Part Sixteen
Lita heard the sound of screeching brakes, and instinctively turned around the best she could in her seat to see what was going on behind her. It was a difficult task, seeing how her neck brace restricted her movement and she had her seat belt on. What she saw when she did manage to get around in the seat made her heart leap. She recognized the car immediately that was now taking off again, following Lita's car westbound.
"Damn, are those cops?" Raven asked in a loud voice.
Lita turned and looked at Raven, the redhead still clutching the dashboard. In his effort to watch what was happening behind him, mixed with the high speed, he was swerving even more than before. "Even better," she quipped to Raven. "It's the Hardy Boys!" she couldn't help but gloat slightly and smile at Raven. "I knew they wouldn't let me down," she said under her breath.
"NO!" Raven didn't believe her, but it was true. "I will not let those ungrateful punks beat me. ARGH!" he yelled, slamming his fist against the steering wheel.
Raven had no choice but to slow down slightly, as the straight stretch of highway turned curvy again. But he was still traveling fast enough that the tires screeched each time he took the curves. This allowed Jeff to gain on him, and that fact was causing Raven to become even more nervous and antsy behind the wheel.
In Matt's car
"Yes, sir. We're on Highway 22, westbound, close to the boat ramps. We're following him. Yes, Lita's with him. She looked ok," Matt said into his cell phone. Detective Atkins was on the other line. He had been exasperated and angry when Matt first called, but quickly grew gravely serious when Matt told him what was going on.
"If he turns off somewhere, I'll call you back," Matt said, then clicked off the phone. "Cops are on their way," Matt said, turning to look at his brother.
Jeff had been quiet since he turned around, a fierce look of determination in his eyes. He drove the car as fast as it would go, manipulating the curves effortlessly. It seems the years of motocross racing were paying off with some transferable driving skills.
Quickly, Jeff caught up with Raven, riding within feet of his bumper. "Careful Jeff," Matt said cautiously, "I don't want him to wreck with her in the car with him."
"I know Matt. But I've got an advantage over him in that I know these roads and he doesn't."
"Yeah, but that's a disadvantage to Lita…" Matt said.
Jeff shot a quick look at his brother. "If she wasn't with him right now, I'd knock his ass off the road."
"He can't keep this up much longer. He's too erratic. He's going to crash." Matt's voice grew with his frustration. He'd be devastated if they'd come this close to ending this chaos and Lita got hurt.
"Maybe I can go around him and cut him off."
"I don't see any other choice. When he sees the police cars, who knows what he'll do. Make him stop, Jeff."
In Lita's car
Lita had never felt so many emotions all at the same time in her entire life. The greatest one at the moment was fear. Raven was scaring her to death. Her white knuckles were a dead giveaway as she gripped the dashboard. She also was fearful for Matt and Jeff in the car behind her. She knew them so well, so she knew they'd take any risk if it meant getting to her. As much as she wanted them to rescue her, she wanted them to be safe above all else. She could ultimately take care of herself. Please keep them safe, she silently prayed.
Once again, she knew she needed a plan. Her instinct was to try to jump out of the car. Maybe she could if Raven slowed down enough in a curve. It would hurt like hell and she knew she'd probably be scraped up, but it might be the best way. But Jeff was literally right behind her. What if she didn't clear the road and he couldn't stop? And then there was her neck. Ok, that was probably not an option.
Her second thought was to convince him to stop. But there was a snowball's chance she could convince him of that. Maybe plan three should be to try and fight him for the wheel. She could purposefully cause a crash. But she wouldn't have any real control, and couldn't guarantee she wouldn't hurt herself, or worse, hurt Matt or Jeff behind her. So, she decided to give plan two a shot.
Raven was mumbling in a low voice, but Lita couldn't tell what he was saying. "Raven, please stop this now," she pleaded.
"NO!" he shouted at her. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT! I WILL NOT LET THEM WIN!" he turned his head to yell at Lita directly. That was a huge mistake. The car drifted across the yellow line, directly into the path of an oncoming car. Lita's screams jerked Raven's attention back to the road. She threw her arms up over her face while the sound of squealing tires and blaring horns filled the air……….