What I hadn’t expected, however, was the Peugeot that was sitting outside, hidden behind a plumber’s van, just waiting for us to make our move. For days they'd made their presence known. They'd hung over us like a dead weight, putting on the pressure and never giving us a moment’s peace. When I hadn't seen it out there, we'd tried to run, and became pawns in their twisted little game.
I now had two lives in my hands and I would be damned if I let either of them down. Come hell or high water, my plan was to get the three of us the hell out of there without a scratch. We'd come this far, there was no turning back now. It had come down to us and Lucy and them in the Peugeot.
Whether it was foresight or just plain luck, Lucy had a full tank of petrol and the roads in Manchester were blessedly empty. The panic when we started ensured that chaos reigned. The three of us were speaking over one another, ideas being thrown out in every direction as I navigated to God knew where.
Every turn had them up our arses, every light had them lingering behind us, edging toward our bumper in warning. I was so proud of Izzy. Other than the initial panic we'd all partaken in, she was as solid as a rock. Her solemn silence gave me the opportunity to focus on the road and the car tailing us.
We managed to lose them once, but they didn’t give up. The tenacious bastards managed to catch up with us on the motorway. How they knew what direction we were going in was beyond me, but they pulled in behind us, forcing me to put my foot down.
Weaving through the other cars around us ensured the tension in the car had grown. The death grip on the back of my seat and the creak of the leather under Izzy's nails had me easing to a more manageable speed that finally loosened her grip.
We’d been driving for hours, the darkness of the country roads washing us with a temporary silence. It was anything but relaxed. I could feel Scott’s eyes on the back of my head, and Izzy’s glances weren’t missed either. Two of the few people that had become my world, were looking to me for guidance, and all I could do was look at the road. I didn’t know where to go or what to do to get us past this. No matter how fast I went, or how many corners I took, that stupid car was behind us, the very obvious threat making my stomach roll.
If it hadn't been for the adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream, I was almost certain that the drone of the tyres on the road would have put me to sleep. It had been at least two hours of the same monotonous noise, nobody talking. The ideas had dissipated into nothing, leaving that damned hum and the purr of the engine filling in the blanks.
This was my fault. My digging had done this, and my desperation had forced us from our home. I should have had Scott take Izzy in the opposite direction the moment we lost them the first time. My arrogance managed to get us all in trouble, and now… I leaned forward, my chest against the steering wheel as the lights picked up specks falling from the sky.
It was snowing.
