Ring of Lies (60 page)

The engine
roar
ed as
the
Explorer
veered off the freeway and
raced
down a steep bank.
The suspension growled as if in pain
as
the
underside
bounced off
a rock
and t
he
car took flight. It smashed
down, the wheels spinning as they fought for grip on the
grass
.

S
hots
bounced off
the tailgate
in
a spray of sparks
.
Grace screamed.
She fisted her hands, digging her nails into her palm
as
they
careered
down
the
dirt track in the Everglades with no
visible
mea
ns of escape.

Please, God.
We’re too young to die!
Please don’t let Jack die
. H
is baby daughter needs her Daddy!

Thin, flat bladed leaves of sawgrass swayed and rustled in their wake
. O
ccasionally, she caught a glimpse of a cypress tree rising up out of the
marsh.
She
squinted up
at Jack, hi
s brow creased in concentration as he
fought for every yard of progress
.

A hail of bullets gouged the
bodywork
as they crested a small rise.
Grace knew Jack was driving as fast as he
dare
, but it wasn’t fast enough. The pursuing vehicle
was closing
on them
, its h
eadlights flood
ing
the passenger cabin
with
dazzling,
white light.

The track suddenly petered out and
they were driving through a slough
,
a free-flowing channel of water.
T
he
offside wheel hit a submerged
mangrove
root
throwing Grace against
the
door
with such force that p
ain
shot down her
right
arm and across her neck
. She bit
back another scream
and tasted blood.

T
he wheels found firm ground
,
as the first drops of rain fell on the windscreen. T
he
Explorer
lunged
forward
at the same wicked pace
.
T
hey’d
barely
covered half a mile when
Jack
put
it
into a
power slide that
had
them
turning
right
onto
another track.

The interior was plunged into darkness as t
he other vehicle missed the turning
, but
Jack kept
his foot
hard on the gas
. T
he
Explorer
buck
ed
and bounc
ed
over the
dry
earth
, dust and grit
boi
ling in its wake.

Grace braced herself as best she could, but her
back
slammed into the dashboard
, forcing t
he air out of her lungs
,
leaving her
bruised and
gasping for breath
.

‘
We’ve lost them for now. But it won’t be long before they back track and find the turn
-
off.
We’ll have
to d
itch the
car
.
’

‘
Are you crazy?
’
she gasped.
‘
There are snakes and alligators out there!
’

‘
The rear ty
re is
finished and we’re out gunned.
W
e’ll stand a much better chance if we
hide out in the sawgrass until morning
.
’

C
old sweat snaked down
Grace’s
back. She clamped down on her fear and peered over the top of her seat
.
H
eadlights
circled
the night sky.
‘
Can’t we call for help?
’

Jack tapped the cell phone on the dashboard.
‘
There’s no signal.
T
rust me
, w
e’re better off on foot.
T
he Everglades are criss-crossed with dirt tracks
.
Once we’ve lost our tail, we can make our way to
a Ranger station,
and I can use their phone to
call for
back up
.
Either way, it’s our
only
chance of surviving
.
’

Grace felt like a cornered animal. Her breath was almost as rapid as her heartbeat.
It will work out,
she told herself
. We’ll still be alive tomorrow.
Won’t we?

Ahead, rising out of the darkness, stood a dense patch of trees and low-growing bus
h
es and palms.
Jack
put
the
Explorer
into a skid
, the wheel kicked like a bronco, and dust mushroomed up in a cloud.
He switched off the engine and
took out his gun
and checked the clip. It was
full
.

‘
Ready?
’

‘
I…can’t…do…
this.
’

‘
Yes you can.
It’s less than
ten
yards to that stand of trees.
’

Grace took a long gulp of air.
No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get enough. H
er vision blurred.
She fought the panic,
and
made herself breathe in, breathe out, slow and deep.

Jack rested a hand on her shoulder.
‘
Stick close to me
, okay?
’

Despite her fears,
she forced herself
to
answer.
‘
Okay.
’
Her knees buckled
as
she
climbed out of the
vehicle
. Using the
bodywork
for support
,
she inched her way round to
the tailgate
into time to see
Jack unlock a metal box in the trunk.

‘
Here hold this.
’
He handed her a flashlight, then removed two
spare
clips of ammunition
from the box
.

Headlights flared on the track.
She tugged at his shirt.
‘
Jack
—
’

‘
What?
’

‘
I think they’ve found us.
’

Jack
swung round and glanced at the approaching lights. He
pocketed the spare clips,
stuffed
an old
jacket and a bottle of water into a duffle bag
,
along with Grace’s purse
, his cell phone and the Sat-Nav
. He
grabbed
her
hand and pulled
her
into the
river of grass
.

The moon vanished, swallowed by clouds.
Within minutes, the rain turned into a deluge, plastering
Grace’s
shirt to her skin. Water seeped into her
shoes
and soaked the bottom of her jeans
,
as
they
moved
deeper into the marsh. She lost all sense of direction as she blindly followed in
his
footsteps.

Jack kept up a relentless pace,
but
she couldn’t
ask him to
slow down or
stop, not
when there was a chance t
hey could outwit their purs
u
er.
Sweat
mingled with the rain, and
trickled down her face and
neck
and between her breasts.
She
pushed her
wet
hair
out of her eyes
and stumbled on.
S
awgrass rattled in the breeze.
Fox? Turtle?
Man?
She strain
ed
to pick up the slightest sound. But all she could hear was her own rapid heartbeat.