Falling Up

40. The Winding Road

Jason was driving along, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel as he drove toward his favourite place for breakfast, Roadster Foods. They always served the best coffee and breakfast rolls in town, and it was just what he needed after dropping Riley off at college. He wanted some solid comfort food to drown himself in after the disaster of the morning he had and he was already drooling over the thought of the giant breakfast bagel he was going to devour when he got there.

As he drove closer to his breakfast stop, he noticed the traffic getting slower and eventually it hit a standstill. There must have been an accident up ahead, he thought to himself as stared out the window trying to get a view of where the holdup was. There wasn't usually any traffic on the road at this hour.

Up ahead, he managed to glance at some road work signs, clearly the reason for his hold up. Letting off a deep sigh, he leaned back in the driver's seat, adjusting his legs slightly to make him more comfortable while he waited. Of course, he had to be stuck in traffic today. Today was starting off to be a pretty shit day, and it all started with finding out about Tyrus and his actual reasons for being around Jason.

He wanted to curse at himself for being so foolish. Tyrus was only hanging around him because he was part of the FBI who wanted to use his family as bait. And all to catch some guy that was apparently worse than Vincent. How could he have been so stupid?

Yet it was hard for him to get Tyrus out of his mind. Jason had fallen hard for him. Harder than he had ever fallen for anyone and for once in his life he actually saw a future for himself that didn't consist of a one mind focus on Noah and Riley. Then everything was shattered in a mere moment and his world came crashing down on him again. Maybe he just wasn't meant to be happy. Maybe it was a punishment for focusing on something outside of his family. After all, Riley and Noah still needed him. Didn't they?

He was in a world of his own, staring out the window as people walked by on the streets. He barely even registered his passenger side door open as a cool breeze rushed in. Looking over at the open door, his heart stopped.

There, casually climbing into the passenger seat like the car was his own, was none other than Vincent. Not a moment later, the back door opened and from the rear-view mirror, he spotted Marcos sliding in behind him.

Jason froze, his mind unable to comprehend what he saw as Vincent closed the passenger side door with Marcos doing the same in the back seat. Instead of reacting fast like he should have, he just sat there, mouth agape, as Vincent pulled out a gun and pointed it in his direction.

He looked just as Jason remembered. Smug as always, with his bulging muscles flexing against his plain black shirt as he rested the gun casually against his denim jeans. "Well, well, well. Long time no see Jason," he said, spitting out his name like it was filth on his lips.

Jason reached down, placing his hand on the door handle as his mind finally kicked into gear, preparing to pull it open and make a quick run for it.

"I wouldn't if I were you," said Vincent as he noticed Jason's actions and motioned to the gun in his hand. "Hands on the steering wheel."

A shiver went down his back as he fought against his actions. He could try to make it out of the car and sprint like hell down the street, but the likelihood of him being shot was high. So, thinking about it logically, he gave up on his temporary idea of escape and slowly placed both his hands on the top of the steering wheel.

He knew what Vincent was capable of, and he wasn't going to risk making a run for it. Vincent would be more than happy to blow his brains all across the car windscreen right about now with the way his hand was flexing and tightening on the gun he held. Clearly a sore spot for being the one to send him to prison.

Jason felt a hand clasp over his wrist as it was yanked towards Vincent. A pair of handcuffs glinted in the sun shining in through the window as they were pulled out of Vincent's pocket and attached to Jason's wrist. Shoving his wrist harshly again, he attached the other end to the steering wheel.

"I don't want you getting any ideas now," Vincent said as he leaned his shoulder against the door, turning on his side to face toward Jason.

Jason was stunned. He didn't even know what to do besides sit there silently as Vincent pulled out his phone, typed away, then placed the phone to his ear. "It's done," he said, staring at Jason before hanging up the phone.

From behind them, he heard a toot of a car horn. He had been so shocked that he didn't notice the traffic had cleared in front of him.

"Get moving," said Vincent as he turned in his seat and faced forward.

Jason responded automatically and put the car in drive, following the traffic in front of him. After a few minutes, he managed to speak, his voice coming out croaked and shaky. "Where are we going?"

"Just shut up and drive Jason," said Vincent, who looked bored enough that he leaned his hand against the window of the car and placed his hand on his chin.

"So, did you miss me?" asked Marcos from the back seat of the car.

Jason was so focused on Vincent that he nearly forgot about Marcos sitting in the backseat. The last time he saw Marcos was when he was giving Jason and Noah a hard time during their brief stay in prison. Memories he certainly wanted to forget.

Marcos scooted forward in his seat, reaching his arm around from behind Jason and gripped his hair tightly, pulling it back hard against the driver's seat. Jason swerved on the road, briefly into the other lane, before he gained his control again and pulled them back into the correct land before almost colliding with another car.

"Let him go Marcos," said Vincent casually. "I don't need to be in a car crash right now."

Marcos huffed out his annoyance before letting go of Jason, as his burning scalp was finally provided with some relief.

They drove in silence for a while, with Vincent occasionally giving directions like "Left" and "Straight ahead". Jason could do nothing but drive as he occasionally glanced over at Vincent and the gun that was still on his lap. His thoughts, however, were on Riley and Noah. Were they safe? Did Vincent's men pick them up as well? He needed to keep them safe, but how?

After a while, they reached the edge of town and started the ascent up the mountains. This road was familiar to Jason as he watched the lush trees fade away into the mountain on the left and the road turned into a winding snake like path which curved around the edge of the mountain. He had taken this road on many occasions when he was test driving cars that came into his garage. He found it relaxing and comfortable as he usually listened to music while enjoying the picturesque scenery of the dense green forest below contrasting against the tall, high mountains.

In this case, though, the drive was less than relaxing as his mind whirled around, trying to find a way out of this. As he was driving, he noticed the guardrail against the edge of the mountain, designed to keep cars from toppling over the edge of the mountain and to their deaths. Only this time, the opposite thought came into his mind.

Coming up ahead, he knew there would be a break in the guardrail. A car crash over a month ago had damaged the rail, enough to leave a gap large enough for a car to fit through. They were slow on the repairs, so it had been left damaged for quite some time as the road was less travelled around these parts.

And that's when a thought occurred to him. He could finally keep his family safe. He could do what he didn't have the guts to do before. What he should have done when he had the chance. Kill Vincent. And all he had to do was drive the car over the edge of the mountain. No-one could survive a crash of that height. Not even Vincent.

His heart sank as he realised what he needed to do. It would cost him his life, but Riley and Noah would finally be free of Vincent forever. He would do anything to save his family. He couldn't let them go through the past again.

And with that decided, he sucked in a breath, gripped his fingers a little bit harder against the steering wheel and pushed his foot just that little bit further against the gas pedal. And he climbed up the mountain, closer and closer to Vincent's death. Closer and closer to his death. Closer and closer to freedom. For Noah. For Riley.