Page 99 of Break Me
“We have the vehicle in sight two miles northwest of the school. Do not approach.” The officer was one I’d worked with before. Which meant he should know better than to try to tell me to stand down.
“Not a chance.” Just like the woman who drove me crazy had done, I ended the call, tossing my phone onto the passenger seat. And I pressed down on the accelerator, weaving in and out of traffic.
I’d always been a man of purpose, but usually my thoughts, anger, and personal determination had either been selfish in nature or all about my family. While Halle and Emily should mean nothing to me in comparison, I’d never felt such fury at someone trying to destroy anything having to do with my life.
They were both innocents in a world full of criminals and assholes.
Maybe I should include myself in the generalization.
With both hands white knuckled around the steering wheel, I sped through the streets, relying on my expertise in driving my Porsche. My driving wasn’t simply reckless; the way I was taking turns, driving straight into oncoming traffic was dangerous. But nothing would stop me.
My phone rang twice, but I ignored the calls, concentrating on scanning the various vehicles.
Less than a minute later, I caught sight of the dark sedan. The driver had obviously figured out they were being chased, doing everything he or she could to try to reach the interstate. If the fucker reached I-15, there was more than a good chance of losing them.
Police were everywhere, but so far, none in actual pursuit.
The driver sensed I was following them, making a sudden turn. I was forced to swerve to make a hard right just in front of a truck. Horns honked. Tires squealed. Thankfully, no one crashed.
I pushed down hard on the accelerator, continually glancing from the side mirrors to the rearview and I’d be damned if I didn’t notice a small car that looked suspiciously like Halle’s. She would not try to follow the abductor. Would she?
With a quick glance at my phone, I realized Thomas had tried to call. No doubt to tell me somehow the woman he’d been assigned to follow had given him the slip. She was far too talented for her own good. I’d deal with him later.
Oh, fuck. I knew the answer. She was driving even more recklessly, certainly not equipped for these conditions. But I had to give her credit, she was able to keep up.
Damn it. I would need to control that woman. At some point, she would listen to me.
I sped up, realizing the best thing I could do was to cut them off. To avoid the majority of traffic, the driver had wisely chosen a few side streets that took them away from the more populated areas.
Yet in doing so, their change in plans allowed me a better chance of stopping them from getting on the onramp. I sped up, now pushing one hundred and twenty miles per hour. At least I was catching up to them.
Finally, the fucker was barely two car lengths ahead. Now, with no other vehicles in sight, I made another hard push. The last thing I wanted to do was to put Emily in harm’s way, so the only chance I had was to slow down the driver. I realized there were two people in the car.
A man and a woman. Classic kidnapping attempt. The driver and the female luring in the child with some convenient story.
The driver blasted through a stop sign. So did I, narrowly missing a truck who almost T-boned me. With a quick look in the rearview mirror, I took a deep breath. Halle had skidded to a stop.
“Fuck. Fuck!” I slammed my hand onto the steering wheel, suddenly catching sight of a black and white. As soon as I raced by at an excessive speed, I could tell by looking in the side mirror the police officer was about to be in pursuit. Time was running out. An interstate entrance was two miles down the road.
One thing I’d been blessed with in my life was a father who’d insisted that his sons and even his daughter were trained in skills both he and my uncle had learned on the streets ofMoscow. While many were illegal, including how to crack a safe, others were lifesaving from martial arts to defensive driving. It didn’t hurt that I’d fallen in love with speed at an early age.
I fell into a zone as I always did in circumstances where a single mistake could cost me my life or that of people I cared about. There were no sounds, no other distractions as I concentrated on my task.
Finally, time seemed to stand still, the surrounding buildings and signs fading into a blur. There was only me and the car ahead.
Until I managed to pull in front, purposely slowing down. With my driving skills, even though the driver tried his best to weave from one side to the other to try to zoom past, they failed.
As soon as I’d jerked to a halt, I was out of the Porsche with my Glock in both hands, taking long strides toward the car. Yes, I knew that using excessive force including killing both the man and woman wasn’t a good idea for several reasons. I couldn’t care less about going to jail at this point, but I was fearful not only for Emily’s safety and her mother’s, but the trauma seeing me kill someone would do.
I managed to throw open the door, yanking out the man. Before he had a chance to even lift his weapon, I issued a brutal punch that knocked him out cold. With a quick snap of my hand, I grabbed his weapon, pocketing it. Then I jumped over the hood to the passenger door.
“Stay back!” the woman screamed.
Snapping my head in her direction, I noticed she was struggling to release the seatbelt she’d thankfully placed around Emily.
“Get away from her or I’ll blow your head off,” I said so only she could hear.
“You won’t do that, or I’ll hurt the child.”
