Chapter 49
“So what did McMurrich say?”, Alice asked after I finished telling her about my decision to fly out to Milan
“She wasn’t happy but she agreed…she had no choice, I told her my relative was dying”
“Did you?”, Alice laughed
“Well yes…”
“Cool strategy!”
“Yeah, but I will have to inform her about the exact day I am leaving. I booked my flight for Thursday night, which really means that I can only work until Thursday morning…”
“So you are leaving in three days…WOW!”
“I know, I can’t decide if I am excited or scared”
“You’ll be fine Iris”, said Brad, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to smile at me
“Thanks buddy”, I smiled back
Brad shifted his eyes back to the road and turned on the radio. A reggae tune was playing and we all began moving to the rhythm of the music. We were singing along with Bob Marley when Brad checked the rearview mirror and frowned.
“What’s wrong?”, I asked
“Look on the right lane”
“The white car?”
“No, the black ford behind it”
“What about it?”, said Alice
“Look at the woman driving it, doesn’t she look like the cleaning lady we met in the cafeteria?”, Brad said, looking at me
“The same cleaning lady who was digging in your files?”, asked Alice, her voice faint
“Yes”, I nodded
“I think she has been following us all along”, said Brad
“Did you see her car before?”
“I noticed it when we left the Greaser, but I hadn’t realized who was driving it”, he told me
“There’s an exit in 300 meters, take it”, said Alice from the back seat, leaning her head between Brad’s and mine.
Brad slowed down and the Ford slowed down too. He slowed further, swerved to the right lane and to the exit, while an angry gang of horns yelled behind us. The focus swerved too, and took the exit. Brad accelerated but the menacing black profile tagged us closely.
“Oh my god”, whispered Alice
“Hold on, I’ll try to leave them behind”
We were running on a side street now, with nobody in sight. I wondered how long we could go before the cleaning lady and her partner reached us.
A red spy began to blink.
“The car is overheating now?!”, Brad yelled
“Don’t worry, just keep going”, I said as calmly as I could, but I was shaking
There was a loud bang, and the car swayed. I covered my head.
“What the hell!!!”, Brad shouted
“They are shooting at us!”, yelled Alice
Brad raced our car through a curve, clinging on the steering wheel, his neck craned forward. We heard the sound of a siren, which mingled to Bob Marley’s relaxed voice singing “cheer you up” on the background and the hoarse sound of the motor, which was now smoking.
Alice looked around frantically, “Where’s the police?”
And when Alice said it, “Where’s the police?”, I realized the obvious move, I pulled out my cell and punched 911, my hands shaking.
“Please help, we are…”, I started, but I couldn’t finish because there was another bang and we swerved off the road, the tires blowing dust off the dried skin of California.
A sound resonated in my skull. There was a moment of pain on my forehead and a voice buzzing on the background
“Hello, can you hear me?”
“Hello?”
I wanted to reply but I couldn’t, and then there was nothing but blackness.