Breaking Creed

57

Hannah went in to pay for the gas and picked up a couple of cans of soda, only because it took her to the back refrigerators. She glanced down the hallway to the restrooms, then checked for other exits. There was only one. It was in the opposite corner and it was an emergency exit. So the girl would have to leave through the front of the store.

She wasn’t sure that she cared if Amanda sneaked away. But Ryder cared, and he had entrusted Hannah with her safety. She browsed and picked up a few more items, then paid and went back outside to the car. Then she sat and watched the front door to the store.

Ten minutes later, Amanda came out, her face flushed. Hannah wondered if the girl had gotten sick.

“You okay?” she asked when she climbed in and busied herself with the seat belt.

“I’m okay.”

“Took long enough.”

“I got my period.”

“Oh, okay. Did you want me to buy some pads or tampons for you?”

“No, I… I got one from the machine in the restroom.”

She was lying. Hannah’s two little boys were better liars than this girl. But she wasn’t sure why she’d lie about a thing like that. Maybe Amanda had thought there would be a back door, and when she realized she couldn’t escape or come up with a better plan, she had to deal with the fact that she’d have to get back in the car.

Hannah didn’t bother figuring it out. They were stuck with each other. The sooner they got back on the road, the sooner she could rest, at least for a while.

Traffic was still busy, but Hannah knew I-10 would be like this all the way to Biloxi. She kept in her lane, drove the speed limit, and paid little attention to the cars zooming past her. Her fingers were tight on the steering wheel but not clenched. As she approached the first bridge, she didn’t notice the black SUV coming up alongside her. Vehicles had come and gone for the past hour. But when he stayed beside her for too long, Hannah did glance over. The young man grinned at her as if that was exactly what he had been waiting for. And then, without warning, she saw him pull his steering wheel hard to the right.

The first crunch shoved Hannah’s car. She held on, even though it pushed her vehicle onto the shoulder. She took her foot off the gas pedal but the car was still going too fast. Her first instinct was to brake and brake hard, but she knew that might roll the car.

“What’s happening?” Amanda yelled.

“Hold on,” she told her, but even as she prepared for the second hit, it rammed the car so hard the steering wheel spun out of her hands.

She grabbed on again and pulled to the left, only to be met with another crash of metal. This time it sent her car off the highway. Both of Hannah’s feet were riding the brake as her vehicle plunged over the guardrail and kept flying.