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"The first one, I think," Gabe said.

Trusting his instinct, Cora swung the wheel to the left.

The car bounced and jolted over the potholes in the narrow street. Cora swore as she gripped the steering wheel, wrenching the car away from veering into a pothole that looked to be a foot deep, invisible until the last moment in the dark. Gabe's hand shot out to grab onto the dashboard, bracing himself as they careened around another corner.

Now, she glimpsed the taillights ahead once more. They were closing in on the Jeep. As it turned again, she caught a glimpse of the driver, a dark figure with a baseball cap pulled low over his forehead. The other three passengers were just indistinguishable shadows in the passenger seat and the back.

Then, with a squeal of tires, the Jeep accelerated again.

Cora swore even more violently. They weren't giving up. Whatever was happening, this was serious. These men had a strong reason to want to lose them. This was not just late night random hijinks off base. This was deadly serious.

They were driving like madmen, swerving, and speeding through the deserted streets. The Jeep raced around the corners and Cora followed. In this more restricted environment, she realized she had an edge. Her smaller car was more maneuverable than the Jeep, which was losing control, spinning out in the corners, its heavier weight and higher riding shape making it more unstable.

Cora saw her chance and pressed on the gas pedal, edging closer to the Jeep as it flew around another bend.

They were in the heart of the industrial park now, surrounded by factories and warehouses. Had this been the men's original destination? Or just a place they had fled while trying to lose Cora and Gabe in this chase?

Either way, Cora knew they would soon find out. Because this maze of roads wasn't going to continue indefinitely, and she held the hope that if the Jeep continued to flee deeper into the warren of warehouses, the men would reach a dead end and would be trapped. Then they would have them.

And, as she thought that, it happened. She saw the yellow chevrons ahead, and the chain link fence demarcating the end of the road. The Jeep's headlights blazed onto it and brakes screeched ahead.

"We got them now. We got them," Cora said.

But she realized the next moment that she'd spoken too soon.

Because the driver didn't do what she'd expected him to do. Instead, reverse lights blazed, and the next moment, the Jeep was hurtling toward them, backward.

Cora flung her own car into reverse, desperately trying to implement evasive action, but it was too late. She tried to swerve, but there was nowhere to go.

The Jeep reversed, crashing into the front of her car in an explosion of glass, so that the hood crumpled up and the lights were smashed and a metallic howl filled her world.

Cora's head jerked forward and then back against the seat as the force of the collision threw her back.

The sound of metal smashing against metal was all around them, as the Jeep continued to back up, pushing them into the roadside barrier.

Then, with a squeal of metal, it plowed forward, and the driver flung it into a three point turn.

Cora's car was history. The hood was half crushed. Protected by roll bars and armor, the Jeep was still good to go, with barely a scratch.

And, unless she could stop them somehow as they swung the heavy car around again, they were going to take off and get away.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"You're not getting away!" Cora shouted, wrenching open the car door. It had buckled from the impact, and she had to shove to get it loose. These men were not going to flee the scene if she could prevent it. Whatever she could do to stop them, she would.

Starting with the headlights. As the Jeep moved toward her, she already had her gun in her hand. Let's see how far you get without any light, she thought, aiming carefully, feeling adrenaline surging, but not letting it affect the steadiness of her grip.

As she aimed, the explosion of a shot split the air and she flinched. Damn it, they were firing, too; someone in that car had their gun ready and were now doing their best to take Cora and Gabe out.

She pressed herself behind the ruined door, hoping the buckled metal would offer at least some protection; the guys had to be shooting wildly in the dark and on the move. But the headlights offered a target she could see. One that was now dazzling her in its glare.

She fired once. One light gone, shattering in a shower of plastic and glass, the beam winking out. Now for the other.

Another shot from their side split the night and she ducked instinctively, but she wasn't hit, and she had the other light in her sights. She fired, and it shattered, too. Bull's eye, two for two.

Now, the Jeep was careening into darkness. And not for long. It tried to take a corner, misjudged, spun out, and then crashed into a wall.

The noise was deafening, a tortured scream of metal. The car rode half up the wall, turned, tilted, and then dropped back down. Plaster and loose bricks showered around it. Steam erupted from the damaged engine.

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