Where There's A Will

Chapter Sixty-One

Ryan spun the wheel and raced around yet another corner, his fifth, or maybe it was his sixth, he couldn't remember, since leaving the hospital. Once he had made sure he wasn't going to rear-end anyone after taking the corner at more than fifty miles an hour, his eyes moved to the rear-view mirror. He was just in time to see the police car that had been dogging him for the past couple of streets reappear, still three car lengths behind.

He shouldn't have been surprised, but he had been hoping that his sudden turn would lose his pursuer, or at least gain him some space, which he could take advantage of.

Frustrated by the continued presence of the police car on his tail, Ryan pushed his foot down on the accelerator, making the powerful Jaguar leap forward and opening the gap between the two vehicles. As he raced down the road he realised where he was, and his hands tensed on the wheel in readiness to take the next turn, which would enable him to head out of town and begin his flight in earnest – where he would go, and what he would do once he got there, were things he would have to consider another time, just then avoiding ending up in a police cell were more important.

The closest route for him to take to get out of town meant passing close to the farmhouse where his sister had been held. He had enough sense to realise that he would have to take an alternative, if longer and more complicated, route, or risk getting himself stuck on the dual carriageway, rather than the route he was close to; the police were almost certainly still at the farmhouse, and he was sure they would be scrutinising every vehicle that went past, especially those that did so at such an hour and at speed.

He took the turn a little too sharply, overcompensated, and had to fight to maintain control of his mother's car, which he was unfamiliar with. He still didn't have complete control of the Jaguar when he took the next turn – his intention was to keep taking turns until he lost his pursuer and then leave town – and he nearly spun out. He was so intent on straightening the vehicle out, and stopping it fishtailing, that it wasn't until he had succeeded that he heard the approaching sirens; the sounds were converging from all directions, and his eyes darted all around, as if he expected the approaching police cars to appear from within the buildings on either side of the street.

Despite the increasing volume of the sirens, which announced that the converging police cars were rapidly getting closer, Ryan was caught by surprise when one of them appeared from a side road, barely two dozen feet in front of him. He reacted instantly, slamming his foot down on the brake, at the same time he jerked the wheel to his left; his instincts told him he was going too fast and he wouldn't be able to stop in time; all he could do, though, was hope that his jerk of the wheel was enough to steer him past the rear of the police car. It wasn't.

He hit the rear of the car a glancing blow, spinning it round. The impact jarred Ryan's arms and threw him forward into the steering wheel. He was surprised the airbag wasn't deployed by the collision, but at the same time he was relieved; if the airbag had gone off he would have had a hard time continuing his escape. Since he still had control of the car, he moved his foot from the brake to the accelerator, shifted gears, and spun the wheel to take the car around the corner the police car had appeared from.

Ryan could see that the front wing on the passenger side had been crumpled by the impact, fortunately it was having no effect on the engine, and the car leaped forward as he accelerated. He was glad about that, since the police car that had been dogging him had closed the gap while he was slowed by the collision, drawing up to his rear bumper. The flashing light on the roof filled the rear-view mirror.