Free Flee by Ann Voss Peterson, J.A. Konrath

probability they'd missed me. In just a few seconds, I'd
get another chance.
    I
spotted the white car, it had pulled away from the curb and was moving toward
me still half in the parking lane. I wasn't sure where Cory went, but I was
dead sure of one thing: I wouldn't let his partner get away with Kaufmann. I
leveled my barrel and took my shot, going for the tires.
    The
car skidded to the side then overcorrected and bounced up on the curb. The
driver's door flew open.
    I
lined up my next shot, ready to take out Cory's partner before he could
retaliate against Kaufmann.
    Wait.
Not he .
    She .
    A
girl jumped from the driver's seat, tall and slim and so young she'd probably
only sprouted breasts in the last week. Long brown hair hung in her eyes. She
took a few steps in my direction, then skidded to a stop and stared at my gun,
her mouth forming an O and her eyes going wide. Her hands hung empty at her
sides.
    Just
a kid…
    Like I had been.
    Another
scream of rubber on pavement. The SUV roared around the corner, coming back the
way it had gone.
    It
would be on us in seconds.
    I
grabbed a glance at the car, noted the engine was still running, and looked
back at the girl. "Run."
    She
did, and so did I.
    I
reached the open driver's door of the white car just as the shooting resumed.
Slamming it into drive, I gunned the engine. The car shot forward on the
sidewalk, bucking on the deflating tire. The SUV roared straight at me, bearing
down in a game of chicken I'd never survive. "Kaufmann. Keep your head
down."
    I
heard a mumble from the backseat. It was Kaufmann's voice, all right, but I couldn't
make out the words.
    In
front of me, the SUV jumped the curb as smoothly as running over a seam in the
highway. Up ahead, a truck idled in the parking lane, the driver either gone or
dead or paralyzed with fear.
    I
spun the wheel toward the street. The car flew over the curb and hit hard, the
impact jarring up my spine. I swerved around the idling truck and glanced the
back bumper. Metal screamed against metal. I skidded onto Michigan Avenue, just
missing oncoming traffic.
    The
SUV was still on the sidewalk, blocked by the truck, but that would buy me no more
than a few seconds. If Kaufmann and I stayed out on the street, we were dead. I
had to get out of the line of fire. And I had to do it now. I spied the self
park sign and pushed the pedal to the floor. "Hold on."
    The
car skidded around the corner, the tire I'd shot flopping. I spotted the ramp's
entrance and the two security guards manning it. One hunkered in the booth, a
phone to his ear. The other stood at the entrance.
    I
drove straight for him.
    He
stared at me for a second, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, as if
he couldn't comprehend what I was about to do. Finally self-preservation kicked
in. He half-dashed, half-leapt to the side. I crashed through the flimsy wooden
gate and kept going. The parking ramp corkscrewed upward, a tight curly-cue of
poured cement. I followed, pushing the car as fast as I could negotiate the
turn. My passenger side mirror kissed the edge of the half-wall and broke off
with a crunch. The tire I'd shot was useless now. The bare rim shrieked against
concrete. Sparks flashed in the dim light.
    The
SUV would follow, of that I had little doubt. But for a few seconds, the
barrage of bullets had stopped.
    "Kaufmann?
Talk to me." The odor of blood and sweat and fear filled the car. I did my
best to glance over my shoulder while watching the tight spiral ahead.
    A
rustle of movement from the back seat.
    Had
Kaufmann been hit? I hadn't seen any holes in the car, but I could have easily
missed them. "Kaufmann? Are you okay?"
    "Don't
worry about me."
    My
throat tightened. I'd been scared for Kaufmann since Cory's call, but at that
moment, I realized how much. I pushed the emotion back. This wasn't over. I had
to fully focus on what was happening now.
    The
spiral opened up, and the car thunked onto the ramp's top level. I swung into a
handicapped spot