Private Gold

Chapter 13

Joey slalomed the car through the potholes. A crossroads ahead... at this hour, it was usually quiet. Taking the gamble, he barely touched the brakes before speeding through. Even though he was using every skill he had, he was aware with every passing second that his heavy SUV was not ideal for the job.

His firearm was holstered under his jacket, but it wouldn’t do him much good at this moment. Trying to use it would be dangerous, ineffective, and would slow them down. For now, he needed to concentrate on his driving, because the BMW following was faster and more agile, and it was gaining ground.

“He’s catching up!” Twisted around in her seat, Isobel helpfully informed him of the obvious.

“I know.”

“Can you go faster?”

“If I could, I would.”

“Maybe there’s... a side street, or something?” But her voice lost hope as the road unrolled ahead, devoid of intersections.

“There’s one at the top of the hill!” Her tone brightened.

“We want to avoid that. It’s a dead end.”

“You know this place so well?”

“Like the back of my hand. We recently did a major assignment in this area.”

Joey checked his mirrors again and saw how much ground the BMW had gained. The driver had both hands on the wheel, his face drawn into the rictus of a grin. He was taking his time before shooting, knowing his quarry was trapped on the road and all out of options.

But time for him also meant time for them, and suddenly Joey realized where they could go.

Parallel to this road was a dirt track that led to one of the vulnerable mine entrances where Private had placed security guards. Once before, in better weather, he’d managed to cross the veldt and access that road. In this weather, it would be a huge gamble, but there was one certainty he could rely on.

The SUV would get farther than the low-slung sedan behind them.

“Hang on tight,” he warned Isobel.

She glanced at him, blue eyes wide, her short, platinum hair in spiky disarray.

“To what?” she asked him breathlessly.

“To whatever you can find. We’re heading off-road.”

A final glance in the mirror. He was only just in time. The man behind was right on their tail now. His window was open and he was ready to shoot.

Wrenching the wheel to the right, Joey stood on the brakes.

The tires screamed as the big vehicle slewed sideways. Joey fought the wheel, aware that Isobel had grabbed the dash with one hand, and his shoulder with the other. He’d swerved right to avoid a collision with the car pursuing them, hoping the BMW would accelerate ahead, but he hadn’t bargained on their hunter reacting so fast. A second shriek of tires told him he hadn’t gained any ground from this maneuver. That damned kidney grille was still looming behind them.

Joey scanned the embankment, desperately looking for a place to turn that wouldn’t gut the car instantly. There... the ground was more even in a spot just ahead. Not much smoother, but enough to give them a chance.

“Now try and follow us,” Joey snapped. He swung the wheel, and the big SUV sped over the embankment. There was a harsh scraping sound, which he’d expected, but the rain worked in their favor, softening the ground so that the heavy vehicle plowed through the top of the bank, instead of getting stuck. Then they were airborne, and Isobel’s grip on his shoulder tightened. They landed with a stomach-wrenching thud, and went bouncing across the muddy veldt beyond.

A whiplash crack from behind, and a hole punched through the middle of the windshield. A few inches left or right, and one of them would be dead.

“Down,” Joey urged. Isobel, face white, flattened herself. He couldn’t risk doing the same — this going was treacherous and there was too much risk of hitting a rock or ending up in a ditch. He swerved around a massive termite mound jutting out of long grass that could hide other obstacles.

Another shot from behind, but this one went wide. Now, every second that passed took them farther out of range. In his mirrors, he saw the tall man, standing at the top of the embankment. Realizing he couldn’t follow them, the man had climbed out of his car to get a better shot.

Then Joey glanced at Isobel. She was sitting up again, even though he hadn’t told her to. On her face, he saw only fierce concentration, and felt a sudden surge of admiration for her toughness, which he hadn’t expected.

“Ditch on the left,” she warned, and he altered course to avoid a gaping channel in the ground, well camouflaged by overgrowth.

“By the way,” she added, “thank you for saving my life.”

“I was only just in time,” Joey said. “Whoever was chasing us is a professional, for sure, and he will still be on the hunt. So, tell me what’s going on. What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?”