Maggie battled the impulse to barge through the crowd. To push and shove anyone in their way. Each step felt like sluggish and delayed, the brisk pace of New Yorkers too slow for her as she and Emily travelled through the station and out into West 72nd Street. Blending in was the best option. Running would get them noticed, and there was no telling where the rest of Aleksandar’s men were.
It didn’t take long for them to find out.
Brakes shrieked. Doors slammed.
Maggie snapped her head towards the sounds as one of the SUVs in Aleksandar’s fleet pulled up from Central Park West and his men spilled from each side.
“Shit,” Maggie hissed. “Run!”
Grabbing Emily, she high tailed it down the street in the opposite direction towards Columbus Avenue.
“They must have called in our location,” said Maggie, scanning the area for an escape route.
The Russian’s followed them on foot, the driver of the SUV blaring the horn at the traffic blocking its way.
Maggie cursed the lack of alleyways, each of the buildings joined to the next, but she and Emily sprinted on. They approached the intersection with Columbus Avenue but something was wrong.
Her ears twitched and Maggie dug her heels into the ground, yanking Emily back just in time. A second SUV hurtled towards them from around the corner of the street. It bumped up and over the sidewalk and crashed right where they stood a split second before, blocking their path.
Maggie spun on her heels and dragged Emily back the way they came as more Russian’s rushed from the second vehicle to join the pursuit.
They were cornered from both ends.
“What are we going to do?” Emily cried, digging her nails into Maggie’s hand. They were trapped.
The hum of an engine purred, growing louder as it approached. A motorbike. It wasn’t anything special, an old Honda decked out with decals for a local pizza joint, but it might just be enough.
Maggie made a silent apology to the delivery driver. Waiting until the last moment, she stepped out into the road and threw out her arm.
It caught the delivery guy’s neck in a clothesline and he flew from the seat. The bike skidded along the road with bright sparks as metal met asphalt.
The girls ran towards it. Hoisting the bike up, Maggie swung her leg over the seat and revved the engine. Emily wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist, hopping on behind her without having to be told.
A bang ricocheted off the stone walls of the surrounding buildings as one of the Russian’s fired a warning shot into the air. Pedestrians dispersed like a flock of scared sheep, and Maggie didn’t stay around for the next bullet either.
Taking off, she hit the road full throttle, and sped down the street towards the second SUV. The driver spotted her and reversed off the sidewalk and back into the road. Maggie dodged the approach, leaning into the turn and missing the back bumper of the car with mere inches to spare.
The car pulled into drive and gave chase, the Russian’s on foot jumping back inside. The other SUV met them, too, crashing into yellow taxis and sleek private cars to clear their path.
Cars honked in anger, but Maggie didn’t look back. She leaned down into the bike and picked up the pace.
Columbus Avenue was a wide street with four lanes and ample room for the SUVs to bully their way through the traffic. Car brakes skidded behind them with a symphony of horns, the deep rumbling engines of the SUVs unrelenting and getting closer.
“Maggie,” Emily warned, as one of the two vehicles came up from behind.
It bumped the back of the bike.
Emily squealed, tightening her grip on Maggie as she tried to steady the bike. The SUV bumped them again and jolted them forward. The rear fender cracked and a piece fell off to be crushed under the wheels of the SUV.
Checking her mirrors, Maggie swerved into the next lane and hit the brakes, slowing down to leave a gap between them and their hunters.
The second SUV saw what she was doing. They came into view from the rear, overtaking a cab on the lane to Maggie’s right and forcing the car in front of them to speed up or be hit.
Three seconds later and the Russian’s were in line with the bike. Maggie risked a sideward glance and caught the driver spinning the wheel to the left.
The SUV crossed from its lane into Maggie’s with a vicious screech. Maggie moved, inching as close to the opposite lane as she dared and dodged a collision that would have sent her and Emily off the bike.
Two could play at that game.
Maggie kept pace with the SUV and reached for her baton. Keeping the motorbike steady with one hand and flipping the baton out with the other, Maggie aimed and shattered the driver’s window. The glass crashed out over them, cutting Maggie’s cheek, but she didn’t care.
The baton did its job and connected with the driver, hitting him with enough force to distract him from the road. By the time he noticed the parked garbage truck, it was too late. The SUV ran straight into the back of it in an explosion of shattered windows and burst trash bags.
A wicked grin spread across Maggie’s face. One down.
They approached an intersection as the lights switched from green to red, and the surrounding cars slowed to stop. All but Maggie.
“Hold on tight,” Maggie warned Emily, “and lean with the turn.”
Clenching her jaw, Maggie picked up speed and weaved through the slowing vehicles. Traffic from West 68th Street drove through the intersection in one way traffic.
There was no right turn, but that didn’t stop Maggie.
Turning into the oncoming traffic, Maggie maneuvered the bike, swerving past a truck that almost collided right into them, and headed down the street amid the approaching cars.
The surviving SUV tried to follow but as it turned to tail them, the van Maggie dodged smashed straight into the Russian’s, hitting the SUV side on and sending the car flipping onto its side and over onto its back.
Emily whooped and cheered, her braids whipping behind her in the wind. “You really are Jane Bond.”
Maggie kept on going. They may have lost the Russians for now, but one of the SUVs was still out there, and it was a long way to the British Consulate.