and halfway onto the barren dirt beyond.
The moment the guy started to bring his sedan back onto the freeway, Logan sped up just enough to tap the front corner of his El Camino against the back corner of the sedan. As soon as they were touching, he jammed the pedal all the way down, and turned the wheel to the left.
The push caused the sedan to swing out perpendicular to the freeway. Logan pulled around him and raced away, watching in his rearview mirror as the sedan spun over the shoulder, and down a slope behind some office buildings.
He didn’t know what happened to the car after that. The only thing that mattered to him was that the guy wouldn’t be following them anymore.
19
Taking the first exit, Logan circled around and got back onto the freeway, heading west.
“Jesus. You’re insane, aren’t you?” Angie finally said once they were cruising down the freeway. She let out a half laugh, like she was just joking, but he knew she wasn’t. “You’re going to take me back to my car now, right?”
He didn’t say anything.
When they reached the 405, he went north.
“Hey, it’s the other way,” she said.
He remained silent.
“I’m serious. I need to get my car and get out of here.” When he still didn’t respond, she said, “Are you even listening to me? Turn this damn thing around, and take me to my car!”
“I believe you promised to answer some questions.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Fine. I’ll answer your stupid questions. Just take me back to my car.”
“Questions first.”
She groaned, then leaned against the door like she was trying to get as far away from him as possible.
“Where’s Elyse?” he asked.
“How the hell should I know? She was going to go visit her grandfather.”
“Where’s Elyse?”
“Seriously, dude. You really aren’t listening to me.”
“Where is Elyse?”
“Stop asking me that, God dammit!”
“I’ll stop when you give me a real answer.”
“I gave you a real answer.”
“You gave me a lie.”
“The hell I did. I have no idea where she is.”
“All right,” he said. “Then let me rephrase. What happened to her?”
“I
Around them, the traffic began to slow just a little as they neared the crest of the Sepulveda Pass.
“I think you do know, but are too scared to tell me.”
“Go to hell.”
“Why was that guy after you?”
“What guy?”
Logan looked over, his face hard. She was still sitting as far away as possible, her head against the metal frame of the cab, trying to look innocent. In quick succession, he punched the accelerator, tapped on the brakes. The result was the satisfying
“Ah! What the—”
“Why was that guy after you?” he asked again.
“You did that on purpose.”
“We can drive all night, or you can start talking now.”
She sulked in her corner.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “What I can also do is take you to the police. Tell them you’re involved in the disappearance of your roommate. That you probably also have something to do with the death of her friend Anthony.”
“What?” she said, surprised.
“Didn’t you know that?”
