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“Let’s return to the church and let everyone know that we’re alive,” Xavier said. “I dropped my phone in all the excitement of almost dying…again…and I hung up on Basia. I probably scared the living daylights out of her and everyone else who was listening.”

It scared the living daylights out of me, so I totally got it. I turned in the seat to face Xavier, still feeling a bit wobbly. “You want to drive back to the church? It’s your and Basia’s car after all, and I’m a little maxed out.”

He didn’t have a chance to answer, because Elvis suddenly pointed over my shoulder. “Look out!”

I twisted around in alarm. About fifty yards in front of us, hovering about fifteen feet above the ground, was another drone.

FORTY

Slash

We’d been completely played, and I hadn’t seen it coming. There hadn’t been one drone. There had been multiple drones and operators, and their goal had been to pin us between them. There would be no escape this time. We were facing the wrong way and we’d come to a full stop. The drone was close enough that we couldn’t get out of the car in time, especially with Elvis in the back.

But I wasn’t about to give up now. “Xavier is there 110-volt electric plug in the back of the SUV?”

“Left rear corner. Why?”

“Elvis, plug that shield in. Now. It’s our only chance.”

“On it,” Elvis replied.

The drone was heading toward us, starting to pick up speed and dropping to windshield height. “What do I do?” Lexi asked grimly.

“You’re going to drive slowly toward the drone,” Elvis said from the back.

“Are you insane?” she exclaimed. “Drivetowardit?”

“Yes. Toward it. Then, when I give the word, and not a moment before, make a slow left to avoid it and pull gently to a stop. Trust me. Go…now.”

“Fine. It’s your show,” she said, but I heard the doubt in her voice. As instructed, Lexi drove slowly toward the drone. I couldn’t help but worry we were driving toward our doom.

Elvis suddenly shouted. “Now turn, Lexi. Slowly.”

Lexi carefully turned left and rolled to a stop as instructed. I held my breath as the drone approached, but surprisingly it didn’t adjust to our maneuver. Instead, it continued straight ahead, as if it didn’t see us, passing within mere feet of my window.

No one spoke as the drone mysteriously continued straight ahead at the same speed, altitude, and direction until it impacted a large boulder next to the curve in the road behind us. The explosion pelted the car once again with heat, dirt, and pebbles.

Lexi looked over her shoulder at the explosion, trembling. “Holy cow, Elvis. That was magic. Xavier, I’m going to let you explain all the car and body damage to your insurance company and…and Basia, okay?”

“Okay,” Xavier agreed, looking a little green. “Totally a fair deal.”

“Is someone going to explain to me what the hell just happened?” Tito demanded. “That drone went right past us, like it didn’t see us.”

“Itdidn’tsee us,” Elvis said. “That was a brilliant idea, Slash, thinking to check if the car had a 110-volt plug.”

“Well, when Xavier mentioned tailgating, I remembered that particular activity—which is rather odd, in my opinion—involves keeping food hot and beverages cold from the backside of a car. I figured there had to be a plug back there to accomplish that.”

“What does tailgating have to do with the drone not being able to see us?” Tito asked.

“The drone shield that Xavier and I acquired was intended to be portable,” Elvis explained. “But this beta version requires a 110-volt power and will suck up as many amps as the circuit will allow. A car wouldn’t give us the amps we needed for full power, but it powered the shield sufficiently to block the drone signal once the car got close enough. That’s why I had Lexi move toward it. We had to be close enough for it to work.”

“Wait. This was a beta version?” Tito asked, incredulously. “You weren’t even sure if it would work?”

“Yep, but now we know it works, at least at close range,” Elvis said. “However, if no one minds, I’d like to get the hell out of here before drone number three appears.”

“I’m totally behind that plan,” Xavier said.

“Not yet,” Slash said grimly. “We need to get those operators. Elvis, can you get us to the closest road to where you located them?”