Page 61 of His Virgin Vessel

"What now?" I asked. I felt a terrible, and probably ill-advised, urge to stamp on the gas and get us out of here, which would have been dumb, as there was nowhere to hide.

"They're not going to wait for us to get home where we can hole up," Dad said firmly. "The further we get from town, the more comfortable they will be making their move. We need to get back to town."

"You want me to turn?"

"Not yet." Dad pointed up ahead. "You see the tree? When you get to that, loop around it, and give it all the gas you've got." He reached into the glove compartment and brought out a handgun.

I gasped. "What the hell is that doing in my car?"

Dad shrugged. "Since the mafia have been moving in, I decided to add safety features to the cars."

"Were you going to tell me?!"

"Hell, no." Dad looked shocked. "Giving you a gun doesn't make the car safer. Quite the reverse. Turn!"

We reached the tree. I pulled a hard left and hit the gas, so we careened off across the rough ground.

"Well done," Dad said.

"They're closing!" gasped Risa.

Dad nodded. "Well, they've got a lot more power than we do."

"Can you shoot out their tires?"

"I'd rather not be the one who introduces guns into this."

I knew what he meant. They would have a lot more gun power than us as well.

In a fair race, maybe we would have made it. But it quickly became clear that the black car was not just more powerful when it left the factory, it had been further modified since then and was bearing down on us with terrifying speed.

"Come on, blow the supercharger, you bitch," Dad muttered, as he watched the car coming closer. That was about our only hope now - hat the car would malfunction, owing to the high speeds combined with the rough terrain. But, clearly, luck wasn't on our side today.

As they drew level with us, the black car veered right to sideswipe us. I screamed as I fought for control of the car.

"Don't panic," Dad urged. "If they wanted to kill us, they would have been shooting long before now. They want us to stop, and they can't afford to hurt us, so we just keep on going."

Once again, Dad's tactic was right, but, once again, luck was conspiring against us. As the black car slammed into us again, I lost control of the steering wheel, and we hit a rock, sending the car up onto two wheels. For a moment, it hung there, seeming like it might be able to continue like that all the way to town, then gravity seemed to catch up to us, and we toppled over, my car lying on its side, the wheels still spinning. I'm not altogether sure what I was doing at this point, but I was probably crying. My only clear memory is of Dad, with blood pouring from a gash in his head, trying to comfort Risa and me at once.

The next thing I remember is a hand with a grip-like steel closing on my arm. I screamed at the sudden contact.

"Lean back, honey," Dad said, still managing to sound calm for my sake.

I did as I was told and screamed again, this time at the noise of Dad's gun firing in the claustrophobic confines of the car. There was a scream of pain from outside, as the arm that had reached in through the window to grab me was hastily retracted amid a lot of swearing.

"Any more of that, and you're all going to end up dead!" A harsh voice came from outside.

"Remember," Dad whispered, "He's lying. He needs us alive."

Of course, that wasn't the whole truth, and Dad and Risa knew it as well as I did. They needed me alive, not my family.

"We're coming in again, Dugas!" The voice spoke again.

"Then you know what to expect!" Dad yelled back and aimed his gun at my window, knowing that it was me they were after.

Which it was, but Dad hadn't allowed for at least one of these thugs having a brain.

"Dad!" Risa squealed as an arm snaked in to grab her and hold her round the throat, a gun to her head. Dad struggled to re-aim, but Risa had been hauled in front of the window, as a human shield for her attacker.

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