5. Warner #2
“Warner.” She breaks the kiss, causing me to grumble. “Hey, focus up.”
“Mmm,” I groan.
“Behind you on the left… The dark-blue truck. I think the driver’s recording us.”
“Shit, how far away?”
“I’m not sure, a couple hundred metres maybe. Close enough. I can see a red light behind the wheel and someone moving inside. Can’t tell how many perps.”
My heart slams up against my ribs, vying to break free. “It could be a coincidence.”
“You trying to jump my bones in public probably doesn’t help.”
“Heat of the moment,” I chuff. “Memorise the plate. Where are the others?”
Ember peeks around from under her lashes, keeping still against the wall to avoid rousing suspicion. I release her enough to give us both room to move while fighting the urge to look over my shoulder at the truck.
“Still inside,” she frets.
Somewhere behind me, an engine flares to life. Every hair on my body stands to attention with a heady burst of alarm.
“Is that the truck?”
“Yeah, they’re getting ready to leave. Perhaps it’s a false alarm.”
This is my fault for being so reckless. If she didn’t scramble my common sense with those doe eyes and little whispers that slice across my heart with an invisible dagger, I wouldn’t lose control like this.
“Let’s refuel and get out of here.” I check my side holster, testing the weight of my weapon secured inside.
“Good plan.”
We quickly move the SUV to an available fuel pump then begin filling up while the others are still inside the shop. The blue truck leaves without a fuss. I watch its rear bumper grow smaller until it vanishes altogether, allowing myself a relieved exhale.
By the time Hyland emerges with the two troublemakers in tow and enough snacks to fuel a small army, we’re all paid up and ready to move. No coffee, but I’ll make my peace with it. I want us back on the road.
“Do you need more medication?” Ember helps a wincing Axel climb into the car.
“Nah, no more meds. It’s not so bad.”
“You can barely walk,” Hyland rumbles unhappily.
“A night in my own bed and one of Mary’s bagels, then I’ll be ready to kick my dickhead brother’s ass,” Axel seethes, his proclamation made through locked teeth. “Bollocks, that hurts.”
“Just take it slow.” Ember helps to position him then fastens his belt into place. “Okay, relax. You’re in.”
“Thanks, dimples.”
Once everyone is loaded up, I pull back onto the main road. In the dead of night, there’s not much traffic. It’s mostly freight haulage and large, obnoxious lorries carrying deliveries from north to south. We should be home by the time dawn rolls in.
“Here.” Hyland passes a bag bulging with food into the back. “We got a variety.”
“Any vodka?” Axel whimpers.
“Not for you, pup. I can see the size of your doped up pupils from here.”
“I have a hole in me, dickhead. Next time you’re shot, I’m gonna make sure you’re miserable too.”
“Hell no.” Ember rifles through the bag. “No more getting shot.”
“What about shooting someone?” Blaine supplies in a rare flash of levity.
“That’s permissible. Under the right circumstances, obviously. No kneecapping each other or assassination attempts. Shooting the enemy is fine by me.”
“Noted,” he drones.
“That doesn’t include your teammates, Blaine. No one in this car.”
“I told you, sweetheart. Only if they start it.”
At a chilling flash of gooseflesh over my arms and neck, I tune out their sniping. The road ahead is unchanged, a couple of haulage trucks hogging the middle lane, but that’s nothing new. There are still a few hours off daybreak, and other passenger vehicles are minimal.
Yet there is one that stands out.
Headlights beam through our rear window as a truck accelerates up behind us, creeping ever closer. As my eyes adjust, I can make out a flash of navy blue. That’s when cold horror sneaks in.
“Em…” I keep my stare fixed in the mirror. “Is that the truck from the rest stop?”
“Where?” She sits ramrod straight, head on a swivel.
“Directly behind, tailgating us.”
“What truck?” Hyland barks while twisting in his seat.
“I can’t make out the plate, but I think it’s them.” Ember’s tone is grim. “There was a suspicious vehicle when we refuelled, but they left. We assumed it was a false alarm.”
When I lay down on the accelerator, there’s a momentary beat of relief until the truck soon follows. A brick falls to the pit of my stomach. They’re definitely tailing us. Something tells me it’s not kids looking to score another make-out video to send to their friends.
“I’m going to get ahead of these lorries, put some obstacles between us.” I focus on our escape route ahead. “Hy, there’re two semi-automatic pistols in the glove compartment. Be ready for their advance.”
The truck temporarily disappears behind a haulier but soon revs its engine to catch up to us. I clutch the wheel tight, swerving and weaving between large trailers and several full-length lorries, attempting to throw our tail off to no success.
“Are we sure the directors didn’t send backup to bring us home?” Axel moans from his slumped over position.
“Not without telling us,” I spit back.
“Well… crap.”
“Who else knows our location?” Hyland checks the chamber on a pistol then passes it to Ember.
“Nobody outside of Sabre.”
“Care to revise your earlier analysis of your company’s trustworthiness?” Blaine drawls, gaze fixed on his phone screen.
“Shut up, Blaine,” I hurl at him. “Are you seriously texting right now?”
“Just focus on the road. Don’t get us killed.”
A sudden burst of speed behind us brings the careening truck within kissing distance.
I curse, abruptly swinging right to avoid being slammed into.
There’s a pained yelp from Axel as he’s thrown into the door, but I can’t drag in a breath to apologise.
Not with the rampant adrenaline riding me hard.
“Bastard!” Hyland booms, straddling his seat in an attempt to find a good aim. “I’m gonna blow the window out to put a bullet in their skulls.”
“We’re on a goddamn motorway!” I shout back. “You’ll do no such thing.”
“They’re going to get us killed!”
“You can’t start a high-speed firefight.”
“One more attempt to hit us and I’m shooting!”
Another wild acceleration towards us and we’re thrown off kilter, the rental fighting me as our wheels spin in a struggle to regain traction. The sound of a bonnet to bumper impact screeches through my ear drums. It wasn’t a clean hit, but we can’t take much more in this flimsy car.
“Hand me a gun,” Blaine commands, unclipping his belt and lowering the window.
“No public gun fights!”
“Just trust me,” he replies calmly. “Ember, the gun. Now.”
She cuts a worried look between us both then hands her weapon over. “What are you going to do?”
“Watch and see. Don’t let me fall out, sweetheart.”
With that, he pushes himself up and out the window, hanging onto the SUV’s roof for leverage. Ember swears then quickly grabs his legs to hold his bottom half inside the car while the rest of him precariously dangles outside.
“Be careful!” she screams.
“Tell your idiot boyfriend to drive in a straight line!”
“Asshole.” I hold the wheel steady.
When the truck veers close again, Blaine pops off a series of well-placed shots towards the tarmac. Just as I’m about to swerve hard to throw him back inside whether he likes it or not, the echo of a burst tyre reverberates through the night.
“Hit!” Hyland declares in triumph. “Step on it, team leader.”
In the rearview mirror, I can see our friends spinning out of control, a peal of smoke erupting from their blown wheel. My foot smashes into the accelerator as we take off, leaving them to stutter and struggle.
Blaine slithers back inside like a coiled snake returning to its nest. His expression is a mask of eerie calmness as he clicks the gun’s safety back into place and hands it over.
“Problem solved. Pull off at the next junction, then take the first left.”
“What?” I gawp at him.
“Just trust me.”
In an instant, I have to make a judgement call. A few months ago, putting our lives in Blaine’s hands would’ve been unthinkable. Now we cut across several lanes on his advice, prompting a chorus of blared horns from other drivers watching the chaos unfold.
Our pursuers disappear into the distance as we exit the main road and take a hard left, carrying us away from the scene of the crime.
“Where are we going?”
“Keep driving.” Blaine’s stark order heats the blood already simmering in my veins. “I don’t trust your precious company. We need real backup.”
“What’s that supposed to mea—”
Two beeps of a horn blare through the darkness, alerting me to another vehicle’s arrival. It’s an old rust bucket on wheels, the doors of the peeling van marked with a faded company logo I can’t make out.
“What now?” Hyland clutches his door, watching their approach.
In the tense silence, a ringtone seems to startle us all. Blaine retrieves his phone once more then answers.
“Nice wheels,” he murmurs into it. “Couldn’t have found something a bit sturdier?”
Whoever’s on the other end shouts back what sounds like a whole host of expletives. When the van follows at a safe distance without attempting to intimidate us, the penny drops.
It’s his people.
Hyland rubs his temples. “Looks like we have a criminal escort home.”
“Maybe we need it.” I work on unlatching my aching jaw.
“How can you approve of this?”
“No one knew our route back to London, only the agents working in HQ. If it was leaked, then Blaine’s right; Sabre has been compromised.”
It’s a long moment until Hyland summons a response.
“Well, fuck.”