The Guardian Angel

Chapter-22: Leah

The tension in the car could be cut with a knife. It was so obvious, yet James was still smiling widely and joking with me. Stephen's knuckles had turned white with the way he gripped the steering wheel; so much that I was afraid it would just come off. Jess seemed to read the tension well. Her face was etched with worry. You could see the apprehension in her eyes.

We were traveling to Lancaster, and I wasn't exactly sure we were going to make it there without a fight. The GPS system said we still had about 2 and a half hours of a drive to Lancaster. When we'd asked James about his parent's property, he said they had appointed a caretaker for the house, since he had been in the UK and then the military after that. He was an American citizen, but due to circumstances he had to live in the UK with his grandparents. At least, that's what he said.

Do I believe him? Yes, I do. But I don't think that's the whole truth. I wasn't sure if pressing it out of him was a wise choice. Either way, I didn't want to do it in front of Stephen and Jess.

Pressing it out of him. My brain always took the dirty minded route. No surprise it found this train of thought. I wouldn't mind doing this either though....

We had travelled for about 15 minutes more when Stephen spoke.

"James. Behind us." The smile on James' face disappeared instantly as his head whipped around.

"How long?"

"Half an hour."

I didn't get what they were talking about, and apparently neither did Jess. I was about to turn in my seat when James stopped me, his hand clutching my arm.

"Can they see us?" He asked. Stephen shook his head.

"Windows are tinted." James released my hand and I turned around. An SUV was there quite a distance away. It was neither close to us, nor far away. Somewhere in the middle. I assumed they were talking about how long the car had been tailing us. But two cars going to the same city on the same highway was common.... Right?

A knot formed in my stomach and I was thankful I had only had a cup of coffee and nothing to eat. It definitely would've been thrown out.

"We can't let them tail us longer than this." James said, his voice edged with tension. "Can we lose them?"

Stephen shook his head. "No, they have got a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. More power, they'll catch up to us."

Once again, I was afraid. Afraid if we were going to make it out. But this time for totally different reasons.

A curve came up ahead. "I'll stop the car in the curve, get down and check out the driver."

James nodded. "No!" I shrieked. "Don't get down! We don't know if they are armed."

"We have to know Leah!" Stephen bellowed. "We can't let them tail us to Lancaster. We would just have an ambush waiting for us then."

"He's right." James said, before I'd gotten a word in. "You're more important, they're after you."

Stephen pulled up short, just after we'd taken the turn. And I saw what he meant, the car wouldn't be able to see that we'd stopped and would come up right behind us. But that didn't mean I wanted James to go out there to them.

He was in the army, you idiot! Use some sense, he is the best one to handle them. My subconscious shouted at me.

And he died. I reminded her. Okay, that wasn't fair. But he died protecting his friend. And something told me he wouldn't mind dying for someone else a second time.