Page 61 of Critical Strike

Her heart pounded hard enough to make her sick; her hands were slick with sweat. She clutched the steering wheel tighter, pressing down on the gas pedal. Her poor car was just about at its limit now, its engine whining as dust kicked up behind the wheels. She sped along through the outskirts of San Antonio, just like she was supposed to.

And she had never felt lonelier in her life.

Focus. Breathe.

This had to go off cleanly. There couldn’t be any doubt.

Ballard had to believe she was no longer a threat, which meant making him believe what was about to go down. She had to sell it.

“You okay?”

Brax’s voice was in her ear and it brought her a measure of peace. A sliver, anyway. But it was better than nothing. “Define okay,” she replied with a shaky laugh.

“You’re doing great. You’ve got this. Just follow the plan and we’re home free.”

“Right.” She forced herself to breathe again when she noticed she’d been holding her breath. Her entire body was tensed tight enough to hurt. This was only the beginning of things, so she had to calm down if she was going to get through it.

“We went through all this last night, right?” Brax was warm. Calm. Encouraging. He had that way about him, she noticed. His personality complemented those of his brothers. He was a sweetheart, a charmer. “You can go through the steps backward and forward.”

“Right.”

“Just live it out the way we planned. You know what you’re doing.”

“I hope that’s the case when the time comes for the next step...”

“You wanna know something I’ve learned?”

“Please.” Anything to distract her from the doubts circling her head like water circling a drain.

“You can’t think too far ahead when you’re in the middle of acting out a plan. You can only focus on the step you’re on and pull it off the best you can. Think too much about what’ll happen next and you’ll mess up what you’re trying to do right now.”

“Got it. That makes sense.” For instance, it wouldn’t do her any good to run the car off the road, would it? She focused on her driving while doing her best to make it look like she was trying to get away.

If anybody had ever told her she’d end up being pursued by the cops one day, she would’ve laughed herself sick. Meek little Claire Wallace, who’d never said boo to a ghost? Who carried spiders outside rather than kill them outright? Why would the police have any reason to chase her?

Life had a funny way of making the impossible real. Tangible. Nauseating.

“The bridge is coming up,” Brax reminded her. As if she needed the reminder. It took effort to bite back a snarky comment, which of course, would’ve been the result of fear. “You know what to do.”

“I do.” She pushed the car harder, forcing it to speeds it had probably never reached before. If anything, driving fast and being dangerous was a treat. She had spent her whole life playing it safe, keeping her head down, avoiding notice.

To think, it took the threat of being murdered to make her life a little more interesting. “All things being equal, I liked life the way it was.”

“What?” Brax’s soft chuckle rang through her earpiece.

“Never mind.”

The San Antonio River sparkled up ahead, a ribbon cutting through the otherwise dusty, empty land outside the city. It would keep flowing south from the springs where it originated, eventually hooking up with the Guadalupe River miles downstream.

She approached the drawbridge with her heart hammering, her breath coming sharp and fast. A glance at the clock on the dash told her they were right on schedule. Everything was going according to plan, right down to the exact time she’d reach the bridge.

And down to the car speeding her way from the other side of the river.

“Here they come.” She knew Brax could see them but felt the need to say it anyway. “I think my heart’s going to explode.”

“I promise you, it won’t. Just stay the course. You can do this. You can do anything. You’ve made it this far, and you can keep going.” Did he know how tense he sounded? How close his voice was to sliding into a bark? She probably didn’t sound much better.

The tires hit the metal bridge and made an almost earsplitting noise at this speed, but she kept going. This was it. There was no going back. Might as well put on a show.