“Whatever. After this, I just might decide to never get in another car.”
Jude started to say something, but he noticed as they crossed the bridge, the car between them and the SUV changed lanes. The SUV sped up, closing the distance between them. Jude’s heart raced and his palms grew sweaty. They were on a fucking bridge. Just a couple hundred more yards until they were safely across. They could make it.
Images of them crashing through the concrete barrier and plunging down into the icy river flooded his brain. He sucked in a deep breath. Jude stepped on the accelerator, speeding up as much as he could without ramming the car in front of him. He started to hit the turn signal for the exit ramp out of habit but stopped himself.
Before they could reach the exit, the SUV surged forward, sneaking the nose of the vehicle beside the back passenger-side tire. There was a crunch of metal, and the Jeep lurched forward. Jude wrestled with the wheel as his car tried to jump across lanes to the left. Other cars jerked away from him and several horns sounded, but he ignored them. The SUV driver was keeping them from taking their normal exit.
It was far too late to slow down as Jude regained control of the Jeep but sped past the exit that Rowe had wanted them to take.
“Fuck!” Snow snarled.
“Now what?”
“We need to get off the road and away from these assholes. I don’t want to play bumper cars in rush hour traffic.”
Jude couldn’t agree more. He stomped on the gas again and the Jeep jumped forward. They wove through the cars, climbing the hill away from the Ohio River and heading deeper into Northern Kentucky. Around him, he saw glimpses of cars filled with people heading home from a long day at work or school. Mothers and fathers were driving kids home from after-school activities and the only things they all had on their mind was home, dinner, homework, and maybe what was on the TV that night. Their lives could all be torn apart in a second by these ruthless assholes determined to get their hands on them.
“What about the next exit?” Snow suggested.
Jude shook his head. “It’s too busy. Too many cars. Someone will get killed if they ram us again and I lose control of the Jeep.”
“Then where?” Panic and frustration were starting to harden the edges of Snow’s voice. Jude wanted to reach across and grab Snow’s hand, but he was afraid to take one of his off the wheel.
“The Fort Thomas-Southgate exit. It’s not as busy and there’s a shopping plaza right there. Call 9-1-1 now. Tell them that’s where we’re headed. They can dispatch cops there to meet us.”
“You know, one of these days I’d really like to be on the other end of this,” Snow muttered as he reached back into his pocket.
“I’d really like to never be in this position again. Period.”
Jude looked over to see Snow pulling out his phone when the SUV hit them from behind again. Their bodies jerked slightly forward before their seat belts tightened against their chests. Jude’s back and neck ached, but the pain was almost immediately swept away by another rush of adrenaline.
He thought he heard more cars honking, and he hoped that someone driving near them was now calling the police. Yeah, he’d like to get his hands on these fuckers, but at that moment, he was more concerned with getting Snow out of this alive and unharmed.
Beside him, Snow barked instructions at the poor 9-1-1 dispatcher. He sounded like he was in full surgeon-general mode, expecting anyone within his reach to immediately jump to his commands. His instructions were succinct and clear as he demanded that at least two squad cars be dispatched to the shopping plaza off the exit. The one thing that did lack details was the description of the SUV, but there wasn’t much they could tell at this point.
Changing lanes, Jude rushed them past the exit Snow had mentioned and up the winding hill. The cars grew a little more spaced out as the steep grade sapped the power of some of the older cars. Jude gripped the wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white, and his fingers were slick with sweat despite the cold air.
The SUV had drifted back a couple of car lengths as it climbed the hill behind them. Dark tinting on the windows made it impossible to see the face of the driver or how many people were even in the vehicle.
At the top of the hill, a new lane branched off on the right to form the exit ramp for the Fort Thomas-Southgate exit. Gritting his teeth, Jude waited as long as possible before jumping over into the new lane. Not surprisingly, the SUV changed lanes with them.