Page 71 of Silk and Steel

Banner skids around a sharp left turn, winding up on a gravel road. Ahead of us looms a cyclonic fence gate with warning signs attached all over it.

“There’s a gate, Lovejoy!”

“Just ram it! It will be fine.”

I check to see if my seatbelt is secure and brace for impact. The last thing I see right before we hit the fence is the van also skidding around the corner. They’re following us!

The truck strikes the fence. It doesn’t burst open like in the movies. Instead, we run it down. The gate bounces hard againstthe undercarriage of the truck, sending us on a wild, bouncing ride back and forth across the gravel road.

My seatbelt keeps me safe, but Julian flies up and slams his head on the roof of the truck. For a moment I get the idea to try and get his gun while he’s stunned and groaning in pain. But the truck is moving too erratically for me to even try.

Banner hollers, struggling to get the truck under control. At last the fence comes free from under us and we take off like a bolt of lighting.

The van behind us swerves to avoid the fence and we lose sight of it in the dust for a moment. But soon, it comes roaring back into view.

“Floor it,” Julian growls, holding his head with one hand and buckling his seat belt with the other. “Lose em.”

“I’m trying,” Banner sputters.

“No way can that van keep up with this monster engine, quit fucking around,” Julian snaps.

“I’ve got the gas pedal on the floor!” Banner shouts. “For some reason the engine’s running like crap.”

Not just the engine, it turns out. The entire dashboard flickers, including the GPS screen. The truck finally sputters and dies completely, leaving us to coast along on our remaining momentum.

“Fuck! That fence must have done some damage,” Banner growled.

“Pull over, pull over,” Julian snaps. “There, pull behind that thing!”

The truck rolls to a stop behind what looks like a tiny cabin, a relic from the old logging camp. Julian immediately clambers into the very rear of the SUV. He opens the rear doors a crack and aims his pistol out.

For a time, all I hear is heavy breathing. The unseen van pulls to a halt, and its engine shuts off. A door opens. Then another. And another.

“Four, five,” Banner says, counting the people getting out of the van. “We’re outnumbered, Lovejoy! It’s probably all those military freaks that work for that security company this bitch hired! We’re so screwed.”

“I’m not going down without a fight,” Julian growls. “Don’t bail on me now, man. If you try to run I’ll shoot you myself.”

“You’re giving me the warm and fuzzies, Lovejoy.”

Banner pulls a pistol out as well. He unbuckles his seat belt and twists around so he can aim out the open window of the SUV.

We wait. Then, a familiar voice carries over to us.

“Yo, where did they go?”

It’s the white guy with the blue dreadlocks. What’s he doing here?

“They went behind that old shed,” Mitchell says. “I think their car broke down or something.”

“Of course it broke down,” Cody says. “Look! They sprang a leak in their gas tank, that’s what all of this is.”

“Dude,” TJ says. “Does that mean we can light a match and the fire will, like, go around the corner and blow them up?”

The sound of a smack, followed by an “Ow.”

“You idiot,” the dreadlocks guy says. “That would blow up Emory, too!”

It’s Boys R Us. Instead of Cole, or a crack squadron of his guys from Platinum Security, a boy band has come to save me.

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