Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(54)

I made a left turn. Waited. The sedan turned left, as well. Next I turned right. Waited, again. Again, the sedan turned right. No doubt about it. I had a tail.

Rome? was my first thought. I glanced into the rearview mirror. The windows were too dark to see inside the car. Not Rome, I decided anyway. Love me or not, he wouldn't have wanted to scare me.

Was this courtesy of John? Had he sent someone besides Rome to monitor my abilities? That theory was more plausible. As my vehicle eased through the neighborhood, taking turns I didn't need, I kept an eye on the sedan. I couldn't head toward my destination until I knew who was behind the wheel.

"All right, Grandma," Sherridan said, drumming her coral-colored fingernails into the console between us. "It's okay to put a little pressure on the gas. You have my word you won't skid out of control if you pump it up to ten miles per hour."

"Very funny. Don't look, but I think we're being followed."

"What! By whom?" She immediately twisted in her seat, peering out the back window.

"I said don't look. Jeez!"

She turned, facing front and going stiff as a poker. "What should I do?" she asked, her voice shaking.

With fear? Excitement?

"Just...I don't know." Nervousness rushed through me. "Get my cell out of my purse." Bending down, she dug through the contents. Finally, she pulled out the little black device. "Rome's on speed dial. Press one."

She did. Then, "What next? Should I talk to him?"

"Press speaker," I said. I didn't want whoever was behind me to know I had someone on the line.

Bring, bring.Pause. Bring, bring. He had better answer!

"Miss me already?" Rome asked huskily.

I shivered, then cursed under my breath. There was no time for that. "Did John put a tail on me? And be honest. This could be a life-and-death situation."

"Shit." His voice lost all hint of husky entreaty. "Someone's following you?" Okay. That answered that question. "What should I do?" Always before when we'd been chased, Rome had been the driver. Now, everything hinged on me. Had I been alone, I wouldn't have been quite as frightened. But Sherridan's life rested in my hands.

"Give me two minutes," Rome said. "I'm on my way to you."

"I'm headed south on Cedar, and I'll keep going straight."

"Good. I'm calling John. Don't answer your phone for any number but mine." Click.

Sherridan dropped the phone in her lap. "Could be nothing," she said, rubbing her hand against her jeans. "Just a regular Joe on the way to the private airport no one knows about but us." She was reaching, but man, I wanted to agree.

"No one would follow you so blatantly. Right?"

"I wouldn't think so." Unless...was this Memory Man? Trying to keep me safe?

But why scare me like this? Fear hadn't been the emotion he'd wanted to incite in me.

My hands were shaking on the steering wheel, my knuckles so tight they'd already leached of color. The bones felt brittle with cold. God, do not let me freeze our car. We'd be immobile. Even, dare I say it, helpless. I had powers, sure, but as unstable as they were without my filter, I couldn't use them and risk destroying the entire neighborhood.

I kept my attention riveted to the rearview mirror. The sedan maintained a steady pace behind us, the driver not the least bit concerned with my slow speed, it seemed. I pressed the gas, increasing to about twenty miles per hour.

The sedan sped up, as well.

Up to twenty-five.

The sedan preserved the same, short distance between us.

Thirty.

Yep. Once again, there was an increase.

Why would the driver be so blithe about this? He - she? - didn't seem to care that I knew what was going on.

"Parked car approaching," Sherridan said, gaining my attention.

I switched my gaze to the road and swerved to avoid impact with a pickup. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

My cell phone beeped, and Sherridan quickly pressed speaker again.

"I'm almost there," Rome said without preamble. "And John did not put a tail on you. You okay?"

"Yeah. Thankfully, they aren't doing anything menacing. They're just keeping pace with us."

"Could be Memory Man," he said, voicing my earlier thought. "Can you see the driver?"

"Not even a hint. The windows are too dark."

He cursed. "A man who can make you forget that you've seen him wouldn't worry about keeping his identity hidden, so I doubt it's him."

Good point. So who was it? "If they wanted to talk to me, why not do it while I was loading my supplies in my car? I would have been a captive audience."

"The security there. The cameras. We'll find out. Later. Right now I only care about your emotions.

How are they?" Rome asked.

"Fine, they're fine." I turned the wheel to avoid another parked car, then eased back to my side of the road. "No freezing or - "

Something shattered my back window. Startled, I accidentally swerved, my right front tire popping a curve.

Sherridan screamed.

"Duck," I shouted, hammering my foot on the gas and revving us to sixty in just a few seconds. Fear swam through me.