Chapter 31

 

Maggie

 

“Where are you taking me?” I asked for the millionth time from the backseat of the sedan.

 

“Look, for the last time, shut up. We’re trying to navigate here,” Calvin said in the front seat. He was the passenger. I’d learned their names from listening to them talk to each other, panicking, as they tried to figure out what they were going to do to get away from Blade, who’d been pretty steady on our tail since they’d taken me out of the auction house.

 

I started to think they didn’t have any idea where we were going. They’d turned onto the highway from one of the downtown streets, but Blade had followed. Though he’d fallen back a few car lengths, the single headlight of his motorcycle could be seen bobbing and weaving behind us, trying to keep up with us.

 

“Look, turn off here,” Calvin said in a low voice, glancing back. He was looking past me and through the back window.

 

“You sure?” Evan asked, hesitating and stalling. “Is he following us?”

 

“I don’t see him right now, but go ahead. If he’s not close enough, he won’t see us do it.”

 

“If you don’t tell me where we’re going, I’m going to open the door and jump out anyway,” I told the two clowns in the front.

 

Calvin looked at me with a hardened face. He was done. He didn’t say a word, only stared at me until I got the point. After a moment, he turned his eyes back to the road behind us. “Evan, man, go ahead and turn off. He won’t be able to catch up with us if you turn here, I promise,” he urged his partner.

 

“Hang on.” Evan jerked the wheel, sending me into the door, as he turned suddenly onto the exit. Calvin held onto the back of the wide front seat to keep from sliding across into his partner. He kept his eye out behind us for a moment but turned around by the time we were coming down onto the surface street.

 

I turned around and looked just out of curiosity. A single headlight timidly pulled itself from the crowd of lights behind us and followed us onto the off-ramp. While we sat at the light at the end of the ramp, we heard the motorcycle’s engine coming up behind us.

 

“There’s no way,” Calvin said, turning around. “No fucking way.”

 

“You said you didn’t think he’d be able to follow us,” Evan whined.

 

I debated opening the door and running, but I didn’t know the neighborhood, and I didn’t want these two on my tail. Besides, I wasn’t completely sure that was Blade behind us. There was no guarantee it wasn’t another guy on a motorcycle who just so happened to be behind us when we took off.

 

“What do we do now, genius?” Evan asked.

 

“Gun it when the light turns green. Lose him. You know how to do this,” Calvin said to encourage him.

 

While we waited a moment longer for the light, Calvin popped open the glove box and pulled out a handgun. He held it up in the light from the motorcycle, shining in through the back window. He checked to make sure it was loaded and cocked it. When the light changed, he rolled down his window.

 

“Get me a shot,” he told Evan.

 

“Right it is,” Evan said. He took the next right, giving Calvin a chance to aim at Blade.

 

He squeezed off a couple of rounds but apparently missed. More gunshots erupted from behind us as Blade fired back. The car tinged as it was pelted by bullets. I ducked and covered my head. Calvin fired off a few more rounds, and Evan tried to drive so Calvin could shoot but we wouldn’t get hit. The gunfire continued until Calvin ran out of bullets.

 

“Seriously, if this is what you want to do, you guys can just drop me off. I’ll walk,” I told them.

 

“No way, you’re our security. Once we stop, we’ve got to have something he wants to keep from getting shot before we can get away,” Calvin argued.

 

“But you’ve got to have a plan. So far it sounds like all you’re trying to do is survive as long as possible in hopes that a plan will somehow magically dawn on you. That’s not a plan!” I shouted.

 

“Hey, hold it down. I’m trying to drive,” Evan said, checking from one mirror to another to see what was going on behind us.

 

“Can you drive faster?” Calvin asked him. “Maybe we can lose him that way. I mean, just act like you know what you’re doing.”

 

“All right, everybody buckle up,” Evan warned us.

 

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or what, so I did as he said and pulled the seatbelt across my chest and lap. Calvin did the same. Then, Evan gunned it.

 

“I was a cab driver before I went to work for Axel,” he said, looking back in the rearview mirror as he sped through the streets, taking random turns and ignoring signals and signs.

 

“Just watch where you’re going, please,” I said, holding on for dear life.

 

“No problem. I just wanted to let you know so you didn’t think I was just driving like a madman,” he said before returning his eyes to the road.

 

Calvin didn’t seem concerned at all. He sat up front in a relaxed position. He tossed the gun back into the glove box and slumped down on his side of the seat. He even tilted his head back on the headrest.

 

“Hey, Maggie, check behind us and see if Blade is following us,” Evan said. His tone was comfortable, like he was talking to an old friend instead of someone he was holding hostage.

 

I turned around in my seat and looked out through the back window. I didn’t see anyone behind us. I watched for a minute, convinced someone was bound to pop out of the shadows somewhere.

 

“See anyone?” he asked again.

 

“I don’t see anyone, Evan,” I answered finally. I sank low in my seat, occasionally glancing back in hopes of seeing that lone motorcycle headlight.

 

“Looks like we lost him,” Evan said, nudging Calvin in the seat next to him.

 

“Huh, what?” his passenger said as he woke up. He stretched and sat up. “What’s happening?”

 

“We lost him,” Evan repeated.

 

“We sure?” Calvin asked. He turned around to double check. I watched his faced as he scanned the street behind us. He sighed and shook his head. At first, he actually looked disgusted. He turned back around.

 

“Where to now?” Evan asked.

 

Calvin turned back to face me. “You hungry?” he asked me.

 

I cocked my head. “What do you mean, am I hungry? You just kidnapped me. Why do you care?” I was hungry, but I was ready for this whole ordeal to be over and disappointed that Blade hadn’t caught up with us.

 

“Well, I’m hungry. I’m thinking we need firepower and food,” Calvin mused.

 

“Where to?” Evan asked. “You point the way, and I’ll make it happen.”

 

“First stop, a burger joint. Your pick.”

 

“I can’t believe it. I’ve been kidnapped by two creeps whose boss was just murdered right in front of them, after he almost raped me, and all you can think about is what you’re going to eat. Just let me go!”

 

Calvin sighed. “Get her something, too. Maybe she’ll calm down.”

 

Evan laughed as he pulled up to a small local drive-thru. There wasn’t a sign with a name on it, just a big bold light-up sign with the word BURGERS printed on it.

 

“If you try anything, remember, I don’t need a gun,” Calvin threatened me without turning around.

 

Burgers was one of those drive-thru joints where they took the order at the window instead of through an intercom system. Evan rolled his window down as we pulled up. Calvin kept his eyes cut to the side, looking at me over his shoulder to make sure I behaved while we were there.

 

I put my arm across the backseat and turned to look out behind us. While I sat there, I heard Evan order three double cheeseburgers, three fries, and three sodas behind me, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. A single light flashed from a parking space in the next parking lot over from us.

 

He’d followed us. A flashing motorcycle headlight didn’t mean anything in particular, but I knew it was Blade signaling to me that he’d followed us. I didn’t know how he’d done it.

 

I turned around, hoping the other two hadn’t noticed the motorcycle watching us. I graciously accepted the food they handed to me and sat back to start eating. I was starving, though I never would have admitted it to them.

 

“Everybody got everything they need?” Evan asked.

 

“I’m good,” Calvin answered. “How about you, Maggie?”

 

I gave him a thumbs up with my mouth full of my first bite. It was okay to eat once I knew Blade had followed us and was keeping an eye on us. I didn’t feel like I needed to sulk and look for a good opportunity to run from the car.

 

“All right, don’t spill anything. Axel will have our heads,” Evan said, laughing.

 

Calvin and I both looked up at him like he’d lost his mind.

 

“What? Are we not allowed to make jokes yet?” he asked with a mouthful of burger.

 

“That’s tasteless man. His ex is riding in the backseat,” Calvin said in a tactless whisper.

 

“All right, yeah, sorry. So, firepower?” Evan asked.

 

“Yeah, let’s hit up a pawn shop. Let’s pull off and finish our food first, though. We don’t have to be in a hurry. No one’s behind us.”

 

I had to fight back a chuckle. What he didn’t know would eventually save me, I figured. I just focused on my burger as Evan found a place to pull over and park.

 

“What about her?” he asked, meaning me.

 

“She’s too busy eating to try to run,” Calvin said, dismissing the notion.

 

I didn’t worry about chiming in. The food was too damn good. I chomped down on the burger and started on the fries once I finished it. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. “Guys, this food is pretty good,” I said through a mouthful of fries.

 

“It is, isn’t it?” Evan asked.

 

“So what’s the plan?” I asked again, figuring it was probably safe to bring it up again.

 

Calvin turned and looked at me. “All right, there is no plan. We’re just trying to get away from Blade and stay safe.”

 

“We’ve got to get firepower in case the rest of the Marauders decide to track us down after they realize what happened back at the safehouse,” Evan added.

 

I sat back and looked at both of them. I wasn’t in shock or anything like that. I just couldn’t believe they really didn’t have a plan. In the distance up ahead, a single light came on and started heading our way.

 

The revving motorcycle engine was clearly audible through the closed windows of the car. Calvin and Evan moved as if in slow motion, looking up from their food to see the motorcycle heading our way.

 

“Go,” Calvin urged Evan. “Go, go, go!”

 

Somebody spilled a drink as Evan cranked the engine and put the car into gear. He’d pulled over on the side of the road and parallel parked between two other cars. As he pulled out, the car shuddered, scraping against the car in front of us.

 

“He’s right there,” Calvin panicked.

 

Blade drove right past us and turned around as Evan took off. He fired a couple of shots at the front driver’s side door, but he didn’t hit Evan. Suddenly, the car sped away from the parking spot. We flew away from the curb, tires squealing and everything. I held onto my drink and fries to keep them from spilling in the backseat.

 

I wasn’t finished eating, and we were off again already.