Hank forced himself into cop mode, ignoring the instinct to comfort Beth. The truck slammed into the subcompact's driver's side, jostling him in his seat. He punched the gas, shooting the car forward. “Hold on.”
The little car gave its all and left the four-by-four in the dust, at least for a moment. The truck swerved behind him, staying on the rental car's tail.
Tires squealed as he sped along the curving road around the bend. The lights of Dry Creek twinkled in the valley below, the deceptive view promising a quick arrival even though they were half an hour out.
It wasn't enough.
Sarah Jane rammed the back of the car, making his head snap forward.
Grasping the steering wheel tighter, he fought to regain control of the car fishtailing on the highway. They had to get away from the truck.
The pitiful rental car engine couldn't outpace a pregnant turtle. He needed to find a side road.
Keeping his gaze locked on the twisting road ahead of them, he pictured a map of Big Horn Hills. There were access roads to the state park dotting the highway, but they weren't well marked. If you didn't know where they were, you'd shoot right past them.
Especially at night.
The truck slammed into the car again, pushing it forward.
“Are we near any of the park access roads?” Tearing his gaze away from the scenery flying past them, Hank glanced at Beth from the corner of his eye.
She sat frozen beside him. Stark terror glistened in her wide-open brown eyes. Her skin had turned ashen.
Gamely, she tried to make eye contact but her gaze skittered back to the headlights glaring at them from the rearview mirror. “Tell me it won't happen again,” she demanded in a quiet monotone.
Fuck. Her parents had died on this road, pushed into a ravine by a drunk driver. “Hell no, it won't happen again.”
As if to say “oh yeah”, the truck slammed into the car once again. The car careened to the left.
He jerked the steering wheel, tires spinning out on the pebbled surface of the highway shoulder. His arms burned from the effort of keeping the rental car tires on the paved highway.
Just as he braced himself for the impact of going off-road, the tires gripped the road and they rushed to the other side.
Yanking the wheel the other way, he fought to keep the car from running off the side of the road.
As the car settled into the right lane, Hank gunned the engine, willing the four-cylinder to run like an eight-cylinder sports car. His gut twisted when the truck appeared once again in his periphery vision. “Beth, you have to concentrate.” He fought to keep from yelling and spooking her further. “Is there a park access road nearby?”
The screeching of twisting metal screamed through the night as the truck plowed into them. It took all the power Hank had to keep the little subcompact on the road. “Beth!”
“Yes,” she hollered. “Another mile up the road on the left. There's an unmarked ATV path, it's narrow but the car should fit.”
“Okay. Keep your eyes peeled and tell me when to turn.”
The truck veered into the compact car again. His whole body ached with the effort not to be overwhelmed by the truck's superior force as they barreled side-by-side on the twisting highway.
“Now!”
Jamming his foot onto the brake, his body slammed forward.
The truck passed them.
Revving the tired engine, he steered the car onto the ATV road so narrow, the car barely fit. Bouncing on the deep ruts in the dirt path, there was little Hank could do to avoid the gullies in the road that sent the rental car bounding up into the air.
Pine trees stood guard on both sides, forcing him to stay in the dead center of the road. Still, the pine branches scraped the sides of the car like nails on a chalkboard.
Hank glanced up at the rearview mirror, checking for the truck's headlights. When he retur
ned his gaze to the road, a felled tree lay in the car's crosshairs. His heart threatened to explode in his chest.