Terry was listening to all this without saying anything; thinking; taking stock. They whizzed past a service station on the other side of the road and it put an idea in his head. “What if…” he cleared his throat when it became clear none of them had heard him. “What if we don’t try and lose them. What if we trap them?”
The car fell as silent as it had ever been. Clive and Annie turned to look at him, waiting. He held his hands up, wishing he had more to give them.
“What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. It’s just an idea that came into my head. We just passed a service station on the other side. There must be another coming up on this side. What if we pulled in there and waited.”
“They have shotguns,” Si said, almost as soon as he’d finished speaking.
“We have guns,” Terry said. He looked over at Clive expectantly, hoping the older man might jump at the idea and think of a watertight plan. As he did, he spotted a flash of green up ahead.
“Look. There’s a service station.”
“It’s about five hundred yards away,” Si said. “How much of a lead do we have on them?”
“About the same again. Five hundred yards or so.”
Terry shook his head. Maths wasn’t his strong point. But that didn’t matter. An idea had popped into his head. “They don’t know we’re armed, do they? In fact, they don’t know we’re with you.”
Si sighed “They wouldn’t. I don’t even know if they know about me. The only way is if Max told them…” her voice faltered. “And he wouldn’t have.”
“Well then.” He looked over at Clive who was watching him with interest as he clung to the side of the car to stop himself from falling on them. “For all they know, we’re a bunch of random frightened people.”
“So? They still have shotguns.”
He saw it so clearly now. He’d never thought of anything with such clarity before. The words came tumbling out and he waited for Clive to tell him it was a stupid plan; that it would never work.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he leant forward and squeezed the side of the front seat. “Did you hear that, Si? It’s risky, but it’s our only shot at getting rid of them once and for all.”
She nodded.
“Be ready.”
Everyone apart from Si was twitchy with nerves as they looked out the back window at the ever-narrowing gap between them and the car pursuing them. It was so close now that Terry could have seen it was a Jag even if he hadn’t already known.
The problem was they had already passed the first service station he’d seen and none of them had any idea when they were going to pass another.
“It shouldn’t be too long,” Clive murmured. “Those things are everywhere.”
“Let’s hope not.”
Terry stared at the windscreen of the car behind. It was still too far away to see the men inside. Who the hell were they and why were they bothering to chase down a crappy old Renault? They obviously had decent cars at their disposal.
It was the girl, he realised with a start. They were after her. She said they didn’t know about her, but they must have done. Why else would they have come back?
He turned and looked at the back of her head. Hadn’t those men done enough to her? He gritted his teeth. They were no different from the kids who’d stolen his water or the customers who’d rounded on him for trying to help a young woman in need.
And he’d had enough of that. He was starting to make sense of his shock at having shot that young man. It didn’t matter if people judged him or not. The world had changed. He’d done what he thought was right. He didn’t need to beat himself up.
But there were other consequences of that. Terry breathed out slowly as a new certainty washed over him. It was time to stop looking to others for approval. This was his time. There were no labels anymore. He wasn’t ‘just’ a supermarket worker or a single man in his forties or whatever.
“I’ll do it,” he muttered. This was what it was about; not sitting around in his flat watching life pass him by and feeling bitter at other people for it.
“No,” Clive said quickly. “It’s too risky.”
This time, Terry wouldn’t be convinced otherwise. It was happening. “I’m bigger,” he said with a smile that hid the nerves that had started churning in the pit of his stomach. “I can distract them; you can finish it off if need be. It’s better this way. You have a wife. The rest of you…” he pointed to Si. “Make sure she finds him, eh?”
There was silence after that. None of them tried to talk him out of it, which was just as well. His mind was made up.
“I see a service station,” Si said, knocking them all from their thoughts.
Terry sat upright and stared out the windscreen. The Jaguar was now close enough that they’d decided to go for the next exit if they didn’t come across a service station first. He took in what he was seeing. “It’s perfect. Set back from the road.” He glanced back over his shoulder and felt a wave of apprehension. “Maybe we left it too late. If they’re right behind us down the slip road, we’ll never be able to—”
“Leave it to me,” Si said.
They drove on in silence for a few more seconds, and the service area got closer and closer until Terry could read the name on the sign over the forecourt. “Now,” Terry yelped. “Get off.”
Si floored the accelerator. The old Renault juddered and shook as they bolted down the exit lane. Terry held his breath. It was hard to say whether their last-minute injection of speed was enough, but it was all they could do. There was no way the old car could have maintained that speed for longer.
He swallowed. It was almost time.
“Terry, you don’t have to do this, you know. We’ll find another—”
“No. This gives us the best shot.” He did his best to smile. “I’m well-padded. I’ll be alright.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
Terry’s heart hammered. He grabbed the door release with one hand and used the other to steady himself. He had to be ready to jump at the right time. His gun was shoved down the back of his jeans, ready for him to grab when he got in position. They turned a corner and he took in the layout. Yes, there it was. The carwash, over beyond a row of shop fronts and the petrol station itself.
“Go,” Clive hissed.
Terry threw open his door. Si had slammed on the brakes, but the car was still moving at considerable speed. He jumped out, crouching low and almost stumbling from the momentum of the moving car. But he kept himself upright somehow. He ran behind the first of the buildings and waited, heart thumping.
It was worse being alone. Now his thoughts swirled in his head. He’d never done anything like this before. He rubbed the back of his arm against his forehead. He was sweating.
Was it any wonder?
The roar of a second engine nearby told him the Jaguar had followed them in. He took a breath and waited.
This was it. Forty-five years of coasting and waiting for life to happen. Would he see forty-six?
Four car doors slammed in quick succession.
It was time.
38. Si
Si swallowed. Hearing those doors slam shut hit harder than she’d expected because it sent her straight back to two days earlier when she’d seen Max for the last time. She blinked. It wasn’t the time to let it get to her.
She looked around at the others. They looked just as worried as she felt. “Do you think this will work?”
“I don’t know. But it was this or let them run us off the road.”
“Shh. Listen.”
It had seemed like a clever plan when he first said it, but now she couldn’t help but poke holes in it. They were depending on a lot of things to happen. Would they? She didn’t dare to look out just in case they saw her. Where were they?