Free The RX Factor by John Shaw Page B

louder, and even as Ryan sped up, they were still gaining ground. A sharp turn was coming up and Ryan downshifted, causing the jeep to buck, pressing them tautly against their lap-only seat belts. They managed to hold the road as they swung around the curve, but the sedan was undeterred and caught back up to them within a few seconds.
    "Oh, god!" she exclaimed. "What are they doing? Get us out of here!"
    Ryan did not react to Jordan's hysterics. His focus was on the rearview mirror and the road ahead. He was able to gain separation from the sedan around the curves, only to have the sedan catch right back up on each straightaway. A half-mile of straight road lay before them, and Ryan knew he couldn't outrun the other car.
    Suddenly they felt the sedan crash into their bumper. The jeep lurched forward and Jordan screamed. Ryan wiped the perspiration out of his eyes and floored the accelerator as they raced down the narrow road surrounded by palm trees on one side and cliffs to the ocean floor below on the other. His hands tightened on the wheel as they barreled toward the next curve a few hundred yards ahead.
    But the powerful sedan was too fast and slammed into them again, harder this time. The jeep bounced forward and to the side. Ryan managed to coax the vehicle back into a straight line without oversteering but their pursuers smashed into them again with a sickening thud. Jordan careened forward, throwing her hands up against the dash just in time to avoid bashing her head.
    "Sonovabitch," Ryan snarled. The road ahead left no margin for error. There was no room to the left unless he wanted to drive his jeep up a never-ending row of palm trees; to the right was certain death, a sharp curve with a steep drop off the cliff to the ocean below, protected only by an old rusted-out guardrail that had no chance of keeping a speeding vehicle from taking the plunge.
    He knew it was only a matter of time before the sedan would be in position to run them off the road. He swerved around a hairpin turn, the wheels of the jeep fighting to hold the road, spraying pebbles at the flimsy guardrail only inches away.
    The blue sedan cranked it up soon after they emerged from the turn and hit them a fourth time, nearly spinning them out. The road was now climbing higher over the shoreline below. Through his peripheral vision, Ryan saw Jordan clutching the dashboard with her left hand and her seat belt with the right. She kept her focus straight ahead as if a glance at their pursuers would draw them in closer.
    Suddenly a star appeared in the windshield, followed by another. As she bent forward to examine the markings, Jordan screamed, "Christ, they're shooting at us!"
    His brows furrowed, Ryan hunched over and fought the wheel. He knew two sharp turns lay directly ahead.
I wonder if these guys know about these turns. Pritchard said they had only been on the island for a few weeks.
Ryan was afraid it would be his last chance.
    "Hold on tight," he shouted, ramming the gas pedal to the floor.
    After rounding the next curve at breakneck speed, Ryan yanked the emergency brake and spun the jeep into a perfect 180, a bold and delicate maneuver given the 200-foot drop lurking just off the shoulder-less road. He punched the gas and raced headlong toward their pursuers. The sedan driver's eyes bulged as he desperately swerved to avoid the madman in the jeep charging right at him.
    At the last second, Ryan sideswiped the sedan, sending it through the guardrail and careening over the cliff. With the wheels still spinning and the engine racing, the sedan plummeted down to the jagged rocks below. A thunderous explosion sent a sickly plume of black smoke up into the placid tropical sky.
    Jordan was breathless as they screeched to a halt. After she had managed to steady herself enough to speak, she sputtered, "Oh my god. Where did you learn to drive like that?"
    His eyes cold and steely, a new Ryan Matthews seemed to emerge from his old skin like a molting