Page 20 of Taken With Trouble

Chapter 8

Liam

I close my eyes.Then swiftly open them again. Just because we are flying through the air doesn’t mean I can let go of the wheel. The car lands with an earthquake-sized thud, jerking my head and neck. But I haven’t heard another shot in the last five seconds.

“Did we lose the—”

Bullets rain down on the roof of the car, and I swerve, nearly running over a man on a bike. The car groans.

“Did you drive us off a bridge?” Cruz screams, her voice nearing hysterical.

“It was a very small one.”

“We’re going to die!”

“That’s only one outcome and hardly worth mentioning right now.” I glance in the rearview to see the motorcycle landing behind us. I don’t know why I thought that would get rid of him.

The car makes a weird sound, and I curse. I can forge my own Mona Lisa, or hack into any security database, but give me a car, and all I can find is the engine and the dipstick. Is this car dying or are radical thumping sounds normal?

“Liam…” Serena’s worried voice carries through my subconscious, and I jerk back to the present. The car chase. The one that’s going to kill us soon. Unless…

I spot my opportunity up ahead. “When I turn, we’re going to jump out of your door.”

“Are you crazy?” She fires off two shots. “That will never work.”

“Trust me.” I wrap the handle of my bag around my hand.

Her wild eyes meet mine. “I can’t stress how much Ido not trust you.”

“Sorry, love.” I decelerate to take the turn, then reach across and open her door, shoving her out. I lock the brakes before jumping myself. As I fall, I hear a crash. And another crash.

I slice through the water, catching sight of a dark blob beside me. I snatch her arm and pull her with me. We both break through the water, spluttering, but in Serena’s case, it’s coming out in very colorful and creative four-letter words.

Water clings to her eyelashes, tangling the long strands together. But she’s no less beautiful than she’s always been.

“You idiot!” She screams, then shoves me under the water by sheer strength. I let her, of course. “Great plan,” she says when I reemerge. “We’re sitting ducks.”

“Technically, we are swimming ducks.”

She splashes a wave of water at me, clearly unamused. I’m a very charming guy; it must be her.

“I heard the crash. He’s gone. Now, would you listen to my plan?”

“You mean you’re going to explain it this time?” She snaps before swimming toward the shore.

I follow behind. “I tried to explain it last time, but you didn’t want to hear it.”

“Because I thought it would be reasonable!”

“Why on earth would you think that? Look, we’ll go to my other place. It’s not too far from here. Well, no, I’m lying. We’ll have to get on the train and—”

“No. We are going to the Winthrops. We are going to give them the box, then I’m gone.”

“We can’t go to the Winthrops now. Every hitman and their killer dog will be staking out the place. We need to lie low for a couple days.”

“I have the perfect place for that.” She splashes water in my face. “Prison.”

“Only if you’re my cellmate, beautiful.” I pull myself onto the bank next to an Italian restaurant then extend a hand to her.