Page 13 of Hunted

“Hurry, Lexi. The keys are in the switch. Don’t start the engine yet. There’s a phone in the console.”

“There’s no signal?—”

“Use it to mark time. When five minutes have passed, start the car. Wait two more minutes. If I’m not back by then, get the hell out of here.”

“Where are you going?”

“No time. Just do what I said, okay?”

“I don’t think I can?—”

“You'll be fine. Just give me those two counts to get back. Don’t ditch me, or I’ll be dead. Okay?”

She nodded, sliding into the driver’s seat. He opened the trunk, took out a small satchel. Then he closed it without making a sound, turned and ran into the woods.

She slid her damp palms back and forth over the steering wheel as she dug around in the console for his cell phone. Its background image brought her up short. Two little boys posing in front of a decked-out Christmas tree.

This man definitely didn’t seem like daddy-material. They were probably nephews or something.

She sat there, watching the area around her, waiting, keeping track of the time. She spotted movement in the trees, then realized it was just the pine limbs swaying lazily in the wind.

His car was a Porsche with an aggressive, snarling grill. Jet black, inside and out. Expensive. It smelled new.

The digits changed. Five minutes had passed. She prayed the bad guys had all gone deaf, depressed the clutch and started the car. It growled to life, then sat purring like Jax after a big meal. She stared at the phone, adjusted the mirror so she could see behind her. She checked the emergency brake. It was on, so she released it. As the clock ticked another minute away, she slid the shift into first gear and tried to remember the last time she’d driven a stick.

Why was she even waiting for him? Why didn’t she just leave? She had his car, she had his keys, she had his phone. She could get away.

Don’t ditch me or I’ll be dead.

She closed her eyes and told herself she wasn’t waiting one second longer than those two minutes.

The passenger door flew open and he dove in, tossing his satchel into the back. She was so startled her foot slipped off the clutch and the car stalled.

He swore. “Come on, Lexi! Go!”

She started the car, released the brake and managed to take off this time, quickly shifting into second, then third. “Are they following us?” she asked, looking up at the mirror.

“Shift! Come on!”

She shifted into fourth gear, negotiated a curve, picked up speed and shifted again. Behind her she could only see the snowy rooster-tail thrown up by the car’s tires. Ahead, only darkness. She reached for the headlight switch. He covered her hand.

“Not yet.”

“I can’t drive at this speed in the dark!” She’d get them both killed if she tried to go any faster. “Are they?—”

“Yeah, they’re coming.”

Her foot pressed harder on the accelerator. “This is insane. I’m running for my life in the middle of the night with a total stranger. I can’t drive this car! I’ve never driven a car like this in my life!”

“Wouldn’t have known that. You’re kicking ass. Go faster.”

“God, I don’t even know your name!”

“Romano,” he said.

She glanced at him briefly, not daring to take her eyes from the barely visible road ahead for more than an instant. He was turned in his seat, staring behind them, and he held something in his hand that she couldn’t identify. Not a gun.

“Romano?” she repeated stupidly.

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