Page 24 of Five Fingers of Death

She chuckled, backing out the door. “It is for now.”

I took another step forward, but she rushed out the door and slammed it behind her, bolting down the sidewalk to her car. I yanked the door open and watched from the front porch as she jumped in her car and pulled out as if a murderer was chasing her.

Chuckling to myself, I grabbed my keys and locked our new house, then headed to my truck. I would have blue balls all morning, but she was worth the wait. I pulled out of the drive and headed into work, but I didn’t make it a mile down the road when I noticed the tail. I thought maybe I was being paranoid, so I took a few turns and even stopped for gas. At first, it looked like I was in the clear, but when I got back on the road, I passed the same fucking vehicle at the crossroad two miles from work.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, pulling out my phone. Wyatt answered on the third ring.

“Are you calling off?—”

“I’ve got a tail.”

“Who the fuck would be tailing you?”

I had no fucking clue. “I even stopped for gas to see if I was imagining things. He reappeared and now he’s behind me again.”

“Can you shake him?”

“What the fuck do you think?” I snapped.

“What do you want to do?”

I ran through the options in my head. Whatever the hell was going on, it was clear someone was coming for me. I just didn’t know why.

“Maybe it’s Jade.”

“For what reason?” I asked. “Why after all this time?”

“Revenge?”

“Doubtful.” But I wasn’t entirely sure about that.

“What do you need from me?”

“I’m gonna lead them out of town. Stay in contact with Holly. Make sure?—”

“I got it. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Thanks, man.”

I hung up and took a hard right at the next intersection, then hit the gas. Whoever the fuck this was, they were fucking with the wrong guy. I had worked too hard to build my life back up after it had been destroyed. There was no fucking way I was giving it up now.

As soon as I hit the highway, I picked up speed, taking the exit out of town. Fucking hell, this guy wasn’t slowing down. I sped up, pushing eighty miles an hour, fucking praying I didn’t run into any cops along the way. They wouldn’t help the situation. But even at eighty, these fuckers weren’t backing down. They hit the gas right as I hit the brakes for a curve, slamming into the rear end of my truck. I fishtailed, just barely pulling out of a spin.

I yanked the wheel, taking a side road just in the nick of time. He flew past me, giving me a few seconds lead time, but it wouldn’t be long before he was back on my ass. I had to find a solution and fast. As much as I hated it, I reached under my seat and pulled the gun I had recently strapped there for emergencies.

I took another hard right, but slammed on the brakes when I saw another vehicle flying down the road at me, kicking up dust. “Shit.”

I shifted into reverse and hit the gas. With one arm stretched across the back of the seat, I turned and watched through the back window as I steered toward the main road. The initial chase vehicle was just turning, boxing me in. I didn’t slow down. I gunned it, smashing into his front end and deploying his airbags.

My truck spun and I shifted into drive, heading back out onto the main road, taking a left, back the way I came. The second vehicle didn’t stop to check on his comrade.

“Goddamnit!” I slammed my hand into the steering wheel as I raced back to the highway. A semi caught my eyes, barreling down the road toward the intersection up ahead. I would ruin the truck driver’s day, but if I didn’t get this asshole off my tail, I would end up dead. I put my foot down and raced to beat the semi. “Come on, come on,” I whispered, hoping I would make it in time.

I soared through the intersection, the semi blaring his horn as I drove right in front of him. I hit the brakes, yanking the wheel to the left just as I heard the deafening sound of the crash. I didn’t need to see a damn thing to know the vehicle behind me was decimated by the semi.

My heart was hammering in my chest, but I hit the gas and left the scene of the accident. I had to get to Holly now before anything else happened. My hands shook the entire drive to her shop, not because I had nearly been killed, but because Holly was involved. And if I lost her, I wouldn’t survive.

It took me a good five minutes to calm down enough to call Wyatt and check in. “How is she?”

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