finesse.”
He growled at her. She chuckled and turned away from him to stare out the window to watch as they left Homeland. The guards at the gate just waved the SUV
past. Trisha didn’t bother to look at Slade. She was afraid he’d be staring at her still. She turned toward the window and shifted until she found a comfortable position.
“I hope you both don’t mind but I’m going to take a nap.” She couldn’t resist. She turned her head to meet Slade’s gaze. He still watched her and his amazing blue eyes looked at her without amusement. He actually appeared angry.
“Have a nice nap, Dr. Norbit. I’ll wake you when we get there,” Bart offered. “Mind if I listen to the radio?”
“Not at all.” Trisha turned back to the window, realizing how tired she really was.
* * * * *
“Hurry,” a male roared. “Drive faster. He’s right on our ass.”
Trisha jerked awake as she slammed against the window. She groaned as pain exploded at the top of her forehead. She was half asleep, disoriented, as she jerked her head to glance around the SUV to see what was going on.
Slade leaned forward between the seats and Bart still drove the SUV. Trisha studied their surroundings, seeing they were in a wooded area on a two-lane highway with dense trees on each side of the road. The sun had lowered in the sky and it would be night soon. She held her forehead where it still hurt but then pulled her hand back to look for blood. There wasn’t any.
“Step on the gas harder,” Slade growled. “They are going to hit us again.”
The SUV swerved, fishtailing on the narrow road. Trisha’s head was thrown forward against the back of the cushioned driver’s seat. Her seat belt dug painfully into her lap as she realized she had pushed down the shoulder belt while sleeping.
“Oh my god,” Bart sounded as though he were sobbing. “They are trying to kill us.”
“Punch the gas,” Slade roared. “Our engine is bigger. They wouldn’t be able to catch us to ram us if you’d find your balls and put on some speed.”
“I can’t,” Bart yelled. “I’ll lose control. The turns are too sharp.”
“Next time, I’m driving,” Slade snarled.
Trisha experienced fear as she watched the edges of the road. There were trees everywhere and one side of the narrow road rose uphill while the on the other side, the 30
one she sat closest to, dropped off into a vast space of trees. She stared downward. They were on some winding mountain road heading up.
“Call for help,” Trisha got out, confused and terrified at waking in a hellish situation.
“There’s no cell signal.” Slade snarled his words, obviously furious.
He turned his head, looking back. He cursed, throwing himself into the seat next to Trisha. She was shocked by the sight of the weapon he withdrew from his back from under his waistband. It was a black handgun.
“Oh crap,” she gasped.
The truck rammed them again. Trisha was thrown against the door next to her but this time she managed not to hit her head. Her hand got smashed instead between the door she gripped and her body. Slade was thrown into the back of the passenger seat before he moved onto his knees and bent into the back section of the SUV. He pointed the weapon.
“Cover your ears, Doc.”
She did that just as Slade opened fire. Glass exploded. The sound of the gun going off was earsplitting. The SUV fishtailed wildly as it nearly tipped on two wheels. Bart cursed a blue streak, taking a turn too fast.
Trisha twisted around to face the back. She saw white steam pour out from under the hood of the red truck, not needing to be told that Slade had shot into the engine. He had to have hit the radiator or something else. The red truck slowed and the SUV
pulled away. Slade stopped firing. He cursed as he dropped the empty clip and shoved in another full one from his side pocket. They took a turn and the red truck wasn’t behind them anymore.
Trisha gaped at Slade. His blue gaze flashed to hers. “Are you okay, Doc?”
She managed to nod. “Who was that?”
Slade shrugged. “My guess is they weren’t friends of ours.” He threw himself down on the seat sideways, placing the gun down between them. He tore his focus from her to watch out the damaged back window. Wind rushed into the SUV from the gaping hole. He yanked his cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open, stared at it for a few seconds, and viciously cursed.
“There’s still no signal.” His gaze met hers. “Where’s your cell, Doc?”
“Mine won’t have one either if you don’t have a signal.”
“You never know. We might have different carriers. Where is it? I don’t want to sit here debating. I’d rather try.”
She reached for her purse but it wasn’t where she’d placed it. She peered down and realized it had fallen to the
