The unexpected burst of speed I urged out of my car caused Georgie's timing to go awry. The hard-swung chain smashed into the window behind me and not the one alongside my face. I winced involuntarily as I heard the glass crack. Then I was putting distance between us because he had to slow down in order to get the bike turned around again. I saw his light hanging on behind me as I streaked around a curve and up a rolling hill.
Cresting the hill, I spotted Sheila and her pursuers. The man on the lead bike was running alongside the Volvo. He gained on the car and started swerving into the driver's path, causing her to draw over toward the shoulder of the road in order to avoid a collision.
She was so engrossed in the duel with the cyclist that she failed to make the next curve. Leaving the road, the Volvo bounced and swerved like a paper boat in a swift gutter current. I was afraid it would turn over when it struck the ditch, but the jolt only slowed it down. Sheila had the sense to avoid a sudden use of the brakes. From the shimmy the car made, I could guess she'd thrown it into a slower gear. Then she sawed on the brake. The Volvo bucked and slid, but it didn't go over.
As she finally brought the car to a halt in an open field, the bikers were turning around. One of them jumped the ditch, a beautiful piece of riding, and raced across the field toward the car he'd been pursuing. His wheels churned up dirt.
The second biker didn't have the guts to jump the ditch. He stopped on the shoulder of the road, then saw me coming up out of the night. He killed his motor and got off the cycle.
Slowing down, I glanced into the rear view mirror to check on Georgia He was still on my tail and gaining. Soon he'd catch up with me.
I turned onto the shoulder near the field and shut off the car. I left the headlights burning when I got out. The waiting biker was the one with the scar curling down his cheek. He reached inside his jacket and brought out a knife. Light gleamed on the blade as he stepped toward me.
"Mister, you'd better get back into that car and get the hell away from here."
"If I don't?"
"I'll slice you up like bacon ready for the frying pan."
One knee bending, I half-turned. My left foot shot out. I felt the sharp contact with his kneecap. A Japanese master of karate had taught me that move and it was a good one. Scarface went down as if the ground had been jerked out from under his feet.
Rising to a crouch, he made a pass with the knife. I shifted and the blade whipped in front of me, an inch short of my belly. I clamped both hands onto his arm and brought it down over my knee and broke it. Scarface howled.
I picked up his knife and threw it into the darkness on the other side of the highway.
Then Georgie arrived on the scene. He rode straight for me, swinging the chain. I knew that if he hit me in the face I'd be blinded or scarred for life. I heard the chain whine as I ducked. Then Georgie had passed me. Before he could turn around, I had tugged down the zipper of my jacket and pulled the Luger.
I shot him out of the saddle and the bike kept going, careening into the middle of the highway before it fell on its side and slid.
Without giving Georgie another glance, I walked back to the car, shoved it in reverse, and flashed my headlights on the field.
Copper Beard had dismounted and was hammering on the window of Sheila's car with his fist. He stopped when the yellow beams of my headlights spilled over him.
I put the Ford in low and drove across the ditch. The bounce jarred me off my butt. Copper Beard started running back toward his bike. I got there first. I wrenched the wheel at the last minute so that only my bumper hit the bike, but the impact sent the machine spinning. Copper Beard was sprinting toward his friends now, probably hoping to reach one of their bikes. I turned the Ford so that I could see him clearly in the headlights. I got out and drew a bead with the Luger and shot the fleeing man in the leg.
Sheila Brant shoved open the door of her car. She was holding a .38 in one hand. Copper Beard didn't know it, but I might have saved his life.
"Mister," Sheila said in an awed voice, "you are something else."
I pointed the Luger at the Volvo's left rear tire and shot a hole in it. I walked past the staring Sheila and shot the left front tire. Then I raised the hood and yanked out some wiring.
"Are you crazy?" she demanded.
"You ran out on me once. I'm making sure you don't do it again."
"I didn't know if I could trust you. I don't even know who you are."
"I told you. The name is Ned."
"I'm used to running. I thought it was the thing to do."
"You can probably use that gun," I said, "but could you have handled all three of these Boy Scouts? Use your head, Sheila. You need protection."
Plucking the keys out of my own car and pocketing them, I walked back to Copper Beard, who was lying on the ground clutching his leg.
"You'll live," I told him. "If I decide to let you."
He licked his lip. "What does that mean?"
I leaned down and put the point of the Luger between his bushy eyebrows. "Tell me the reason for the night's activity."
"We wanted the blonde. What else?"
I prodded him with the gun barrel. "I thought you might tell me something else. Something more interesting"
"Man, I'll tell you anything you want to hear. But the truth is, we wanted the broad. She gave us frostbite in the eating place, so we decided to hang around and have some fun with her when she got off work."
"No one hired you to take care of her?"
"Like who?" He forced a shaky grin. "Man, what did we get ourselves into anyway?"
I wasn't sure I believed him. I said, "I can't be bothered with gathering you freaks up and taking you to jail. But stay out of my sights. If I get you in them again, I'll kill you."
"Man, I'll avoid you like the draft."
Sheila was standing at the open door of my car. "What were you two talking about?" she asked when I returned.
"I gave him the name of my doctor," I said. "Get in the car. We're going back to Bonham."
She hesitated, then obeyed me. She slid under the steering wheel and over to the passenger's seat with her skirt climbing up her legs. I grinned at her, holstered the Luger, and got in. Then she punched her .38 into my ribs.
"I know this is a poor way to show my gratitude," she said, "but a girl has to look out for herself."
Three
I had violated one of the longest-standing rules in my own book. A smart agent never holstered his gun while someone else was holding theirs. Now I was in what was at best an embarrassing position. At worst it could turn out to be fatal.
"I deserve this for being careless," I admitted to the girl who was nudging the revolver into my ribs, "but I would like to have it explained to me."
"The keys, Ned. I want the keys to your car. Then I want you to get out. I'm not going back to Bonham. Someone might be waiting for me there."
"You intend to ditch me and take off alone again?"
"I'll take my chances. I've survived so far."
"You'd have had a hell of a time surviving tonight if I hadn't shown up."
While I argued with her, I was assessing my situation. My right hand, the one nearest her, rested lightly on the steering wheel. I knew how fast I could bring that hand around in a karate blow that would strike Sheila Brant's lovely white throat like an executioner's ax. But I couldn't run the risk of serious injury to the girl, and also the blow might cause her to jerk the trigger of the revolver and piledrive a bullet into me at close range. I didn't like either of those possibilities.
Sheila's voice rose higher. "I'd rather not shoot you. But I'll do it if I have to."
"Shoot away, baby," I said. "I'm not giving you any keys."