the front seat growled at her as he exited the trailer park gates and swung wildly onto the highway, narrowly avoiding a collision with an oncoming truck. “Lie on the seat and don’t move.”
He waved the gun back between the seats with his right hand in a threatening gesture. Although she obeyed his instruction and curled into a ball, Steffi remembered his words. If “the Big Guy” wanted to see her, he would want her alive. It was no consolation, but it meant this man wasn’t going to shoot her. Not yet.
Three months ago, she had come to Stillwater in search of the Big Guy. She wanted answers. And now, it seemed, he did, too. She wasn’t sure why it had taken him twenty-two years to decide to speak to her. Until recently, she hadn’t known his identity. Could he have been in prison or living overseas all this time? Whatever the reason, it seemed he had lost track of her after he’d executed her parents. He had resurfaced with grisly results, resulting in the deaths of Greg and the unknown woman. Since she was on her way to see him, Steffi supposed she would find out the truth soon enough.
They were traveling fast and erratically. Steffi was thrown around by the movement of the vehicle as her abductor wove wildly back and forth across the road. He was swearing under his breath and, unable to figure out the reason for his strange behavior, Steffi risked shifting into a half-sitting position so she could glance out the rear window again. The cause of his annoyance soon became obvious and her heart gave an optimistic bound.
Bryce was still tailing them...and he was gaining on them. Even though it was impossible to see his face across the distance between the two vehicles, Steffi could imagine his expression. The determined set to his jaw. The stubborn glint in his dark eyes. The way he held his whole body rigid. It was a look she had provoked often enough. She never would have believed the time would come when Bryce Delaney’s obstinacy would be such a welcome sight.
There was little early-morning traffic, which was just as well, since her abductor was veering across to the other side of the road in an attempt to throw Bryce off his tail. With a feeling of mingled horror and elation, she figured out what Bryce was attempting to do. He was going to try a PIT, or precision immobilization technique, maneuver. It was a pursuit tactic from one of her movies. Although a stunt double had been used in the driving scene, Steffi had been fascinated by the maneuver itself and the skill it took to pull it off.
Had Bryce been trained to do this? She knew he had been in the army, but she had no idea of his role. From what she could see, it looked like he knew what he was doing as he pulled alongside the Russian’s vehicle. Carefully aligning his front wheels with the fleeing car’s back wheels at such high speed was no easy task.
“I told you to stay down,” the Russian growled at Steffi. The words lacked any heat as he struggled to avoid Bryce’s next move.
Steffi ignored the warning, watching with her heart in her mouth as Bryce swung his wheel and made contact with their vehicle before steering a sharp quarter turn into its side. The Russian let out another furious stream of curses as his car spun out and came to a stop.
“Stay here.”
Like that’s going to happen.
As he grabbed up his gun and leaped out of the car, Steffi slid the door on the opposite side open. The vehicle had come to rest at the edge of the highway, right at the point where the tarmac ended and the road sloped down to a steep wooded bank. Crouching low, she used the vehicle to shield herself from view as she slithered down the incline on her bottom. Her boots squelched into a narrow creek, and she bent almost double, following the muddy water away from the car as fast as she could. As she reached the shelter of a line of trees, she heard a single gunshot and bit back the cry that rose to her lips. If Bryce had been killed because of her...
For several heart-stopping minutes nothing happened. Not daring to risk leaving her hiding place, Steffi waited in silence for some clue to what had gone on.
Eventually, she heard footsteps and a voice called out, “Steffi? Where the hell are you?”
It was Bryce and this time she allowed the cry to escape her lips. She had intended to shout his name, but instead it came out as a strangled sob. Emerging from the trees and looking up the slope, she saw him at the top. Leaning down, he offered her his hand. Reaching for him, she twined her fingers into his and let him haul her up the bank. Glancing over at the Russian’s car several yards away, she saw her abductor writhing on the ground, clutching his left knee and groaning. Blood was seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the road.
Even though he was clearly in agony, he raised his head and glared at her. Through clenched teeth, he muttered a warning. “You think you can outrun the Big Guy? Think again, Stefanya.”
Steffi felt her own knees begin to wobble and was glad when Bryce slid his arm around her waist as he led her toward the Range Rover. “Let’s get out of here before someone calls the cops.”
* * *
“Damn.” Bryce felt the unmistakable drag on the wheel as he pulled out onto the highway.
“What is it?” Steffi slewed around in her seat. “Are we being followed?”
“No, we have a flat tire. It must have been damaged when I immobilized his vehicle.”
She made a sound that might have been the start of a hysterical laugh. It tailed away as she looked his way again. “Do we have to stop?”
In normal circumstances, Bryce would not have driven with a flat tire. He had no desire to run up a hefty repair bill, and he knew the damage he would do to the rim if he didn’t pull over and change the tire. But these circumstances were far from normal. Whatever was going on with Steffi, he had to get her away from a situation where these guys, whoever they were, could catch up with her again.
“Not yet. But I don’t understand why you won’t call the police.” Bryce looked across at Steffi as she returned to her huddled position low in the passenger seat. She looked like someone who was trying to disappear into herself. He had tossed her his phone as they got into the car, but all she had done was stare at it as if it was a coiled snake. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who those guys are.”
“If we call the police, I will have to tell them who I am.” Her voice was a quiet monotone. He got the feeling she had said those words many times, maybe just not out loud.
“You said you didn’t commit those murders.” Bryce kept his voice low, sensing she was close to a breaking point.
She pushed her curls back from her face with a hand that shook. “I didn’t, but you have no idea what I’m up against.”
“Tell me.” He risked glancing away from the road again and was shocked at the raw fear he saw on her face.
“Can we get off the highway first?”
“Steffi, that guy isn’t going to be moving anytime soon. There’s no way he’s following us.”
“He won’t be alone.” Those haunting eyes were wide with fear. “Please?”
Bryce gave it some thought. His house was on the opposite side of town, and he was seriously concerned about Steffi’s well-being if she stayed in the car much longer. She was walking a knife-edge between stability and hysteria, swaying precariously back and forth from one to the other. He had no idea what was going on, but it was clear she was scared half to death. He also had the issue of a shredded tire and an increasingly damaged rim to take into account.
They
