The chase
1138 Words
Maya's POV
The automatic doors slid open behind me as I stepped out of the store, the shopping bag swinging lightly from my hand.
I couldn't help smiling. Luna was going to lose her mind.
I pulled the shoebox out just enough to peek inside again…It was beautiful.
White sneakers with soft blue details along the sides. I'd caught her staring at the same pair a few weeks ago when we'd passed the display window. She'd stood there for all of ten seconds before pretending she wasn't interested.
"They're nice," she'd said with a shrug. "Not that I'd ever spend that much on shoes."
Liar…She'd wanted them.
I slid the lid back into place, grinning to myself. I could already picture her face.
I adjusted the bag on my arm and started down the pavement.
The smile was still on my face as I stepped off the curb. A sharp blast of a horn cut through the noise of the street.
I looked up…A matte-black sports car had stopped a few feet away, its engine humming low beneath the traffic around it. It wasn't blocking the road, but it wasn't trying to move either. Behind it, the street seemed to be filled with more black cars, lined up in a quiet, eerie row. They weren't sports cars like his…just dark, mysterious shapes sitting back there.
The passenger window glided down. A man leaned an arm against the open window, his gaze settling on me as if he'd been expecting me all day. "Kitten."
I frowned. ...Kitten? Who even…
My eyes lifted to his face. Something about him tugged at the edge of my memory. The dark hair, the sharp jaw, those eyes...I'd seen those eyes before.
My brows pulled together. Why did he look so familiar?
The corner of his mouth lifted into a slow, lazy smirk.
My breath caught…That smirk.
Amber lights, music, a whiskey glass sliding across a polished bar. "I hate drinking alone." The way he'd looked at me over the rim of his glass.
The memories came and went in the space of a heartbeat.
I knew that face, I'd woken up beside it.
"No..." I whispered. It couldn't be.There was no way. Out of everyone in this city...No.
His smirk widened, like he'd heard every thought racing through my head. And that's when I knew….It was him.
Every instinct I had screamed the same thing…Run.
I didn't stop to think. I spun on my heel and darted across the sidewalk, weaving around people before they could complain. Someone cursed as I brushed past them. I muttered a quick, "Sorry," without slowing down.
A yellow taxi had just pulled up to the curb. I yanked the back door open and threw myself inside. "Drive!"
The driver twisted around, blinking at me. "Where to?"
"Anywhere…Just go!"
He looked at me for a moment, then shrugged and pulled away from the curb.
I risked one look through the rear window.
The sports car was still where I'd left it. Maybe I'd overreacted, he probably hadn't even recognized me.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror. "You okay, miss?"
"Perfect," I lied.
A few seconds passed before his eyes drifted back to the mirror. His forehead creased. "Miss..."
"Hm?"
"I don't mean to alarm you..." He hesitated. "But I think those cars are following us."
My head snapped around, the smile I'd been forcing instantly disappeared.
The matte-black sports car slid smoothly into the lane behind us, five black SUVs following close behind it.
My stomach dropped. "s**t!"
The driver looked at me again. "You know them?"
I tore my eyes away from the window. "Drive."
He blinked. "What?"
"Drive!" I shouted. "Don't let them catch us!"
His foot slammed down on the accelerator, the taxi lurching forward, slipping between two cars just as the traffic light turned yellow. Several horns blared behind us.
The driver gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"What did you do?" he asked, his voice cracking.
"Just drive!"
He swerved around a delivery truck, earning another chorus of angry horns. Someone leaned out of a window, shouting after us, but the words disappeared beneath the roar of engines.
I twisted around in my seat, the black sports car was still there…Right behind us.
The five SUVs spread out behind it with frightening precision, keeping the same distance between each vehicle as they slipped through traffic. They weren't speeding blindly or forcing cars off the road.
The taxi bounced over a pothole, throwing me against the door. "They're gaining!" I shouted.
"I'm trying!" the driver yelled back. Sweat ran down the side of his face as he jerked the wheel, squeezing through a gap.
The sports car followed…So did every SUV.
The driver cursed under his breath when the red light flashed ahead. "If I stop, they'll catch us."
"Then don't stop!"
He hit the accelerator, the taxi flying through the intersection.
The driver sucked in a shaky breath. "I swear, if I survive today, I'm quitting this job."
I looked back again. They were much closer now.
One of the SUVs peeled away from the line and accelerated past us.
"What is he doing?" the driver muttered. Before I could answer, another SUV pulled alongside us, the third settled behind us and the fourth drifted toward the other side, closing the gap.
The fifth stayed with the sports car, boxing us in.
"No..."
The driver slammed on the brakes, the tires screaming against the asphalt.
Everything lurched forward. My shoulder hit the seat in front of me as the taxi shuddered to a stop.
For a second, the whole street seemed to hold its breath.
Then, one by one, the SUV doors opened.
Men calmly climbed out in black suits and dark sunglasses. They spread out around the taxi, leaving no room for escape.
"Oh, no," I whispered.
I watched the driver's door of the sports car open. A polished black dress shoe touched the pavement followed by another.
He stepped out, straightening to his full height before shutting the door with a soft click. It was him…the man from the hotel.
He gave the cuff of his black shirt a small tug, the silver cufflink flashing in the evening sun. Then he started toward the taxi.
The men in suits had already spread out around the car, but none of them moved until he did.
He didn't look angry. If anything, he looked... patient. With every step, he got closer…and closer. Until he stopped beside my door.
The handle clicked. Cool air rushed into the taxi as the door swung open.
He looked down at me, that same crooked smirk, playing on his lip.
"Evening, kitten."
My fingers instinctively tightened around the shopping bag.
- Writer
