The car sped through the darkness, tires humming against the empty road.
Emily sat pressed against the passenger door, her fingers gripping the seat so tightly her knuckles turned white.
She still held the broken shard of mirror.
The driver noticed.
"You can put that down," they said quietly.
Emily didn't.
"Who are you?" she demanded again.
The driver sighed.
"Right now, I'm the reason you're not still in that warehouse."
That wasn't an answer.
Emily's pulse quickened.
The streetlights flashed across the driver's face for a split second.
A young handsome man.
Maybe in his twenties.
Dark hair pulled into a bun
Tired eyes.
But Emily had never seen him before.
"Tell me your name she said."
The man hesitated.
"Rachel."
Emily narrowed her eyes.
"And how did you find me?"
Rachel gripped the steering wheel.
"Because I've been watching them."
Them.
The word made Emily's stomach twist.
"Who are they?"
Rachel didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked in the rearview mirror.
Again.
And again.
As if expecting something.
Or someone.
Finally, he spoke.
"The people who took you aren't working alone."
Emily's heart sank.
She already knew there were two kidnappers.
But Rachel's voice suggested something worse.
"A group?"
Rachel nodded.
"Something like that."
Before Emily could ask another question, headlights appeared behind them.
Far away.
But closing fast.
Rachel's expression changed instantly.
"No..."
Emily turned.
The headlights grew larger.
Faster.
Much faster.
"What is it?" Emily asked.
Rachel pressed harder on the gas pedal.
"They found us."
Emily's blood turned to ice.
The engine roared.
The speedometer climbed higher.
The vehicle behind them surged forward.
Its headlights flooded the rear window.
Too close.
Way too close.
Rachel cursed under his breath.
"Hold on."
The pursuing car swerved into the opposite lane.
Trying to pull alongside them.
Emily's breath caught.
Through the other car's windshield, she could just make out a figure.
A hooded figure.
The same black hood.
The same one from the basement.
"No..." Emily whispered.
The man saw her.
Even from a distance, she knew.
And then
He smiled.
Rachel jerked the steering wheel.
The cars nearly collided.
A horn blared.
Emily screamed.
The pursuing car fell back for a moment.
Then accelerated again.
The man wasn't giving up.
Not tonight.
Rachel reached into his pocket with one hand and tossed a phone into Emily's lap.
"Call 911!"
Emily stared at it.
The screen was cracked.
The battery sat at 3%.
Her hands shook as she unlocked it.
No signal.
"There's no service!"
Rachel's jaw tightened.
"Of course there isn't."
The road ahead curved sharply through a forest.
Dark trees crowded both sides.
The only light came from the moon and the headlights.
Behind them, the hooded man's vehicle continued to close the gap.
Emily looked back one more time.
And froze.
There was another car.
A second pair of headlights.
Following behind the first.
Then a third.
Three vehicles.
Three.
Her stomach dropped.
"They brought backup."
Rachel didn't answer.
he already knew.
The cars thundered down the road as the forest swallowed them whole.
And somewhere in the darkness ahead, hidden among the trees, a pair of unseen eyes watched the chase approach.