Chapter 11 - The Chase on Highway 9
Clara’s heart hammered against her ribs, but her grip on the steering wheel remained firm. She glanced in the rearview mirror; Lily was fast asleep in her rear-facing seat, blissfully unaware of the headlights glaring through the tinted back glass.
The black SUV pulled into the adjacent lane, accelerating until it was driving parallel to Clara’s vehicle. Through the glare of the dashboard light, Clara could see Eleanor behind the wheel, her face twisted in manic determination. In the passenger seat, Penny was clutching the door handle, frantically waving her hand for Clara to pull over to the shoulder.
Clara hit the speed-dial on her steering wheel controls.
"Clara? Where are you?" David Vance answered on the first ring.
"I’m on Interstate 9 South, two miles past Exit 14," Clara said, her voice taut. "Eleanor and Penny found me. They're pacing my vehicle, trying to force me into the breakdown lane."
"Do not stop," David commanded instantly. "I am on the other line with the state police dispatch. Stay in your lane, maintain a steady sixty miles per hour, and do not engage. There is a highway patrol weigh station at Mile Marker 18. Two state troopers are already pulling out to intercept."
Before Clara could answer, Eleanor swerved the heavy SUV sharply to the right. The bumper of Eleanor’s vehicle grazed Clara’s front fender with a sickening screech of grinding metal.
The impact shuddered through the sedan's steering column. Clara gasped, fighting the wheel to prevent the car from spinning across the wet asphalt. Lily let out a sharp, frightened scream from the backseat.
"They just hit me!" Clara cried out. "David, she just side-swiped us!"
"Hold the line, Clara!" David shouted over the speaker. "The troopers are crossing the median right now!"
Eleanor backed off for a fraction of a second, aligning her heavy front bumper with Clara’s rear quarter-panel—a classic pit-maneuver posture. Eleanor’s eyes were locked on Clara through the window, cold, pitiless, entirely consumed by the realization that if Clara reached David’s office, the Sterling family empire would unravel by sunrise.
Eleanor turned her wheel hard to strike a second time.
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Suddenly, flashing red and blue strobe lights erupted from the darkness of the center reservation. A heavy state cruiser roared across the grass median, tires kicking up mud and gravel, cutting directly between Eleanor’s SUV and Clara’s sedan with a thunderous wail of sirens.
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