Private Dublin

Chapter 50

We shot down a bumpy country road, and the long grass growing in the middle whipped at the undercarriage of the fast car. We swung left and right as the engine delivered power to the rear wheels. I accelerated and felt the push against the sports seat at my back.

Behind us, lights and activity in the yard signaled that this wasn’t going to be an easy getaway.

“I count two... no, three... vehicles coming after us,” Andi said.

I nodded. “See if you can figure out where we are and find a way for us to lose them.”

She produced her phone and opened a map application.

I swung the car around a tight left bend, into the glow of the rising sun. Light cast on the folds of the green valley deepened the patches of shadow in places. I followed the road round to the right, away from the direct sunlight, and swerved just in time because we’d come face to face with a large John Deere tractor. The green monster shuddered as the driver tried to stop, and I swung the BMW onto the verge, where the wheels chewed up the turf as they fought for traction. We shot past the giant machine and bounced back onto the road with a series of crunches and clanks that sent sparks flying up behind us.

I thanked the guardian angels watching over us when I saw the tractor was going to buy us some time. The three vehicles pursuing us, an Audi SUV, a silver Mercedes E-Class and a Range Rover, were all forced to a stop when they met the tractor at a narrow section of the road, where the dry-stone wall to either side was no more than a couple of feet from the tarmac. There was no way for the cars to get round, and the driver of the lead vehicle, the Range Rover, yelled at the man behind the wheel of the John Deere.

“Turn right,” Andi said, pointing to the mouth of a tiny stone-chip trail no more than fifty meters ahead.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

It looked too insignificant to lead anywhere useful.

“Yes,” she replied. “Take it.”

I swung the wheel right and the car whipped round, propelling me toward Andi. She was flung against her door as we slewed into the mouth of the stone track. I glanced right and saw the three pursuing cars steering round the tractor, which had backed up and climbed onto the verge to give them space.

The BMW flung up dust and gravel as it raced along the track. There were now stone walls just inches away from our wing mirrors, and if we hit a dead end we’d be trapped.

“Sharp bend left, about fifty meters ahead,” Andi told me as she watched our progress on her phone.

“Got it,” I replied, and shifted down into third to give me the power to push through the turn.

The BMW shimmied on loose stone but stayed true, and we growled round the bend at speed.

There was a rise ahead and the powerful vehicle accelerated toward it, catching clean air as we crested the summit.

The three cars following us had turned onto the stone track and were churning up dust and stone as they raced after us. We lost sight of them as the BMW landed and shot down the slope on the other side. As we rounded a bend, I saw why Andi had brought us this way.

Directly ahead, blocking the track, was a high gate, and beyond it a busy quarry where excavators and trucks shifted stone. Further on, past the site buildings, I saw a service road that led to what looked like a motorway.

“Nice work,” I said, and pressed the accelerator, forcing the car to its limits.

The men behind us were becoming desperate. As the Range Rover jumped the summit, the man in the passenger seat leaned out of the window and tried to shoot out our rear tires. But he was a poor marksman and simply hit the road behind us.

We smashed through the gates and roared toward the site buildings.

Behind us, I saw the trio of vehicles slow to a halt. Maybe they were afraid of being caught on site cameras? Or perhaps they couldn’t afford to be seen by witnesses? Whatever the reason, they abandoned the pursuit, and we slowed as we drove through the site. We rolled past the buildings at the heart of the quarry and climbed the service road on the other side to join what proved to be a motorway, taking us back to Dublin.