Race began tapping his throat mike repeatedly. 'Van Lewen!'
Van Lewen's voice came in over his earpiece. 'I see you, Professor. I see you.“
Race looked over and saw the all-terrain vehicle sitting motionless on the muddy street not far from the Humvee.
'Now would be a good time to do some of that bodyguard stuff,' Race said.
'Take it easy, Professor. You're safe while you're inside the Humvee.”
It was at that precise moment that the black cat on the bonnet of the Humvee slammed its left forepaw right through the cracked forward windshield of the vehicle!
Glass showered everywhere as the cat's huge fist-like claw exploded through the windscreen and came to a jolting halt two inches away from the brim of Race's Yankees cap.
'Van Lewen!'
'All right! All right! Quickly! Look under the dashboard!' Van Lewen said. “Down near the gas pedal. Look for a black rubber button on the underside of the steering column!”
Race looked there.
Found it.
'What's it do?'
“Just press it!'
Race pressed the rubber button and the Humvee's engine immediately roared to life.
It wasn't disabled anymore! Race didn't know why, didn't care. So long as it was working.
He quickly came back up from under the steering wheel—and found himself staring into the wide-open jaws of the black cat on the bonnet!
The cat snarled at him—a wild, angry hiss. It was so close, Race could feel its hot rancid breath washing all over his face. The big cat writhed and squirmed as it tried des perately to squeeze in through the hole it had punched in the windshield and get to the human flesh inside.
Race leaned back in his seat, away from the frenzied ani mal's teeth, pushing himself up against the driver's side window—where he turned and saw the other cat's enor mous jaws come rushing toward him at frightening speed!
The second cat slammed into the window. The Humvee rocked on its suspension, bounced under the weight of the cat's stunning impact. A series of lightning-shaped cracks spontaneously appeared all over the driver's side window.
But the car's engine was still running, and that was all that mattered. Jolted into action by the ramming, Race grabbed hold of the gearstick, crunched the gears, found one-didn't care which one—and slammed the gas pedal to the floor.
The Humvee shot backwards through the muddy main street of Vilcafor.
Jesus! He'd found reverse!
The cat on the bonnet seemed oblivious to the Humvee's momentum as the oversized jeep-like vehicle bounced wildly over the uneven ground of the village. The demonic animal just yanked its head out of the windshield and began reaching in through the shattered glass with its foreclaw, trying to get at Race.
For his part, Race just leaned back as far as he could, keeping his body clear of the slashing claw, pressing his foot down harder on the gas pedal.
The Humvee hit a pothole, shot into the air for a moment, thumped back down to earth. The cat was still on the bonnet, still clutching maniacally at Race as the armoured vehicle careered down the rain-soaked street in reverse, totally out of control.
'Will! Look out!' Lauren yelled.
'What?' Race called.
'Behind us!'
But Race wasn't looking behind them.
He was looking at the vision from Hell that was reaching in through the forward windshield of the car trying to rip open his chest.
'Will! Stop! We're heading for the river!'
Race's head snapped up.
Did she just say “river'?
He shot a look at the rear-view mirror and caught a glimpse of the black river behind them—approaching quickly—caught a glimpse of one of the American Hueys resting in the shallows, directly in their path!
Race grappled with the steering wheel, but it was no use.
In his panic to get away from the cat on the bonnet, he'd long since lost control of the backward-speeding Humvee.
He yanked hard on the wheel, slammed his foot down on the brakes, but the wheels just locked and in an instant the big Humvee lost all its traction. It just skidded in the mud, aquaplaning wildly out of control. And then suddenly, sick eningly, before Race even knew what was happening, the big vehicle launched itself off the edge of the bank, out into the air, out over the river.
The Humvee flew through the air, soaring out over the riverbank, flying in a high graceful arc. And then it
