Page 45 of Waiting Game

Ren’s phone rang again.

“What do we do?” he asked.

There was silence, and he nodded along as Antoni spoke.

“But Val is in the car,” he said quietly, looking at me from the corner of his eye, “they’ll target her, and you know that.”

More silence as he listened.

I felt my palms getting sweaty around the steering wheel as every beat of silence passed.

Then, we were flung forward.

The car behind us had rammed our bumper and I felt the steering slip.

I swerved as I tried to keep us out of the deep gutter. Then it happened again.

“Speed up,” Ren said, his voice tight.

I watched the speedometer reach the red line - and figured out why they called themselves The Redline Angels. I had never driven this fast in my life, and I felt the steering getting harder to control.

We were getting close to town now, and there was no way we could drive through the little suburb like this without getting noticed or causing an accident. I felt a pit in my stomach. As much as I didn’t want to get hurt, or anyone else I loved getting hurt - I also couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for anyone else getting injured or killed. People who were just living their lives, people who might have just been unlucky enough to get in the way of the men chasing us.

It would be a case of wrong place, wrong time for them.

They would have no idea what happened, or why.

And there wouldn’t be a good reason, or a decent explanation.

Another casualty of the war that no one signed up for except for my family.

“Got it,” he sighed, hanging up the phone.

“There will be a sharp turn soon to go around the town and into the industrial estate, you’ll need to slow a little to make the turn or you will slide.”

I nodded.

He leaned across and put his arm between my legs, reaching under the driver’s seat as I drove. He pulled out a gun, and loaded it as I drove.

“When you get to the end of the road, there will be a large shed. Pull behind it, and then as soon as you stop the car, get into the back seat and hide.”

“What? N-no,” I stammered.

“Valerie, listen to me,” he said, “as soon as the car stops, duck and hide.”

“What about you?” I said, “what about Antoni and Rome?”

“We’ll be fine, Val. We’re the bad guys, remember?” he smirked, and I knew he was just trying to calm me down but it wasn’t working. He reached back again, lifting the back seat and retrieving yet another gun.

I slowed a little as I saw the sign for the industrial drive, and then I turned the wheel hard. The roads were more narrow and slippery from the rain. The car did slide slightly, and my whole body tensed as the wheels beneath me squealed, barely gripping the road.

I checked my mirrors again to see that Rome was still right behind them, and they were right behind us. The shed at the end of the road came into my view, just like Ren described. There was a mesh fence around it.

“The gate is locked,” I said, the panic now obvious in my voice.

“Plow through the fence,” he ordered.

I braced myself, and sped up again. I didn’t have time to argue the point, or ask questions, or to hesitate. All I could do was trust that Ren would keep us safe. The truck mounted the gutter, jumping into the air and pressing through the fence. The grinding sound of metal on metal squealed through the car.

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