Page 89 of Secrets Along the Shore

His gaze lifted to the rearview mirror. Elara watched out the rear window as the Croatians sped toward them. Just three vehicles followed them. Two must have gotten stuck behind, or had stayed to kill the other men. She turned and met his gaze in the mirror. Tears stained her cheeks as she trembled.

Just focus on the mission.He sped up again as the road straightened. The GPS gave directions to the airport a few miles away. If only he could lose the Rukas before they got there. “Adam, get them off us.”

“I’ll do what I can.” The former CIA operative leaned out the window and took shots at their pursuers.

Tyler tried to keep the vehicle steady to give Adam an easier time shooting, but driving straight left them open to fire from the enemy. He spotted a dip in the road. One that had been painful driving over in the van. “Hang on.”

Adam sat back in his seat, just in time for the SUV to be tossed hard by the dip.

“We’ve got to lose these guys.” Tyler took the vehicle around another curve. He dropped a hand to his vest. When he had geared up for this mission, he put two grenades on his vest. He’d used one to take out the men in the room Elara stumbled into. He had one left.Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Tyler pulled the second grenade off his vest and handed it to Adam.

“It’s been a while since my baseball days.” Adam shrugged as he glanced behind them again.

“That grenade has to end up under the vehicle.” If it didn’t, it might not do enough damage to stop them.

“I really hope this works.” Adam leaned farther out of the vehicle. After a couple of seconds, he jerked back inside. “Okay. Drive. Drive. Drive!”

Tyler sped up.

The explosion rattled the SUV, but it remained on the road. Behind them, one vehicle tipped over as flames consumed it. The other two continued driving, not bothering to help their friends. They were determined to retrieve—or kill—Elara and Rian.

“Nice,” Tyler muttered.

“Luck. All luck.”

“Thank you, God,” Elara whispered behind them.

Adam checked the navigation system. “We’re almost to the main road.” He dropped a magazine from his rifle and put a fresh one in. He grunted as he sat back. “I don’t suppose you have another crazy idea to lose these guys before we reach the airport.”

“Working on it.” Tyler glanced back. About two car lengths behind, their pursuers drove around a bend in the road and sped up. He refocused on the front. The dirt road sloped upward where it met the paved road that led to Vukovar one way and back toward Dubrovnik the other way. The airport was closer to Vukovar. He swung the vehicle off the dirt road and onto the wide open road. Behind them, their pursuers did the same.

“They’re not gonna stop,” Elara whimpered.

“Neither am I.” She might have accepted defeat already, but Tyler hadn’t. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. There had to be a way to lose them. “Is there a dirt road to the airport?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Adam lifted his phone. “Up ahead. About a hundred feet, the road turns right. It’s a longer route, but we might need that.”

Tyler found the spot and turned the vehicle down the steep dirtroad. He had to slow a bit to maintain control over the vehicle. The road curved to the left, and then back right. He swung the vehicle around the curve. Stepped on the accelerator. Rocks and dirt crunched under the tires, but they weren’t loose enough to cause trouble.

The vehicle climbed a small hill and dropped down the other side. The road was not flat. Or straight. Tyler took another right. A ditch on Adam’s side warned him to be careful or they’d end up in it. They missed it by a couple of feet. He checked the mirror. The pursuers were several meters behind.

Maybe he could buy them enough time to get to the plane and off the ground. That was asking a lot though. The airport would be wide open, and the Rukas would have no problem catching up.

Another curve got them farther away.

“Where did you learn to drive like this?” Adam asked as he watched behind them.

Tyler didn’t respond. He didn’t have time to as they pulled onto a paved road to the small airport. The vehicle hit a hard bump, jostling them around. He kept a steady pace and drove past the airport gates.

“We’re almost there,” Adam told Elara before facing the front of the vehicle.

The small private jet came into view. They were so close to getting Elara and her son on that plane and back to Koen, where she needed to be. Their pursuers sped closer, but still had a ways to go.

When they got to the plane, Tyler swung the vehicle to the left to ensure that Elara and Rian had a safe exit from the vehicle and weren’t exposed. Adam opened his door and raised his M4, taking a few shots over the hood of the SUV while Tyler exited. Tyler set his sights on the enemy vehicle and fired as he backed to the rear of his vehicle. The SUV and car slowed.

Odd. Maybe they knew they were too late.

“C’mon, Rian.” With the backpack still on her back, Elara held her son close as she stepped away from the vehicle.