"Wait," Sean said. He peered through the windshield.
"What? I'm gonna ask this guy if he needs our help. It's not like we can get by him anyway."
"No. Don't open the door. It's an ambush."
The stranger tossed a rag into the bed of his truck and put his hands on his hips, waiting for someone to get out.
"What?" Tommy asked. He turned around and faced his friend. "An ambush? Who would ambush us out here? No one even knows we're in the area."
Sean's eyes never wavered. They remained locked on the man by the truck. "What's wrong with his pickup?"
Tommy eased back into his seat and faced forward. "Looks like he must have had some engine trouble. The hood's up. See, there's smoke coming out of the radiator." A faint waft of steam flowed out of the open pickup's hood.
"I don't like it," Sean said. "Why did he have to block the road like that?"
"I agree with Sean on this one, Tom," Reece said. "It is a bit unusual."
The stranger by the truck had a quizzical expression on his face, wondering what the delay might be.
"Put the car in reverse, Tommy, and slowly back away." Sean's even tone was full of warning.
"Are you serious? We're not gonna help this poor guy? It's burning up out there."
"Do it, Tommy."
Tommy hesitated for a second. Sean's instincts were rarely wrong about things like this, no matter how much Tommy detested admitting it. If Sean sensed something was amiss, it paid to listen.
"Okay, fine. But it's rude. I mean really rude. Imagine if you were that poor sap out in this heat with a broken down piece of crap truck like that and someone who could help rolled up and then backed away. I guess you never heard the story about the good Samaritan."
Tommy shifted the car into reverse and took his foot off the brake, letting the car ease back just faster than at an idle.
The stranger put out both hands as if to ask what they were doing.
Tommy's initial reaction was to look through the windshield. The stranded man no longer appeared desperate. He wore a menacing expression and held a black pistol out at arm's length. The muzzle flashed, accompanied by a loud pop. The bullet scraped the top of the car. He fired again, over and over.
It only took one shot for Tommy's instincts to kick in. He jammed his foot on the gas, and the car lurched backward. The engine whined, straining at the irregular speed in reverse. Steering proved to be problematic, but Tommy jerked the wheel right and left, at least keeping the vehicle on the road.
The stranger took off on foot, chasing after them and still firing. One round found the left headlight. Another one nicked the windshield frame.
Tommy was about to whip the car around and shift into drive when he saw something coming in the rearview mirror.
Two black SUVs stormed toward them from a few thousand feet away — and were closing fast. The SUVs were taking up both lanes, giving Tommy and his passengers no way to escape.
"You know," he said to Sean, "now would be a good time to do some of that secret agent stuff you do so well. No pressure. Just a thought."
"Way ahead of you. Just slow down a little, but keep your foot on the gas."
Sean rolled down his window, but it stopped just above halfway down. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."
"Child proofed?"
"Yeah."
Taking a cue from Sean, Adriana had retrieved her gun and rolled her window to the same stopping point. "I'll have to kick this out."
Adriana lay across the back seat, holding Sean in a tight hug to keep her balance.
"Ready?" Sean asked.
She winked at him. "Always."
"You are so beautiful."
"Anytime, guys!" Tommy shouted. "They're gonna ram us!"
Sean gave a nod. Adriana kicked, driving her heels through the glass and shattering the window to hundreds of pieces. They rolled up and poked their weapons out of each back window at the oncoming SUVs — now only a few hundred feet away.
"Wait for it!" Sean shouted at Adriana over the howling wind. "One more second!"
The trucks were within a hundred feet.
"Light 'em up, babe!"
Their pistols popped repeatedly. Tommy had slowed their car to keep it as steady as possible. Even at the slower speed, shooting from a moving vehicle presented a challenge. Fortunately, this wasn't their first time.
Sparks erupted from the asphalt near the SUVs' tires. One headlight exploded on the one to the right. Another round zipped through the windshield on the left, sending a cracked web across the glass.
The two SUV drivers panicked. The one on the right swerved toward the road's shoulder. The one on the left did the same at first, but seeing he couldn't escape the hail fire of bullets, jerked the wheel too far back the other direction. The vehicle veered right into the front quarter panel of the other in a violent thud and scream of metal. It plowed ahead and off the road, skipped the ditch, and smashed into a big tree. The SUV it struck twisted for a second and then flipped onto its top, rolled another forty feet, and then came to a rest on its side.
Sean sat back in the car while Adriana squeezed off the rest of her rounds at the closer of the two wrecked SUVs.
Another pop echoed from the road ahead. A round tore through the windshield and thumped into the leather of the back seat, just inches from Sean's head.
The stranger was still running after them, though he was losing ground with every step. The shot he'd fired was a lucky one from that distance. Even Sean wasn't accurate from that far away.
"Tommy?" he said.
"On it."
Tommy whipped the steering wheel to the right, and the car swung around hard, squealing rubber on asphalt. In the same motion, he flipped the gear shift into drive and stepped on the gas. Once more, the tires screeched. The car fishtailed for a second until Tommy corrected it and sped away.
In the rearview mirror, he saw the stranger jog to a stop and hold his weapon out for one last shot. The muzzle flashed, but the round sailed off to the right and plunged into the dirt.
Five seconds later, Tommy steered the car around a curve and out of harm's way.
He took a look back in the mirror at his passengers. "You guys okay?"
Sean checked Adriana and then nodded. "Yeah, we're good."
"Light 'em up, babe?" Tommy said. "Really? Since when do you say stuff like that?"
Sean smirked. "Got the job done, didn't it?"
"You guys are crazy!" Reece shouted. "Woohoo! Man, I miss you two!"
Tommy didn't share the Aussie's enthusiasm. "Reece, we were almost killed."
"Sure beats being bored to death. I mean, that's what was happening."
Tommy let out a sigh of relief. "Who were those guys, anyway?"
Sean slid a fresh magazine into his weapon. When it clicked, he pulled the slide back — just in case. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was the people responsible for bombing your building."
"No kidding. But that doesn't answer the question."
"I can't put my finger on it," Reece spoke up again, "but that guy on the road looked familiar. I've seen him somewhere before."
"Everybody looks that way from a distance, Reece."
"No, I mean he has a look to him. Like he played rugby."
Sean agreed. "He did have that body type. Big traps. Muscular frame. Wouldn't want to get tackled by that guy."
"That still doesn't answer the question," Adriana said. "If they're connected to the people who bombed IAA, then that means they tracked us here. If they could do that, they won't be done yet."
"Ticked off anyone lately, Tom?" Reece asked. He nudged Tommy in the shoulder with his fist.
"No more than usual. I don't think that's it. Whoever they are, it has to do with that email."
He steered the car around an S curve. The road straightened out for a stretch, heading up a mountain. The dense forest kept them in the shade of the canopy. The windshield had a slew of cracks running through it in random directions, but there was enough clear glass for Tommy to see out.