Corinne

 

I ought to have been exhausted, and I supposed, in a way, I was. Even though, to be honest, Asa had done most of the work, I felt as if I had run a couple of marathons back to back. But then again, I also felt exhilarated. I had crossed frontiers, done things I had never done, felt things I had scarcely believed possible, and experienced an ecstasy I had never imagined. With that came excitement and unexpected energy, banishing tiredness. I wasn't ready to go home yet.

 

"We've probably got a few hours yet."

 

Asa looked at me in polite horror. "I love your optimism, but I can hardly walk, let alone anything else. You've got to at least give me a chance to get the feeling back downstairs."

 

"I meant we could do something else!" The night's activities had sated even my intense lust for Asa. For tonight at least. Tomorrow was another day. "Let's go for a ride."

 

Asa grinned, and I wondered if he was feeling the same light-headed euphoria that I was.

 

Minutes later, we were racing along the highway. I clung to Asa with a big grin on my face. "Faster!" I urged, and, as he so often had that night, Asa found another gear.

 

It was hard not to make comparisons between this and our activities earlier, if only because right now I found it hard to think of anything else. Asa was in charge, and yet responding to my every whim, trying to make me happy. I made demands on him, and he pushed his powerful machine up to and beyond its limits just to satisfy my insatiable desire and make me scream in excitement. It was a wild thrill. I felt like an outlaw on the run.

 

I was so caught up in this little fantasy of mine that, when I first heard the siren, I thought it must be in my imagination. It was only gradually that I realized it was real, and with that, the bottom dropped out of my stomach.

 

"Hell," muttered Asa, glancing back.

 

I did the same, praying as hard as I could that I would not see what I was so afraid of seeing. But, even before I could see clearly, I had a hunch that I knew what I would see. I had had one of the best nights of my life, but a girl could only be that lucky for so long before the universe felt the need to balance it out with some equally bad luck. It wasn't just any cop on our tail. It was my dad.

 

"You can outrun him, right?" I asked Asa, struggling to be heard above the engine. "Bikes are faster than cars, yeah?"

 

"Yeah," Asa replied through gritted teeth. "But not safer."

 

He didn't have to say it. I knew what he meant. If he had been on his own, then he would have outrun them. He was happy enough to risk his own life. But he would not risk mine. The irony was that, if Dad had known who he was pursuing, he probably would have pulled back too, not wanting to put me in danger. But he was tailing a speeding bike with no idea that it was his disobedient daughter on the back. And if he caught us, then prison was the best-case scenario for Asa. Out here in the middle of nowhere, there was no telling what might happen to a biker, caught with the sheriff's daughter. Accidents happen.

 

"What are we going to do?"

 

"We're going to hide."

 

"Where?" There was nothing to hide behind out here in the wilds.

 

"We're not far from town."

 

I hadn't really noticed where we were, at first too caught up in enjoying myself, then in the terror of pursuit, but I saw now he was right. At this speed, we were only minutes from town, where there were plenty of places to hide. If we were lucky, then Asa could keep his liberty, and Dad would never know that I had gone behind his back again.

 

But, then again, if he knew ...

 

I dismissed the thought from my mind almost as soon as it came to me. I wanted to protect Asa, but if I could avoid hurting my father, then I would. I wasn't ready to make that sacrifice just yet.

 

We hit town, and I thanked God that this was a quiet town where the streets were empty at night. There were no pedestrians to avoid and no other cars to weave around. Though, of course, that also meant that Dad could stay close.

 

"Where is he?" Asa asked, his eyes glued to the road.

 

I glanced back, trying to keep my face hidden. "Just reaching the intersection."

 

"Right."

 

Without warning, Asa pulled the bike left, and we hurtled down a narrow alleyway. I bit my lip to stop myself crying out in fear. I wasn't at all sure what Asa had in mind here. Dad might not be able to follow us, but he could meet as at the far end and might even be able to cut us off, as Asa had been forced to slow down in this narrow passage.

 

"Whoa!" This time I did cry out as Asa, once again, took me by surprise, turning right, not into another alleyway, but down a slope into the loading bay of a warehouse.

 

"Come on.” He was off the bike as soon as it stopped.

 

"Where are we?"

 

"This place has been abandoned for years," Asa explained. "It's condemned as unsafe, but the town never seems to have the budget to destroy it. It's a useful one to know about."

 

We ran through empty, dusty rooms, our footsteps echoing loudly.

 

"Problem is," Asa continued, "that because it's a useful place to know about, I'm betting your dad does know about it. The man's no fool. Cutting through here won't buy us long, and hiding here, we'd just be waiting to be caught."

 

"Then what's the plan?" I asked, as we emerged on the other side of the building.

 

"I need a car."

 

I watched as Asa snatched up a half brick from the ground and used it to smash the window of a parked car. He got in and set to work hotwiring it.

 

"Can you make it home from here all right?"

 

"What?" I asked, not quite understanding.

 

"He'll keep chasing me. That should give you a chance to make yourself scarce. Get yourself home, and he'll be none the wiser."

 

"What?"

 

Asa stopped what he was doing to look at me. "Are you really not understanding what I'm saying?"

 

"You think I'm going to leave you now?" I asked. After what had passed between us tonight, he surely couldn't imagine that.

 

"I know you are."

 

I shook my head. "The hell I am."

 

The car's engine coughed into life, and Asa looked back at me. "I don't have time to argue with you on this, Corinne."

 

"Good."

 

"Now, get yourself hidden. I need your dad to find me, and then he can follow me while you get away."

 

"No."

 

I saw his expression change as worry entered it. He stopped issuing commands and spoke to me more earnestly. "Cor, if you come with me now, then that's it. I don't want to drag you into this life. I won't do it. You can't expect me to."

 

"And you can't expect me to leave you to my dad. He's out for your blood, and you know it. He'd like nothing more than to get you into a high-speed chase, ending in a shoot-out. You're giving him the excuse he needs, and damn it, Asa, I don't want to see either of you hurt!"

 

Asa slammed the car door but, before he could leave, I jumped in beside him.

 

"Get out!"

 

"No!"

 

Suddenly headlights cut in on our argument. Dad had found us.

 

"Get down!" Asa hissed, gunning the engine.

 

But I didn't. I knew what I had to do now, however much I didn't want to do it. It was in my power to protect Asa from my dad, and, indeed, to protect Dad from him (who knew how the chase might end). All I had to do was let Dad see that I was with him.

 

For a split second as the two cars passed each other, I caught sight of Dad, and one look at his face told me that he had seen me too. There was anguish in his features. It was the face of a man who knew that he had lost his daughter. It was a horrible sight and a gut-wrenching one for me to witness. It was what I had been hoping to avoid throughout this chase. I hadn't wanted to break Dad's heart.

 

But I also couldn't bear to see Asa in jail, or worse. With legal means exhausted, knowing what he knew about Asa and me, I wasn't sure where Dad would draw the line. He was a man who had lived his life by the letter of the law, and that law had let him down. He had done everything right and had wound up with a daughter who had sex with thugs. When a man who has lived all his life in a box is suddenly released from that restriction, then who knows what he may do? A lifetime of repression and obedience was breaking free, as his anger at Asa peaked. All because of me.

 

I didn't want to hurt either of them. I wanted to protect them both. But circumstances and bad luck had combined with my own careless stupidity to conspire against that. Only by hurting Dad could I save Asa, and the only consolation I had was that I might also be saving Dad from himself.