Page 107 of Greed
The magnetic force inside him pumped, and, like flexing a metaphysical muscle, he strained for more force to generate. Steady, steady. Soon he was filled to the brink with power. He took one hand from the train, now almost teetering at the edge of the broken rail line, and caught hold of the armored vehicle, halting its tracks. The van’s tires spun, burning rubber.
Griffin trembled, but smiled, then… pain sliced through him and he roared in agony as the severe demand on his resources strained. It felt like his muscles were ripping apart, like his eyes were bleeding, and he heard Parker’s voice from a distance: “Greed. You’re tearing yourself apart. It’s too much. Let go of the van. Stop, Greed, stop!”
But he couldn’t stop. If he did, then Lilo would go, or the train would fall.
“Let go of the van, Greed. Let go.”
“NO!” he bellowed, about to snap. “I won’t let her go.”
I need her.
His throat closed up. No. No. He couldn’t but—the train. People screamed as his hold loosened and it tipped past the broken edge, coming toward him. He let go of the van and transferred his power to the train, pushing back on its nose. Slowly it edged backward, creaking and cracking, and shrieking at him, but it was nothing compared to the sound of his heart breaking as the van began to drive away.
* * *
“Drive, Lilo. Drive!”Donnie shoved the gun at her temple.
“I’m trying, I’m trying.” She planted her foot on the gas, but made the van bunny hop in her haste.
Donnie growled.
“I’m sorry!” she cried. “I rarely drive. I-I’ve forgotten.”
“I know what you’re fucking doing, Lilo. You’re stalling. It won’t work.”
He placed his hand over hers and crunched the gear-shift. It grated but then she felt it slot into place.Shit.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” she said, trying another tactic. “You said you wanted infamy, but no one can see your face in this car. No one knows this was all because of you!”
“Shut up!”
Like hell she was going to shut up. Being quiet was never her thing.
“You said you planned this well, except you haven’t. You haven’t accounted for the fact that you won’t get a mention, let alone the headline. Not if I have anything to do with it.”
He growled and shoved his leg onto her side of the van, squashing her foot and hitting the gas. When the van jerked forward, Lilo caught the rear van doors swinging in the side-mirror. Her stomach flipped as she realized another of his mistakes. He’d forgotten to shut the doors. Earlier, he said money was power… and if anything, Donnie was a greedy man—she knew what to do.
“Unless you want your brains all over the window, you’ll drive, Lilo,” Donnie snapped.
“Fine, but you need your seatbelt on,” she said, clipping hers on.
“Fuck that, go!”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
She pushed on the gas and sped off, heading toward the brick wall of the butcher shop across the road. If she could just crash into that, the bags of cash would go flying out the back and spill over the road. It might be enough to distract Donnie. She pushed harder on the gas, lurching them forward.
“What are you—”
But she didn’t get to the wall. The van hit the box curb and became airborne. For a moment it felt like they were flying. Her stomach dropped like a stone, the van tilted, random items inside the cab floated and then they crashed, hard, glass shattering. White airbags compressed and a powder stench filled the air. The wind knocked out of her. Her head hit the window on the side. The seatbelt burn in her shoulder stopped her from getting far, but Donnie’s body ricocheted around the cab as they tumbled around. One second he sandwiched her into the driver window, the next he bounced back to hit the passenger side.
The van stopped moving and every cell in her body ached. She was the right way up. A warm steady trickle ran along her cheek. The chemical stench of burned tires filtered through the broken windows, or maybe it was something else. Something related to the accident. Oh, God. The instant she registered the trail of blood on her face, pain exploded at her temple and she cried out in pain. Everything around her blurred. With trembling hands she tested her head and landed on a sore wet bump, but was too afraid to explore the wound further.
I’m okay. I’m alive.
Gasping for air, she checked Donnie.
He lay forward on the dash, moaning.
