He stomped on the brakes, hard, and cramped the steering wheel to the right, whipping the Cord into a ninety-degrre angle and sending it on a broadside skid. The high, narrow tires shrieked from their treads'
friction against the pavement. The Cord ended up sideways, blocking both lanes of the highway, the driver's side not more than a meter from a woman standing stock-still.
Pitts heart had doubled its beat. He let out a deep breath and looked at the woman he'd come within a hair of mashing like a bug. He saw the fear and shock in her eyes slowly transform into an expression of incredulity.
"You!" she gasped. "Is it really you?"
Pitt stared at her blankly. "Ms. Kamil?"
"I believe in d'eji vu," Giordino mumbled. "I do, I do, I do."
"Oh, thank God," she whispered. "Please help me. Everyone is dead.
They're coming to kill me."
Pitt climbed from behind the wheel at the same time Lily stepped from the passengers' compartment. They helped Hala inside and lowered her on the rear seat.
"Who's they?" Pitt asked.
"Yazid's paid assassins. They murdered the Secret Service men guarding me. We must get away quickly. They'll be here any second."
"Rest easy," Lily said soothingly, noticing Hala's smokeblackened skin and singed hair for the first time. "We'll take you to a hospital."
"No time," Hala gasped, making a trembling gesture through the window.
"Please hurry or they'll kill all of you too."
Pitt turned just in time to see two black Mercedes sedans burst from the woods and veer onto the highway. He studied them for no more than a second before jumping into the driver's seat. He shifted into first gear and jammed the accelerator to the floor. He twisted the wheel and turned the Cord in the only direction open to him-back toward downtown Breckenridge.
He looked briefly into the mirror strapped to the side mount spare tire.
He estimated the distance between the Cord and the terrorists' cars at no more than three hundred meters. That brief glimpse was all he had time for. His rear view was suddenly cut off as a bullet drilled through the mirror and shattered the reflection.
"Down on the floor!" he yelled at the two women in back.
There was no drive shaft on the Cord, and the women were able to curl up and press themselves against the flat floor. Hala stared into Lily's face and began trembling uncontrollably. Lily put an arm around her and forced a brave smile.
"Not to panic," she said encouragingly. "Once we make it to town we'll be safe."
"No," Hala murmured as shock began to set in. "We won't be safe anywhere."
In the front seat Giordino hunched low to get what shelter he could from the gunfire and higid wind whistling around the windshield. "How fast will this thing go?" he asked conversationally.
"The best top speed ever recorded for an L-29 was seventy-seven,"
answered Pitt.
'Miles or kilometers?"
'Miles. "
"I have a sinking feeling we're outclassed." Giordino had to shout in Pitts ear to be heard above the howl of the Cord's second gear.
"What are we up against?"
Giordino swung around, leaned over the door and cast a wary eye backward. "Hard to tell what model a Mercedes is from the front, but I'd say the hounds are driving five hundred SDLS."
"Diesels?"