The Fall(28)

“We need to get off the road, CPD will call in a helo.” She swallowed, her eyes scanning the night sky before she continued. “They aren’t going to risk a high-speed pursuit without eyes in the sky.”

It was too public; the amount of attention we were drawing was waaaaaay more than I would have liked, which should have been f*cking zero. Not that there was any point bitching about it now, we needed to get invisible in a hurry. And not only get away from the f*ckers tailing us, but also from the CPD who would only be all too happy to throw us into lock-up. Either scenario would put us in a box about six-feet under, so my vote—and the only one that counted—was that we didn’t die today.

“I’m going to get us off at the next exit.” My eyes flicked between my windshield and my rearview. “The minute we leave the off ramp, I’m going put us in a spin and you’re gonna have one chance to do some damage.”

“You’re going to do what?” She pitched forward, her eyelids peeling back to maximum like I’d told her we were going to stop in the middle of the road so I could take a piss.

“Don’t f*cking think!” I yelled, not having the time or the f*cking inclination to explain the plan. “The minute I spin, you double-palm your f*cking gun and empty as much of your f*cking clip as you can into that Audi, we clear?”

“We’re going to die.” Her head shook, not convincing me she was capable of doing what I was asking her to do. “You’re going to kill us.” Thankfully sidelining her outrage and pulling out a spare clip to reload.

Great, because we had time for a f*cking pep talk. There weren’t a lot of other options—in fact there were none—so she needed to get on my level in the next few seconds or shit was going to go bad.

“We are not going to f*cking die. Just do as I say.” The off-ramp coming into view as my boot stayed nailed to the floor.

“Get ready. Lower your window.” The engine roared as we split from the interstate, the tires sticking to the road like f*cking champs. The road stretched out in front of us, virtually no cars ahead.

Just needed a little more.

C’mon baby, just give me a little more.

“Now.” I twisted the wheel left and then cut back to the right into a full lock as I yanked up the emergency brake. The car screeched in protest as its backend whipped us around, causing us to slide sideways in front of the A8.

View of the Audi cut through the smoke of burnt rubber, Sofia squeezing a few rounds of her nine into the windshield while I kept the steering locked.

What was less than a few seconds felt like an eternity. The bullets sprayed through the front of the A8, glass not so much shattering as exploding into the car.

It truly was a thing of beauty, the timing f*cking perfect and Sofia had been amazing. Better than I expected. But our joy ride was far from over. My hands and feet worked in unison simultaneously throwing down the brake, stomping on the gas, the car getting to full power as I cut the wheel back to the left. The backend fishtailed, almost hitting the guardrail; the entire four lanes needed for the Camaro to right itself. The second we were facing the right direction, my boot dropped onto the gas and we were out of there. See ya later.

“They aren’t following.” Sofia nodded, the slight shake of her right hand hinting she wasn’t altogether tight.

“We’re not in the clear yet.” My foot stayed planted as we moved further down the road;, the Audi stalled out in the middle of the road behind us.

Chicago’s finest were also still in the picture. Lights and sirens neon-signing that we had a minute or two before we were going to be spending the night with fancy new jewelry in the city-run Ramada.

We needed to ghost ASAP, and unfortunately dump the car. Man, that was going to piss me the hell off.

“Fuck.” I punched the dash, taking a hard right and then a quick left. No real way out of it presenting itself as we continued down the road I’d put us on, the f*cking thing narrow with only one lane going each way.

The cops were going to be coming around the corner soon, and it was going to take a little more than a few turns to shake them.

My eyes locked on the road up ahead, a deserted gas station that had been boarded up coming up fast on our left. It was a gamble, but one I was going to take. They currently didn’t have line-of-sight, and as soon as that changed we could kiss our chances goodbye.

I downshifted, trying to slow the car down without locking up the brakes as I crossed the centerline and drove on the opposite side of the road. Lucky for everyone involved there was no oncoming traffic.

It was needle threading time, jerking the wheel to the left as I spun into the narrow driveway of the deserted gas station. The pumps passed in a blur as we continued to the back, the overgrown brush doing a number on my paint job as leaves and twigs fell into the backseat.

“Stay down but keep your gun ready.” I pulled behind a mound of old tires and cut the ignition, the engine silent as we sat in the dark.

“They didn’t see us,” Sofia whispered in the dark, the affirmation more for her own benefit I’m sure. “They didn’t turn.”

No lights or sirens.

But it was too soon to tell.

Not to mention we still had no idea what had happened to the Audi. One thing was for certain; the night was far from over.

“We’re not going to wait to find out. Let’s go.”