Blindsided by Katy Lee Page B

he avoids hitting us. I taught him how to avoid cars spinning out of control on the track. Cars are always coming at you, and you need to know how to get out of the way.”
    “And you think he’ll be the one to get out of the way first?”
    “I’m hoping.”
    “You’re pinning this on hope ? Great. I can’t believe this is how I’m going to die. I’ve survived gang fights, drive-bys, mob hits, and this is how it will all end?”
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I know what I’m doing.”
    The two cars careened toward each other. Roni pushed the car to its max, the engine sound of the Aston Martin blended with the oncoming Porsche’s. The strain grew louder as the cars approached head-on.
    Roni twisted her grip over the wheel, her eyes on the front of the car. Nowhere else. A car goes where the driver’s eyes go. If the wall is the focal point during a spin, it will be the wall the car finds. Eyes on the track equaled control of the car.
    Roni’s focal point lay dead center on the Porsche’s black, red and gold emblem. Her focus so strong she barely heard the sound of another motor approaching.
    “Roni!” Ethan yelled. “The helicopter’s back!”
    She ignored him.
    She gripped the wheel harder, her head pushed forward as though it would propel her faster at her Porsche.
    “Roni! The helicopter is barreling straight down at us. They have guns!”
    For the first time ever in her driving experience, Roni took her eyes off the road. At the same moment, a flash of gunfire sprayed out from the long barrel of a huge gun aimed straight at her. She’d escaped whole races of cars spinning out of control and gunning for her, but never did she think she would need to be fast enough to escape actual bullets.

EIGHT
    E than needed to take control of this situation. Now. Roni may think she was in charge and he was just along for the ride, but he didn’t work that way. He worked alone, only. How could he forget that critical fact? Critical because depending on other people got you killed. Or worse. He got them killed.
    “Take the right!” he shouted, reaching for the wheel. His hand covered Roni’s and turned the wheel just as bullets blew out the rear passenger side window. The Porsche spun out in front of them and Maddie screamed from the back. If he hadn’t turned the wheel the bullets would have come through their front windshield.
    With no time to dwell on the outcome of that scenario, he yelled, “Maddie, get down on the floor! Roni, drive!”
    Roni took the turnoff. She sped forward, but her face paled and gone was the bravado she’d held on to since her kidnapping. Good. About time things got real for her.
    She shouted with a screech to her voice, “I can’t outdrive guns! Especially not ones coming from helicopters! I thought they were news crews shooting film, not guns!”
    “They call it organized crime for a reason. People are kept in back pockets, and we can’t trust anyone.”
    “Including your boss! How do I know it’s not him up there? How do you know it’s not?”
    The fact was, Ethan didn’t. Pace always got his man, and would again, even if that meant he took his friend out in the process. If Pace believed her to be a kidnapper of a federal agent, he would shoot first.
    Ethan regrouped. “I need a phone. I need to call him and tell him to stand down. I’ve got this under control.”
    “Meaning what?”
    “Meaning I’m taking you in before they take you out. You’re no longer in charge. I am. I can’t get you out of this if we’re running from the law. Get to the nearest phone, and I’ll set up a meeting place.”
    Roni’s lips trembled, but she frowned, her head shaking in defiance.
    “Yes, Roni. It’s for the best. This can’t end any other way. You know it as well as I do.”
    “So I’m just supposed to turn myself in as if I’ve done something wrong?”
    “We will get your name cleared. But as long as you’re running, you look guilty.”
    “We? Who’s