Free Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills

onto a relatively flat pullout by the side of the road and stepped out into pine-scented air.
    "What the hell are you doing?" he said, throwing his door open and jumping down into the dirt.
    "Michael --"
    "I thought we agreed that we were going to talk," he said as he approached. "To make sure we're on the same page with everything that's happening."
    "I think we both understand what we did and where we stand, Michael."
    "I used to think so. But now you seem confused."
    He stopped less than a foot away, close enough to make her have to fight the urge to step back, but he wasn't completely focused on her. Part of his mind seemed to be somewhere else.
    "Do I? I don't feel confused. In fact, everything seems very clear to me right now."
    "Then why --"
    This time it was her turn to interrupt. He wasn't going to control this conversation the way he did everything else. "You want to make sure that I'm not going to do anything that might expose you. That I'm not going to get hit by a sudden wave of guilt when gas prices go up a few cents and turn myself in. I'm not ashamed of what we did, Michael. I'm not sure we had the right, but that's not the same thing. So, don't worry. I would never dream of doing anything that would destroy the lifestyle you've become so accustomed to."
    She expected a counterattack, but instead he just stood there, looking right through her. Was he having an honest-to-God moment of introspection? Had he actually listened to another human being?
    "I just want to disappear," she continued, her voice losing some of its force as Teague shot a glance toward the dark forest at the edge of the road. "All I --"
    There was a quiet rustle to her left and a moment later Jonas burst into the circle of illumination created by Teague's headlights. Jenna didn't move, her mind temporally unable to interpret what was happening. In the end, it wasn't the speed at which the German was coming toward her that broke her from her stupor, it was Teague's hand clamping over her wrist.
    She jerked back, but he held fast.
    "Let go!"
    Instead, he used his free hand to reach out for her hair, and it was at that moment she realized that if he succeeded, she'd never leave that place.
    Erin had taught her a few of his exhaustively tested self-defense techniques years ago, and she reacted with the most straightforward of them: she brought Teague's hand to her mouth and bit down hard on one of his knuckles.
    He jerked away and then lunged for her, missing by a few feet as she took off in an unexpected direction. Her vehicle was turned off, but Teague's was still idling. She had just passed the SUV's front fender when Jonas dove onto the hood, sliding across it with hands outstretched.
    His fingers grazed her back as she pivoted around the open door and threw herself into the driver's seat. The SUV's bulk was enough to keep it going forward when she rammed her Subaru's rear quarter panel, but the impact diminished her momentum just enough to allow Jonas time to roll to his feet and get hold of the still-open door.
    The force of her acceleration and the swinging of the door forced him to focus entirely on not being pulled beneath the wheels, but it only took him a few seconds to get his feet planted on the running board and grab the steering wheel.
    Since it required all of Jenna's strength and concentration to keep the car on the road, she didn't notice the gun until it was coming even with her temple.
    Without thinking, she threw herself sideways across the seats, shielding her head with her arms. The sudden release of the steering wheel caused it to spin left and the shot shattered the glove box instead of her skull as the car swerved off the road.
    A tree branch hit Jonas in the side, knocking his feet from the running board and leaving him dangling from the steering wheel while his legs dragged the ground.
    Jenna pulled herself upright again, grabbing one of the fingers Jonas had wrapped around the wheel and bending it back violently. The