
“Toph! Please tell me you’re with Felix.”
“Dove?” Utter confusion laces Toph’s voice as he replies.
“Toph, please!”
There’s a shuffle across the speaker and then Felix’s deep tones vibrate through my car. “Dove?”
“Felix! I’m sorry, I didn’t know who the fuck else to call. Thank god Toph didn’t shut this number down.”
“What number?”
“Chase Keefe? The sugar salesman, remember?”
“Oh shit.” Felix snorts. “Good old times.”
“Yeah yeah.” Keeping our relationship hidden meant finding ways to call one another that couldn’t be traced by my overzealous father and my sweet tooth was the perfect cover. “Listen, I really need your—shit!”
This crash sends me against the steering wheel once again and the twisted metal ends up catching as their bumper locks onto mine.
All control of my vehicle vanishes while I wrestle to stay on the road and dislodge myself from the car behind.
“Dove!” Felix’s calm tone hardens in an instant. “What’s going on?”
“Some cunt is trying to run me off the road and I’ve got nothing, okay? I’m unarmed, I’ve got nothing. I wouldn’t call if I could find a way out of this but I can’t. Please, I need— fuck!”
A final wrench of the steering wheel and I’m finally able to dislodge from the car behind.
Frowning, I grit my teeth and wrestle my car back into a straight line while the pursuing vehicle falls back, fighting their own battle to stay on the road.
“I’m coming,” Felix replies. “Toph—.” His voice fades slightly and only a deep, low murmur drifts through.
I take the next turn, skidding around the corner while my car shudders. Never has she gone this fast before, poor thing.
“Okay we’ve got you. What are you doing all the way out there?”
“What do you mean? I’m out here all the time.”
“Really?”
“Look, are you going to help me or not?” I snap. “I’m desperate here, okay? I don’t know what this is but just so you know, if this is related to you then I’m going to kill you. And if not, then I guess my presence incited some road rage in some fucking random rat on the road.”
“We’re tracking you,” Felix replies. “I see where you are. Can you meet me somewhere?”
“Tell me where.”
Felix reels off an address that I quickly put into my GPS and the route calculates just as the car behind begins creeping up once more.
“Head there,” Felix instructs. “We’ll intercept.”
“Sure. Okay.”
“Dove. You’re going to be okay. Just keep on the road, keep your distance.”
“Don’t you think I’m trying? I’m not driving some amazing sports car y’know. I have a nice, unassuming little box and it’s a good box. It’s not meant for speeds like this!” My last word rips out of me as the car slams into me once again, sending me lurching forward.
“Shit,” I gasp.
“I’m coming,” Felix says, his voice deep and firm. “I’m coming for you, Dove.”
I tell myself it’ll be okay.
Over and over, I repeat it as we weave through empty streets and onto a long, singular road.
My car starts spluttering every so often and lurches back as if it can't keep up with the current speed.
Every stutter and falter gives the car behind a chance to catch up.
And then start to overtake.
“Felix,” I say, glancing to the side. “Shit, Felix. Tell me you’re close. Tell me you’re fucking close!”
“Almost!” Felix replies, having remained on the call the entire time. “I’m almost there, Dove. I’m almost there.”
“If they kill me,” I gasp as the car crawls forward. Its front door moves parallel to my back door and my heart pounds up into my throat. Sweat breaks out across my forehead and my clammy palms slip against the steering wheel.
“They won’t kill you,” Felix says sternly.
“But if they do—!” Alex’s face floods my mind as the car pulls back a few inches until the front of the car is parallel with the trunk of mine. Then they crash into me and the moment my back wheels fail, my stomach flies up into my chest.
The car spins violently. I’m thrown against the door with my head cracking into the glass. White-hot pain spears through my temple and another crunch of metal echoes through the air.
“Felix!”
I spin and the tailing car speeds forward, slamming into the side of me and sending us both crashing off the road and catching on the cusp of a dark embankment.
“Dove!”