Free Crash and Burn by Maggie Nash

Highway. The pit stop they’d made an hour before at the roadhouse in the small township of Wingello had drawn a few curious gazes. It was then Beth had realized they hadn’t washed the soot off their faces. After a quick trip to the bathroom for both of them, Daniel had replenished the air in the tires and petrol in the tank, taking the opportunity to clean the windshield and rear window. Thankfully the car was now running more efficiently, not attracting the attention it had when they’d been hobbling along with half-flat tires, even if the paint was peeling away in places. The greasy hot chips and icy cold colas Beth had bought while Daniel was seeing to the car tasted like manna from heaven. But that meal had been a few hours ago and now Beth’s stomach rumbled. One thing she could always count on was her stomach. Beth could never be without food for long, even when she was upset. In fact, the more upset she was, the more food she seemed to need. And she needed to eat now. Her stomach started to protest—loudly.
    “What was that?”
    Oh my God! Did my stomach really make that sound?
    “What was what?” Beth countered sheepishly, trying to sound innocent.
    Daniel laughed. “I could have sworn I heard a stomach growl.” Shaking his head, he turned back toward Beth. “Never mind, we’ll be there soon enough. The house is usually stocked with plenty of food.”
    A short time later they approached the sign for Belconnen and Daniel turned off the highway. They’d driven past Canberra University and turned into a side street next to Lake Ginninderra reserve when Daniel slowed the car down and stopped.
    “What’s wrong?” Beth whispered.
    “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this. Jake’s house is around the corner and there’s a dark blue van parked across the road. I think I’ll just cruise past and check it out before we stop.”
    Daniel leaned over and picked up a couple of baseball caps from the back seat. “Here, put this on,” he said as he handed one to Beth and placed the other on his head. Beth rolled her hair into a bun and covered it with the hat. Daniel nodded his approval before he started driving slowly down the street.
    “Don’t look at the van.”
    “I’m not entirely without brains, you know.”
    “Sorry.” Daniel’s face was drawn and he stared straight ahead, but Beth could see him glancing surreptitiously out of the corner of his eye at the van as they approached. “I was just making sure. We don’t want to make them suspicious.”
    As the car passed the van, Beth let out a breath and whispered softly to Daniel, “What do you think? Are they waiting for us?”
    “I’m not sure, but we’ll know in a minute.” Daniel shifted the car up a gear and planted his foot on the accelerator pedal. The tires shrieked as they took off at high speed down the road. The blue van suddenly came to life and charged after them.
    “I think we have our answer,” said Daniel. “They’re definitely following us.”
    “Why’d you do that?” Beth shouted. “You said you didn’t want to make them suspicious, then you virtually beg them to come and get us.”
    “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t recognize the driver, but I had to find out if they were after us.” Daniel swore as he swerved to avoid a car coming out of a side street. “Shit! Can we talk about this later? I’m kind of busy right now!”

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Beth clung to her seat as best she could while the car sped precariously through the residential streets of Belconnen. Daniel’s face was a mask of sheer concentration as he expertly maneuvered the vehicle away from their pursuers.
    “How far away are they now?” asked Daniel.
    “About fifty meters, I guess,” said Beth, turning around to check through the back window. “We seem to have gained a lead on them.”
    “Good. There’s a shopping center up ahead. We should be able to lose them there if we’re lucky.”
    “I’d better cross all my fingers