Winter's Edge

Chapter 21 - Detour

Abby

IAN and I cruised down I70 at the speed limit. A grandma with the signature blue-tinted white granny afro drove beside us in an old Cadillac with a pleasant smile on her face.

"So, what happens if Hunters find the warehouse?" Ian said.

"If our location is compromised, we clear out and move the cars to another location." I shifted into fifth gear.

"That's not the only house—or warehouse—you guys have?"

"No, we have several."

"So have you ever had a location compromised and had to leave exotic cars behind?"

"Not so far, but we would if we had to."

Ian looked at the Cadillac next to us, then back to our Taurus. "Hmmm...quite the powerful car, eh?"

"Oh, yeah. She's a quick one." I showed Ian my most generic smile, messing with him.

When I turned to look at the granny, her smile had been replaced by a frown. She must not have liked me sticking right next to her. She gripped the steering wheel hard with gritted teeth, then took off.

Road-rage granny.

I shifted down to fourth and eased into the gas just enough so that the granny would pull away from us. It had to be killing Ian.

"So...are you gonna actually use any of that power, or are you gonna keep driving like a granny?" Ian raised his eyebrows. "Oh wait. I'm sorry. Slower than a granny. She just smoked you."

"Really?" I played up an offended tone. "I drive like a granny?"

"I think you guys are just messing with me."

"Are we?" I raised an eyebrow.

He sat with a frustrated smile, considering my question. I was pretty sure he liked these little games I played with him. Pretty sure.

I took the off-ramp and slowed as we approached a red light.

"So...about the other night," he said. "What happened to you?"

I kept my eyes straight ahead, hesitating. I still wasn't comfortable talking about it. If I told him, he might never want me to separate again or he might tell somebody about the dark one so that Joseph would keep me from using my power. Would he really do that to me?

Just then, fate brought the perfect distraction up beside us—a Porsche GT2 RS. Two middle-aged rich guys dressed business casual hung their arms out the open windows.

I eyed Ian. "I thought you wanted to see what this car would do?"

He looked past me at the Porsche. "Nice. Why don't you guys have one of those in your garage?"

"We can't have too many cars in the shop that'll get whooped by a Taurus, you know?"

"Oh, really? Well, let's see it, then."

"If you insist." I put on a really cheesy fan-girl smile, turned to my left and called out to the driver of the Porsche. "Hey, does that have a turbo?" I sounded like an overproduced idiot.

The guy looked over at me, frowning, then smiled when he saw me. "Twin turbo."

"Oh, wow. I bet that thing's fast." I put on wide eyes and said, "Oh, hey, you wanna race? I have a little bit done to this thing." I gestured at my car.

He shot me a condescending I'm-not-gonna-waste-my-gas-on-your-ancient-little-grocery-getter-car look.

"Oh, come on. I just wanna see how fast your car is."

His shoulders slacked a little, then reluctantly, he half-smiled and nodded. "Alright."

I looked forward, adjusted my grip on the steering wheel, and plastered a goofy smile on my face like it was a big deal.

A moment later, the light turned green and the all-wheel-drive Porsche shot off like a rocket.

I smiled at Ian, who looked disenfranchised since I hadn't moved. Then I revved the motor and launched. My body pushed back against the seat hard. Ian's eyes grew large as he grabbed the handle on the ceiling. I loved that rush almost as much as I loved the rush of separating from my body.

A few seconds later, we screamed by the Porsche.

"Whoa, this thing's a beast." Ian had a huge smile on his face. "That was awesome."

My lip curved at the edge as I slowed the car back to the speed limit.

As the Porsche caught up beside us, its driver, who was completely disinterested in my car before, looked thoroughly interested in it now. "Hey, what do you have done to that thing? Pull over."

I looked in my rearview mirror. "I think someone else wants you to pull over." I pointed back at a cop car that had just come up behind the Porsche.

Ian did his best to hold back a laugh.

The Porsche driver deflated and his car drifted back, pulling off to the side of the street. I couldn't help but snicker a little bit.

"Can I drive when we're done at the gold refinery?" Ian said.

"Sure." I changed lanes and took a right turn. "Just don't scratch the car. Murph'll kill you."

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QUESTION: Did you like or dislike anything about this chapter? Would you have done anything differently in Abby's position?