Hard and Fast

by Raven Scott

  “Bobby! What the hell is going on?”

  “It’s almost over,” he replied cryptically just as he slowed the car down through a sharp turn in the road.

  At the next intersection, Bobby then made a sharp left turn off the highway onto a rough, unpaved road into what looked like a construction site adjacent to one of the many mountainsides. Alex gripped the door handles as the race car bounced along the rough terrain until he pulled to a stop with the transmission in neutral, about twenty feet away from a silver sedan.

  “Bobby, what’s happening?” she demanded again.

  He didn’t reply. Fear was building in her chest, though she tried to stay calm and focus on her surroundings. Two men stepped out of the other car, and neither looked friendly enough to ease her increasing panic.

  Bobby took a deep breath and finally looked back at her.

  “Sorry, Alex. I had no choice,” he told her in a quiet, thin voice.

  “What do you mean? No choice for what?” she demanded, grabbing his arm. “Bobby, what did you do?”

  He pulled his arm away roughly and popped open his door.

  “Sorry,” he whispered again, and stepped out of the car.

  “Bobby,” she yelled at him as he walked up to the strangers.

  She could see one of the men talking but couldn’t hear anything. Then the man who had spoken calmly took a gun out from under his jacket and shot Bobby in the head. Alex jumped at the sound, but couldn’t believe what had happened right in front of her eyes. The young man’s body collapsed lifelessly to the ground and the shooter stepped right over him, striding toward her.

  “No!” screamed Alex, clawing for the door handle so she could go help Bobby. “No, no, no—”

  Confused by shock for several long seconds, Alex struggled to comprehend the situation. The two men were steadily approaching, now with two guns pointed at her. They were halfway to the car when her survival instincts kicked in. Remembering the last time she had been stuck in that car, she pulled on the seat adjuster and almost screamed with relief when her seat slid back. It created enough room to quickly climb over the component configured in the center console and into the driver’s seat.

  The men were almost at the front of the car when she pressed her left foot down hard on the clutch and pushed the shifter into first gear. Alex eased off the clutch and jammed on the gas just as the first bullet punched through the windshield and whizzed by her ear. She screamed, letting go of the steering wheel to cover her head while the tires squealed on the gravel and the car shot forward out of control. A volley of gunshots followed, shattering the windows and pummeling the side panels. Alex curled low toward the still-open driver’s-side door. The wind velocity increased with her speed, and Alex could see the ground rushing by out of the corner of her eye.

  Finally, the bullets stopped, and she grabbed the wheel to try to control the direction of the car. Then, Alex sat up straighter in order to quickly get her bearing. Through the rearview mirror, she could see that the two men were still running toward her, but their forms became smaller and smaller. She felt a small dose of victory, before she turned to look out the windshield and saw that she was rushing toward the edge of a cliff at over twenty-five miles per hour.

  There was no time to think. Alex felt the front of the car tip forward just as she pushed down hard on the floor and dove out the open driver’s-side door.

  She hit the side of the steep incline hard on her shoulder, then rolled uncontrollably for what felt like forever. While the world spun wildly around her, Alex could hear the sickening sound of metal crunching as the Evo crashed down the side of the mountain. Her body was moving fast and picking up speed, hitting mounds of hard dirt before banging into a tree stump. It slowed down her descent until she slid on her stomach and finally stopped at a short landing.

  The last thing Alex heard was a loud explosion that seemed to shake the ground beneath her. Her vision began to blur around the edges, and everything was fading into darkness until only a small coin-sized ray of light came through. Somewhere, miles away, she heard a deep voice yelling her name. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.

  The ringing of sirens pounded loudly in her head, pulling her back into consciousness. Alex blinked against the bright morning sunlight for a couple minutes while breathing deep, then slowly turned her head toward the sound. For a few seconds, she didn’t understand where she was, or why she was lying on her back, spread-eagle on a rocky surface.

  “Alex!”

  It all rushed back with a sudden cascade of horrific images. Bobby, the two men, the Evo now lying in a burning wreck at the base of a steep slope.

  “Alex!”

  Someone was here to find her. She had to let them know her location.

  “Help!” Alex tried to yell, but it came out as a deep, gravelly croak and led to a series of dusty coughs.

  “Help!” The second attempt was more effective, and she closed her eyes with relief to hear her voice echo around her. “I’m here!”

  Fearing it still wasn’t enough, Alex tried to move, testing each of her limbs before crawling forward on her elbows. Her head swam with dizziness and her stomach rolled with nausea. Every part of her body felt bruised and battered, but it all seemed in functioning order. Feeling more confident, she pushed up on her hands and knees and shuffled into a more visible area on the shallow landing.

  “I’m here!” she yelled again.

  “Over there!” someone yelled from above. “I can see her!”

  “I’m here,” Alex repeated in a hoarse whisper, suddenly too exhausted to hold her weight up any further.

  Alex collapsed flat and managed to roll onto her back, only able to focus on breathing without throwing up. She closed her eyes and listened to the constant sounds of urgent activity above her without any sense of the passage of time. Finally, one voice got closer and closer.

  “Hang on, Alex. I’m coming to get you. Just hang on.”

  She meant to nod, but she actually hadn’t moved. All her energy was going into staying conscious. It was another excruciatingly long wait before she felt the touch of firm hands on her shoulder.

  “Alex, can you talk?” It was Samuel Mackenzie, Lucas’s partner. “Are you in pain?”

  Alex opened her heavy lids to look into his brilliant sky blue eyes.

  “I think I’m okay,” she managed to whisper. “My hip hurts the most, but I think it’s just bruised.”

  “Okay, that’s good,” he told her with a smile that was so charming she blinked with surprise. “We’re lowering down a stretcher, and we’ll have you out of here before you know it.”

  She nodded and let out a deep, shaky breath.

  “Lucas?”

  Sam took her hand, seeming to understand what she was trying to ask.

  “He’ll be here any minute,” Sam assured her.

  “Just relax, it’s all over. And I’m staying right here with you the whole time.”

  Her vision blurred as her eyes suddenly watered. It was all over. Alex squeezed her eyes shut while hot tears streamed down the side of her face. She felt Sam’s gentle whispers and consoling words while still holding her hand in the big, firm grasp of his. Then she passed into a soft cocoon of darkness with only shadowy glimpses of the world around her.

  Once she had been located lying precariously on the rocky, narrow ledge along the face of a steep slope, it took almost an hour for the rescue team of firemen and local police, led by Ned and Sam, to slowly pull her out. Lucas arrived with Renee and Marco Passante almost forty-five minutes into the operation, feeling like his world had collapsed around him. After Edgar Purdy finally revealed his sick plan—to destroy the most valuable asset in Lucas’s protection—Lucas held him securely for the local police, but immediately called his partner.

  “Sam, we got Purdy,” he yelled urgently, striving hard to stay focused and clear. “You need to follow those fire trucks. I think it’s Alex.”

  “We’re right behind them,” Sam confirmed. �
��Raymond had found the race car on a satellite feed about ten miles outside of town, heading north on the highway.”

  “He played me,” added Lucas in a harsh growl. “Alex became his target in the end, once he found out about our relationship. This whole thing wasn’t about stealing the hybrid design, it was just to beat me. And the network attack was the diversion. He knew I would stay with the target I thought he was after. He played me.”

  “Listen to me, Lucas,” stated Sam in a firm, calm voice. “We only know that the car crashed down the edge of a cliff, but Raymond says he has a satellite image of a person lying about twenty feet down from the edge. You have to believe it’s Alex. We’ve just arrived at the site. I’ll have Ned call you back in five minutes and keep you posted.”

  “Okay. I have to wrap things up here. There’s a mess of injured people, including Renee. But don’t worry,” Lucas quickly added at his friend’s sharp intake of breath. “She was grazed by a bullet, but it doesn’t look serious. I can see paramedics attending to her now.”

  “We’ll keep you posted on our end,” Sam growled before they disconnected the call.

  There was no time to pause for the wave of intense relief that flooded through him. The Whistler police arrived within a minute, guns drawn, and they demanded explanations. Once Lucas cautiously and calmly provided his identification and credentials, the cooperation level increased dramatically. They willingly took Edgar Purdy into custody with some medical care for his injuries, and the arrival of Interpol, the FBI, or the RCMP—the Canadian Federal police—was pending, based on who won the battle over jurisdiction. But not before Lucas had a chance to update the traitor on the fact that Alex had survived the attack. The older man wasn’t laughing anymore.

  Lucas called Marco Passante to let him know the final threat to Magnus Motorsports had been neutralized and outline the situation with Alex. They agreed that Marco would drive his rental car into the village from the hotel to pick up Lucas so they could join the rescue operation. Then he gave David Ferguson an update, asking the DaCosta contractor to stay with the Cicada and Adam North.

  As she promised, Renee’s wound was only a superficial graze to her side. The paramedics dressed it and provided some mild pain relief medication, but she firmly refused to go to the hospital. When Marco arrived, she also insisted on traveling up to the accident site with them. Lucas already had Ned on speakerphone for several minutes as the three of them started the tense drive fifteen minutes north of town. Marco swore loudly in relief when the agent confirmed that Sam had reached Alex and she was conscious and appeared lucid. Lucas could only look out the window at the mountain views, very aware that everything he wanted for the future had just come sharply and vividly into focus.

  They arrived at the deserted construction site shortly after, driving by members of the local coroner’s office as they zipped up a body bag, and stopping by the collection of emergency vehicles about half a mile away. Ned was waiting for them, but it was another twenty minutes before Lucas saw Alex as the fire and rescue team pulled her up on a stretcher. Her clothes were torn and dirty, and her face had several scrapes and lacerations, but there were no other signs of injury. He immediately took her hand and felt her light, responsive grip.

  “Alex,” he whispered over the lump in his throat. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

  “Lucas,” she replied softly, finally opening those bright, golden brown eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” he confirmed, gripping her fingers tighter than he should. “It’s over, baby. You’re going to be fine, and I’m right here with you.”

  “I’m sorry,” she added, followed by a series of rough coughs.

  “No, baby,” he whispered back, hating the mix of failure and regret that would haunt him for a long time. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I failed you, and it will never happen again. I promise I will never allow anyone to hurt you again.”

  Lucas wanted to say more, but the ambulance had arrived and the paramedics were ready to transport her into the back for the trip to a local medical center. He stayed with her for the ride, while Marco and the rest of the Fortis team followed behind them. Once identified, the body of Robert “Bobby” Chiu was transported to the coroner’s office for an official autopsy in relation to the rapidly expanding criminal case against Edgar Purdy and his Crow organization.

  At the small hospital, Sam managed to charm their way into a small meeting room where they set up a makeshift control center needed to manage the many moving parts still in play. By one o’clock in the afternoon, Alex was resting under the influence of sedatives while they waited for her exam results to return, Renee was feeling comfortable and relatively pain-free, and they had a videoconference set up on Ned’s laptop with Evan and Raymond at the Fortis headquarters, and Michael and Lance at the Magnus offices in Toronto.

  “What do we know about Chiu’s involvement in all this?” Lucas asked Raymond.

  “We know he was clean at the start, but I found a five thousand dollar cash deposit in his bank account the day before the fire in the Magnus shop,” Raymond explained.

  “He sold information to the Petrov brothers,” Michael concluded. “That’s how they knew where exactly to hit the brake line and plant the combustible materials for maximum damage.”

  “It looks that way,” Evan added. “I had Laura and a couple of other analysts go through the files again, and we found Chiu’s face in two of the photos you guys had taken from the bar the Petrovs managed. One at a party in the bar, and the other at a racetrack. Looks like they’ve been in the same circles for some time.”

  “Jesus Christ!” swore Marco. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It makes sense, Marco,” Lucas added. “We know that Optimal also used that bar for their race events, and the track in the pictures is the same one you guys use for your road tests.”

  “That explains his role in the sabotage with Cesar Hernandez. But the guys today worked for Crow,” Sam continued. “Do we know why Chiu would hand over Alex and the car to them?”

  “We won’t know for sure until Purdy or one of his hired thugs tells us something of value,” Raymond explained. “The two men that killed him and attacked Alex were arrested about an hour ago by the RCMP. And it looks like the FBI will be taking custody of Purdy.”

  “My guess is that Purdy found the same info we did on Chiu, that he took a bribe for the arson, and used it to blackmail him,” Lucas surmised. “Alex told me he only said that he was sorry, but he had no choice.”

  The group was silent for a few moments.

  “So what happens now?” Marco finally asked. “I still have a press conference happening in a couple of hours.”

  “Well, it looks like you have a new hybrid engine to reveal for the race tomorrow,” Lucas stated without hesitation. “That’s what Alex would want you to do.”

  “Yeah,” the other man agreed with a wry smile. “She’d be pretty pissed if I didn’t.”

  “We took Purdy’s laptop before the police arrested him,” Lucas continued. “And I’ll spend the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours analyzing the stored data. But, we’re now fairly confident that all threats to Magnus have been eliminated, and our main mission will conclude on Sunday after the race.”

  “Wow,” Marco sighed. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”

  Lucas patted him on the shoulder, knowing exactly how he felt.

  “I have another mission starting on Monday that requires me to return to Virginia Sunday, so Sam will take over to implement your long-term security plan back in Toronto.”

  “That’s fantastic,” acknowledged Marco as he reached out to shake Lucas’s hand in a firm grip. “I can’t thank you and your team enough for your work.”

  “You may take that back when you see the bill,” Lucas replied with a quick grin.

  Marco and the others laughed.

  “Okay, let’s iron out the logistics through the race tomorrow afternoon,” continued Lucas. “Some of it will depend on Alex’
s test results. But we’ll set up three teams. Renee and I will stay with Alex. Ned, you stay with Marco through the press conference and any interaction with the various police organizations. Sam, can you work with David to secure the Cicada and move it to the Magnus racing trailer? They have a bit of work to do to get it ready for the race.”

  Less than twenty-four hours later, the Magnus Cicada hybrid made its official launch into automotive history.

  CHAPTER 27

  Alex woke up slowly and a warm, hazy dream faded away. She lay still for a few moments, with her eyes closed trying hard to remember the details that left her feeling happy and content, but only fragments remained. The rich and intoxicating sound of Lucas laughing. The blindingly beautiful image of his face looking down at her. The sparkling view of Lake Skaneateles from the long wooden boardwalk. Everything else about the dream had dissipated, except for the smile in her heart.

  She shifted on the soft bed, pushing against a heavy weight resting on her hip.

  “Hmmm,” came a deep rumble from behind her head.

  Her eyes popped open as the heavyweight pulled her closer to a very warm and very hard body behind her. It was Sunday morning, the day after the Sea-to-Sky race, and Lucas was still asleep in the same bed.

  The day and night before had progressed fairly innocently. After Friday afternoon, when her various test results had come back confirming her only injuries were minor abrasions and contusions, the health center had released her with a small supply of prescription-grade pain reliever. Lucas and Renee and taken her back to the Whistler hotel where she was able to continue resting through the worst of the aching, bruising pain. On Saturday, Alex felt much too stiff and banged up to take a shower on her own, much less get dressed and make the trip out to watch the race. The two Fortis agents stayed with her to watch the event broadcast on local television.

  They all cheered with surprise and delight to see the Magnus Cicada win first place by a big margin in the electric-drive vehicle class, and time a very close second place overall.