Hold Me Read Free Page A

could all just be a way to lull her suspicions. But his voice was deep and musical, and she thought she heard some real desperation in it.
    “If you—”
    There was a sharp sound like a firecracker. The mirror on Katie’s side of the car exploded.
    She screamed. Loudly.
    “Go!” the man yelled. He let go of her arm and she didn’t think, she just reacted. She grabbed the steering wheel, let up on the brake, and hammered her foot down on the gas pedal. The Nova screeched and faltered, then careened through the intersection.
    “What…but…somebody’s shooting at us.” Katie sputtered almost as much as the car. Somebody was actually shooting at them.
    “Yeah. Shit.”
    Katie looked in the rearview mirror. A black sedan had appeared on their tail, gliding after them like a big shark. The supposed FBI agent moved, drawing her attention.
    “Oh God, oh God. That’s a gun. You’ve got a gun!”
    “Yeah.” He sounded distracted.
    Well, duh. Of course he had a gun. Katie swerved around a propane tanker and ran a yellow light. The black sedan stayed close and one of its occupants shot at them again. Okay, those people chasing them were freaking nuts to shoot a gun around a propane tanker. She tried to go faster.
    The FBI man rolled down the window and leaned out, apparently thinking that he’d shoot back at the other car, which meant he was nuts too.
    Katie had to brake abruptly as she wove between two slower moving vehicles. The man grabbed at the window frame to keep from flying out onto the road.
    “Would you be careful?” He jerked his upper body inside. “There’s too much traffic to get a good shot. You’ll have to lose them.”
    “Trying!”
    “Because if you can’t, we’ll both be dead soon.”
    “We’ll be dead? How did this become a ‘we’? You’re the one they’re after, not me.”
    “They’re shooting at you, too, aren’t they? Drive faster.”
    “But… I can’t believe… Oh, jeez.”
    Katie took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Okay, okay, okay. Two things were obvious.
    One: whoever was in that black sedan wanted to kill somebody.
    Two: whatever was going on, she was right in the middle of it.
    She had to stay in control. If she did what she wanted to do and collapsed into a weeping pile of hysterics, the car accident alone would kill them. She concentrated on zigzagging like a maniac through the maze of traffic. The sedan stayed on their tail.
    “I think they’re stuck to my bumper,” she muttered.
    “This isn’t working.” The man grabbed her arm.
    “No? Really?”
    “Turn down a side street or something.”
    “I hope you know what you’re doing because I sure don’t.” Katie saw a likely looking road up ahead. “Hold on.”
    The man obediently clutched at the door and braced himself against the dashboard.
    She waited until the last possible second, then jerked the wheel. Tired squealed and scattered as the Nova darted across three lanes of the highway to make the hairpin turn. For once the driver of the black sedan couldn’t seem to react in time because the other car kept going, hemmed in on all sides.
    When she saw that she’d lost them, Katie sagged in her seat, trembling. Her hands ached from gripping the steering wheel. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
    “They’re gone,” the man reported after a moment. “You, um, can slow down now.”
    It was only then that Katie realized she was still driving like a lunatic. She also saw that her unwanted passenger had a tight hold on the door handle and was looking more than a little queasy.
    The surge of adrenaline pumping through her system made her feel reckless, powerful and pissed off. Instead of slowing down, she actually sped up. The man slid lower in his seat, jiggled the door handle and looked like he wished he could jump for it.
    She smiled. Served him right. Jerk. Big, huge, hacking jerk.
    “Do you do this sort of thing often?” she asked, admiring her own casual tone.
    “What sort of thing?”
    “Oh, you