BECKETT
The guys chasing me were relatively easy to evade, despite the rain.
Now, two hours later, the storm slowed down to a light mist again.
I stopped at a nondescript scenic overlook, a small, deserted outlet just off the road that provided a view of the rolling hills and trees of western New York. A brick wall offered a barrier between the gravel parking area and the drop-off to the view below.
I climbed off my bike to stretch and get in touch with Jack.
My leg was burning, and I ripped off part of Sari’s soaking gold dress and tied it over my leg to close up the hole in my jeans and the gash in my leg.
I didn’t want to look at the wound right now.
Ollie shook off the rain water and trotted over to some bushes to pee.
I was a good twenty feet from my bike and was closing out of my text to Jack when a motorcycle pulled up behind me.
It was a new one, not one of the three I’d just outrun on the road. For a moment, I thought the man meant no harm.
But he just stared at me without talking. Without moving.
My hand was frozen, halfway to my pocket with my phone. The man climbed off his motorcycle, dark helmet still covering his face.
I started sprinting toward my bike, shouting for Ollie.
The man tackled me from behind.
My cell phone flew across the gravel, and the air whooshed out of my lungs. I clawed the ground, working my way toward my bike as the guy tried to flip me over onto my back.
Adrenaline coursed through my body. Before he could flip me over on his own, I rotated onto my back and kneed him in the groin. This bought me just enough time to scramble up and lunge for Sari’s leg. I jerked her from the bike seat and swung her around in one fluid movement.
Her helmet hit the man across the jaw. Sari’s head snapped off. The man stumbled sideways.
Ollie barked behind me, and I jumped onto my bike, shouting for him to hop into my lap.
He jumped on the seat.
I peeled out, looking back just long enough to see the guy throw my cell phone over the ledge into the drop-off below and then climb onto his own motorcycle.
Sari lay headless in the gravel, her golden dress splayed out awkwardly over her plastic legs.
Sorry, Sari, I have to leave without you.
I revved my engine and leaned forward against the acceleration.
Here we go again.