Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

H eadlights flashed back and forth as the car ahead careened around the wet mountain curves in the early evening rain like an Indie-five-hundred race car driver trying to set a speed record.

Knowing there was a hairpin turn up ahead and she'd have to slow down, he'd keep pace with her until that spot. If he timed it right, he'd be able to force her off the road. With luck she'd go down the mountain. Beside him in the passenger seat lay his Glock. He'd planned to shoot her tires out, but the weather might do the job for him.

Almost on cue her brake lights came on.

Gripping the wheel with both hands to brace for the collision, he narrowed the gap.

The screech of metal slamming into metal bounced off the mountainside and through the cab of the SUV. His body jerked forward slightly at the contact, the belt holding him secure. No air bag deployed. He'd disconnected it for just this kind of event. With practiced skill, he turned the wheel so his front end pointed onto the road, forcing her backend into the guardrail which crumpled at the impact.

His front bumper grated up the door panels of her sedan, crushing it into her, his tail slammed into her driver's side front end, forcing the car further into the guardrail. The impact slowed his vehicle so that a simple break action had him blocking any chance of her escape back onto the road.

Leaning to the side, he slowly lowered the passenger side window to stare at her. Even in the fading grey light her eyes were wide with panic as she struggled to open the driver's side door. He raised his weapon and aimed.

She froze for a second before the bullet shattered the front window. At the same time the back of her car swerved backwards to the right. Her head jerked as the bullet grazed her temple.

Dammit.

He took aim and fired again, but she'd lurched down below the dash, the bullet shattering what was left of her front window.

Rain fell harder, blocking his view. He was going to have to get closer. No matter what, he couldn't let her get off this mountain and spread what she knew about the operation. Just as he climbed out the driver's side, her passenger door flew open.

She crawled out but realized she was pinned between the car and the guardrail. A sitting duck. In three strides over the slippery pavement, he rounded the hood of his SUV, and aimed again, right for her heart. The bullet slammed into her upper chest just as she lost her footing and forced her backwards over the guardrail.

He slipped and slid his way to the spot where she'd gone over. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to what little light was left, but then he saw her rolling down the embankment like a tumbleweed slamming into one tree then another. Then she disappeared into what looked like a ravine.

"Damn. No way she's surviving that," he muttered and turned to view the damage to her car.

Anyone stumbling across it tonight or in the morning would notice the shattered windshield, dented driver's side doors and crumpled rear end with it just sitting there. The guardrail was already bent and torn off its mooring on one end. If he sent her car over the side, all the damage could be chalked up to a bad accident.

With some effort, he managed to get the sedan facing down the embankment where the guardrail was loose. He put it in neutral, climbed out of the passenger's side and hopped into his SUV right behind her car. Gunning his engine, he pushed the sedan over the edge and managed to stop before he followed it over the side of the mountain.

He listened as it crashed into the trees below, then slowly maneuvered his vehicle back in the direction they'd come. The threat was neutralized and with any luck, her body would never be found.