Free Blood Sport by A.J. Carella Page A

Point.”
    “I get the best of both worlds here. I get to be the friendly town doctor some of the time, and the ER doctor the rest of the time . What’s not to love?”
    “It must be hard , though, moving to a new town where you don’t know anyone,” he persisted.
    “Like I said, best of both worlds.” She stood up. “So, are you going to show me this car of yours then?”
    I guess that’s the end of that conversation, Finn thought as he stood up to take her through to the garage.

Twenty -Three
     
    The dark road stretched ahead for miles with nothing to break the monotony. It got dark early at this time of year and it was only just past six p.m., but being completely surrounded by darkness gave the feeling that it was the middle of the night. Daniel was asleep on the back seat so there wasn’t a sound in the car other than the wheels turning on the road. She didn’t want to turn the radio on as she didn’t want to wake him. They were on their way back from his first therapy session and it had clearly drained him as he’d fallen asleep almost as soon as she’d driven out of the center’s parking lot.
    The therapist was one that was recommended by CPS and she had seemed very warm and welcoming. She’d insisted that Kat wait outside while she talked to Daniel alone, so she’d sat in the waiting room anxiously, hoping it was going well. She had no idea what had been said, but when Daniel had emerged at the end of his session and the therapist had asked him if he wanted to come again, he had said that yes, he would.
    A sudden flash of light in the darkness made her close her eyes briefly and she looked around, confused as to where it was coming from. Looking in her mirror, she realized that while she’d been lost in thought a car had appeared on the road behind her and it appeared to have its high beams on.  Idiot, she thought as she adjusted her mirror so that the glare didn’t blind her.
    The bump when it came shocked her . What the hell? Checking her mirror again, she realized that the car she’d seen behind her had sped up and was now inches from her trunk. Had he just hit her? As she watched, it sped up and hit her car again, the jolt harder this time and throwing her forward against her seatbelt.
    “What’s happening?”
    The impacts had woken Daniel up and he was now looking out the back window fearfully.
    “I don’t know , honey.” Whatever was going on she knew one thing for sure. It wasn’t good. She was on a deserted stretch of road, after dark, with a child in the car being rammed by God knows who. Putting her foot down, she sped up, keeping an eye in her mirror as she pulled away. Whoever was driving the car, though, matched her increase in speed and was quickly right back to where he was. Shit. Shit. Shit.
    Keeping one hand firmly on the wheel, she reached over to the passenger seat with the other. She’d put her purse there when she’d got ten in the car and now, sliding her hand inside, she rummaged round for her cell. She quickly found it, her hand touching its smooth surface and took it out. One handed, she dialed 911 and held the phone to her ear. Silence. A quick glance at the screen told her that there was no cell service. Dammit! The next jolt made her lose her grip on the phone and sent it flying onto the floor. She knew that whatever happened she just had to keep going; she had no idea who was in the car or why they were doing this but if she stopped there would be no getting away from them, whatever their intentions were. This thought had no sooner entered her brain when the car was hit again. This time, though, they had inched alongside and hit the car sideways. “Hold on!” she screamed as they were pushed into a spin. There was nothing she could do except hold on to the steering wheel as the car spun out of control, leaving the road and crashing into a ditch that ran alongside. The car teetered on two wheels for a moment before settling back on all four wheels with a