WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (47 page)
Read WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) Online
Authors: Elizabeth Munro
Half way through the tunnel I took advantage of a small break in traffic to get over into the slow lane. I dropped a gear letting the transmission slow me below the speed limit and watched the three headlights in my mirrors. Rather than pass they fit in behind, squeezed in too close considering the gap was only safe for one. Another check of my mirror showed the cars in the fast lane weren’t going to let me in for a while but all I needed was a small break to get my privacy back.
I felt the pressure of engines on either side and instinctively moved to the very centre of the lane. Two of the riders squeezed past with just inches of air between my bike and theirs.
Assinine.
If they said anything at the next light one of them would get the mini tire iron in my tank bag right in the headlight; maybe even in the helmet depending how much time I had to cool off. The third remained behind as his friends paired up in front which seemed a lot safer than three abreast though just as dangerous.
As if they knew I was looking for escape the one ahead to my left dropped back enough that I couldn’t change lanes without hitting his rear tire. So much unwelcome male got my heart beating and I felt pinched like the night before between the burglar and my sofa. In response I moved closer to the shoulder and the guy up front backed off.
There was no reason for these three guys to herd a lone woman rider. Normal men wouldn’t do that. If I stopped overreacting I’d figure it out. I’d be through the tunnel and riding the highways of Washington State in a couple of hours.
Paul, Paul, Paul
pressed into my skin with the throb of the passing lights and the pounding of my heart, each beat closer to the exit and the freeway. It was the rider ahead to the left who took the biggest risks with the limited space.
The lighting changed from yellow to more widely spaced white indicating we were a kilometre from the exit then with a subtle pop there was black sky above and regular street lights.
Once the highway widened to three lanes the other riders took advantage of the space and took off a couple of hundred yards ahead though they kept to my lane. Fine with me. I moved over two lanes to the left to pass but they swerved through traffic to stay in front.
I thought with some space between us I’d feel safe and alone but I didn’t. Not like the night before when the break-in was over and big girl Anna could pretend she’d run the burglar off herself; more like the night I met Paul when he casually walked me past the door to my room and hid me around the corner. We’d both noticed a man in the parking lot. With his frozen attention on us in a wash of moving motorcycles and leather clad bikers the threat in his stare couldn’t have stood out more if he was waving a gun.
Paul knew the guy and said he was trouble. I worked under an assumed name and Paul was worried about the damage to us both if word got out that he and his competition were cozy in her hotel room. Now with three men stalking me all I wanted was Paul, his body tight over mine against the wall of my noisy Rivertown motel.
I knew the him now too. The man in my house had been the same one in the parking lot. His hair was longer and even with the blood covering his face there was no mistaking he was the same guy. So far away in distance and time it took a repeat of the feelings to make the connection. Paul and I hadn’t been as discrete as we thought. Nearly forgetting about the three in front I tried to calm down as fear from the night before ebbed and my arms grew heavy with fading adrenaline.
As I got my bearings the three dropped back, one rider rolling off the throttle to swing into my path. I did the same, moving over to the centre line to avoid rear ending him. My horn whined a warning as he got back in position. Granted a small break in the heavy truck traffic to my right I made a dangerous double lane switch between two big rigs and into the very right hand lane.
I glanced at the glowing green street sign telling me the exit for Peace Arch was only half a klick ahead and was so fixated on looking for the exit lane to open up I nearly rode into the rear ends of my three pursuers. They’d passed the trucks ahead and dropped back.
In unison we exited though they kept me pinned to the shoulder and once clear of the interchange the only light around us came from our rides.
Next it was the rider two ahead, the other one on my side of the lane who dropped back sliding past the one who tried to hit me the first time. I swerved out of his way just in time. He matched my speed and pushed in dangerously close.
Fuck this, I thought. I knew the roads and even in the dark I’d lose them. Taking a chance they left me enough room to get out I snapped my wrist down and pulled into the other lane as they did the same, the lead rider swung out blocking my way. Then the other two pulled next to him so I couldn’t get around. I slowed right down and dropped behind as they got in position out front. It was like they knew what I would do before I did.
One of the men dropped back quicker than I could slow down and get some distance.
“Take it easy,” he yelled. His voice chilled me. Too scared to brake and turn around or do any more than hold the throttle still I kept rolling as the burglar pulled ahead.
Paul was right; the man was trouble the night we met, in my house and now on the highway and I needed Paul protecting me again.
I made up my mind to make it to Paul as the lead bike went down. We were maybe doing sixty kilometres an hour and the feel of gravel under my tires told me why he’d lost control. The other two bikes’ tail lights brightened and I feathered my brakes to stop as hard as I could without skidding.
The rider up front slid under his bike as the other two went down on top of him. I still had enough control to get over by a wooden building. There was a shout, then another as my bike stopped and I crouched behind it. My helmet came off as did my pack so I could run when I decided which way to go.
I wracked my brain to remember which dirt road we’d turned on but there should be nothing: no dirt, no unlit exits, just cement barriers all the way to the US border.
There was a brawl; more men than the three riders in the lights pointing every which way. Then a gunshot so I ran about thirty feet and found an alley.
“There! Down that way!” a man yelled as I bolted into the blackness. Someone was on my heels. He didn’t slow down one bit as he hit and the ground flew up to meet me. His full weight came down, forcing the air from my lungs as my shoulder slid out of place and my chest flexed. My scream added to the shouts.
A knife flashed in the moonlight above then his crushing weight was gone. The sun was up and there was nothing but icy silence. I was alone on the cold ground between two wooden buildings. Daylight. The sun had replaced the moon and I wasn’t sure if I’d been there all night or if I had yet to even leave home. How far back in time could I have gone? My right eye was swollen and as I looked up at the walls and sky above me I realized that somewhere after the terrifying ride and being attacked in the alley I’d jumped. Slipped away in time to escape the falling blade.
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