Fighting to Be Free (Fighting to Be Free 1)

Ten minutes later and we pulled up at the last car of the night. “Can’t believe we pulled off this boost. This was awesome and definitely one for my memoirs,” he joked.

“Yeah, we make a pretty good team,” I agreed as I stepped out of the car and into the cold night air.

“See you at the warehouse.”

He nodded. “I’m gonna stop and get food. You sure I can’t tempt you with some greasy bird?” he offered, waggling his eyebrows.

I grinned and shook my head. “No thanks, man. See ya in a bit.” I skipped off to the car, excited to get the job done. As much as loved the high, I was tired now. This had been a seriously long night and all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and not get up until Monday - that wouldn’t happen though, I had Ellie’s birthday tomorrow. The thought of my little girl brought an instant smile to my face as I set to work on my last car. Dodger waited until I had the car started, then he turned and headed in the direction of the high-street - probably to fill his face with grease.

As I drove down the road, heading towards the warehouse, my cell phone started ringing. I dug it out of my pocket, holding it to my ear with my shoulder. “What?” I asked, not really in the mood for pleasantries, I just wanted to get this job done and get home to my bed now; my eyes were starting to sting from the lack of sleep.

“Kid, what time is Terry back with the Mazda? I need to get it loaded onto container three, then it’s good to go,” Ray asked.

I frowned. I’d given the car to Terry over half an hour ago, he should definitely be done by now.

“He’s not back?”

“Back? No. I assumed you two were still picking it up,” he replied.

My hands tightened on the steering wheel. Terry left before I went to go pick up this car, he should have been back ages ago! “I’ll call him and see what the hold-up is,” I suggested, disconnecting the call and not waiting for him to answer. I dialled Terry’s cell number and just waited, listening to the ring of the other line. When it rang off, I frowned and dialled again. “Come on, what are you doing?” I muttered, slowing my speed and listening to the ring again.

When he didn’t answer, I disconnected and threw my cell phone onto the seat next to me, pulling over and turning the wheel hard, doing a U-turn and heading back the way I came. It had been a while since I left him but I knew which route he would have took back to the warehouse.

I tried not to speed down the streets but my foot felt kind of heavy so I was definitely going faster than I should. After about ten minutes of fast driving, I felt the breath catch in my throat as I saw flashing lights up ahead. I pulled up about a hundred yards away from it and I groaned as I took in the scene before me. The beautiful car that I’d boosted less than an hour ago was a total wreck.

Another car had hit it from behind, practically lifting the little red Mazda up off of the ground so that its back end was perched up on the hood of the other car.

There was glass everywhere, metal twisted at odd angels. The little sports car’s back end was smashed up beyond recognition. Emergency vehicles were parked around, lights flashing. A fireman was busy cutting the doors off of the other car, obviously someone was trapped inside. There was no sign of Terry anywhere.

FUCK!

My eyes flitted around quickly, trying to see where he was. He needed to get the hell out of there, it wouldn’t be long before someone ran the plates on the car and realised that the freaking thing was stolen! Damn it, we were screwed.

Someone tapped on my window making me jump. I gulped as I turned towards the window, seeing a highway patrolman standing there, smiling. I silently wondered if I should just floor the accelerator and drive off. But the smile on the guys face wasn’t accusing or anything like that - he didn’t look like he knew I was sitting there in three hundred thousand pounds of stolen sports car. I forced myself to remain calm as I pressed the button to roll the window down.

He leant on the frame, his eyes flicking over the car appreciatively. “Hi there. Sorry, I can’t let you through; there’s been an accident up ahead. We’re diverting traffic off down another street,” he said, smiling apologetically.

I nodded, trying to keep my heart under control when all I wanted to do was scream Terry’s name so I could find him and get him the hell out of here before they started running plates and stuff on the cars. If Terry got arrested then they could look into who he worked for, who he worked with……we could all be screwed tonight if he didn’t keep his mouth shut. Damn it!

“Yeah, it looks bad. Are the drivers okay?” I asked, nodding at the wreck, my hands tightening on the wheel praying he would say that Terry was missing or something. Hit and run, hit and run, hit and run. I chanted it over and over in my head, praying for the words to leave his mouth, they didn’t though.

He nodded grimly. “The driver of the front vehicle isn’t too bad, concussion and seatbelt damage I would imagine. He’s with the medics right now, on the way to the hospital. The other driver is okay I think, they just can’t get her out because the door jambs are bent. They should both be okay though,” he replied, smiling as my heart sank. Terry was with medics, injured, on his way to the hospital and then he’d be questioned by police……

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, noticing how my voice wavered as I spoke, hopefully the guy wouldn’t notice. He seemed to preoccupied with watching the firemen work though, so I think I was catching a break tonight, well, for a short time at least, until Terry spilled that I was in charge of the boost and then I’d be back inside, never to see Ellie’s beautiful face again.