Page 25 of Tide and Seek (Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries #8)

“This is nuts,” I muttered, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Part of me wanted to back off, let this maniac get away before he killed someone.

But I had a feeling that was what the guy wanted me to do.

Rattled as I was at the way he was driving, I couldn’t back off.

The cop in me knew we might be the only witness to whatever this psycho did next.

The Mercedes suddenly accelerated, taking advantage of the slightly straighter road where the steep drops had given way to level ground.

I pressed harder on the gas pedal, the Hummer’s engine growling as we closed the distance.

The speedometer climbed past sixty, then seventy.

Even without the ravine on our right side, the speed was way too fast for winding canyon roads.

“I can see the plate,” Max said excitedly. “It’s 8CME419.” As he spoke, Max typed on his phone. “I’m putting it in my notes.”

“Good thinking.”

That’ll be handy if we survive.

I sucked in a breath, watching as the Mercedes approached the next curve at a dangerous speed.

Once more I had the urge to ram the bastard from behind to send him careening off the road, if only to end the madness.

I was positive he was going to kill someone.

But I controlled myself, staying close behind him, but not too close.

We continued on like that for a few minutes, him swerving like a fool into oncoming traffic, and me dropping back just in case he wrecked.

It was exhausting having to concentrate so hard just so I didn’t rear-end the jerk.

At one point, he tapped his brakes and I eased off the gas slightly, preparing for him to lurch into oncoming traffic once more.

But he didn’t swerve left. Instead, he shocked me by turning right, making a sharp, reckless turn onto a steep side road that cut up into the hills.

The maneuver was so sudden and at such high speed that I flew past the turnoff before I could even think about following.

Behind us, a line of cars made it impossible to stop or turn around.

“Shit,” I growled, watching in the rearview mirror as a big cloud of dust, churned up by that jerk’s tires, drifted over the traffic behind us. “Did that road have a sign?”

Max rasped, “I have no idea. We flew by so fast, I didn’t even know there was a road until he turned onto it.”

The rational part of my brain knew I should be relieved the insanely dangerous car chase had ended. We were alive, the Hummer was still drivable, and we had the guy’s license plate. But the cop in me screamed I needed to find a way to turn around and go after the guy.

“Royce?” Maxwell’s voice was carefully controlled, but I could hear the tremor underneath. “You can probably slow down now.”

I immediately lifted my foot off the gas. “Yeah, sorry.” My heart was still hammering, adrenaline making my hands shake slightly on the wheel. “You okay?” I asked hoarsely.

“Yes. Shaken, but not physically hurt.” He swallowed loudly. “That was terrifying.”

I nodded, forcing myself to unclench my jaw. “We’ll pull over at the bottom of the canyon and call it in.”

“There’s no way that was random road rage, right?” Max twisted in his seat to address me.

“I have no idea what that was.” I didn’t want to give him false assurances, seeing as I had no idea why that person had tried to run us off the road. The attack had felt personal, but then again, anytime you were attacked it felt personal.

By the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, my hands had finally stopped shaking.

I spotted a pull-off area near a gas station and eased the Hummer onto the gravel shoulder.

I put the vehicle in park and shut off the car, and both Maxwell and I sat in silence for several seconds, the only sound our ragged breathing and the tick of the cooling engine.

“Jesus,” Maxwell finally whispered, running a trembling hand through his hair. “I’m glad you were the one driving, Royce.”

“Me too,” I croaked. “Let’s take a look at the damage.” I really needed to get out of the vehicle, to feel the ground beneath my feet again.

We climbed out on unsteady legs, and I had to grip the door frame for a moment to steady myself. The afternoon sun felt too bright after the shadowy canyon, and the normal sounds of traffic seemed impossibly mundane after what we’d just been through.

The Hummer looked like it had been through a demolition derby.

Deep gouges ran along the passenger side where the Mercedes had scraped against us, the paint stripped down to bare metal in several places.

The side mirror hung at an odd angle, showing the wiring, and there was a basketball-sized dent in the rear quarter panel where the initial impact had occurred.

“I’ve been complaining about this tank since it was dropped off, but if we’d been in a regular car...” Maxwell shuddered. “Who knows if we’d be alive right now.”

“Yeah, if we’d been driving something smaller and lighter, we’d probably be at the bottom of that canyon,” I said grimly, pulling out my phone with hands steadier than I expected. “I’ll call it in.”

I punched in 911 and pressed the phone tight to my ear. After a single ring, a calm, professional voice answered.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

As I gave the dispatcher the details, including the license plate, the description of the black Mercedes SUV, and the approximate time and location, Maxwell leaned against the Hummer’s damaged side, his face pale but composed.

When I hung up, I walked over to Max. “They want us to wait for someone from the sheriff’s department to come and take our statement. They’ll also check the Hummer for damage and file an official report.”

“That’s fine. I’ll need that for the car rental place,” Max murmured, looking at the road in the direction we’d come. “You don’t think they’ll come after us to finish us off, right?”

I grimaced. “No. If they have half a brain, they’re long gone.”

“If they had any brains would they have driven like that?” Max met my gaze. “I don’t understand why they were so aggressive.”

I frowned. “Maybe I accidentally cut someone off in traffic and didn’t notice?”

“I don’t remember that happening.”

“Me neither.” I sighed. “You should probably call Tippity Top Car Rentals and let them know we were in an accident.”

“I know. I’m stalling.” He slumped. “The rest of our day is going to be nothing but phone calls and problems. We can’t just go to Geoffrey’s and dine on Chilean sea bass now.

We’d both be looking over our shoulders every second.

” He groaned. “I can’t believe this is how our vacation is turning out.

I wanted everything to be perfect for you on this trip. ”

“Come on, Max. I don’t care about perfection.” I reached over and brushed a strand of dark hair out of his eyes. “The important thing is we’re both fine. The car can be replaced, and we can go to Geoffrey’s or wherever else you want tomorrow or the next day.”

“Not if someone out there wants us dead.”

“I don’t think that’s the case.” I hesitated, wanting to put him at ease. “I’m sure this was just a random incident. Isn’t LA the road-rage capital of the U.S.?”

“I don’t think it’s ever been officially established that LA is the capital of road rage.” He looked sheepish. “But yes, we do rank high in aggressive driving and traffic-related stress.”

“See there. I probably cut that guy off without knowing it and he was pissed off.”

“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.

“The world is full of crazies, right?” I gave him a cajoling smile. “We’re pretty shaken up right now, but tomorrow, I say we go feast at Geoffrey’s. We’ll just stuff ourselves until we can hardly walk.”

He smiled, his blue eyes holding mine. “You sure it’s safe?”

“There’s no real reason to think otherwise.

” I sighed at his uncertain expression. “We can’t let something like this ruin our vacation.

We had a little bad luck today and we ran into a psycho with a chip on his shoulder.

Maybe the guy hates Hummers. Who knows? The important thing is we’re both okay, and we should put it behind us. ”

He nodded, letting out a soft exhale. “You’re right. I guess I’m beginning to feel a little paranoid. It’s almost like someone wants us to go back to Rainy Dale.”

“But why would anyone want that?” I tried to sound as reasonable as possible. “I’ll admit it’s been an interesting few days, but I can’t imagine things not quieting down now. We’ll get a replacement car from the rental place and focus on enjoying the rest of the time we have here. Okay?”

He gnawed on his bottom lip. “You’re awfully upbeat for a guy who almost crashed off a mountain.”

“That’s because we didn’t crash.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “We made it out alive. So let’s not get all bogged down in what could have been. The fact is we’re fine and we still have lots of time here in LA to enjoy ourselves.”

There was obvious skepticism in his blue eyes, but he allowed a little nod of agreement. “Fine. I’ll try to be more optimistic.”

“That’s more like it.” I smiled and gently tugged him against me.

He was stiff at first, but then he relaxed into me.

I was glad because I needed the soothing warmth of his living, breathing body against mine.

While I was trying to be upbeat for his sake, I was shaken by how close we’d come to dying.

Despite my words and my effort to play things down, that attack had felt personal.

I didn’t want to be paranoid, but it truly did feel like some malevolent plan was unfolding, and that somehow Max was at the center of it. And if that were true, I had absolutely no idea why that might be, or how to keep Max safe.