Chapter Seven

Leandra

Fuck everyone.  As I dug through my purse looking for some aspirin, I cursed my lack of preparation.  Who packs condoms, a 9mm handgun, extra ammo, a switchblade, four hundred dollar bills, a cell phone, and no pain relievers?  You’d think I’d have learned by now to carry a couple pills around with the frequency of headaches I get.  It’s not like I’m dying of a tumor, it’s just so much fucking stress ever since I was put in charge of this whole operation.

“Not to add to your problems, Leandra, but we’re being followed,” Samuel casually remarked, hands tightening their grip on the Audi’s steering wheel.

“How many, how long?” I asked, needing to know the depth of the shit I was currently swimming in.

“At first I only thought one, but there’s more.  I count two black Range Rovers hot on our tail.  One is braver than the other and has made it obvious what he’s doing.  The other is more subtle and trying to hang back.  They’ve been with us since we left Ian’s apartment.”

“They can’t follow us to Angie’s party.  I’m not bringing my drama right to her doorstep.  It could literally be anyone at this point.  Cops, Barsotti douchebags, Hawk and Seamus trying to put me in my place…who even knows anymore?”

“It’s not Hawk,” Samuel insisted, speeding up and beginning to weave in and out of traffic to put some distance between us and our new friends.  We were lucky it was Sunday night and not rush hour on the interstate or there would have been a hell of a lot more cars on the road slowing us down.

“What do you know about him?” I questioned, getting the sinking feeling there was information not being shared.

“I’m going to tell you something, but I don’t want you losing your temper.”

“That means there’s a roughly ninety-nine percent chance that I’m about to have a fit.”  Great.  What next?

“You’ll find out tonight anyway.  They were planning to tell you at Angela’s party,” he replied, glancing in the rear view mirror and hitting the accelerator.

“Who are ‘they’ and what are you talking about?” I urged, making sure my seatbelt was tightly secured in preparation for a high speed car chase.  I hadn’t had this much excitement in quite a while.  Nothing got the heart pumping like rocketing down the freeway while trying to evade danger.  So thrilling.

“Stay low in case they start shooting,” he ordered.  “I think I can lose one of them up here…”

Sure enough, Samuel got in the exit lane and began to slow down as though he planned on getting off the interstate.  A black SUV got directly behind our car with the intent of following us down the ramp.

At the last possible second, my bodyguard swerved the car and floored the gas pedal, propelling the Audi back onto the highway.  Our new friend was not able to change course in time, thus being forced to exit and no longer an immediate threat.

“Don’t worry,” he offered reassuringly.  “I know how to drive.  We’ll be fine.  One down, one to go.”

“I’m not worried.  This isn’t my first time, sweetheart.  I got into quite a few incidents with Ian during his ‘grand theft auto phase.’  We ran from the cops and some other unsavory characters that didn’t appreciate him borrowing their cars.  That was a long time ago, though.”  In addition to making movies, my brother had a thing for stealing.  He’s multi-faceted, what can I say?

“Keep giving me reasons to hate that fucker, Leandra.  He puts you in more danger…”

“Eyes on the road,” I demanded, not appreciating the way Samuel gave me a dirty look when speaking about my brother.  Primarily because now was not the time to get distracted.  We still had one more car to outrun, and it was not going well at all.

“He’s getting closer,” Samuel advised.  “I’m not going to be able to lose him.  This guy is smarter than the other one.”

“Slow down and let him catch up.  Maybe we can get a glimpse of the driver.”

This turned out to be a fucking brilliant plan.  Not only did the SUV have black tinted windows leaving us completely clueless to the identity of our assailant, but the bastard took the opportunity to turn his vehicle into a weapon and side-swipe us!  I cringed at the sound of metal on metal as the vehicles made contact.

Maintaining complete control of the situation and not exhibiting any signs of panic, Samuel stomped on the gas in an effort to put some distance between us and create time to come up with a new strategy.

“They’re going to keep on coming,” I predicted.  “Even if we lose this guy, I’m sure the next one is right around the corner.  We’ve got to ditch the car and go incognito.  Whoever is behind this…they mean business.  If it was a scare tactic, they never would have rammed into us.”

“What are my options?”

“Get off at Bronx and Pelham.  We don’t have time to set the car on fire…we’re going to let her have a burial at sea instead.”

“What?” he asked in concern.  “What are you planning on doing to my Audi?”

“Cars are like women,” I explained.  “Another one will come along and you’ll like it just as much.  Nothing is irreplaceable.”

“I beg to differ.  Sometimes you find one you like and want to stick with it,” he argued, concentrating intently on the upcoming exit ramp and trying to make every move count.  It wasn’t going to be easy. 

“Oh yeah?  Have you found one to stick with?”  Yes, I should be focused on staying alive and not preoccupied with his words, but I couldn’t help it.  What if another woman had already claimed his heart and soul, and this was the reason he continually rebuffed my advances?

“Not me,” he replied absentmindedly while paying close attention to the rear view mirror, “but some people have.  That’s what I’ve been gently trying to explain.  Hawk has been seeing Angela for several months.  They planned on coming clean at her party tonight, but were worried you might cause a scene.”

Before I could have a fit about the fact that my best friend was in a clandestine relationship with one of my back-stabbing employees and had kept it a secret for months, Samuel sprang into action.  Speeding down the interstate and making no attempt to take the exit I suggested, he suddenly slammed on the brakes and veered over two lanes of traffic.  We made it down the ramp with seconds to spare, narrowly avoided a major accident, and somehow miraculously lost the black SUV in the process.

“What next?” he shouted, hyped up on adrenaline and ready for anything.

“Keep driving to any one of these streets that leads to the water. We’re gonna jump out, put it in neutral, and give her a little push.  The Audi goes for a swim and sinks to the bottom.  No car to chase, no way to find us.”

He did as he was told and that was the end of Samuel’s favorite vehicle.

“Now we make one last call and go off the grid,” I advised, pulling out my phone and dialing while walking in the direction of an aging Honda Accord.  After the call connected, I began speaking immediately.

“Operation Zombie is in effect.  Call Angela and tell her I’m okay.  See you on the other side, brother.”

Without waiting for a reply, I removed the battery from my phone and stomped both pieces to tiny bits before throwing them in a nearby garbage can.  I motioned for Samuel to do the same, and he complied instantly.  Technology could either be a blessing or a curse.  I had no intention of being tracked by my phone signal. 

“Would you care to let me know what the fuck is going on?” Samuel asked impatiently.

“Sure.  I plan to hotwire this Honda and then we’re going incognito.  Don’t worry, I’m well prepared for this exact type of situation.  It’ll be fine.”

Luckily the Accord was unlocked, so all I had to do was fiddle around with the wires for a minute and we were on our way.

“And the phone call?  What was that all about?” he questioned without even bothering to compliment my auto theft skills.

“I let Ian know that we were going on the run for a while.  Just like a zombie…let people think I’m dead, but eventually pop back up alive and well.”

He made a face that implied my plan sucked.

“Zombies eat brains, Leandra.  They’re hardly alive and well.”

“Play your cards right and I could be convinced to take a body part in my mouth,” I purred, taking my eyes off the road and staring directly at his crotch.  I could suck him off in ways he’d never even imagined.  Yes, car chases and danger can be invigorating.  My libido kicked into high gear and I was up for anything.

I really should have done this a long time ago.  Samuel and I definitely needed a chance to get to know each other better, and I could think of nothing more pleasurable than a little bonding time while on the lam.

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most brilliant.