Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1) (15 page)

“Did you hear him screaming when he discovered the note we scribbled on the countertop?” Liz asked dryly. “Well, I didn’t.”

“That was nothing compared to what we’re doing now. We’ve gotten our hands on his temple.
Every
man worships his car,” said Jennifer.

“There are casualties in every war.” Liz patted the Mercedes’s dashboard almost lovingly. “And this little beauty is just one of them. If we don’t do this, we’ll have to stay here until we’re completely healed. If we just try to make a run for it, they’ll drag us back by our hair—with Townsend’s blessing, no less. There’s only one thing we can do. Or have you changed your mind?” Liz asked.

“No, I definitively have to get away from here.”

“Then let’s go and give this car a makeover!” Liz put the key in the ignition and the car started with a soft hum. She and Jennifer glanced at the house one more time but everything was quiet. Liz quickly put the car in reverse and accelerated, backing it away from the house before putting it in drive. She kept looking in the rearview mirror to see whether lights were going on, but the house remained dark. Once they were far enough away, she switched on the headlights and pressed harder on the gas pedal, and the car shot down the gravel road that led away from the house and toward the highway.

“What should we do first?” Jennifer asked.

“This is an off-road vehicle, isn’t it? So let’s go off-road!” Liz pressed the pedal to the floor. She passed the speed limit without worrying about getting ticketed, and tore down the nearly abandoned highway.

“We have to turn off up there.” Jennifer leaned forward in her seat and pointed to a sign that indicated an upcoming exit to an abandoned strip mine. “If I remember right, they sometimes put on illegal car races near there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and there’ll be one today that we can enter.”

“How did you hear about those?” Liz gave her a look of amazement.

“I used to go out and watch them a couple of years ago, before we became a team,” Jennifer told her.

Liz barely slowed down as she took the exit. They drove several miles down a narrow road that was unpaved and unlit, and riddled with one pothole after another. The road meandered through a long forested area to their intended goal: a clearing at the center of the abandoned strip mine.

After the phosphate deposit at this site became depleted, about ten years ago, the mining companies moved on to other deposits in nearby areas. The site they left behind them had been severely damaged by the heavy equipment and machines that had left this patch of earth looking the surface of the moon. Since then, nature had taken its course and had begun restoring the site to a mixed forest area. The strip mine’s access roads still existed, although they were in extremely poor condition and partially overgrown, and were used mostly by adventurous teens and adults as a racetrack every now and then.

From a distance, Liz and Jennifer could already pick out faint lights. Someone was in the clearing.

“We’re in luck. Did you bring any money?” Jennifer looked at Liz.

“What do we need money for?”

“We need to pay an entry fee to participate.”

“Didn’t you just say the races are illegal?”

Jennifer rolled her eyes dramatically in the face of her friend’s naiveté. “Why do you think that is?”

“I see. I gather you didn’t bring any cash and I have about thirty dollars in my pocket. That’s not enough, is it?” Liz raised her eyebrows and gave her passenger a questioning glance. Jennifer shook her head wordlessly. Liz looked back at the road and at the clearing ahead of them. “Do they take credit cards? I’ve got an American Express.”

Jennifer glared at her and gave her a look that said,
Please tell me that was a joke.
When she noticed the telltale pull at the corner of Liz’s mouth, she laughed. “I don’t think you’ll be able to talk them into taking American Express.”

“We’ll think of some way to make them let us in,” Liz said with conviction. “After all, we didn’t come here to win.” Liz drove at full speed to the clearing, which was surrounded by a grove of trees in the middle of the old strip mine. When she braked abruptly, the car kicked up a cloud of thick dust that almost smothered the flames rising from the torches that illuminated the grounds and the very edge of the forest. Eight other participants had already positioned their cars at the makeshift starting line, and two dozen spectators gaped at the new arrivals. Liz jumped out of the car and put her hands on her hips.

“Where do we register?” she asked loudly, looking around.

A lanky young man with black curly hair approached and studied her with a look of disdain. He looked like he couldn’t be much past puberty, but the way he acted made others think he was older than he appeared. He looked over Liz first and then Jennifer before asking with an arrogant grin, “Do you have the five hundred dollar entry fee?”

“No. Why? We aren’t here to win; we just want to have a little fun. If we happen to win, we’ll just give the cash to whoever comes in after us,” said Jennifer, who’d planted herself next to Liz, her hands buried casually in her pants pockets.

“From the looks of your car, I can tell you don’t need the money. But this here isn’t for brats who want to cruise around in daddy’s car. You two should take off!”

“We’ll take off after we’ve raced. Understand?” Liz crossed her arms over her chest. Without batting an eyelash, she glared defiantly at her opponent. “How about we make a small deal?”

“What kind of deal? You already said you don’t have the cash. You want to put up the car?” he asked slyly. Even without getting a look at the interior, the guy could tell that the chrome rims alone were worth at least a thousand dollars. Gray’s car was obviously of the best quality, worth sixty thousand dollars or more. No wonder he was willing to take it in place of an entry fee.

Liz shook her head. With a lightning-quick movement, she grabbed Jennifer’s wrist, removed her gold wristwatch and threw it to her adversary. “We’ll put this up.”

“We?” Jennifer punched Liz on the shoulder as she watched her Rolex disappear into the boy’s jacket pocket. “The watch was a gift!”

“Calm down! You’ll get it back afterwards.” Liz fixed a piercing gaze on the guy. “Isn’t that right, buddy?”

“Uh…yeah. Sure. If you win, you’ll get the watch back immediately,” he promised. Liz’s confidence appeared to unnerve him. He scratched his head. He didn’t look like a guy who was used to dealing with women like them.

“By the way, I’m Sam.” He introduced himself with a crooked grin that made him look even younger than he had at first glance.

“I’m Liz and the woman who’s burning a hole through your jacket pocket with her eyes is Jenny.” Liz smiled warmly. “So we have a deal?”

“Sure. The Rolex is fine.” With a last, regretful glance at Gray’s car, Sam turned away and waved to Liz and Jennifer to follow him. “You got here just in time. Start is in ten minutes. Come on and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

Sam pointed at an oil-speckled map on the hood of his once-red Ford Escort. The car was way past its prime and possessed all the charm of a junkyard rust bucket. “The starting point and finish line are the same, and the track is a sort of oval.” With his index finger Sam traced a red, squiggly line that had been drawn on the map. “The road is marked by lanterns that have been placed at regular intervals. Most of the route runs through the wooded area. At times you’ll come into an open area, and that’s where you can
try
to pass the other drivers.” Sam gave them a mocking grin that made Liz and Jennifer laugh. “There are several course marshals out there keeping an eye on things, to make sure it’s fair. You drive the course twice. If your car is the first one across the finish line the second time around, you win.”

“Oh, so it has to be fair? That’s just great! Any other rules that we need to know about?” Jennifer asked.

“No other rules. Anything you can’t do on regular streets is allowed here.”

“Just the way we like it.”

“You really want to run this race in your fancy car? You won’t recognize it afterwards. Look at mine: it’s practically new. It’s run only two races. You’d be better off getting a beater from the junk yard.” Liz and Jennifer just looked at him. “Well, I warned you! It gets pretty rough out here.”

“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Liz, laughing. She walked back to the SUV with Jennifer and looked at her across the hood of the car. “Are you ready for some action?”

“In theory. But I have to say, I’m beginning to wonder whether the ends will justify the means. We really aren’t normal anymore!”

Liz waved a hand dismissively in the air. “Get in,” she said tersely. “And let’s have some fun!”

Once they were settled in, Liz backed up to the starting line, which was marked by a broad, bright yellow ribbon lying on the dusty ground. She positioned the Mercedes at the end of the row of cars. While they waited for the signal to start, she let her gaze wander over the other vehicles. They obviously had been customized for this kind of race. The bodies were more or less scrap metal, but the engines sounded finely tuned. The roar was deafening.

A young woman with closely cropped pink hair and heavy make-up tottered onto the race track in a black mini-skirt, sparkling sequined top and high heels. She raised a white cloth in the air. The almost palpable tension was heightened by the effect of the torches that bathed the area in eerie, flickering light. The engines roared loudly as the girl’s arm dropped and all the drivers hit the gas at once.

They raced through the stone quarry, over pitted forest tracks and through the forest, which emptied of all signs of animal life within seconds. Over and over, the Mercedes was rammed forcefully, and with every hit it took, Liz whooped with joy. The car really
wouldn’t
be recognizable afterwards, just as she’d hoped. Liz floored the accelerator, steered to the right, and rammed a Buick next to her, pushing it further off the already narrow race track.

“Don’t be so hard on the young ‘uns,” said Jennifer. She clutched the handle above the door to keep from getting tossed around too much. She glanced out of the side window at the Buick’s driver. “He looks like he’s about to pee himself.”

“Yeah? Well, no one’s cutting us a break.” Just then, as if proving her words, the SUV took another hit, this time by a Toyota station wagon. Metal scraped against metal. Liz accelerated and heard a loud grinding noise just before she broke free of the other car. In the rearview mirror she watched as the Toyota’s hood buckled and tore away from the car’s body as easily as paper. It sailed through the air a few yards and then landed in the underbrush. A driver in a Ford Pinto took the Toyota’s place on the left side of the Mercedes and picked up his predecessor’s strategy: keep pounding the rookie!

Every one of the drivers wanted a chance at the Mercedes. One after the other, the other cars rammed them. Liz and Jennifer were shaken so hard, they felt as though they were riding in a washing machine set on its spin cycle. Mercilessly, they were attacked from the left, the right and from behind, but Liz was somehow able to shake off all but two competitors.

After covering about five miles they neared the yellow line for the first time. They were still neck and neck with the Ford and the Buick. With one car on either side of them, Liz raced toward the starting point, where the two dozen spectators stood cheering, even though they couldn’t be heard over the cars’ engines. There was still one more lap to go, but it was clear that Liz, the Ford driver, or the driver of the Buick was going to win. Every other driver had either been left far behind or had been forced out. As each driver focused on his or her own driving, the three raced across the line for the first time.

Suddenly, five deer emerged from the underbrush and jumped right across the clearing, onto the race track. The roaring engines and the crash of the colliding car bodies had frightened them and caused them to panic. Swearing, Liz slammed on the brakes and the SUV came to a stop after several yards.

Her two competitors noticed the group of animals too late. As they tried to swerve, they spun out of control and rolled their cars several times, landing on their roofs. The deer bounded off, stunned but unharmed, and disappeared back into the underbrush.

Liz sped toward crash site. Thick, blackish-gray fumes poured from the engines and rose into the moonlit sky. She stopped at a distance from the demolished vehicles and she and Jennifer jumped out of the Mercedes. Together they ran toward the cars.

“You get the guy out of the Ford! I’ll take the Buick!” Liz ran to the vehicle on her right. One by one, the other drivers arrived at the crash site, climbed out of their battered cars, and approached the smoking vehicles. Some ran forward to help with the rescue, but then jumped back when smoke started shooting out from under the Buick’s hood. The intensity of the accident had terrified everyone present. Stunned into inaction, they stared at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

“Watch out! It’s going to explode!” Sam yelled. He ran back across the course with two friends to get fire extinguishers.

Liz ignored him and concentrated on getting to the driver, a young man who looked to be about twenty years old. The door was hopelessly stuck. Inside, the driver hung upside down, held in by his seatbelt. His forehead was banged up and there were small slivers of safety glass in his short blonde curls, but his body was otherwise intact. He stared into space, not comprehending what had happened. Liz kneeled down, reached a hand through the destroyed side window and slapped his face lightly so that he would look at her, focus on her and come out of his trance. Then she pulled a knife out of her jacket pocket and cut through the seatbelt.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s get the hell out of this race!” Liz took his hand, which he held out to her with a soft moan. With her other hand she grabbed the collar of his jacket and dragged him out of the wreck. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, she hauled the dazed young man away from his car.

“Get him over here, out of danger!” called the men who had cautiously approached the burning wreck. They ran forward to help. As soon as they’d taken the injured man from her, Liz whirled around and ran to Jennifer who was struggling in vain to pull the second driver out of his demolished car. Unfortunately, he wasn’t much help as he kept drifting in and out of consciousness. When he
was
conscious, all he did was grimace and moan softly with pain.