Hard Press: The Evie Black Files

by Adam Nicholls

  “Roll your window up, babe,” Sam said, leaning down to see the driver.

  Lori didn’t hesitate. The glass rose from the door and muffled the sound of the Dodge.

  “Wonder what brings this jackass into town.”

  “Just passing through, I hope.” Lori controlled her breathing, sucking in large breaths of air and blowing them out in steady puffs. The sheer size of the car beside them reminded her of something deadly, though she couldn’t quite place it. She glanced toward the traffic light, praying for it to finally turn green. Before she knew it, her gaze was drawn back to the blacked-out windows, and as she turned, the driver-side window rolled down.

  The driver was not the butch, lumberjack-looking cowboy she’d expected, but a gaunt, unshaven, weasel-like man with a shit-eating grin, stained teeth, and dark circles around his eyes. Those same eyes stared at her like they knew her deepest, darkest secrets—like they knew something even she didn’t. Lori felt her grip tighten on the armrest, the other hand on her knee as she stared back, gawking at the man.

  “What’s his problem?” she asked, looking away.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s staring at us.”

  Sam leaned in again, looking up at the driver. His face grew scarlet as he pointed at the road and yelled, “Get out of here!”

  The engine revved, roaring like a bear, but Lori didn’t look. She couldn’t.

  Purring like a tiger, the car rolled out and took a left. The shadow inched off them as their mysterious stranger left the scene, returning the town to its usual balance of peace and tranquility. Lori glanced up to see the lights were green and pointed it out to Sam.

  Sam sat back in his seat, adjusted his mirror, and pushed his foot onto the pedal.

  “What was all that about?” Lori asked, her pulse returning to its steady rate.

  “I’ve got no idea,” he said, picking up speed in the Mercedes as they passed a sign that read “YOU ARE LEAVING CASTLEFORD. PLEASE COME BACK SOON!”

  Lori kept checking her mirror, expecting to see the same vehicle return and hoping to spot it before it got close. There was something unsettling about the Dodge, but more so about the disturbing middle-aged man driving it. “That guy gave me the creeps.”

  “Me too,” Sam said, his eyes still on the road ahead. “Me too.”

  Chapter Two

  They were on the outskirts of town, with Castleford behind them and nothing but a long, empty road ahead. Forests surrounded them on either side, shielding the tarmac from the sun and bathing the road in shadows that danced around them. Lori thought it was eerie, in a peaceful kind of way. The landscape felt untouched by human hands. Centuries old, a green dense blanket covered the land as far as the eye could see.

  On many occasions, she hadn’t worn shoes in the forest. She knew there were bugs and sharp sticks, but something inside her needed the feel of the earth between her toes. She loved to touch the rough bark and break leaves in her hands to smell them. Ignoring time, she’d walk for ages and stop to look up at the leaves, which were glowing as the light passed through them.

  She sighed in comfort and questioned why they’d never thought about leaving the Big Apple earlier. The grime, pollution, traffic, and people racing around at speed like robots on autopilot. Lori and Sam had been the same. New York life had been frenetic, a wild roller coaster with no start and definitely no end. Their lives had been a mixture of moments stolen for a quick coffee and bagel, rapid-fire texts, and a once-a-week date night. How life had changed, she mused, as her eyes tracked the landscape as it sailed by.

  “At least we came out here good and early,” Sam said.

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Lori told him, but really she’d been thinking about the Dodge RAM and how deadly it looked with the sun bouncing off its shiny steel. Of their own volition, her eyes kept flicking to the mirror, as if they were expecting the truck to come back.

  “You can relax,” Sam said. “Vehicles like that swing through here from time to time. It’s just a smoother ride through to the next town, so folks tend to make use of that shortcut.”

  “It’s not the car I’m worried about. It’s the driver that freaked me out.”

  Sam nodded.

  “I’m not being crazy, am I? He was staring at us?”

  “You’re going crazy, yeah, but he was staring.” Sam looked her way for only a second, his deep blue eyes smiling just as much as his mouth. He was a looker all right, if you liked pretty boys. Lori sure did.

  “Thought so.” Lori forced a smile and returned her gaze to the side mirror. Her smile dropped at what she saw. “Sam.”

  “Yeah?”

  Lori said no more, twisting in her seat to glance over the headrest at the approaching vehicle. It was bulky, black, and shiny, speeding toward them from a half mile behind. The engine screamed within earshot. The exhaust fired like a shotgun blast. It grew larger from the distance as it sped toward them, catching up to them in an instant.

  “Punch it,” she said.

  “With the love of my life in the car? No chance.” He squeezed her thigh to reassure her.

  “But it’s coming our way.” Lori felt a thread of sweat draw across her forehead. Her cold, hard stare fixed on the car until it was easy to read the fear-inducing five-letter word glistening on the front in metallic capitals: DODGE.

  “Maybe you’re overreacting.” Sam checked his mirror. “But he is driving like a jerk. He’s probably wasting gas driving around, being a pain in the ass.”

  “Right?” Lori turned around and double-checked her seat belt was fastened. The Dodge was anything but subtle as it invaded the proximity of their rear bumper. She clutched the armrest with one hand and reached for the dashboard with the other, her heart in her throat. “Do you think we should do something?”

  “Like what?” Sam yelled, while rolling down his window and reaching an arm out. “Go around us, jackass!”

  The driver must have caught sight of Sam’s hand signal, as he swerved around the Mercedes at frightening speed. It hurtled past and overtook them, leaving Lori and Sam in the shadow of the black steel beast as it grunted with raw power.

  “Asshole,” Lori muttered, her heart racing.

  But the Dodge just lingered there, maintaining its speed right ahead of them. It slowed down again, forcing Sam into doing the only thing he could do: swerve around it. Lori’s shoulder was flung into the door, and she cried out in pain, watching with rigid fear as the Dodge swung their way, its rear bumper kissing their front panel with a deafening clang.

  “Look out!”

  It was all Lori could scream before they lost control. The Mercedes bucked like a bronco, its back end spinning violently as the car flipped over several times. Time seemed to slow down while Lori watched the world tumble through the smashing windshield. Her elbows bumped and banged inside the car. The seat belt tightened across her chest. Her ankles smashed against the inside of the foot well, and she screamed. Her bones, muscles, joints, and organs felt like they were being crumbled and smashed into a tiny box. Her lungs contracted with such force that she was afraid they would fold into themselves. Her arms and legs flailed, searching for somewhere to hold and stop her body being thrust forward.

  The world must have kept flickering its figurative light switch because her vision kept flashing from bitter darkness to blinding white light. The only sound that filled her ears was the crushing of glass mixed with the distinct crackle of bones. Her neck whipped from one side to the other as the car rolled to a final stop, and glass rained onto the dashboard in a thousand tiny fragments.

  For a brief moment, Lori’s eyes flickered. Suspended upside down by her seat belt, her body felt numb. Her head spun like a vortex and pounded like a bass drum. The car had flipped so many times that Lori had become disorientated before she even sustained the concussion that had her drifting in and out of consciousness. She was fleetingly aware of the bloody taste in her mouth, but she couldn't figure out what it was. />
  Willing her eyes to focus, silence scared Lori more than the pain. Shouldn’t Sam be moaning or calling out? She tried to move, but she was pinned by the collapsed roof and the dashboard. Her neck was too fragile to move.

  “Sam?” she fought to say, but it came out in a croak, drowned out by the hissing of the engine and the smoke trailing from it. “Sam, are you…”

  Try as she might, she couldn’t crane her neck. All she could see from the corner of her eye was the bloodied hand of the man she loved, hanging without movement. Above him, the Mickey Mouse key ring she’d bought him swung from the ignition, rocking back and forth like everything was okay. Like they hadn’t just been in a car wreck at the fault of a careless shit-kicker who just happened to pass through town. Her fearful, hopeful brain worked while she stared with tired eyes at the key ring, frozen and terrified as it swung back and forth, back and forth, like a hypnotic pendulum, telling her everything would be just fine.

  It was all she could think of as her eyes closed and the world became quiet.

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  Afterword

  A lot of my readers loved seeing Evie as co-star of the Mason Black series, so it came as no surprise when I received a lot of emails asking if we’d see more of her. Those of you who’ve been with me since the beginning probably know I’d released these individually and they flopped HARD. Most of this was down to my unfamiliarity with the US justice system, but there were also other elements at play: my lazy research, some poor editing, and so on. I’m pleased to say that I fixed those issues with some outstanding help from my editor and my new proofreader. Guys, I couldn’t have done it without you.

  Now that I have nothing left to relaunch, I can only look forward on my publishing journey. I’ve almost finished work on an exciting co-written project called Kill Game, which features a female homicide detective named Bella Cruz, as a killer from her past returns to haunt her. We’re having a lot of fun digging into her brain and seeing what she sees, but it’s also very creepy—she was only a child when that killer held her captive. Now she’s a fully grown badass, but she doesn’t feel like it anymore. She’s being stalked, followed, and teased, all the way to her doorstep.

  If you like my Facebook page or sign up to my mailing list, you’ll be the first to know when Kill Game is released.

  Until then, I hope you stay with me and continue enjoying more of my books. If you keep reading them, I’ll keep writing them, and nothing will make me happier.

  My best,

  Adam Nicholls

  About the Author

  Adam Nicholls has been creating stories since before he could legally drink. Inspired by the works of Stephen King, Karin Slaughter and Gillian Flynn, Adam starts writing each new book by asking himself how best to shock his readers.

  In his non-writing life, Adam is a bibliophile and avid collector of anything made from paper (utility bills included). He loves hot showers, good wine and the sound of rain hitting the window. Whenever possible, he likes to get out and see the world, visiting one European city at a time in search of inspiration for his next great novel.

  Get in touch:

  www.adamnichollsauthor.com

  contact@adamnichollsauthor.com