The Author and Her Bodyguard

Chapter 41

I blinked, hoping to bring the ridiculous request into clear focus because obviously, I heard him wrong. "Um... what now? I think my brain died. Can you say that again?"

"I need you to jump out of the car," Tate said, his eyes back on the road.

"That's what I thought you said..." My heart hammered wildly in my chest, like a hummingbird drunk on sugar water.

Tate let out an uneasy breath. "The breaks are cut. I can't slow the car down. There's a turn about a mile from here that is always bottlenecked. I need to get the car to stop before then or else it could hurt a lot of people."

I stared at the road, thankful that for what felt like the first time in Los Angeles history, there was very light traffic on the road. I pulled off my seatbelt, and opened the door slightly, watching the white line below the car door whiz by, showcasing where our lane ended and the small section where the median began.

I tried not to overthink the fact that I was about to jump out of a moving car. We didn't have time for me to panic even though my hand-eye coordination needed severe improvement. "What about you Tate?"

His jaw tensed, not responding.

"Tate?" I said, my voice going up an octave.

"I want you to jump in ten seconds..." He said ignoring me. "One..."

"Tate... answer the damn question!" I shouted.

"Two..."

"If you aren't jumping, I'm not jumping," I warned.

"Three..."

"Tate! No! Not without you!"

"Four..."

My eyes filled with tears. "Tate! Seriously, you better be jumping!"

"Five..."

"You'll never have to buy me coffee again! I promise!"

"Six..."

I could no longer see, blinded by tears that began to fall down my cheeks. "Tate, no!"

"Seven..."

"Please don't do this. Don't make me go without you."

"Eight..."

"Tate! Let's look at the options!"

He turned to look at me, holding up two fingers, counting down. "I made a promise to Aiden and I intend to keep it." He dropped one finger, telling me we just had a single moment left. One moment that would be burned into my mind for all eternity.

The world slowed down like it would in a dream— no a nightmare. Those nightmares where you run, but no matter how hard you try to go faster, you can't catch the thing you are chasing. "I'll be right behind you Laliana." Then he dropped his final finger and shoved me out the door.

I hit the pavement, shoulder first, and rolled. A moment later I hit the freeway's dividing wall, the wind knocked out of my body. Something in my shoulder snapped and a sharp pain snaked from my shoulder all the way down my fingers. But I didn't care. Instead, I tilted my head all the way back, watching the car continue down the freeway, looking at it upside down. "Come on Tate..." I whispered through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, the car swerved and hit the divider head-on, crashing through it. The momentum caused the car to flip and roll over the rubble and down the grassy hill that sat next to the divider. The car vanished from view. But that didn't stop me from hearing the loud screech of metal ripping apart as the car continued to roll down the hill.