and locking into place across my chest, but still forcing the wind out of me. I looked up, catching sight of the car in my rearview mirror, blinking past the tears as I watched it speed toward me from behind.
“Oh God,” I cursed, moving my foot from the brake and pressing hard on the accelerator, my wheels spinning as they fought to catch traction on the road.
The car pulled away, our speed increasing down the empty back street, the smell of burning rubber irritating my nose, though that was the worst of my worries.
I wasn’t leaving these people behind.
They were catching up.
They were chasing me down.
My heart was in my throat as the car pulled out, its engine revving hard as it fought to pull up beside me. It was a newer car, much faster than mine, much more powerful. The shades at the front were pulled down, and I couldn’t see who was driving. Just the hands gripping the wheel, twisting at it, white-knuckled.
My eyes flicked back to Gage, the little man still sleeping peacefully while I struggled to think of what to do. I had to keep him safe. I had to be that momma bear he needed. There were cars coming toward us, yet my chaser was still pulling up beside us. I could see his hands on the wheel, gripping it with his fists together like he was going to make a hard tur—
No.
I slammed on my brakes and veered off to the side.
He jerked the wheel toward us, just skimming the door instead of the entire force of his vehicle being pushed through mine. It saved us from being put into a spin or being flipped over, but my maneuver propelling us up onto the curb on the other side of the road.
The pole appeared in a blink.
The airbag a moment later.
And that was it.
SHOTGUN
The scene was a fucking mess.
Shake, Slate, Kid, and Mix pulled up to the curb beside me, Adrian’s car squealing to a stop not far behind. I barely caught my bike on its stand, not giving a flying fuck if it toppled over in my rush to figure out just what the fuck was going on.
It was like the world around me was suddenly out of focus, and there were only two things I could see.
The officer holding Gage’s car seat.
And the mutilated car that had had an intimate meeting with a pole thirty feet down the street. Avery’s car.
Austin rushed over to meet me. “We got here first. Someone called to say two cars were racing down this street.”
“You think she was racing?” I spat, trying to step past him.
“No, I think she was being fucking chased.”
“Adrian, get Gage,” I yelled, pointing to my son while my feet carried me toward the car, where I could see a tuft of hair fluttering from the driver’s window. “Avery!” I roared, my heavy boots pounding against the road as I rushed toward the totaled vehicle.
“You need to wait for the fire brigade,” Austin snapped, attempting to step in front of me like it was going to fucking stop me from getting to my fucking woman. I slammed my hands against his chest, sending him stumbling backward, not giving a flying fuck if he was a police officer or not. “You need to leave her, Shotgun!”
Maybe I should have prepared.
Maybe I should have stopped and readied myself for seeing her like that.
Because it was going to haunt me.
It was going to plague my fucking nightmares and eat at me forever.
“Ave,” I hissed, acutely aware of the adrenaline that was pumping through me right now, making it so I could literally feel the blood rushing and whooshing through my veins. It was telling me to grab the fucking car door and rip it off its hinges. It was screaming at me to get her the fuck out of there because I could feel each second was getting a little closer to me losing the fucking woman I love.
“Baby…” I croaked and crouched down, so my eye line met hers. There was a streak of blood coming from her nose and smeared across her face where it looked like she’d tried to wipe at it. Her lip wasn’t much better off, with a split down the middle that was swollen and raw and looked like it might even need stitches.
The front of the car was pushed in from where she’d swerved off the road and hit a pole, forcing the steering wheel and motor toward