Page 96 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“That’ll only hold up for so long,” I answered, slipping my shoes on, sans socks. I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed Sally, slinging her over my shoulder as I holstered my pistol. I quickly grabbed anything I could and ran for the front door with Beth on my heels, also carrying a few bags in her one good arm.

“Boss, you can’t go up against them alone.”

“We can’t stay here. We’re sitting ducks.”

“We’re at least an hour out. You’ll be dead by the time we reach you.”

“You have so little faith in me,” I said as I tossed my things in the back seat of the truck and got in. Beth buckled up, looking out all around us, same as me. I shifted into reverse and backed down the drive, narrowly missing the truck that was about to crash into me. I put the truck in drive and peeled out of there, driving like a madman to avoid hitting the second one headed toward us.

“Find me a road, Dash!”

I tossed the phone over to Beth since I needed both hands to keep us on the road and alive.

“You could take them to the state park, but…”

“But what? Spit it out?”

“Well, you could end up dead.”

“How does he know where we are?” Beth asked.

“He’s tracking the sat phone,” I answered quickly. We lurched forward as we were slammed from behind by one of the trucks.

I saw the sign that would lead us to the state park, but jerked the wheel to take another turnoff, deciding against that route. The truck directly behind us flew right past the turnoff, screeching to halt as he waited for the other trucks to turn and follow.

“Cash, what are we doing?” Beth said nervously from beside me.

“Leading them up the mountain.”

“You’re doing what?” Dash screeched. “Cash, you’re fucking crazy!”

I glanced in the rearview mirror, gauging how close they were. I needed to draw them in closer if this was going to work. The roads out here were insane, most of them without guardrails. And when it was construction season, which thankfully it was, the roads were even more treacherous.

I pressed down on the gas, picking up speed as we wound up the mountain road. A few cars passed us going the other direction, but luckily, the roads were pretty empty since it was still the dead of night.

“Cash…” Beth’s voice shook from beside me. “This is crazy. You’re going to get us killed.”

“Trust me,” I said, watching the road closely. I glanced over, seeing Beth squeeze her eyes closed as I wound up the mountain. I couldn’t blame her, she was by the edge. But if anything happened, we were both going down. The tires caught on the gravel as I got a little too close to the edge of the mountain. She screamed as the truck momentarily swerved as I got us back on the road.

As we climbed the mountain, I continued to drive faster. After years of driving this road, I knew most of the turns by heart. I was hoping the same wasn’t true for our friends. In the dark, it was nearly impossible to tell where the road curved until you were right up on it. Up ahead was a section of the road that curved more sharply, and that’s where I was hoping to take out the first truck.

I pressed down on the gas as I jerked the wheel, taking the turn sharper than expected. I swerved all over the road as I tried to gain control of the vehicle. The truck behind us missed the turn, then overcorrected and swerved toward the edge of the mountain. We were just taking the next curve when I saw him heading straight over the cliff.

“One down,” I grinned.

“You’re fucking crazy!” Beth shouted, her voice shaking as she gripped anything she could. “You’re going to kill us!”

“Not if you stop fucking screaming at me,” I retorted, keeping my attention on the problem at hand.

“We need to get off this road!” She turned in her seat, then promptly freaked the fuck out. “They’re still coming after us. This is insane!”

“Where would you like us to go? We’re on this road, and there’s no hopping off and taking the scenic route. This is the only fucking road we’ve got!” I snapped at her, needing her to stop fucking yelling at me.

I rounded another corner, my eyes widening when I saw a logging truck taking up more of the road than he should. I moved over, two of my wheels skidding in the gravel as I fought for control. We narrowly avoided hitting the truck, and as soon as we passed him, I maneuvered the truck back to safety.

“Any chance you feel comfortable driving?” I asked, half-joking.

“Yeah, now’s the time to pull over,” she retorted.

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