of the thugs stepped off the curb and swaggered toward her. He had something in his hand.
Fuck it. Glancing both ways in the intersection, she cranked the throttle and ran the light. Adrenaline coursed through her system as she dragged a foot, fish-tailing the back of her motorcycle before the tire gained traction on the pavement. It lurched forward and she left them in the acrid haze of her smoking tire.
This didn’t look right. She worried she was heading the wrong way. The poorly lit roadway was virtually empty so she couldn’t gauge where to go based on where other cars were headed. She thought she remembered passing a fast-food restaurant on the way to Abby’s house, but unless she counted a 24-hour tattoo parlor that served espresso, there were no food joints anywhere in sight.
The wind blew hard into her face so she dropped the visor of her helmet. Although it was spring, the air still had a bite to it and her cheeks stung from the cold.
At the next intersection, she had to stop again. Why weren’t the lights synchronized to turn green so she wouldn’t have to stop at every one? She was getting tired and just wanted to find her way home to bed.
While waiting for the green, the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone else was looking at her. She could feel it. Craning her neck around, she expected to see another gang of thugs approaching, but she saw no one. She was completely alone on this stretch of road except for a Jeep Wrangler pulling up on the other side of the intersection.
She couldn’t shake the feeling and focused on the other car. It was them. They were watching her. Two men inside the open-air vehicle were fixated in her direction. Was there something behind her? She turned around. Nothing. Maybe her bike. Maybe they were looking at her bike. A woman like you on a Bonnie is hard to forget. Wasn’t that what Dom had said? God, she hoped it was the bike.
Something about the two men scared her more than the rowdy hoodlums a few blocks back. Her scalp began to tingle, almost vibrate. She smacked her helmet with the heel of her hand and tried to clear her head.
When the light turned green, she revved the engine and sped through the intersection. The Jeep remained fixed and the men turned their heads in unison to watch her pass. She got a glimpse of the driver lifting his head as if sniffing the wind.
Moments after passing the Jeep, she saw a flash in her rearview mirror. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the Jeep had made a U-turn. Her heart hammered in her ears and the tingling became a rumble.
Oh, shit.
The long hair was a dead giveaway. Why hadn’t she tied it up and stuffed it into her helmet? With her all-black outfit, most people would’ve assumed she was a guy on a bike, not a girl. She was a damn freak magnet tonight.
She hit the throttle and sped up, thinking she’d outrun them and they’d give up, but the Jeep stayed on her tail. She felt bile rising in her throat and she willed herself to stay calm.
Oh my God. Which way?
Nothing looked familiar. Just closed-up businesses with bars on the windows, a storage facility and a bunch of warehouses.
The intersection up ahead looked more substantial than the others she’d passed. Left or right? She had to make it fast. The Jeep was just half a block behind her. Left. She cranked the handlebars and leaned into the turn.
Please be the road to the bridge.
Rows of dark warehouses loomed ahead and she realized she had made a horrible mistake. Fear swelled her throat and she could hardly breathe. This wasn’t a major intersection. It was just a stoplight for the warehouse complex. She was now in a dark parking lot. A dark deserted parking lot, and the lights of the Jeep flashed behind her.
She weaved around a few buildings, accelerating when she could, looking for another way out, but everywhere the Jeep was on her tail.
When she turned right, a loading dock loomed straight ahead, blocking her way. A dead end.
Her breath came in shallow bursts, the ringing in her head became a roar. She cranked the bike around, the loading dock behind her. The Jeep stopped about twenty feet ahead of her, its headlights blinding her for a moment.