“Let’s head west,” Max began, “There’s another park just outside—” He stopped abruptly as the wail of far off sirens drifted to us. “Let’s go.” Before I’d managed a breath, he tossed everything on the back seat and pulled open my door. “Come on,” he said and when I hesitated, he gripped my arm and pushed me in. The cake hit the dirt, the car door slammed shut and Max ran—literally ran—around the car.

“What—” My protest was cut short as Max peeled out of the parking lot. My back pressed into the seat and I could hear gravel spraying behind us. “What are you doing?”

“Be quiet.” Max floored it and we raced down the highway.

“No, I won’t be quiet. I don’t know who you think you are—”

“Just shut up!”

Stung, I turned away and looked out the window. That’s when I realized we must be going over eighty. I glanced at the speedometer. The red line hovered at ninety, then ninety-five. Oh God. I needed to get out of this car. Now.

“Um…Max?” He didn’t answer. His jaw was clenched and he kept glancing in the rearview mirror. “Max, would…”

His head whipped toward me. His eyes were wild, but he said nothing. I had an instant to realize this man was crazy when a flash of white appeared in front of the car. Max swerved, barely kept the car from flipping and raced down the road faster than before.

I looked out the back window. Yep, a police car. Actually, three police cars. They were nearly a hundred feet behind us, lights flashing, sirens screaming.

“Max. Stop,” I yelled, but he ignored me.

The car bounced up and down and I swore we flew over the top of that hill. We hit the ground with a teeth-jarring thud and raced on. I braced my hand against the dash as we skidded around a corner, then another. My body strained against the seatbelt. As the car took a sharp right, I grabbed for something—anything—to brace myself. My hand came down on the emergency brake handle between the two front seats. I didn’t know what would happen if I lifted it, but I’d run out of options. I gripped it tight then everything happened at once.

Something snakelike flew out from between the hills and rock on the side of the road and landed right in front of us. Max swore as we sped over it. Bang. Bang, bang, bang. There went the tires. The car swerved one way then the other as Max fought for control. I took a deep breath and pulled hard on the emergency brake.

We started to spin. Big, wide circles. The world flew by so fast I couldn’t orient myself. We spun and spun, then came to a sudden stop with the sound of crunching metal. My shoulder rammed against the passenger door and the seatbelt bit deep. We’d hit the boulders alongside the road.

I blinked until the world righted itself. Max slapped at his seatbelt and jumped out his door. Dazed, I watched as he sprinted into a gap between the rocks. Police cars were screeching to a stop and an officer with a huge German Shepard raced into the woods after Max.

I closed my eyes and wished I could cover my ears to block out the roaring sirens and yells, but my hands wouldn’t move. I leaned my head back and took a few deep breaths, trying to process what just happened, but the pieces wouldn’t connect. 

I finally managed to get my wobbly hands moving and reached to open the door, but it didn’t move. I kicked the door hard. It flew open and I spotted them. Five men and one woman in police uniforms, feet planted, guns drawn. pointed straight at me.