Free Perilous by Tamara Hart Heiner Page A

isn’t open,” Rachel said.
    “We are not eating, we just need to plan.” Natalie glanced at the girls in the back. “You’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
    “If they’re even telling the truth,” muttered Rachel.
    “Rachel, where’s the number for the RCMP? Let’s call them right now.”
    Rachel arched a penciled eyebrow. “It’s in the phonebook you left on the bed.”
    Natalie hit the steering wheel and said something in French. “Does anyone happen to know their number?”
    “I don’t even know who they are,” Amanda grumbled.
    “Natalie,” said Jaci. “We didn’t mean to get you involved in this. I’m so sorry. They know who you are now. Your names, your addresses.”
    Natalie’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. “We’ll tell the RCMP everything once we’re far away from here. I trust them to protect us.”
    “It’s a lot of money,” Rachel said.
    Natalie glanced at her but said nothing.
    Traffic was sparse, and it didn’t take long to reach the diner. They pulled into the empty parking lot.
    “Chris isn’t here yet.” Natalie tapped the steering wheel uneasily.
    A sleek silver car with darkly tinted windows pulled up and stopped right next to them.
    “Is that Chris?” asked Rachel.
    Natalie frowned and locked the doors. “I don’t think so. He’d have to borrow his brother’s car, and that’s definitely not it.” She put her hand on the gear shifter.
    They watched as the passenger side door opened. In one fluid motion, a man in a black suit got out and grabbed the door handle.
    The sunglasses might hide his eyes, but nothing could hide those fat lips. Grey.
    Sara screamed and ducked her head, wrapping her arms around her skull.
    “That’s them,” Amanda cried while Natalie shifted the car back into gear and jammed her foot on the gas.
    The sudden acceleration forced Grey to let go of the car. He jumped back into the silver car, spun in a circle and followed in pursuit.

 
    Chapter 12
    “Come on, come on,” Natalie grunted, pumping the gas pedal of the old car. “Two car chases in one day—this is too much for me.”
    “I know how to lose them,” said Rachel. “I know this city better than they do.”
    “Lead me.”
    “Go toward the train tracks, but take the route past the elementary school. They’ll have to slow down.”
    “Maybe they’ll get stuck behind a cross walk.”
    Rachel pulled out her cell phone and looked at the time. “The three-thirty train will pass in three minutes. Jump across as the bars are lowering, and they won’t be able to follow. It will buy us at least twenty minutes.”
    “Wonderful,” said Natalie, swerving right and heading for the school. She managed to put several cars between them as she slowed down to forty kilometers per hour in the school zone. The silver car slid into place three cars back.
    “Hurry,” Rachel urged. “The arms are lowering.”
    The train rapidly approached from the left, riding on the middle of the three tracks. Natalie sped up.
    “Too late,” Jaci groaned. “We’re going to be stopped on this side, with them behind us.”
    The arms were almost lowered, and the train’s horn was blowing. Natalie veered into the other side of the road and drove across the track, putting themselves right into the path of the train.
    “What are you doing?” Amanda screeched, gripping the door handle.
    Jaci could see the engineer’s face. His mouth was open, his expression twisted as he pulled down on the horn. She locked eyes with his and screamed. “We’re going to collide!”
    She ducked her head and squeezed her eyes shut. The car cleared the track, swerving back into its own lane. Behind them the train blared past, the force shaking the vehicle like a strong wind.
    “Putting distance between us and them,” Natalie replied. “That went well.”
    Rachel clutched the armrests. “Yeah,” she said.
    Amanda released the door handle. “Ha,” she gloated. “I’m sure they’re cursing that train