Jax cut himself of suddenly, his expression turning as serious as she’d ever seen.
“What’s the matter?”
He didn’t answer her at first, his stone-cold gaze fixed on the rearview mirror. Looking over her shoulder, Poppy could see another vehicle driving behind them. It was a large, black SUV with windows tinted so drastically she could barely see the man sitting behind the wheel.
Her heart shot into her throat. “Is that them?”
“Don’t know, but they’re coming in hot.”
Hot meaning fast. Really,reallyfast.
“Maybe they’re just in a hurry.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.
Poppy’s pulse spiked as the other vehicle quickly closed the stretch of pavement separating the two cars.
“Jax…”
“I know.” His gaze bounced between the mirror and the road in front of them. “Hang on. I’m going to try to lose them.”
A second later, Poppy felt herself being thrown back against her seat as Jax pressed the accelerator to the floor. Leaving the SUV in his wake, he expertly controlled his car as they sped down the long stretch of highway at a crazy rate of speed.
She glanced at the speedometer, her hands gripping the soft edges of the seat when she saw they’d reached triple digits. Looking through the car’s back windshield, Poppy sighed with relief when she realized the SUV was way, way back there.
“I think we’re good.” She turned back around. “I think they gave up.”
The words had no more left her mouth when a second SUV matching the other one pulled out onto the highway from a side road a quarter of a mile away.
“Fuck!” Keeping one hand on the wheel, Jax pulled his pistol free with the other. Focused on both vehicles and the road, he bit out, “Open the glovebox. There’s a gun in there. Get it out.”
Poppy followed instructions and removed the heavy pistol from the car’s glovebox.
“You know how to shoot?”
“Uh…y-yeah. Sort of. I mean, it’s been a while, but my dad used to take me to the—”
“That’s a Glock nine-millimeter compact. The safety’s on the trigger. All you have to do is point and shoot.”
“What?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not in Kansas anymore, darlin’. And these guys sure as hell don’t work for the fucking Wizard of Oz.”
She stared down at the deadly weapon clutched in her hand. He really wanted her to shoot it? Like at actual human beings?
Human beings who are hellbent on killing you. Not to mention they’ll probably try to kill Jax in the process, to avoid leaving a witness.
Not willing to let that happen, Poppy remembered the bit of training her dad had given her years before. Pulling back the slide, she checked to make sure there was a round in the chamber before easing the cool metal back into place.
“You good?” Jax continued watching both vehicles like a hawk.
“Not exactly the word I’d use, but sure. We’ll go with that.”
In an unexpected move, the mystifying man turned and flashed her a smile. “I’ve got this.” He winked. “Trust me.”
Her heart did a little flip. She did trust him. It was the men trying to box them in who had her worried.
“What do we do?”