Free Bonbons and Betrayal: Book 3 in The Chocolate Cafe Series by Valley Sams Page B

together, Randall turned to leap into the front seat of the car as Mac tore from the house.
     
    She scrambled across the gravel and jumped on Brie’s bike. She could hear the engine of the car squealing as Randall drove it at full speed up the steep hill that wound from the beach to the main road. She didn’t have a second to lose. If she was going to catch up to him, and she most certainly was, she had to get moving.
     
    She awkwardly stuffed Louis’ gun down the front of her jeans and kicked the bike awake with more force that she knew she was capable of. It roared beneath her.
     
    Spraying a fan of gravel behind her, she wobbled out of the driveway. She had forgotten her helmet back at the house, but barely noticed. Without the shield to keep her dry, the rain plastered her hair to her face and made it difficult to see.
     
    She pulled the throttle back as far as she could, feeling the full power of the bike beneath her. Thank god Sabrina didn’t mess around. She had no idea this thing could move this fast and even less of an idea of whether or not she could handle it.
     
    Did she have a choice? Hardly. She would make this work. She had to get to Louis. She had to stop this murderous little creep before he took the one man that had meant anything to her in decades away.
     
    Her anger made her forget about the how the rain was turning to blades against her bare face. Her rage made her fearless, even as the bike threatened to slip beneath her on the soaking pavement. Even as the wind, much stronger now, seemed to do its best to make a plaything out of her – she wasn’t stopping.
     
    Where was the car? Surely she was going fast enough to catch up to it now?
    She wiped the water out of her eyes impatiently.
     
    Finally, as she tore around a particularly tight corner, she found herself directly behind the taillights of Eisenhower’s unassuming car. In the blur of the rain, she focused on the red glow of those taillights. Just catch up to it. She told herself. Just catch up to it and then you’ll figure out what to do next.
     
    The rational voice was back.
     
    And what are you going to do Ms. Catharine? How can an inexperienced biker, on a rainy, winding seaside road, do a damned thing to stop a car? What are you going to do, pull up beside him and politely motion to him to pull over? Do you think that will do the trick?
     
    Well, no…Mac thought. It won’t do the trick.
     
    The car was only a few feet away now. Her frenetically whizzing front wheel steadily encroached on the back bumper.
     
    What will do the trick? Mac carefully took one hand off the handlebar and removed Louis’ gun from the front of her jeans where it had been pressed against her skin, pinching her flesh with its cold steel.
     
    The chaos maneuver.
     
    Terrified, but knowing it was her only option, Mac awkwardly unlocked the safety on the pistol.
     
    She squinted in the downpour. Her left arm ached as she fought to control the bike, moving closer still to the car.
     
    Just don’t breathe. Hold your breath and fire. If Brie could pull it off, why couldn’t she?
     
    Because you’ve hardly ever held a gun, let alone fired one. Because Sabrina has this kind of thing in her blood while you…you’re made of designer fragrance and true crime novels.
     
    Mac gritted her teeth and fired.
     
    The kick from the gun caused her arm to jerk back. Her ears seemed to explode with a sharp hum. Frantically, she shoved the gun back into its spot and swerved dangerously on the soaking wet roads.
     
    Did she hit it? Did she pull it off?
     
    The brake lights of the car shone bright red in the growing dark and the car began to rapidly slow. It took the same swerving, erratic path that Mac was struggling out of and came to a sudden stop at the side of the road. She saw the shadow of Eisenhower's head jerk forward and back as it bounced off the steering wheel.
     
    Mac let out a yelp of triumph and brought the bike, now under her control, to a