Bounty Hunter [REWRITTEN VERSION]

Chapter 29: Real Deal

ALEC

They had been driving for nearly over an hour. Passing straight through the city onto the highway. As he said, Alec drove. While the two agents sat in the back. Maize was beside him in the front passenger's seat, looking blearily out the window.

Their car was a rental, or at least that's what he assumed. It had shown up a quarter past seven that morning. Alec had already been up and had seen John the driver from the day before drop it off alongside his own vehicle, then head towards Maize's room to deposit under the door before turning away and leaving in his own car.

Maize had mentioned briefly the night before that they would have a car, so Alec wasn't alerted or surprised when he saw this. That left them with the car; a dark grey Hyundai Elantra. It was an older model, not brand new. It was a car that would blend in, be seen, then forgotten the next instant. And Alec had conveniently been the first to stumble onto the set of keys.

He figured Maize would have done it herself, if she hadn't still been asleep.

Granted, the day before had been long for all of them and they all had their own things on their minds. A night of sleep was supposed to have fixed that. But she didn't look like she had gotten much of it.

One glance from the corner of his eye and he could see that something in her seemed oddly restless. Like she was still on edge about something.

"Why so fidgety this morning?" he asked quietly, having picked up on her strange habit and the fact that she couldn't seem to keep her hands still on her lap.

She snapped her gaze over to him, as if surprised that he had caught her. "It's nothing," she dismissed quickly.

"You sure?" he asked, not convinced.

She glared at him, the exact same way she used to when they saw each other in the department. Warning not to press. "Just leave it alone," she said. "We've got other things to worry about."

He glanced out at his side review mirror distractedly. Something had caught his eye, and it hadn't been the first time either. "See that black Chevrolet?" he muttered to Maize, who flashed a sideways glance through her own mirrors and nodded. "It's been tailing us since we left the city..." he said darkly.

"I know."

Instantly he and Maize shared a look, a silent confirmation, before he pushed his foot on the pedal and began to speed up, keeping one eye on the car behind in his reflective mirrors. The fact that the black SUV vehicle increased speed a second after they did didn't go unnoticed by any of them. The two agents had caught on quick.

"That's bad news isn't it..." Kishan mumbled as he stared out at the car through the rear glass.

"Unless the driver's just feeling up for a friendly highway race—which I doubt—then yes, its bad news," Alec answered seriously, as second before their car was rammed into from behind, damaging their rear tailgate.

"Well, that answers that question!" Maize shouted with sarcastic irritation, bracing herself on the dashboard as they were hit from behind again.

Alec cursed loudly.

"I guess they've realized their cover's been busted," Maize muttered dryly.

Then the first round of shots were released.

The agents in the back ducked their heads under the seats as the rear glass behind them shattered. Alec swerved to the side to avoid the following bullets. They sparked off the side of their car instead, though one managed to shoot out the glass of his side mirror.