Page 19 of Grit & Glamour

Chapter Ten

“This really isn’t my problem,” I mutter to myself again as I approach the main door to the building on shaky legs. I’d told myself this multiple times, but it appears little things like fear and good sense aren’t going to stop me apparently.

As I approach the glass and metal doors, Theo comes sprinting out at full speed, catching me by surprise. His eyes widen in alarm as he sees me out of the car. “Get back in the fucking car!” he shouts, grabbing my hand as he rushes past, dragging me back in the direction from where I’d just come. I run with him, functioning on pure panic and confusion as we sprint at full speed to the car. Loud bangs sound from above us, and I look back over my shoulder at the block of flats as I continue to run.

“Those weren’t gunshots, were they?” I ask between gasps of breath as we reach the car.

“No time,” he insists, taking a few heaving breaths of his own, bent over. He only allows for a few seconds pause before straightening back up again and throwing me the car keys I thought Three had with him. “Get back in the damn car and drive!” he shouts, before diving into the passenger side. More gunshots ring out in the air, but this time they sound closer. I get into the car.

“Where are we going?” I ask, as I bring the luxury car purring to life.

“What the fuck does it matter!?” he exclaims. “Drive!”

Not needing to be told again, I put it into gear and slam my foot down, screeching out of there. I take a few turns as I drive, speeding way above the limit in this built up area.

“Take another turn,” Theo demands, as he looks over his shoulder out through the rear window at something. I do as he asks and take the next right. A few moments later he curses, “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s following us,” he bites out.

“What the hell happened up there?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He sighs and takes another look behind us through the rear window. “You need to lose them.”

“What?” I question in an incredulous tone. He can’t be serious, can he? Who does he think I am, a stunt driver? I’ve only had my damn license for less than year!

“You need to lose them,” he repeats. “This car can outpace them, no problem.”

“On a fucking track maybe!” I screech, aware that I’m already driving way too fast. What if someone steps out onto the road? What if there’s a cute dog?

“Just keep driving,” he snaps. He eyes the phone I’d left sitting on the dash as it goes skidding across on a sharp turn. He grabs it and chucks it out of the window as we speed along.

“What the hell was that for?” I demand.

“Do you want the assassins to be able to find us?” he hisses.

“When they have my brother? Yeah, actually I do!” I snap back, flooring the car when an empty stretch of road comes up ahead of us. Theo leans over and buckles my seat belt as I continue to race forward. “Really?” I demand.

“Really. You won’t be any good as a driver right now if you go flying through the windscreen the second you have to hit the brakes,” he answers, before doing his own. “They have Caleb?” he pries gently.

“Is now really the best time to talk about this?”

“Fine. Later,” he concedes. “Just lose the damned dark blue BMW following us.”

“The three series?” I question, after a glance in the rear-view mirror.

“That’s the one.”

“And what should I tell the police when they eventually pull me over for reckless driving in a car I’m not insured to drive?” I ask, weaving through a few cars to maintain my speed and stay ahead of the BMW. Fuck, I usually hate assholes that drive like this.

“If we get stopped before we lose them, you’ll be lucky if you get the chance to say anything at all,” he mutters, more to himself than me I suspect. I try not to let his words feed the panic and anxiety already threatening to overwhelm me.

“I’ve got an idea, but it may be a little insane, and we’re probably about to die.” I tell him, before slamming on the hand brake and jerking the wheel hard to the right. The car’s tires scream against the tarmac, as the car spins around. I release the brake and slam my foot down again, speeding up as I drive along the wrong side of the damn road, attempting to avoid crashing into the fronts of other cars.

“You’re crazy!” Theo shouts, clutching onto his seat like he’s holding on for his life.

“Maybe,” I agree, pulling onto another road marked as a one-way street, one that is definitely not the way we’re headed. I speed down the side road, before coming to an intersection and finally turning onto a road where we’re flowing with the traffic. My breathing comes in ragged pants as I slow down to go with the flow of traffic, attempting to blend in. A ridiculous thing to try and do in a car that costs more than a lot of people’s homes.

“We need to ditch the car somewhere, it draws too much attention.” I glance around at our surroundings and realise where we are and what’s nearby. If anything that One claims is true, maybe I can find evidence of it there, and if not, maybe I can prove all this setup nonsense has nothing to do with me or my mother after all. “I have an idea. Mind if we make a stop?”

“Why not? It’s not like I have anything better to do today,” Theo jokes, giving me a lazy smile and appearing relaxed when I glance his way. Looking at him, you’d never know we just took part in a high-speed car chase. I let out a long breath.

“Good, we’re going to check something out. I need some answers, and I think I know where I can get them.” I turn the car onto another road and head towards the outer edges of London, feeling my pulse start to pound at just the thought of what I’m about to do.

It’s time to pay one of the family businesses a visit.

---