Chapter 15.
835 Words
Kane didn't hesitate. He slammed the GTO into reverse, the tires screaming as he pivoted the car 180 degrees in a cloud of white smoke. The engine let out a guttural, earth-shaking roar as he shifted into first and floored it.
"Kane, they're right behind us!" Maxine screamed, her hands flying to the back of her head as she ducked low in the seat.
"Hold on to something," Kane growled.
The GTO leaped forward, the G-force slamming Harper back into the leather. Kane didn't head for the main road; he dove deeper into the maze of the North Side. He whipped the wheel to the right, the back end of the car sliding sideways in a perfect, controlled drift around a corner.
Harper gripped the dashboard, her heart hammering against her ribs. The adrenaline was back, hotter and more potent than any drug Slim could have sold her. She looked at the speedometer: 70, 80, 90. The narrow streets were a blur of brick and shadow.
"He’s still on us!" Harper shouted, looking in the side mirror. The cruiser was persistent, its lights a frantic strobe in the darkness.
"He doesn't have the horsepower," Kane muttered, his eyes fixed on the road with a feral intensity. "He’s just got the lights."
Kane cut the wheel hard to the left, threading the GTO through a gap between two parked semi-trucks that looked impossible to fit through. The side mirror grazed the metal with a shower of sparks, a screech of protest from the car, but they were through. The police cruiser had to slam on its brakes, losing precious seconds.
"He's falling back!" Maxine cried, a note of hysterical triumph in her voice.
"I’m not done with him yet," Kane said.
He approached a narrow, one-lane overpass that spanned a dry canal. As the GTO hit the incline, Kane reached down and flicked a series of switches. Suddenly, the GTO’s taillights went dark. Then, the headlights.
They were flying through the night in total blackness, a shadow-beast guided only by the pale moon and Kane’s instinct.
"Kane, I can't see!" Harper gasped, her breath catching in her throat.
"I can," he whispered.
He dove into an underground loading ramp, the GTO’s engine echoing like thunder in the concrete tunnel. He wove through the pillars, the blue and red lights of the cruiser passing overhead on the street above, searching for a ghost that had already vanished into the belly of the city.
Kane kept his foot down, the roar of the engine the only sound in the dark, as they tore through the subterranean labyrinth, outrunning the law, outrunning the town, and for one glorious, terrifying moment, outrunning the end of the world.
The silence that followed the engine's final shut-off was louder than the chase itself. They were buried in the concrete gut of an industrial park, the smell of hot oil and ozone thick in the stagnant air.
"Oh my God," Maxine gasped, her voice cracking as she leaned forward, resting her forehead against the back of Harper’s seat. Her glittery notebook was still clutched in her hand, but her knuckles were white. "Oh my God. We almost went to jail. We almost died. We just... we just ran from the cops."
Harper didn’t move. She sat perfectly still, watching the way her own breath clouded in the dark cabin. Her heart was a frantic drum, a rhythm so violent it felt like it might crack her ribs. A slow, manic laugh bubbled up in her throat, spilling out into the quiet car.
"We didn't just run," Harper said, her voice shaking with breathless, jagged laughter. She looked down at her wrist-I’m Alive, the ink still fresh, still stinging under the plastic. She looked at Kane, whose hands were still resting on the wheel, his silhouette sharp against the moonlight filtering through a high, grated window. "We totally got away."
Kane leaned back, his chest heaving under his leather jacket. The adrenaline hadn't left his eyes yet; they were bright, green, and predatory. He didn't say a word, but the corners of his mouth quirked into a slow, dark smirk of triumph.
"I can't... I can't do another round of that tonight," Maxine breathed, reaching for her phone with trembling fingers. "My heart is going to explode. And Ryan... I need to make sure he made it home. I’m going to call a cab."
"Max, you don't have to," Harper said, finally turning around.
"No, I do," Maxine said, already tapping at her screen. "I need a bed that isn't moving at a hundred miles per hour. But you..." She paused, looking between Harper and Kane. "You're going to be okay? Alone?"
Harper glanced at Kane. He looked like a part of the shadows, steady and dangerous. "I'll be fine, Max. I'm only a phone call away."
- Writer
