And Calla.
Mack’s hands fisted as Liam floored it. Mack’s eyes flipped back and forth between the GPS and the blinking dot on Liam’s phone.
Please let Calla be okay. Mack wasn’t a praying man but he swore he’d go to church every Sunday if only Calla was okay.
If Bone was just going to kill her right off, he would have left her with the paramedics.
No, Bone would want Mack to know she’d suffered Bone’s particular brand of violence before killing her.
They slowed down as they came up behind a small Toyota going the speed limit and Mack’s knee jiggled impatiently. The red dot passed the juncture of where their road met up with the ambulance’s. They were only maybe a minute behind.
“Faster or we won’t be able to catch up with them.”
“I’m working on it,” Liam said. He laid on the horn as he passed the Toyota and slid back into the right lane just as an oncoming car barreled by, honking their own horn.
“Fuck,” Mack swore, grabbing onto the handle on the ceiling as Liam’s truck swerved, readjusting. “You’re gonna get the goddamned cops on our ass.”
“Sounds good to me. The more the merrier.”
Mack didn’t know about that. He’d prefer to dole out his own form of justice before the cops got involved. He kept the Glock in his truck in case he ran into any dangerous wildlife. Mountain lion sightings were rare, but they still happened. Now, though, he recognized that Bone was the monster he’d really bought the gun for.
They finally reached the T junction where they turned right onto the road the ambulance was on. Mack checked the red dot. He didn’t know the scale of the little map, but it didn’t look like they were far ahead. Even at top speed, the ambulance couldn’t be booking it that fast. Especially not compared to Liam’s lead foot.
There were fewer and fewer signs of the city the further out they went. The road they turned onto was a narrow, scenic two-lane highway. Trees lined either side. Liam honked and passed a couple cars and then—
“There they are!” Liam shouted as the ambulance came in to view. It didn’t have lights or sirens on and it swerved back and forth on the road.
“Jaysus, is the fucker drunk?”
“Get in front of ‘em,” Mack said, straining against his buckle and rolling down his window to get a better look. He pulled out his Glock and loaded the chamber.
“What the fuck are you going to do?” Liam shouted, glancing back and forth between the gun and the road.
“Pay attention to the goddamned road,” Mack said, eyes locked on the ambulance.
“You’re mad as a box of feckin’ frogs,” Liam muttered through gritted teeth. They sped up until they were passing the ambulance.
“Bone’s driving,” Mack called. At the same moment Bone looked down and saw Mack hanging out the window. And the bastard grinned. Fucking grinned.
“Get in front of him,” Mack said, still watching Bone. “Force him to stop.”
Liam had obviously been of the same mind because even as Mack said it, they passed and were about to pull in front of the ambulance. At least until Bone jerked on his wheel and rammed into them.
“Shite!” Liam yelled, just managing to right the truck before they fishtailed off the road. In the distance, another truck was heading their way in the oncoming lane. To their left was a large lake.
“Pass them,” Mack yelled.
“I’m trying!” Liam slammed his foot on the gas and the truck lurched forward. Mack was thrown back against the seat. His fingers went white-knuckled on the grab handle overhead and he sent another prayer up as the truck heading toward them started honking.
Liam had just about passed the ambulance when it jerked in their direction again, this time clipping them on the back taillight.
Shit!
They almost spun right into the ambulance’s way. What the fuck was Bone thinking? Mack barely had a second to think before the truck’s wheels burnt rubber Liam yet again managed to steady them. They cut in front of the ambulance right in time to avoid the oncoming truck.
“Holy shite,” Liam shouted as it whizzed by, the horn blaring in one constant honk. Mack swung around to look out the back window at the ambulance.
Mack could just barely make out Bone’s ugly mug behind the wheel, features mottled with rage. And shit, even after all this time, Mack felt a kick of terror in his guts. Bone still had that power over him.
He swung around. “Let’s end this,” he said and Liam nodded. He punched the gas even more, furthering the distance between them and the ambulance.
Then, the road clear of on-coming traffic, he spun the truck sideways, blocking both lanes of the road. There were trees on one side of the road and the lake on the other.