Page 38 of Kiss Across the Universe
A steel grey Mustang turned into the street and followed them. The man was behind the wheel.
Alannah clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Turn around, put your seat belt on and hold on,” Kit told her. “This is about to get interesting.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kit worked the steering wheel, his shoulders moving as he forced the truck around tight corners and into barely seen alleys, switching directions swiftly. Alannah could do nothing but hold on and hope. Kit knew Canmore’s back streets far better than she did.
As the truck tore through yet another back lane, fences and garage doors flashing past far too close to the doors for Alannah’s comfort, Kit glanced down at the dash and swore even more heavily than before.
“What?” she cried, alarmed.
“We’re losing gas,” he said shortly. He glanced in the mirror, his lips pressed thin, his jaw held tight. “Right…” he said, almost to himself, and settled himself in the seat.
When the truck reached the end of the lane, he wrenched on the wheel once more, turning them to the left. Alannah had no idea what direction it was. She’d got completely turned around with Kit’s swift cornering.
The truck shot along the road, which turned into a long curve that she recognized. As it hugged the curve, the engine roaring, she said, “You’re heading for the highway? If we’re losing gas, shouldn’t we head to where there are people?”
Kit didn’t react. Not physically. His expression didn’t change. He was concentrating. His voice emerged flat. “I don’t know if innocent bystanders will stop this guy. Maybe he doesn’t care about witnesses. But out beyond the town…that changes things. I can do something there.”
Alannah shivered. It wasn’t because she was cold. Which she was. It was the thought of the man ruthlessly getting rid of witnesses as he pursued her.
Who was this guy?
She tried to look over her shoulder to check if the Mustang was behind them. But she couldn’t twist enough to counter the surges of the truck as it climbed the on-ramp to the highway.
The truck roared onto the Trans Canada Highway, and shot past a little Ford Fiesta in the outer lane, the driver sending them a startled look. The highway bent to the north-west, heading for Banff.
The truck picked up even more speed now it was on good, flat fast road. The highway was completely clear of snow. The surface looked dry. But there were cars in both lanes, going much slower than Kit.
“You keep this speed up, the Mounties willmakeyou stop,” Alannah cried over the noise of the engine working hard.
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Kit said, his tone grim. “Turn in the seat. Keep an eye on our rear. I have to concentrate.” He switched lanes abruptly, steering around a tour bus.
She extended the seat belt so she could turn in the seat and look through the rear window. She waited until she could see past the tour bus. “Can’t see him.” All the cars she could see seemed to be white or blue.
“He’s driving an 8 cylinder Mustang. You’ll see him eventually.”
“Unless the RCMP pull him over first.”
“I can live with that, too. Park gates ahead.” His tone was one of warning.
She turned back to face the front. Kit picked the lane for season pass holders and drove sedately up to the booth. The warden inside touched his fingers to his brow. Kit lifted his hand from the wheel in a flat wave and kept driving through.
As soon as he was back on the highway proper, Kit picked up speed once more. The truck jerked and swayed as he steered around the slower vehicles. Alannah turned to look through the back window once more and watched freight trucks, family sedans and minibuses fall behind them as he surged ahead. She frowned, peering between the cars. “I think…he’s behind us,” she said reluctantly, as she spotted a darker dot of a car moving between others at a great rate. It was a long way behind, but… “He’s catching up.”
“To this thing? Big shock,” Kit said, his tone flat. “Gas just hit the empty mark,” he added. He didn’t sound upset about it.
A big green direction board flashed past. Alannah could only see the back of it, steel gray and rivetted, as it grew swiftly smaller with distance.
“Turn back around and hold on,” Kit told her.
She settled back in the seat and gripped the rail and the dashboard.
“I’m going to pull off the highway,” Kit told her, speaking loudly to be heard over the engine. “Carrot Creek is coming up.”
“There’s a turnout?”
