Page 51 of Last Chance

“You don’t know Bear. He takes any damage to our vehicles personally since he did the work to retrofit them with extra safety features.”

“You sound afraid of him.”

Jesse chimed in. “You bet. Anybody with half a brain is terrified of him and his crew. They’re all former Deltas.”

Incredible. “Your team is plenty tough from what I saw in Mexico.”

“Trust me, sugar. Bear is in a class all by himself.”

Hmm. This guy must eat barbed wire for breakfast.

Sawyer surged into the right-hand lane, just barely missing another sideswipe by the van.

Janie turned in her seat in time to see Jesse fall in line behind Sawyer, and the two SUVs sprinted ahead of the speeding van. She wasn’t sure what was under the hood of the Fortress vehicles, but she suspected it wasn’t factory issued.

Half a mile later, the SUVs exited the Interstate and raced down Harding Place toward Fortress Security’s compound.

“Ending our call,” Sawyer said to Jesse as he sped through a yellow light, with Jesse right behind him.

“Copy.”

Sawyer immediately made another call.

“Murphy.”

“We’re two minutes out. Coming in hot.”

“Copy that. We’re ready.”

“Somebody needs to catch these clowns. The van sideswiped us.”

A soft whistle. “Sorry, man. I’ll pass the word to Bear and company.”

“Make sure you tell him it wasn’t my fault, and that I was protecting a principal.”

“Will do. Good luck.” Zane ended the call.

Janie twisted in her seat. “They’re still on us.”

“I see them.” Disgust crossed his features. “Where’s a cop when you need one?”

“Be grateful we haven’t run across one. Otherwise, you and Jesse might have gotten a ticket for reckless driving.”

“Maybe.” Sawyer glanced to the right, shot into a gap in traffic and hung a fast right onto a street that led to a warehouse section. “Face forward, baby. If the van hits us again, you’re less likely to suffer a lasting injury if you have the seat against your back.”

She faced forward again. “What about Jesse? Will he be okay?”

“He has the same training I do. Not only that, we have reinforced steel in the doors and bullet-resistant glass in every window. You’re as safe as we can keep you under the circumstances. Stay with me a few more minutes, okay?”

Janie said nothing. She couldn’t. Her mouth was desert dry, as was her throat. It took every ounce of control she had not to scream and distract Sawyer when he raced through four-way stops at well over 80 miles per hour. Thankfully, no cars were in the area so far. That could change in an instant.

In the distance, she saw the Fortress compound masquerading as an office complex. Armed men lined up along the security fence with many SUVs parked at odd angles.

Instead of slowing down, Sawyer pressed the accelerator to the floor. The vehicle leaped forward, closing the distance to the front gate at an incredible rate of speed.

The gates parted seconds before Sawyer and Jesse sailed through and closed immediately afterward.

Instead of skidding to a stop, they continued to race to the underground garage. As they drove underground, Janie saw the white van skidding to a stop, backing up, and racing away. Two of the Fortress SUVs at the gate went after the fleeing vehicle.

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