AnnieLee kept her eyes straight ahead, as if she knew what was happening but didn’t want to see it. She held tight to the door handle. Her knuckles were white.
“AnnieLee,” he said.
“Hush,” she said curtly. “Just drive.”
They were driving along a narrow road of modest ranch houses, somewhere between the airport and the city. Ethan sped up again, and so did the truck. He cursed under his breath. There was no way Gladys could outrun that thing, and he couldn’t lead whoever this was to AnnieLee’s place.
Ethan’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. There was one thing he knew he could do, one thing the driver would not be expecting.
“Hold on,” he said to AnnieLee. He was about to turn a retreat into an attack.
As they neared a four-way stop, Ethan slowed to give a quick glance in all directions, and then he ran the stop sign. In the middle of the intersection, he swung Gladys all the way around, tires squealing, so he was heading straight toward the black truck. Ethan could almost see the driver’s face, but the man responded quickly, whipping a screeching, tight U-turn. He barely stayed on the road, but then he regained control of the big truck and raced back the way they’d come.
Ethan slammed the gas pedal to the floor. Gladys shuddered and her engine screamed.
“What are you doing?” AnnieLee cried.
“Tactical vehicle intervention,” Ethan said through clenched teeth. They were closing in on the truck, which was now stuck behind a slow-moving combine that took up a lane and a half of road. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather fight than run.”
He knew how to do it: get right behind the truck, line up his front bumper with its rear one, and give it a gentle tap. If he timed it right, the big black truck would spin out but then come to a safe stop.
AnnieLee was yelling something at him, but all his focus was on driving. He was six feet behind the black truck, now five. Then it started swerving, making it impossible for him to get in position. He dropped back, paused, and accelerated again. Five feet, four—and then AnnieLee was suddenly halfway into his lap, her hands reaching for the wheel. He tried to push her away, but she grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it hard. They went careening off the road and tore into the flat gravel of a construction site.
Ethan slammed on the brakes, and Gladys came to a shuddering stop. He turned to AnnieLee. “What the hell?” he yelled. “Why did you do that?”
AnnieLee’s blue eyes widened, and he watched in shock and confusion as tears welled in them, overflowed, and went spilling down her cheeks.
Chapter
51
AnnieLee threw open the door, flung herself out of the truck, and ran stumbling toward the field on the far side of the gravel. She could hear Ethan shouting behind her.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Halfway into the tall grass she stopped and turned around. He was fifty yards away, standing with his shoulders hunched and his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He looked furious.
Well, she was furious, too. Why on God’s green earth had he decided it was a good idea to spin around and try to clip the back bumper of that truck? What kind of crazy cowboy move was that?
“If you don’t come back and talk to me,” he called, “I will leave you here!”
She didn’t doubt him, and in a way, she wouldn’t blame him. She’d nearly gotten them killed.
But none of it would’ve happened if he’d simply kept on driving her home the way he was supposed to, instead of trying to take matters into his own hands.
This wasn’t his fight—it was hers. And she didn’t want him involved.
“AnnieLee?” He squinted at her. “Can you please come here?”
She wiped her eyes and started walking back toward Ethan Blake. The tall grass scratched at her legs, and katydids flung themselves out of her way in huge, flying arcs. When she reached him, he took her shoulders in his big hands. His touch was firm but gentle.
“What came over you, AnnieLee?” he asked. He didn’t sound furious anymore—he sounded tired and sad.
She didn’t know what to say to him. At first she’d panicked when she saw that they were being followed. She knew who those men were and what they were capable of. But then she’d realized that they weren’t going to hurt her—not then, not with Ethan there to protect her. They were just sending her another message. Reminding her that they weren’t going to leave her alone. That no matter where she ran, they’d find her. And that in one way or another, they’d make her pay.