Down the Rabbit Hole Page 25

  Sonia’s mind started to clear. “How’d he know we were out here? How’d he know to come after us?” The words were fast and clipped.

  Brad’s speech slowed. “Actually, we don’t know for sure that they were coming after us. Any chance they were just taking another route?”

  Sonia looked back at the GPS map and manipulated it, trying to see what other roads were near them, her hands still shaky. Brad had the ‘Vette flying down the winding country roads at speeds the local sheriff would have frowned upon. Finally, she said, over the roar of the engine, “I’ve got it. Not the next right, but the one after that. That’ll take us back to the interstate, but at a different exit.”

  “Got it.” It seemed to Sonia that Brad was almost enjoying this.

  Sonia started to speak in measured tones as well. “First right coming up almost immediately. Looks like about one or two miles to the turn. It’s possible that’s where they were headed. Possible.”

  The first right blew by. And at eighty miles an hour, it took the ‘Vette just over one minute to cover the approximate mile and a half to the next turn. Applying the brakes hard, the motor screamed as Brad downshifted to make the ninety-degree turn onto the crossroad that would lead them back to their original path. Accelerating immediately, but only to sixty miles an hour, Brad asked, “How far to the interstate?”

  “Looks like five or six miles.”

  Brad kept the car moving steadily but slowly lessened the pressure on the accelerator. Sonia squirmed and adjusted her seatbelt, glad that this road was straight and even, running smoothly along neatly parceled pieces of farmland.

  It seemed only the blink of an eye to Sonia and they were approaching the interstate. “Here it is,” she said calmly, her voice now back where it belonged in her throat. “Take a right onto this next road and go over the interstate. The ramp is on the left.”

  Brad took the turn, but as he let the ‘Vette blow right past the entrance to the interstate, Sonia exclaimed, “There it is! You’re missing it!” Then she saw a smile on his face and a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. She turned her head forward, as if speaking to no one in particular. “Okay, you want to tell me what you’re doing?”

  “Well, sweetheart, we’re going find out if those bad boys are actually after us or not.” He turned back to her and smiled. “If they keep coming past the interstate, they’re definitely planning to track us down and do bodily harm to that beautiful, sexy body of yours . . . and of course, my own studly body as well.”

  Those words sent a ripple through Sonia.

  His eyes returned to the road. “If, on the other hand, they turn onto the interstate, then one of two things is true. One, they were trying to catch us but they’ve lost us and have no idea where we are. Or two, they never even knew we were out there, and they just chose a different route back to the interstate.” He looked back at her. “Maybe this just all made sense to them in purely geographic terms.”

  Having gotten past the entrance to the interstate, and far enough around a curve to not be seen by anyone turning onto the highway, Brad slowed the car. Looking over his shoulder, he pulled a smooth Uie, the ‘Vette’s tight suspension and steering making easy work of the maneuver. He pulled to the side of the road and stopped. “Now we wait.” Brad took a deep breath and relaxed. A few minutes later he said, “Check out your GPS reading. How far are they from the interstate? In fact, are they even following the same route?”

  Sonia picked up the computer. “Looks like it. Looks like they’re headed right to that interchange. Maybe only another mile or two and they’ll be there.”

  “Won’t be long now and we’ll know if they’re still after us.” Brad locked his fingers, twisted his wrist, and stretched his arms. “Of course, if they’re not, we won’t know if they ever were.”

  Sonia had no response. The car sat on the side of the road, its engine purring quietly. Finally, Sonia spoke. “Okay. I’ve got a question for you.”

  Brad kept his eyes peeled on the curve in front of them. “Shoot.”

  “If there’s still a chance that they may be following us, why have you turned the car around? Don’t we want to get away from them if they’re still coming after us?”

  Brad turned toward her, a wry smile on his face. “Well, Grasshopper,” he said, trying to do his best Kung Fu accent, and reminding Sonia immediately of Jet, “let us think this through. You have noticed that we are just around a bend in the road, have you not?”

  “Yes.” She felt something coming.

  He raised his eyebrows. “And what does that tell you?”

  “That they can’t see us from the interstate?” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Well,” said Brad, continuing with his accent. “Let us suppose they were following us and were somehow wise enough to cross the interstate to try to catch us? Would it be best for us to run from them by continuing out into the farmlands of Tennessee?”

  She shrugged again. “I guess so. I mean, they’re in a truck. They couldn’t catch up with this car, right?”

  “Ah, how true, grasshopper. But then where would we be? Where would we be going? How long before we might have an unfortunate accident on a winding road? Now, is there a better strategy?”

  Sonia was silent for a moment. Then her eyes brightened, and a smile crossed her face. “I’ve got it. You’ve got us tucked up against the curve in the road. If, by chance, they really are coming to get us, when they come around the curve we’ll be ready for them because of the GPS.” She was getting excited. “They may see us, but by the time they do, they won’t have time to react. You’ll hop on that gas pedal and Mr. Corvette will go rocketing right past them before they can even come to a stop. Then we’ve got a clean shot to the interstate and we’re miles down the road before they even get the truck turned around.” Her smile broadened. “Brilliant, Holmes, Brilliant!”

  Brad’s bright blue eyes popped open at that last statement. Sonia said, demurely, “After that comment about the dog that didn’t bark, I didn’t want you to think that I hadn’t read my share of Sherlock Holmes.” They both chuckled softly at that. There was a softness in their eyes as they looked at each other and smiled.

  Sonia looked down at the computer. “And I guess we’ll never know if your plan would work or not.”

  His brow furrowed. “And why’s that?”

  She looked up at him and smiled again. “Because the truck just turned onto the interstate and is heading for Nashville, and I assume, points north.”

  45

  Sonia watched the GPS locator program. “There it is. They’re well on their way toward Nashville.”

  “And here we go.” Brad put the ‘Vette in gear and took off. Sonia watched as, within moments, they slipped smoothly onto the highway. Then she asked, “Why so close?”

  “Because, my dear, I’m guessing we could both use a tiny breather and something to put in our stomachs. We’ll stay pretty close. Not close enough for them to see us, but close enough that we can hop off the interstate, get ourselves something to eat, and get back behind them well within our fifteen-mile limit. I’m not guessing that they’ll be stopping again soon so we’ll have to make it quick.”

  They rode on in silence for a few minutes, then Sonia said, “Have you noticed that every car we pass seems to be staring at us.”

  “Nerves, honey. Just nerves. After being chased like that you can’t help but be a little paranoid.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Two minutes later she said, “Exit coming up. Mickey D’s. That’s us.”

  “You got it.” Brad slipped the car smoothly off the highway, took a right, and pulled directly into the parking lot of a McDonald’s. “Here you go, babe. I’m guessing you need to use the ladies room, so tell me what you want and I’ll get our food.”

  “Egg McMuffin, no cheese, black coffee with sugar. The breakfast of champions.”

  Sonia and Brad got out of the car and were headed for the restaurant when Sonia noticed a man and his wi
fe, both in their sixties, staring at the ‘Vette. Sonia smiled a sad smile. Ah, another older man fantasizing over the car of his teen-aged dreams. Then she turned around and stopped. “Brad. Brad.”

  “What?”

  “The car. Look at the car.”

  Sonia watched Brad’s face as he turned around to look at his dark blue Corvette. A smile crossed her face as she watched the shock grow on his. Then she looked back at the car herself and broke out in quiet laughter. The sides of the car were covered in grass and mud. “Looks like we’ve been out runnin’ with the boys from The Dukes of Hazzard,” she said.

  Things got even funnier to Sonia as she watched Brad walk slowly back toward the car, shaking his head. “Good thing we were able to get away from Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg,” she continued. “Maybe Uncle Jesse can come and help clean this thing up for us by drivin’ it through the fishin’ pond.” By then she was laughing so hard she could hardly get the words out.

  Sonia paused, suddenly afraid that Brad was going to burst into a tirade about the car. Then she watched his face soften. He turned to her and said, “Listen, Daisy Duke. Get your fine country ass into that there McDonald’s and use their privy. I’m a’gonna get us some food and we’ll be drivin’ the ‘General Lee’ outta here right fast as we can. And by the way, how do you know so much about that show? You’re too young to have watched it.”

  “They made a movie about it a while ago. Didn’t you know that?”

  A big smile still on her face, Sonia went inside and used the ladies’ room. When she came out, she saw that instead of waiting with the food, Brad was standing near the car, talking on his cell phone. As she walked up to him, he stopped talking and covered the phone with his hand. “Same thing you’re having, but with the cheese,” he whispered. Then he reached into his back pocket and handed her his wallet. As she walked away, Sonia could hear that he had restarted his conversation, but she was focused on the fact that their minutes were flying by.

  When Sonia got back to the car with the food, Brad had the ‘Vette running and ready to roll. Back on the interstate, Sonia reached into the bag and pulled out the first Egg McMuffin. “This one’s yours,” she said as she unwrapped it, handing it to him carefully. Once again, she was struck by how much they seemed like a couple.

  “Thanks,” said Brad, taking a bite. “How far ahead are they?”

  “Fourteen miles, just within our range.”

  “Good. Now let’s see where these boys make their next stop.”

  Within a few minutes, the Egg McMuffins having been scarfed down quickly, and the coffee still too hot to drink, Brad was moving the car from I-40 East to I-65 North, back toward Kentucky. As they made an arc around downtown Nashville, Sonia looked out toward the same skyline she’d seen the night before. It had been a skyline of music and romance and dreams of stardom when lit up at night. But in the daylight, the city appeared to be a stalwart center of commerce, a true American city.

  “Well, they’re heading north,” said Brad. “My guess is that we’ll follow them past Bowling Green and on up to Elizabethtown.”

  “Do you think they’ll have a drop off in Bowling Green?”

  “Probably not, too close to the last one. Could be one in E’town.”

  Time passed. They crossed into Tennessee. Just after one o’clock, Brad spoke. “Okay, let’s see what’s going to happen now.”

  “What do you mean?” She looked at him.

  “Well, we’ll be at the junction of 65 and The Bluegrass Parkway in a moment. If they get on the parkway, they’re headed directly back to Lexington. If they stay on 65 it’s almost a sure thing that they’re headed toward Louisville.”

  Sonia and Brad sat silently as they followed a few more minutes, their eyes focused on the road ahead. Sonia looked down at the computer screen. “And there it is. They’re headed for Louisville.”

  “Ah, makes sense. If you’re bringing stuff up from Memphis, you want to hit as many cities as you can. You wouldn’t want to skip Louisville.”

  Sonia settled in for another tiring segment of the trip when her eyes caught something on the computer. She lifted it into her lap. “Hang on. Something’s happening . . . Yeah, they’re leaving the interstate . . . Looks like it may be the very next exit . . . Yeah, they’re getting off on 313, headed west.”

  Brad glanced briefly in her direction. “Okay, then, we’re following.”

  “The same way we did last time? That really didn’t work out so swell.” She hoped the angle of her head made it abundantly clear that she was not simply stating a fact.

  Brad kept his eyes on the road. “No, it’s too dangerous. We’ll just follow until we see them stop. We’ll make a note of the distance from where we are to where they are. That’ll give us a pretty good idea which farm they’ve stopped at. Then we’ll go back to the interstate and use the same strategy we used before. We’ll wait for them to get onto 65 and then we’ll get on behind them and follow.” Turning to Sonia and smiling, he said, “It’s not as complete a strategy, but certainly seems to have less downside.”

  “Sounds good.” Sonia turned and looked out her side window then smiled. I knew you’d come to see things my way.

  Sonia watched the beautiful farms go by as they drove along the two-lane road. Dark brown creosote fences. Circular hay rolls, eight to ten feet tall. Wooden barns─with the occasional bible verse painted on the roof. The purr of the powerful engine, barely working hard, had a soothing effect on her. “Wow, they’re going a long way out into the country.”

  Brad checked the rearview mirror. “Yeah, seems strange, doesn’t it? I guess you can’t just pick the farm closest to the interstate, walk up to the front door and say, ‘We’d like to use your farm as a drop-off point for drugs. Will that be okay with you?’ ” His voice was relaxed.

  “Yeah,” said Sonia softly. She was trying to reflect Brad’s confident mood, but the possibility of another harrowing confrontation had gotten a knot started in her stomach again. It was working its way up into her chest.

  Brad must have sensed her apprehension. He looked at her. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine, I just want to get this trip over with and get back to Lexington.”

  “So you can have dinner with the Sergeant?” His eyes went to the side mirror.

  Sonia turned away from him. She had forgotten about her phone conversation with Johnny Adams earlier that morning. She couldn’t tell from the tone of Brad’s voice what he was feeling. She knew she had certainly meant to hurt him when she spoke openly on the phone with Johnny that morning. Sonia looked down at her fingernails. Wow, was that really just this morning? But that was before everything that had happened back in Tennessee. Sonia’s foot started tapping. She sucked in her lower lip. Oh, crap. Have I messed this up again? Is he mad? Is he hurt? She simply didn’t know how to respond. She said nothing.

  As they drove on, the tension and the silence were again palpable in the car. Brad looked up to the mirror. “Uh, oh. Looks like we’ve got company.”

  Sonia spun as far around in the seat as she could and tried to look out the tiny back window. The knot moved from her chest to her throat.

  Sonia saw Brad’s shoulders hunch forward as he braced himself. “You can’t see them right now, they’re hanging back, but they’re out there.”

  Sonia twisted a little harder─straining. “How do you know?”

  “They got a little too close. I saw them on a bit of a straightaway.”

  Sonia turned to the front, her hand steadying the computer on her lap. She saw his eyes flick up to the rearview mirror, then the side mirror, then back to the rearview.

  Sonia checked her own side mirror. “Who do you think it is?

  “No question, it’s not a welcoming committee.”

  “How do you know?” The panic in Sonia’s voice was rising.

  “Big black Suburban, shiny clean, no farm dust on it. Trust me, I know.” Brad’s voice tensed. “And shit, here they come.”

&n
bsp; He laid on the gas pedal and the ‘Vette jumped like a toad that had just landed on a hot stretch of blacktop. The car could do zero to sixty in 3.7 seconds. Already going fifty, it hit eighty in a lot less than that. “Open the console,” said Brad calmly, but with authority.

  She looked at him, panic in her eyes. “What?”

  His voice stayed calm. “The console, open the console.”

  Sonia zeroed in. She opened it.

  Still calm. “Push the button, the red button.”

  “This one?” She pointed.

  Brad didn’t look down. “The only one down there.”

  Sonia pushed the button. “Now what?” She was almost without breath. She felt her body pulling into itself.

  Brad bore down. “Now, this is where you look at the screen and tell me we’ve got plenty of options. These boys ain’t gonna give up ‘til they’ve tracked us down or we’ve lost them.”

  Sonia desperately scanned the GPS map. “Nothing! There’s nothing! Just one road coming up real fast on the left. If we keep going straight, we’ll run right up on the truck. We’re almost on them now.”

  “On the left?”

  “Yes. Here it comes.” She almost screamed it.

  Brad stood on the brakes and downshifted hard, pulling the ‘Vette to a screeching, sliding stop just before the turn. Then, laying a patch of rubber, he took off again down the new road. Not ten seconds had gone by when Sonia’s head snapped to the right. A “Road Closed Ahead” sign whipped by.

  “Road closed! Road closed!” she yelled.

  “Not for us! We’ve got to go somewhere!”

  At that very moment, the macadam road turned into gravel. Sonia could hear rocks and pebbles being thrown up inside the wheel wells of the car as it plowed on, kicking up a plume of gray-white dust.

  “Hang on, babe,” Brad said as the ‘Vette flew past a hand-painted “Bridge Out” sign. Downshifting and palming the steering wheel all the way to the right, Brad turned the car perpendicular to the dismantled bridge and brought it to rest right at the very end of the gravel road. Piles of wood planks, torn from the bridge, were heaped next to metal railings which once served to keep cars from falling off the bridge into the shallow river below.