“How much further?”
“Another five miles or so.”
“Nah, she’ll be all right.”
It was the idea that there were only five miles left that suddenly sent her panic out of control. Teri lunged for the door again. The man pushed her back even more forcefully than before, and she struck out at him with her left hand, dragging her nails across the left side of his face and drawing blood. He let out a groan, and grabbed her wrists.
Teri screamed, and lashed out with her feet.
“Mom!”
The man to her left, the one who had earlier seemed so disinterested, suddenly wrapped his hands around Teri’s arms just above the elbow. “I’ve got her,” he said, his voice straining under the effort.
The driver glanced distractedly over his shoulder. “Christ, just sedate her, will you!”
It was at that moment that Gabe made a grab for the steering wheel. He managed to get both hands wrapped around one side, the driver trying to fight him off and keep an eye on the road at the same time. The car swerved sharply to the right, went up onto the curb, barely missed a light pole, and struck a mail box before swerving back into the street again.
Gabe held on, one hand directly over the other, knuckles white.
Teri had been tossed to the floor. She found herself sprawled across the feet of the man on her right. When she looked up, she could see where he had hit his head against the roof. He was bleeding badly now. His eyes glazed over. A trail of blood chartered new territory down the side of his face. He slumped forward, unconscious.
The car cut across both lanes, sideswiped a pickup truck parked at the far curb, then swung back again.
From somewhere behind, the sound of a horn blared.
Teri fought to keep her breath as the man slumped forward the last few inches and finally collapsed on top of her. And then, like a roller coaster ride at Great America or Six Flags Magic Mountain, the car did something that felt strangely like a corkscrew. The hood and left front end slammed against the pavement and the car exploded into the air…
…the outside world rolled all the way over, a full hundred and eighty degrees…
…time both expanded and contracted…
…sky blue went flying past the side window…
…the right side of the car touched down and took off again…
…and finally, the Ford came to an exhausted landing, upside-down on its roof.
It swayed from side-to-side a moment, creaking and moaning, sounding as if it were animate and somehow in agony. When it finally came to rest, the only sound left was a soft chorus of weakened voices.
Teri found herself with her knees braced against the man’s chest. He was still unconscious and still breathing, though shallowly. She sat up, feeling a bit woozy, and discovered a trail of blood running down the side of her face. She wiped it away and raised herself up, struggling to regain her bearings. The Ford shifted slightly, and she could see the sidewalk rise and fall like a wave just outside the window. Broken shards of glass littered the inside, gathered in puddles here and there where the roof had formed convenient pockets. Someone in the front seat moaned.
“Gabe?”
“Mom?”
“Are you all right?”
“I hurt my arm.”
She found him huddled in a corner near the dashboard on the passenger side. He was curled into a ball, his arm bent at an odd angle and held gingerly against his body. It was clearly broken.
The driver, who had used his seat belt, was strapped in and hanging upside-down. The roof had collapsed against the top of his head. He was semiconscious by all appearances, bleeding heavily from several lacerations. The other man hung half-in/half-out of the passenger side window, his seat belt in a clump next to the reading light. On a glance, Teri thought he was probably dead.
“Can you move?”
Gabe nodded, tears in his eyes. “But it hurts.”
“I know, honey. But you’ve got to try.”
The windshield had blown out completely, which may have explained the scattering of glass shards everywhere. Gabe sat up, keeping his injured arm as immobile as possible. He looked at her, his eyes dark and lost.
“Come on, take my hand.”
He reached out in unmistakable pain.
Their fingers touched.
“That’s it. Keep your eyes on me, all right?”
Teri helped him over the mangled legs of the dead man, trying to occupy his attention as much as possible. After that, he seemed to take on a strength of his own. Ahead of her, he ducked and went through the gap created by the missing windshield, crawling and still managing to keep the pressure off his bad arm somehow. Teri followed a step behind, unaware of the gash she had opened in her right leg as she dragged it across a shard of glass sticking out of the window frame.
The hood of the car swayed upside down a foot or so off the ground, smoke billowing out from both sides. A sliver of daylight crept in through an opening up ahead on the right. Gabe had already crawled out and disappeared. She could hear him calling to her now.
“I’m coming,” she said. She slid on her belly, feeling the heat of the pavement against the palms of her hands, and when she emerged on the other side, it was into the warm face of sunlight. The feeling of freedom, which was as powerful and as exhilarating as anything she had ever felt, lasted only seconds.
Mitch was standing over her.
“Put her in my car.”
“How about the boy?”
“No, keep them separate.”
The man aided Teri out from beneath the vehicle, pulled her to her feet, wordlessly, then took her by the arm to another car and placed her inside. He set the locks. She slumped back into the seat, trapped all over again.
A small crowd had gathered around the outer edges of the accident, curious and uncertain about what was happening. For a few brief moments, she held out the hope that maybe she still had a chance here, that maybe someone would realize what was going on and step forward to help. But the one time a middle-aged man did step forward, he was met by one of Mitch’s men, who flashed a badge. The man quickly backed off.
Mitch climbed into the driver’s seat. Another man opened the door and climbed into the back with Teri. She felt a trickle of blood slide down her forehead and over the bridge of her nose. She closed her eyes. Things were beginning to float now, dipping in and out of clarity.
“What did you do with my son?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“But his arm—”
“We’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
Mitch glanced over the seat, first at Teri, then at the man beside her. “Everything under control back there?”
“No problems.”
The car pulled slowly around the accident, and she could see the smoke still spewing out from beneath the overturned vehicle. A black river of oil and gasoline flowed aimlessly across the street and into the gutter. The pungent odor was nearly smothering.
The forward car remained parked at the curb. As they passed by, she saw Gabe in the back seat, between two men. He was crying. He looked up, streaks running down his cheeks. I love you, Teri mouthed. He took a swipe at his tears, then the car turned the corner and he disappeared from sight.
Teri sank back into the seat.
Almost absently, she felt the prick of a needle enter her arm. She didn’t care anymore. What was the use? The car rounded another corner, then another. She began to lose all bearing of where they were.
It didn’t matter.
She had already lost the only person who mattered to her.
Buildings rolled by, monotonously, facelessly.
The motion of the vehicle rocked her gently in its arms.
Somewhere in the distance a siren sang out a sad and lonely song.