Nano

CHAPTER 31

Paul had no time to argue with Pia’s decision to take her car; she ran out to the ER parking lot and jumped in the VW, barely waiting long enough for Paul to hop in and get his door closed. As he struggled to fasten his seat belt, she was already on the way.

“Pia, let’s think about this. What are we going to do, even if we see the right white van? And how will we know it is the right van? And you forgot your seat belt.”

Pia cast Paul a dirty look as if to say “you are not my keeper,” and accelerated out of the hospital lot. Aggressively she zigzagged through traffic on her way to the freeway, heading northwest.

“We’re going to find them, then improvise. If nothing else, we’ll follow them to Nano.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know! What I do know is that we can’t sit around and wait for the police to go see the EMTs. I’m sure Mariel had some excuse… whoa! Look out!”

Pia swerved to avoid a car that was trying to execute a perfectly legal lane change with blinkers flashing. The driver didn’t see Pia coming up fast.

“Pia, we’re going to get into an accident, if not arrested.”

“No, we’re not! There’s the freeway ramp.”

Pia drove onto the highway, where her speed was less conspicuous. She pushed on, driving over eighty, till she slowed and took an exit.

“What are you doing?” Paul gripped what he could to keep himself righted.

“This is the fastest way to Nano, plus it intersects the road to Carter Lake Loop, which is coming up right now.” She rolled through a stop sign, then accelerated again. “This is actually the Carter Lake Loop road now. The Nano main entrance is coming up on the left in just a few minutes.”

“How are we going to recognize the van other than the fact that it’s white? A white van is not much of a description. Pia, this is crazy.” Paul’s knuckles were blanched holding on to the armrest.

“I’m going to drive right past Nano, and then we’ll follow the road north heading for Carter Lake Loop. There can’t be that many white vans around.”

They drove for a few minutes in a tense silence. Pia was hunched forward, holding the steering wheel tightly in both hands. She was on a mission.

Paul allowed himself to look out the window and recognized where they were. He saw the logic in Pia’s plan, but still wondered what they could do once they saw the van, provided they did see the van.

Pia drove quickly but attentively. She passed the turnoff to the Nano security gate on the left without slowing, and had to blare her horn to warn a black Suburban, which threatened to pull out in her way. She continued on, banking to her left, accelerating again.

“Okay, now what?” Paul questioned.

“We’re just going to head out toward Carter Lake Loop. I estimate we probably have ten minutes or so on them. I think it is better to drive out and intercept them. I have a suspicion there’s a separate entrance to Nano that I’d like to find. I don’t think they’ll use the main entrance.”

“Why don’t we just call the police and let them handle this?” said Paul. Pia’s determination and rashness were making him nervous.

“The police have already been called, and they’re up with the EMTs. Besides, I’m sure Mariel has some kind of watertight legal explanation for what’s going on, just like when she stormed into the ER to get the runner. The local police are not going to help with the situation.”

Pia continued the gradual left-hand turn following the road until it straightened out. They were now passing the Nano property on the left and a few of the Nano buildings could be seen poking up through the evergreens and aspens. To the right the road fell off into a gully containing a tree-lined mountain brook. She was traveling at more than fifty miles an hour.

Pia glanced over to Paul and was about to say something, but suddenly something caught her attention. Out of the corner of her left eye, Pia saw a shape in her side mirror bearing down on her car. Before she could even respond, she felt the shuddering impact as her VW was rammed hard across the rear on the left side. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the car straight as the giant shape pushed and pushed, grinding her car toward the edge of the road. Pia may have screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the rending of metal as the car hit the soft gravel at the side of the road, followed by a second of silence as it flew off and down the embankment toward the tree line. Then she felt a sickening thud, accompanied by the smashing of glass, as the car rolled once, then twice, and perhaps again, but Pia couldn’t know how many times, because everything went black and was perfectly still and quiet.