“Shut the fuck up,” Si snapped. “One more word and I’m driving straight back to the garage.”
They shut up then. She bounced up onto the gravel path that started a few hundred yards past the scrapyard.
“It’s a road. I didn’t see this,” the woman in the front said.
Si gritted her teeth and drove on, not taking her eyes off the road. It wasn’t even a road—it was loose gravel one of the warehouse owners had put down years ago as a shortcut. It was a half-assed job—they hadn’t levelled out the ground—so the car bumped around at speed.
But she had it under control.
“What if they know where to look?” one of the men said. “They could be waiting for us.”
Si ignored him and kept her focus on the road. She drove as fast as she could, expecting someone to complain about the noise or the bumps, but none of them did. She had to stop herself several times from asking if they’d really help her find Max after they got away. Of course they wouldn’t.
They were right, she realised as she drove. She was barely aware of the loose gravel that flew up and hit the windscreen every few seconds. With her trap already up in flames, there was no way she could have gone up against those men—not without time to plan.
She’d come so close.
She slammed her hand against the wheel. “You ruined everything. Why the fuck did you have to go into the garage?”
What made it worse was she now knew her plan would have worked. They’d only been able to get out when she’d helped them.
She took a sharp right without warning them and took pleasure in sending the people in the back flying into each other. Their faces and clothes were filthy with soot.
“Take it easy.”
“Fuck off,” she spat, but there was less venom in her voice now. What if they told her to get out? How would she find him then?
She wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep forever. She took another sharp turn, looking all around her. She couldn’t see another car. But that didn’t mean anything. For all she knew, those men knew the roads just as well as she did.
“The motorway’s back that way,” the old man said.
“Yeah, and where do you think they’ll go first? Do you want me to wrap you up in a bow and hand you to them?” She shook her head. Ignore them. Think. How do I find Max now my plan’s been blown?
Si tried to play out what would happen if she went back. She’d be at a disadvantage from the start. It’d be suicide—she knew that in her heart even though it was hard to admit. Maybe worse than that. She glanced in the rearview mirror. They’d threatened to shoot Max’s hands off. She shuddered. She could only imagine what they’d do to her.
So what was the alternative now? She tried to focus on driving but it was hard. By driving away it felt like she was betraying Max.
She drove on, starting to calm down a bit. There was nothing else she could have done. These people had ruined everything by turning up when they did, but she’d find a way to make it right. She glanced at the woman beside her. They all had their guard up now, but they couldn’t stay like that forever. Si would be ready the moment one of them took their eyes off their weapon.
She sighed as she pulled into the spot at the side of the road where she’d pulled up many times before to check for traffic on the motorway.
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing if it’s clear,” she said, reaching back into the car to take the keys before thinking better of it. She wasn’t a hundred percent confident she could get the car started again and she had no tools with her.
She stayed close to the car, not trusting them not to take off without her.
She climbed up on the bonnet, where she had a clear view through the bare branches down to the motorway entrance below. She listened. It was hard to hear anything over the drone of the old engine, but she thought she could make out the V12 engine somewhere in the distance.
Bad.
She didn’t want to risk turning off the Renault to get a better idea of how far away it was.
Cars were strewn everywhere on the motorway, about one or two every fifty yards.
“What are you doing up there?”
She sighed and jumped back down. “What are you going to do, shoot me?” Her stomach growled as she got back in the car. “I haven’t eaten in days. Have you got food?”
“What, now?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to faint while I’m driving.”
Grumbling, one of the men rummaged in the bag at his feet and handed her a tin of beans. She snatched it from his hand.
“You’re welcome,” he snapped.
“You tried to strangle me. Anyway, this is useless without an opener.”
One appeared through the gap between the seats and she took it and tried to use it. Her hands were shaking too hard.
She didn’t miss the looks that passed between them. She’d never felt so helpless before; not since Max was taken away. What was she doing with these people? What was wrong with her that she had no choice but to stick with them?
Assholes, she thought. I’ll show them. She tried to blink away tears of frustration before anyone saw them.
“Give it here,” the woman beside her said. “And please be quick. Those men might be looking for us.”
Si shook her head. “If they were going to the motorway they’d have used the last entrance; the one by the garage. They won’t see us up here.”
“Even so,” the woman said, handing her the open tin. “We have a long way to go before dark.”
“Where?” Si asked, curious even though she all she wanted was to put the can to her mouth and down its contents in one go.
“York.”
York? Si screamed silently in her mind. She had no idea where that was but she knew it wasn’t close. How the hell was she going to get back from there on her own? She’d assumed they were headed somewhere nearby.
She didn’t say anything. She was too hungry. She took the can and drunk it back, chewing occasionally but mainly just swallowing, beans, sauce and all.
When she’d finished and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, she realised they were all watching her and waiting for her to finish.
All Si could think was York?
“You seem a little upset,” the older woman said vacantly, like she was commenting on the weather.
Si had seen the old guy slip her a pill. Maybe that was it. She spun around.
“Can I have some of what you gave her?” Anything to stop the manic thoughts from swirling around in her head. They were even worse now she’d satisfied her hunger.
“Not while you’re driving,” he said sternly. “And I don’t have many left. I’d planned to look for a pharmacy in Wesleygate. We can’t go back there now.”
“No, we can’t,” Si said. There was no point. In order to find Max and not get herself killed in the process, she’d have to take those men by surprise. They’d be on high alert now.
“Let’s get on the road,” the woman beside her said. “Do you know of any small towns where we might find a pharmacy?”
Si stared at the trees. Only one place came to mind. She’d been there only once, but it had stuck with her. It was a quiet spot, almost like someone had taken it straight from the seventies and teleported it to the present. Well, that was what she’d thought anyway. It was cutesy and old-fashioned; all local shops and no big chains. An orderly sort of place.
“Well?”
“Thorndale,” she said. “I don’t know where it is though. All I can remember is that it was a long drive from the garage.”
“Great.”
“Anything else? Did you take the motorway?”
She closed her eyes. In a weird way, this was helping take her attention away from her thoughts. “Yes.”