Chapter 19 #5
The corners of his lips quirk as he slides me a glance. “If I answered yes, then I couldn’t remain a closet artist, could I?”
“Well, that’s no fun at all.” I rest my arms on the console and look back at River. “What about you?”
“What about me?” he replies questioningly with his gaze trained on the window.
“Are you a closet anything?” I ask, causing him to give me a what-the-hell look. I open my mouth to elaborate, but River abruptly goes rigid as he straightens in the seat.
“What the hell?” he mutters under his breath.
When I peer over my shoulder, a chill glazes through my veins.
Because Drew is climbing out of the older car parked beside us. He has on a black hoodie, holey jeans, and the hood is pulled over his head. I recognize his face, though, very clearly.
He also has a knife in his hand as he strides toward Finn’s car, puddles splashing under his worn boots.
“What the hell is this dumbass doing?” Finn asks as he cranks down the music.
“He’s here for me.” My stomach clenches as I utter the words.
Drew raps on the window. “Maddy, get out of the car. Now.”
Two more guys climb out of the car, both with their hoodies drawn over their heads. I can’t distinguish their faces, but they’re both tall and bulky. They don’t appear to be carrying a weapon, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any with them.
“Shit.” I loathe how my fingers tremble as I reach for the door handle to get out of the car.
“What the hell are you doing?” River reaches between the seat and the door and grabs my hand right before I pull on the door handle.
“I’m getting out.” I glance at Finn, who’s gaping at me. “Don’t worry. They won’t bother you if I get out. I promise.” I rotate toward the door and slip my hand out from River’s.
“Maddy, stop.” Finn quickly leans over me and captures my hand before I can pull the handle again. “I’m not about to let you get out and go with a group of guys carrying a weapon.”
My attention snaps to him. “If I don’t get out, this will become your problem—they’ll make sure of that. And trust me; you don’t want that.”
“Let us decide that, okay?” Finn laces our fingers together as he sits back in the seat.
“They’ll follow us if you try to drive away,” I stress, my stomach spinning with nausea.
Still holding my hand, Finn casts a glance at River. “You up for navigating?”
“Sure, but I’ll need your phone,” River replies, scooting forward in the seat.
Finn picks up his phone from a tray under the stereo and tosses it to River.
River catches it then reclines in the seat again.
“Guys,” I say, moving to unfasten my seat belt. “It’s better if I get out. That car looks old and everything, but it’s a modified Subaru WRX, so it’s a lot faster than it looks.”
“I know what kind of car it is.” Finn wraps his fingers around the shifter as Drew slams his palm against the window again.
“But it’s not faster than mine. And besides, I’m a way better driver than that dumbass.
” Then, smirking at Drew through the window, Finn waggles his fingers at him while revving the engine.
I recall how River told me that him and Finn were arrested for illegal car racing, so he can obviously drive. That doesn’t make me any less nervous, though. I’m bursting with nerves to the point that I feel as though I’ve had like three cups of coffee.
“If you go back to the academy, they’ll just follow and grab me, anyway,” I explain. “It’s better if I just get out.”
“We’re not going straight back to the academy.” Finn continues to smirk at Drew.
In response, Drew begins banging on the window hard enough to make the glass rattle.
“You rich piece of shit,” he yells, his face bright red. “Get out of the car and smirk at me like that. I dare you.”
Finn rolls the passenger side window an inch. “I’ll tell you what, loser. If you catch me, I’ll get out and we can hash this out any way you want.”
The light turns green then and Finn flips Drew the middle finger before peeling out, the tires squealing and spinning against the wet pavement.
“Careful with your acceleration,” River warns, “or you’ll hydroplane.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Finn replies without taking his eyes off the road.
He has one hand on the shifter and the other gripping the steering wheel as he zooms down the street, weaving through cars.
In the side mirror, I can see Drew’s car chasing after us in the distance.
“Take a left up on the next road,” River instructs. “It’ll take us away from the traffic, and then we start heading back to the parking garage.”
Finn nods, his concentration locked on driving as he steers to the right to get into the farthest lane.
My heart is pounding in my chest, and my stomach is raveling with guilt. “Guys, you don’t need to do this. Just drop me off on the corner, and I’ll run or something.” I grip the side of the seat as Finn brakes to make a sharp turn.
“Shh …” is all Finn says, and I get an inkling that he might be enjoying this—the race part, anyway. “Which road has less traffic?” He shifts gears, and the engine growls. “Second or third?”
“Actually, go up to fourth.” River’s eyes are glued to phone. “Second has heavy traffic and third is under construction.”
Nodding, Finn stomps down on the gas more.
We pass by cars in a blur as we zoom down the road with Drew and his lackeys hot on our tails.
I have no idea where we’re heading or why they think they can arrive at a safe destination, but I prepare myself for the worst because that is how this will turn out.
Ultimately, the car has to stop, and I’ll have to face the music—that a whisper has been put out on me.
So, if Drew catches us, he’ll own my ass.
It’s bye-bye academy, bye-bye future. What I don’t understand is how in the hell he discovered where I was.
His crew doesn’t run southside Royal City, at least from what I’m aware of.
Just like hardly anyone on northside does. So, how did I get spotted?
As Finn makes another jarring turn onto another road, my thoughts drift back to the cashier working at the café.
She asked if she knew me. She didn’t look familiar, and even now, I’m positive I don’t know her.
But if she has connections to northside, she could’ve heard about the whisper, connected the dots, and called up Drew.
“We’re almost there,” River says to no one in particular. “Hopefully, the scanner works quickly.”
“It should. I just cleaned off my window.” Finn downshifts as a towering building comes into view just ahead.
The exterior is reflective glass that blacks out what’s on the inside. Three massive metal doors line the front section, and Finn drives straight toward the middle one that has an automatic barricade in front of it.
Traffic is thinner on the road here, so Finn can drive faster without switching lanes.
His windshield wipers are on full speed. Even then, the rain is coming down so hard it’s concealing the view out the window. But occasionally, I get a good glimpse of how we’re racing toward the building. Fast. Too fast.
I squeeze my eyes shut, preparing for the worst. But suddenly, the car comes to a skidding halt. When I open my eyes, we’re stopped in front of the barricade, and Finn has turned off the wiper blades.
A light flickers from off one of the barricades, and then the bar begins to lift up. So does the middle door of the building.
When I look through the back window, I see Drew’s car approaching us at an alarming speed.
Finn drives through the open barricade but has to stop and wait for the door to open all the way. The barricade lowers, however, leaving it impossible for Drew to get his car into this section.
Drew’s car skids to a stop just outside of it, and he jumps out. But the door is open now, and Finn slams on the gas and peels forward as Drew barrels at us. I watch with my breath trapped in my chest as Drew attempts to run inside, but the door closes before he can.
Releasing a shaky exhale, I take in the surroundings.
We’re in a parking garage, only a much nicer one than what I’m used to seeing on northside.
This one is completely closed in, the ceilings are higher, and the area is enormous and has the occasional window that reveals the view of the buildings outside.
“Are you okay?” River asks me as he scoots forward in the seat and rests his arms on the middle console. His damp, dark hair is hanging in his eyes, and he smells like rain mixed with a trace of sweat.
I nod, even though I’m unsure if I am. “I’m fine. And, while I appreciate what you guys did, it won’t stop them. They’ll just sit out there and wait for me to come out.”
“There are other exits out of here.” Finn removes his hand from the shifter for the first time since he took off at that stoplight. “And we can access the security cameras to make sure they’re not lurking outside somewhere.”
“Oh.” I’m still attempting to process what happened, because they just helped me for no reason, with no strings attached. It makes no sense. At least to me. “Where are we exactly?”
“The Royal City Penthouse Complex,” River sets Finn’s phone in the tray below the stereo. “Our family has a place here, so we can hang out until …” His head cocks to the side as he looks at me. “Who are those guys, anyway?”
I owe them an explanation, but I wish I didn’t. “It’s a long story, but it has to do with the night you guys saw me in jail. Or, well, I guess that’s not even when this started.” No, this started with the curse of being born into my family.
River’s gaze dissects me. “Those were the guys that jumped you?”
I nod. “There were other people there, too, but Drew—the guy banging on the window—is like their ring leader. We used to kind of be friends when we were kids.”
“That guy used to be your friend?” Finn questions skeptically as he parks the car in an open space near the far back. Even the parking spaces here are bigger and are filled with luxury cars.