“Wait out their ignorance? That’s the plan?” I smiled. “I can do that. Our exit is coming right up.”
I saw the sign for the exit, turned on my blinker, and began to drift off the highway into the lane.
As I was about to make it, the truck behind me swerved to the right and hit my car, making it wobble back and forth. I fought to gain control while the guys were swearing and yelling things like, “What the fuck, bro!” at the truck.
I couldn’t take the exit, the truck was blocking my way.
“Get the next one,” Valen said, putting his hand on my thigh to comfort me. “Take deep breaths and get off the highway when these fuckers aren’t around us.”
I checked my side mirror and got a flash of blinding lights as another vehicle pulled up beside us. And then behind us, I was crowded in by yet another truck.
They’d blocked me in, essentially cutting me off from the exit and forcing me to keep driving straight along the highway.
“Fuck,” I said and looked around. The guys were all swearing and telling me what to do, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to hear anything they said.
My mind was racing a million miles a minute and I felt like I could see all around me, three hundred and sixty degrees. It was as if I floated out of my body and was hovering above the Mercedes. As if I was somehow able to see everything at once and evaluate the situation to make my next moves.
“Get off at the next exit!” Valen yelled and pointed at the sign.
“Fucking ram them!” Archer said from the back. “This thing will knock them off the road.”
“No, it doesn’t have enough weight,” Ryker argued. “She wouldn’t be able to move them.”
“Do what feels right,” Kingston said. “I trust you, Evie. You know how to get out of this.”
“I do,” I said and exhaled slowly. “I just have to figure it out.”
It would be like the Thackeray situation, where everything would come together. That was the key, knowing when to take advantage of opportunities. I realized that was part of what entailed somebody being a genius, simply knowing when to snatch those chances and use them to your benefit.
I narrowed my eyes as I drove, and tapped the brakes lightly, just to scare the truck behind me. He didn’t respond initially, but after a moment, he backed off just slightly.
The next exit was coming up and I realized what I had to do. They were going to repeat the same move as last time, I was sure of it, so I prepared for the truck behind me coming up beside me, cutting me off again.
I surged forward, pressing the gas pedal as far as it would go. The Mercedes’ engine roared and vibrated as we reached terrifying speeds, and beside me, Valen swore under his breath as he watched the truck behind me try to ease around.
As we hit the turn off, I tapped the brakes again and jerked the wheel hard. The entire vehicle shuddered and wobbled hard enough that I thought I might lose control. The wheel vibrated so hard I almost lost my grip.
“Shit, princess,” Ryker said. “Hang on!”
“I think I’ve got a plan!” I yelled, “but it might get crazy!”
“Do what you have to do!” Archer yelled, gripping the back of my seat. “You’ve got this.”
I tapped the brakes again and waited until the truck behind tried to swerve around me, then hit the brakes harder. The truck kept going and slammed into us from behind.
The Mercedes lurched ahead and I heard glass shatter, but nothing mattered at that moment. That was the time I had to seize the chance I’d hoped for. As the truck tried to get around us, I turned the wheel harder than before and raced onto the exit ramp, tires screeching and threatening to lift off the pavement.
For half a heartbeat, everything hung in space and I didn’t know if we were going to tip over. I held my breath and watched the trucks all around us swerve and try to keep up with the Mercedes, but they weren’t able to.
As soon as the tires stabilized, I slammed my foot on the gas and gunned it down the exit ramp as fast as we could go.
In my mirrors, I saw four trucks stopped on the highway, with one of them hanging half off the exit ramp, its tires still spinning.
“Holy shit!” Kingston yelled and whooped. “You did it, Evie! You lost them!”
“I did!” I exclaimed. “I thought I was going to crash, but I did it!”
“I knew you could,” Valen said, but his knuckles were white where he was clutching the dash board. I laughed at how incredulous he sounded.