on the glass to look beyond Ike, using the side rear view mirror outside the passenger’s window as he furtively searched for the Suburban. He spotted it as they passed through a cut through one of the low hills before they reached Eldorado. They are coming, something will happen soon, he thought.
The terrain flattened out as they approached Eldorado, and remained flat for ten miles afterward, but the hills soon appeared again as they drove closer to Christoval, the small town where the jade green waters of the South Concho River flowed through the park and near the town.
The Suburban accelerated to move closer as Hunter drove through the last hills before the small town. She said, “That black Suburban’s been following us since Sonora. Now it’s coming faster.”
Ike glanced in the side rear view and spotted it, as well as Paco’s face looking at him. He said to Hunter, “What do you want to do?”
“Let’s play with them a little,” she said, and added, “Tighten your seatbelt.”
Hunter hit the brakes and the Ford’s tires squealed as the vehicle left two smoking, dark lines on the highway. She whipped the wheel and turned off 277, going so fast the big Ford leaned to the side as if it would roll over.
Paco clutched the door in a death grip as he yelled, “Aieeeee!”
Hunter made the turn and shot down Lewis Street, going straight west through the quaint, tree-filled neighborhood. The black Suburban finally made the turn and accelerated to follow, but had fallen behind.
Hunter watched her rearview to keep the Suburban in sight, then at the next intersection, turned right again, sliding the Ford around the corner onto Fourth Street and going south. She turned right again at the next block and sped east before turning right at the intersection with Third Street. Ike grinned at her as she returned to Lewis Street and turned, putting them behind the black Suburban.
Hunter made out two heads in the vehicle, both barely visible through the dark tinted glass. The driver had short hair and Hunter felt sure it was a man, while the passenger had long hair. The woman turned to look back and talked with her driver, using her hands to exclaim to him about being followed.
The Suburban accelerated, and Hunter did the same in the Ford. The chase sped through the small town and out on a farm to market road before the woman leaned far out the Suburban’s passenger window and shot at them.
Hunter jerked the wheel when she spotted the pistol, and the bullet hit high on the driver’s side window. It bounced off after making a cup-sized spider-webbed crack. Hunter turned at an intersection and sped toward the highway, feeling sure they could escape their pursuers now.
Ike said, “I guess they were feeling uncomfortable.”
“Hah, I guess so.”
“Good driving, Kincaid.”
Hunter nodded at him, “I think they’ll be more cautious about trying something, at least for a while.”
Paco waited for his heart to slow down, now that he was sure he wasn’t going to die in a wreck with a female driver who drove like a crazy person, throwing caution to the wind. He checked his pulse and found it still high. Hijo de la chingada. He thought, I won’t play with her when the time comes, either. I will kill this crazy one, too.
Hunter glanced at him in the rearview mirror and they locked eyes. He smiled and said, “It is lucky that you are such a good driver. I was es-scared, and you saved us.”
Hunter didn’t believe him, but he seemed harmless at the moment. She continued to drive toward San Angelo, and her thoughts ran to Anita, and to the child she’d only seen in a photograph, Kelly.
They made good time and saw little traffic. Paco said, “Drive on 277 to go beyond this town, and keep going on it.”
Hunter said, “How much farther?”
“Not too much. A little bit, maybe more than that.”
They stayed on the road, through town and turning north to continue, leaving San Angelo behind as they continued. Ike pointed and said, “That’s the Goodyear proving ground.”
Hunter grinned, “I’ll remember that if I ever want to drive around in circles for a while.”
“Hah.”
The hills and draws began to show a mile off to the left. As they passed a farm, Paco said, “There is a road, one mile from this farm, and there you turn left, into a ranch.”
“Is the gate locked?”
“Yes.”
Ike said, “Any people there?”
“No. It is a silent, lonely place.”