Page 67 of Chasing Infinity

I know my father is not bluffing. After this showdown, I must get Addison out of here. I’ll take her somewhere where he can’t find her, somewhere she’s safe—I know exactly where. I throw open the door to his study and storm through the halls towards the front entrance. The maid is standing there holding my coat, and I snatch it from her, remembering my manners at the last second and muttering a thank you right before I leave.

The night is chilly, and I grip my coat tight around my shoulders as I make a run for my car. I don’t bother putting on the seat belt as I fire the old car up and tear it out of the driveway. As soon as I’ve cleared the gates, I press the button on the side of my phone, activating the voice command.

“Call Addison Parks,” I grit out between clenched teeth, fully on edge. Maybe hearing her voice will help settle my nerves, until I can be with her at home.

The phone starts dialing. My other hand grips onto the steering wheel. As the call rings, I see a pair of headlights flick on down the road. I narrow my eyes, my foot increasing pressure on the gas pedal.

The headlights in front of me pull onto the road, driving in my direction. He swerves into my lane right as he passes me, but I was expecting that, and I yank the steering wheel, moving my car out of the way all the while cursing to myself.

I hear Addison’s voice on the phone, but her words are not registering in my mind. I have no idea what she’s saying. My focus is solely on ditching this car. In the rearview mirror, I see the car bust a u-turn, then speeding up, trailing my vehicle. I hit the gas again.

“Noah?” I register Addison asking. “Noah, are you there?”

“Parks,” I gasp. “Parks, I need you to—fuck!” The sound of screeching tires cuts me off, and I swerve the steering wheel to the right out of pure reflexive instinct. Another car has come out of nowhere off a side street, colliding with the passenger side of my car.

The momentum from the collision is enough to push me off my course. It feels as if time is suspended, then the car twists and turns, the roof smashing against the concrete of the road and rolling twice. The car’s velocity propels off the road’s edge and down over the side. I roll a few more times, crashing through bushes and trees, the movements violent and out of control. My head jolts and hits the window sharply, my arms raise above to brace myself, and I hear a sickening snap come from my wrist.

When everything settles, I’m barely conscious. My vision is spinning, and my ears are ringing. My head is throbbing, and I can feel the slide of blood trickling down my cheek. It takes a minute or two, but I can vaguely make out Addison’s voice calling my name, crying, and asking what happened and if I can hear her. I can picture her in my mind, her delicate eyebrows furrowed in concern, her lips pursed. I try to respond, but the pain is too much; blackness plays on the edges of my eyes.

My nervous system kicks my body into action again when I spot headlights coming to a stop on the hill right above me. I grunt and groan, wiggling myself out of my seat, feeling a flash of pain shoot through my wrist as I try to grip the headrest. I look down, and though it’s dark, I can see the limb sitting at an angle it’s not supposed to be—definitely broken. With my free hand, I grab my phone.

“Parks,” I rasp, feeling nausea start to settle in my stomach from the sight of my injuries. I swallow it back down, attempting to get a grip of myself.

“Noah!” Addison screeches. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I don’t respond right away as I try to figure out a way out of the car. The vehicle lies sideways after rolling down the hillside, with the driver’s side down. I push into a crouched position and elbow the passenger side window with my good arm. It takes a few tries, but I’m able to smash the window so I can pull myself out.

Addison calls my name again, and I mutter out a quick response. “I got driven off the side of the road. I think my wrist is broken, and I hit my head pretty hard, so I’m sure I’ll have a concussion at the least.”

“Where are you?”

Again it takes me a minute to pull myself out of the car with only one arm. I feel the shards of broken glass catching on my suit coat, a few of them digging deep into my skin. Gritting my teeth against the sharp pain, I manage to stumble over the edge of the car towards the ground. My eyes glance towards where the other vehicle is, and I quickly decide that I need to get the hell out of here. Before I have the chance, someone steps around the car and starts firing gunshots towards the wreckage. I jump behind my car, using it as a shield until they stop their attack.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I mutter out loud. My heart is beating so rapidly I can hear it thrumming in my ears. When they stop firing, I don’t wait around any longer.

I start running.

I’m not sure which direction I’m headed, but I keep going, pushing my injured body as hard as I possibly can. If I slow down, they might catch up to me, and I can’t risk that happening.

“I’m about a block past my father’s property line,” I pant as I run. “I need you to call Charlie and tell him what happened. I need him to call Vincent and have them ping my phone. I’m not sure where I’ll end up, but Vincent should be able to track my phone as long as I have service.”

I was hoping to keep Vin out of it, but I’m out of other options at this point. Charlie won’t have the necessary clearance to ping my phone, so we’ll have to get the higher-ups involved. I’m sure there will be consequences, but if I’m choosing between getting out of this alive and getting a slap on the wrist? I’ll take the latter any day.

“Who’s Vincent?” Parks questions. “I don’t know—”

“Parks now is not the time for questions. Charlie knows, that’s enough,” I say breathlessly.

I hear voices behind me a little ways away, confirming my suspicions that they were instructed to follow me. Gunfire echoes through the woods again, and I make it over over a small bluff, my eyes spotting a fallen tree right in a cutout. This will have to do.

I scramble behind it, involuntary grunting in pain as I land on my broken wrist. White-hot pain shoots up my arm towards my shoulder. I bite my tongue in an attempt to keep myself from shouting as I crouch low so I won’t be easily spotted. I’m hoping I still have a far enough lead on them that they’ll give up before making it this far, but I can’t bank on it.

“Noah?” she asks.

“I’m here,” I whisper back. Now that I’m not moving, the pain starts to really sink in. My vision blurs, and my head starts pounding. “Please, Addison, call Charlie. I think I’m about to blackout.”

“I’ll call him right now. We’ll come get you.”

“Thanks,” I murmur. The blackness around my eyes starts to close in, my body trembles uncontrollably, and I know I’m about to pass the fuck out.

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