Chapter 25

25

Coming out through the side exit of the hotel, Colleen noticed the vehicle right away.

At the far end of the outdoor lot, there was some kind of light blue car, a Nissan sedan, off by itself pointing right at them.

"There it is," Jodi said panicking. "That's Travers. I told you they were following me. That's my husband's campus police squad."

"I'm the black SUV on the right here. C'mon," Colleen said.

As Colleen turned the RAV4 rental over, she saw the Nissan already start to move.

When she pulled out and looked in the rearview, she immediately felt her heart start beating faster.

Because the Nissan was right behind them and it really was Travers behind the wheel wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat.

"He's following us," Jodi said.

"I know. Don't worry about it. It's going to be okay," Colleen said with a calm she was not feeling.

Coming down the lot apron for Route 4, Colleen scanned up ahead. On the left across the road, there was a Subway just before a traffic light.

As she pulled out, she immediately hit her left clicker, hanging back, pretending she was going to turn into its parking lot.

"What are you doing?" Jodi said.

"Seeing what he's going to do."

Colleen let out a tense breath as the campus security car stopped right behind them.

Looking at Travers in the rearview, she remembered her entire purpose of coming up here. Use the element of surprise to confront them and see if they reacted.

They were reacting all right, she thought swallowing.

What the hell will he do? Just keep following us all the way to New York?

A car slowing behind the Nissan came around in the shoulder. Colleen kept waiting, watching. The green light turned yellow. She suddenly gunned it and just made the light.

"Did he come through after us?" Colleen said, still speeding.

"Yes!" Jodi said.

"Shit," Colleen said.

Sixty seconds later the road began to curve up a rise toward the intersecting overpass of the interstate. As they came closer, Colleen realized the road was about to fork into the northbound and southbound entrances of the interstate itself.

The way south toward NYC was on the right-hand side up a long on-ramp, and just as they were about to get on it, Colleen looked up at the interstate overpass and watched as a car pulled off the highway to wait by the top of the on-ramp.

"Look! It's a trooper car!" Jodi cried out. "You can't go up that way! Travers used to be cop. He must be calling in favors from his cop friends. The local law enforcement around here are deeply connected to this. They helped cover it up. Whatever you do, do not go up there!"

Colleen looked back as she slowed.

The Nissan was coming up behind them fast.

She looked forward at the fork in the road. Even if she didn't get on the southbound ramp, she would have to get on the interstate heading north. Other troopers could just as easily pull them over on that side as well, right?

Glancing to her left, Colleen suddenly invented a third option. She whipped the wheel hard left and the car jostled with a thump as she pulled up onto a grass median.

Jodi shrieked as they bumped over the uneven ground around the base of a traffic sign.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it , came a crazy thought in Colleen's head as they continued to make the world's most illegal U-turn.

Boy, was she being inflexible now, she thought as the RAV4's passenger door suddenly scraped loudly against a concrete jersey barrier.

She didn't give a shit. Not anymore. They needed to get out of here.

She squeezed them onto the interstate exit lane back into town. As they drove back the way they had come, Colleen could see that Travers was pulled over across the median in the shoulder now on his phone.

Before she could stop herself, Colleen honked and gave Travers the finger as they blew past in the opposite direction.

Jodi laughed nervously. "Where to now?" she said.

Colleen lifted her phone.

"Siri, directions. The Forge."