Fighting (16 page)

I
leveled a look at him and saw Ethan in the background, waiting patiently.

"The
key to this is to open up your mind to all possibilities.  If this were a real
life or death chase, your choices would be endless.  Drive on sidewalks, down
stairwells, shoot out their tires, go against traffic.  Do absolutely whatever
it takes to win, because winning is surviving," Brooks said.  "You
always have a choice in every situation.  It may be as simple as sink or swim,
or as complicated as who to save and who to sacrifice."

"That's
not ominous or anything," I said lightly.

"I'm
just saying that no matter the complexity of a situation, you
always
have a choice.  With driving, your choices may seem crazy or outlandish, but
you would be surprised what works when you're in a tight situation.  For now
though, let's keep it mild because it's not life or death and I don't feel like
calling the insurance man today," he said dryly.

I
took a few deep breaths and then nodded my head in acceptance.  Brooks looked
over to Ethan and he revved his engine.  I was a bundle of nerves, but I looked
into Ethan's predatory smile and felt a nervous trill that had
nothing
to
do with racing, and otherwise calmed down.  Brooks held up three fingers and
counted down to one.  As soon as he brought down the last finger, I floored it
and eight tires squealed on the pavement. 

We
were off like a shot, taking up both lanes of the road.  I was praying no one
came at me around a curve, because I was in the oncoming traffic lane.  Brooks
was right, Ethan obviously had a lot more experience in this, because it didn't
take very long at all for him to eclipse me.  I swerved into his lane to follow
his lead, since he was faster and I had no idea where the vineyard was.  We
drove fast around the curves but unlike last time, I was settling into the
competitive spirit, so I kept pushing it harder and harder.  The nervous
feeling in my stomach was replaced with solid excitement as the trees around us
began to become more sparse, and soon we came upon a town.  It must have been
the closest town to us, because at the super accelerated speeds we were going,
it was less than twenty minutes away. 

Now
it was really time to worry about cops, not to mention other cars and
pedestrians.  I focused more on not crashing into anyone or thing and less on
trying to beat Ethan.  We weren't going nearly as fast as we were on the open
road, but it was still twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit.  Our
squealing tires drew attention and people were darting away left and right.  I
was still behind Ethan, but right on his tail now that he had slowed down.  We
reached the center of the town where there was actual traffic, and Ethan had to
slam on his brakes to avoid hitting a suddenly stopped car, with oncoming
traffic so he had nowhere to go.  I swerved around him and into the suddenly
empty oncoming traffic lane and went around them, my heart beating furiously
out of my chest.

"Where
do I go?" I yelled at Brooks.

"Straight
and then a sharp left in about five hundred yards, before you pass the
bank!" he yelled back.

I
increased my speed, knowing that I'd have to time it exactly right to make the
sharp curve without slamming into the row of buildings that lined the street. 
I saw Ethan speeding up in my rearview mirror.   He was three stop lights
behind me but he took a left the exact same time I did. 

I
let off the gas and pulled the handbrake, tapping the foot brake every few
seconds so my wheels didn't lock up. 

"That
was perfect!" Brooks shouted.

I
laughed and kept my eyes on the road, constantly scanning.

"Now
what?" I shouted.

"Straight
ahead for two miles, then a right before the hardware store!"

I
was picking up speed now that I was going down a straight road again, but Ethan
was too fast for his own good.  He suddenly emerged from a side road and right
onto my tail.

"Son
of a bitch!" I yelled.

"Hey,
babe!" I heard Ethan's voice yell through a tiny speaker. 

Brooks
held up a two way radio and said into it, "What did I tell you about
calling me babe, Ethan?"

All
I heard next was static and laughter. 

The
road opened up some and next thing I know, Ethan is driving right beside of me
and chancing glances at me.  Taunting son of a bitch.

"Gimme
the radio," I told Brooks.  I held it to my mouth and glanced at Ethan
when I could.  "I win, I get to call you Buttercup!"

He
smiled huge and said, "You're on.  I win, I call you whatever I want,
whenever I want."

If
it wasn't enough that I was driving a fast car and riding an adrenaline high, I
now felt incredibly turned on.  There was a certain darkness to his voice that
I responded to on a supremely physical level.

Where
the hell were my stupid boundaries at, now!

Brooks
took the radio back before I could respond to that.  "I'm still in the
car, guys," he said into the radio. 

Ethan
laughed and I refocused on the race.  I saw the hardware store approaching, and
turned right before Ethan did.  We did a, what I found out later, was a
synchronized drift.  It was spectacular.  It also meant that we were still
tied.

We
corrected on the road and Brooks said, "Straight for three miles and then
take the left at the book store and it's on that road."

I
braked a second too late for the last turn, and I almost didn't make it.  I
straightened up and Ethan was ahead of me by a few hundred feet.  I floored it,
knowing this was the last road.  Ethan must have sped up at the same time,
because I didn't catch him.  Right as I saw the vineyard sign appear in the
distance, I heard sirens.

"Shit!"
I screamed, in a total panic.

"Calm!"
Brooks shouted.

I
immediately started pacing my breathing and my eyes were frantically jumping
between the road in front of us and the flashing lights in the closing
distance.

"Ethan,
cops on our tail," Brooks said calmly into the radio. 

"I
hear 'em," Ethan responded. 

"Split
up and we'll meet you back at the --"

"No!"
I yelled, interrupting him. 

"It's
okay Alex, I'll see you at home," Ethan said before splitting off and
taking a sharp left turn while I stayed the course.  One cop stayed on my tail,
the other split off with Ethan.

"Do
exactly as I say, exactly when I say it," Brooks said.

I
glanced at the lights flashing in my rear view mirror and compartmentalized my
panic to get all of us home safely.

"Okay."

"Right
turn.  Now!" he ordered.

I
turned at the last second as he said and the cop turned quickly as well, but
almost didn't make it.  I drifted around turns as efficiently as I could, channeling
Ethan and keeping my cool under pressure. 

I
maneuvered around cars and people
everywhere
.  Brooks kept the
directions to a minimum, knowing I made a more competent driver if I didn't
have to waste time processing direction.  I made most of the decisions
impulsively, taking turns but going in the general direction Brooks told me to
go.  The cop car became smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror because we
were in a highly populated area.  It made it harder for both of us, but more so
for them because I could go anywhere I wanted, but they couldn't predict where
I'd go next, adding reaction time to their driving. 

Right
as I was becoming confident that we might escape, another cop car emerged out
of nowhere and almost collided into us perpendicularly at an intersection.

"FUCK!"
I shouted.

I
knew they braked hard because I could see their tires sliding, so instead of
hitting the brakes to avoid a collision, I floored it and swerved around them,
barely missing their front end.  It slid to a stop and pulled a ninety degree
turn and squealed after me, joining the other cop in pursuit.  It was gaining
on me until I turned at the last second and a civilian car careened into the
back end of the cop car, severely damaging it and sending it flying away from
us.

With
only the original cop still after us, I saw a two lane roundabout up ahead and
made yet another split second decision.  I drifted around the entire thing and
back onto the road that I just turned off of.  The cop car tried to follow but
at a detrimentally slower speed, and I gained a lot of distance between us.

I
kept driving and finally got enough distance that I would lose sight of them
for a few seconds every time I turned a corner. 

"Keep
going.  Don't stop until I tell you to," Brooks said.

"I'm
not going straight back to the compound?" I asked.

"No,
by this point they have the make, model and tag number and have spread word to
other units.  We'll be spotted before we even make it out of town.  We need to
park and get a different ride back."

I
drove down more streets, weaving through traffic and running red lights with a
heady control.  After I had made a few turns without seeing any cop cars at
all, Brooks directed me to a parking garage.  I quickly slid inside and went up
to the second parking deck, parked and immediately exited the vehicle. 

"They
didn't see us drive inside here, but someone did and the police will show up
eventually."

He
pulled the radio out and handed it to me.  He retrieved a bag from the trunk
and set it on the ground.  He knelt behind the trunk and removed the tag,
slipping it into the bag.

"Can
they trace that tag number back to you?" I asked.

He
glanced at me before pilfering through the bag.  "No."  He removed a
cloth and quickly wiped down the entire car, inside and out.  "It's better
to leave no evidence behind at all, even if you don't think it will lead back to
you.  If there's no place for an investigation to start, there's no place to
end," he said.

He
slung the bag on his shoulder and grabbed my elbow, briskly walking me to the
top of the parking deck and to a green SUV.  He popped the lock on the driver's
side door, and unlocked the other doors so I could jump in.  He leaned down
under the dash and hotwired the car like a pro.  Which is what he was, really.

He
took a deep breath and watching him, I did the same.  He put on a hat and told
me to put my hair in a knot on the top of my head like I wore when I was
exercising.  I shucked my black jacket to show a purple shirt underneath.  We
both buckled up and he backed out of the space and exited the parking garage
like we were calmly headed to a restaurant to eat a lazy Sunday dinner.  Right
as we turned at the stop light, I saw police cars sliding onto the road and
swerving in front of the parking garage entrance, blocking it off.  Brooks took
his time on the roads, going only three or four miles over the speed limit like
an average driver.

I
didn't want to bother Ethan in case he wasn't as successful as us, but I
needed
to know his status.  I gripped the radio tightly and stared at it, willing
it to come alive with Ethan's voice. 

Once
we were out of town and onto the back roads, Brooks said, "Try him.  We'll
be out of range soon if he's still in town."

"Ethan,
status," I said, my voice breaking slightly in my worry.

There
was nothing but silence for a few heart pounding seconds before I heard,
"All clear.  You?"

"All
clear," I repeated, my head hitting my seat in relief.

It
took much longer to arrive back at the compound and my body had calmed down and
was functioning normally again.  When we saw the cabin, I finally let my breath
go. 

"Shit,"
I breathed out.

Brooks
smiled at me and said, "That's the life."

He
pulled onto the long road that led to the cabin and I was about to burst at the
seams, I wanted out so badly.  I jumped out and darted inside the garage, but
found no Ethan.  I walked back outside and saw Brooks on the phone, talking to
what sounded like Ben about the stolen car and the one we abandoned.

I
knew Ethan was fine, but I wanted to see him with my own eyes before walking
inside the house, so I sat down on the gravel and drew my knees to my chest,
resting my head on my knees and staring at the driveway.  I trailed Brooks with
my eyes as he wandered around the car, still talking on the phone. 

About
ten minutes later, someone who I assumed was Ethan pulled onto the driveway.  I
raised my head up and Brooks turned around, both of us scrutinizing the
motorcycle that was coming steadily toward us.  I slowly stood up and went to
stand beside Brooks as his hand went to his waist, where I knew he kept a gun. 
The bike came to a stop a short distance from us, the guy swung a leg off the
bike and removed his helmet.

I
didn't even think.  I just sped forward and threw myself at him, wrapping my
arms around his neck.  He caught me and bent back slightly at his waist so my
feet dangled inches off of the ground and chuckled.