March (17 page)

We stopped for a break and both bought prepackaged sandwiches, chocolate and cans of drink from the service station’s fridge. I tried to give Lachlan some money for petrol, but he waved it away. ‘I’ve got a job to go to. You keep your money, Tom.’

I still had a hundred dollars, which I owed to Repro, hidden in my new runners, but I didn’t know how long that was going to last.

Repro …
I hope you got away OK.

After we’d been driving for another hour or so, I noticed that Lachlan seemed to be looking in the rear-vision mirror frequently. Something was worrying him.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘Don’t know if I’m being paranoid,’ he muttered, ‘but I reckon we’re being followed.’

I instantly felt sick, and my whole body tensed up.

He turned to me. ‘Who’s after you, Tom?’ he said, seriously. Then he cracked up laughing. ‘You should see your face!’

I laughed along with him, realising he was only mucking around about someone being after me.

‘I could be imagining it,’ he continued, ‘but there are not many of those huge off-road vehicles around, and this guy’s been on my tail for quite a while now.’

I turned around to see what he was talking about and sure enough, not far along the road behind us, was one of those huge SUVs, with a
gleaming red and silver cabin perched up on its monster, oversized wheels.

I slumped down further in the seat, trying to be inconspicuous. ‘How long has it been behind us?’

‘Actually, I noticed them back when we left the city. They even stopped at the service station where we bought the sandwiches. It’s not easy to miss a car like that! Or the driver! I got a look at him and I’ve gotta tell you I didn’t like what I saw. He was even bigger and uglier than me! Looks like one of those Japanese wrestlers, and he had some other, weedier, character with him. Of course, they could always just be heading for the riverland district, too.’

So the sumo wrestler and his mate, Kelvin, from Oriana’s had tracked me down, and I knew they weren’t heading for the riverland district.

‘Sometimes you get a feeling for things,’ Lachlan continued. ‘I’ve got an instinct about people. I didn’t like the look of them at all.’

We drove on a little way in silence, while Sumo and Kelvin stayed close behind us on the road.

‘I must be completely paranoid,’ laughed
Lachlan with a shake of his head, after looking in the rear-vision mirror once more. He glanced sideways at me and grinned. ‘Why would anyone be following us!’

I tried to laugh along with him, but I knew too well we had nothing but trouble ahead. I slumped even further down into my seat. This was no laughing matter—we were being followed. And they were following this pick-up truck because they knew I was in it.

‘What’s this guy trying to do?’ Lachlan swore, glancing in the rear-vision mirror. I sneaked a look myself and snapped round again straight away. The SUV had come up right behind us, almost touching the end of Lachlan’s pick-up, filling up the back window with its huge bullbar and fortified front end.

Then came a mighty bang and our pick-up truck lurched forwards, causing us both to hit the dashboard! The monster truck was not only tailgating us but bumping us along, rear-ending us.

‘The guy’s insane!’ Lachlan yelled, leaning on his horn so that it blared loudly. ‘What’s he trying to do? Knock us off the road?’

I said nothing, aware now that as well as
trying to keep us straight on the road, Lachlan was staring hard at me.

‘What are you doing? You’re hiding!’ he accused me. ‘Look at you, huddling down in the seat, trying not to be seen. You do know something about this, don’t you?’

Another mighty rear-end bash struck and Lachlan battled with the steering wheel, struggling to keep the pick-up truck straight on the road. Cars travelling in the opposite direction honked their horns in protest.

Just as he’d straightened the ute up, the SUV accelerated hard and bashed into the back of us again!

Lachlan swore loudly. ‘You better tell me what’s going on! This could get us both killed! If you know anything, start talking now!’

It was time to come clean.

‘There are some people after me! They want something I have, but it’s not theirs. It’s something my dad gave me, but he’s dead now. It’s a long story. I’m sorry,’ I pleaded, ‘I can’t let them catch me! I need to stay alive so I can save the rest of my family!’

Another mighty crash from behind and the pick-up truck was lifted with only the two nearside wheels on the road. I clung onto the dashboard, terrified.

‘We haven’t got time for a long story!’ he said, realising the life-and-death seriousness of the situation. ‘I don’t know why, but my instincts tell me you’re all right. And if there’s one thing I hate,’ Lachlan roared, cursing the SUV in the rear-vision mirror, ‘it’s goddamn bullies!’

Again and again the mighty truck bashed into us, sending our smaller vehicle flying sideways and dangerously close to the oncoming traffic. If it was any busier on the other side of the road we both would have been written off in a head-on collision.

Another mighty bang from the truck behind us sent us swerving off the road briefly, before Lachlan was able to gain control of the wildly swinging vehicle.

He put his foot flat to the boards. ‘I’ll get them off our tail! Watch this!’

Lachlan hit a switch under the dashboard and his truck lurched forward. I saw the speedometer increase from ninety kilometres an hour to 130, then 140, 150 …

Lachlan laughed with glee. ‘This reminds me
of the last stock-car rally I was in! We won, too!’

We were speeding, bouncing all over the road! Trees whizzed by. I clung on, hoping that Lachlan was as good a driver as he thought he was. For a few moments, we pulled strongly away from the monster four-wheeler. I felt good, like we were going to make it! But this didn’t last long. Soon the SUV’s headlights had returned and it was back in position, right on our tail.

Another huge crash, and our pick-up went into a fishtail slide. Lachlan drove skilfully into the slide, correcting it.

‘I think I’d better jump out,’ I said, thinking that this insane car chase couldn’t go on any longer. ‘It’s me they want. You don’t have to die as well.’

Speeding along like this could only end in death.

Lachlan glanced across at me. ‘Don’t be crazy. As if I’d run out on you now.’

He hunched over the steering wheel, bracing himself. ‘Just as well my rev-head mate hotted up this little pick-up for me! We’ll outrun them! Don’t worry!’

But only a few minutes later, Lachlan frowned, his voice thin with tension. ‘I just
can’t shake them off! They’re staying right on me!’

The speedometer now was clocking 180 kilometres an hour! I clung onto the seat while the roadside streamed past in a grey-green blur. Suddenly there was an intersection ahead of us and Lachlan swung the wheel to the right, hard and fast. The pick-up truck screeched around the corner on its two right wheels with the entire left side up in the air. I would have crashed over on top of Lachlan except for the seat belt that anchored me. Lachlan yahooed with triumph! ‘That got them! They didn’t see that coming!’

The SUV continued racing through the intersection.

For the time being, we were rid of them.